Nasidia (gens)


The gens Nasidia was an obscure plebeian family at Rome. The gens is best known from Quintus Nasidius, one of the admirals of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus during the Civil War. Although none of the Nasidii are known to have held any of the higher offices of the Roman state, a number are known from inscriptions. A coin of this gens depicts the head of Pompeius and a trident on the obverse, and on the reverse a ship, with the inscription Q. Nasidius.

Origin

The nomen Nasidius belong to a class of gentilicia formed with the suffix -idius, which originally developed from surnames ending in -idus, but later came to be viewed as a regular means of forming nomina. It implies the existence of a cognomen Nasidus, but may perhaps be from the more regular Naso, originally signifying someone with a prominent nose. The nomen Nasidienus may, in turn, have been formed from Nasidius or a similar name.

Praenomina

The only praenomina associated with the Nasidii are Quintus, Marcus, Lucius, and Gaius, all of which were very common throughout Roman history.

Branches and cognomina

A large family of Nasidii appears to have settled in Africa Proconsularis and Numidia, and in particular the colony at Castellum Elefantum in Numidia. For convenience they have been grouped together below.

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