Numisia (gens)


The gens Numisia was a family at Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the fourth century BC, and from the second century BC to imperial times, they held a number of important magistracies. The name Numisius is frequently confused with that of Numicius, and in fact it seems probable that the two were originally the same. The Numicii of the early Republic are thought to have been patricians, and the Numisii mentioned in later sources were plebeians; but patrician families frequently developed plebeian branches over time.

Origin

In all probability, the nomen Numisius is merely a different orthography of Numicius, although this does not establish which is the original form. Numicius appears to belong to a class of gentilicia formed from other names ending in -ex, -icis, or -icus, which took -icius as a suffix. But if Numisius is the true orthography, then the nomen is probably derived from the praenomen Numerius.

Branches and cognomina

The Numisii of the Republic were not divided into any families, and none of them bore any surname. Various cognomina are found in imperial times, of which the most notable may be Lupus, "a wolf", and Rufus, "red", typically given to someone with red hair.

Members