Paccia (gens)


The gens Paccia, occasionally written Pactia, was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Only a few members of this gens achieved distinction in the Roman state, of whom the most illustrious was Gaius Paccius Africanus, consul in AD 67.

Origin

The nomen Paccius is a patronymic surname, derived from an Oscan praenomen, found as Paccius or Paquius, frequently found among the Samnites. The Roman Paccii would therefore seem to have been of Samnite, or at least Oscan descent. Because the praenomen and the gentile name shared the same form, it is difficult to determine in some cases whether the name was the bearer's praenomen or nomen.

Members