Septicia gens


The gens Septicia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Hardly any members of this gens are mentioned in ancient writers, but a number are known from inscriptions. The most famous of the Septicii was Gaius Septicius Clarus, Prefect of the Praetorian Guard under the emperor Hadrian.

Origin

The nomen Septicius belongs to a class of gentilicia originally formed from cognomina ending in ' or '. As with other gentile-forming suffixes, was later extended to form nomina from other names, including existing gentilicia. The root of the name must have resembled the rare Latin praenomen Septimus, "seventh", in which case Septicius may be cognate with the more typical patronymic Septimius.

Praenomina

The main praenomina of the Septicii were Aulus, Gaius, and Marcus, followed by Publius, Quintus, and Titus, all of which were common throughout all periods of Roman history. Other names occur infrequently. From a filiation, it seems that at least one of the Septicii bore the Oscan praenomen Salvius. In Etruria, where women's praenomina were common, one of the women of the Salvii bore the feminine praenomen Rufa, which another of the gens bore as a cognomen.

Members