Spellia gens


The gens Spellia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens appear in history, but several are known from inscriptions. The only Spellius known to have held any magistracy was Publius Spellius Spellianus Sabinus, quaestor in AD 57.

Origin

The nomen Spellius appears to belong to a large class of gentilicia derived from surnames ending in diminutive suffixes such as ', ', or , or in some cases directly from surnames with similar stems, without diminutive suffixes. Most of the Spellii found in epigraphy lived at Rome, but an early example from Campania shows that they used the Oscan praenomen Ovius, suggesting that their ancestors might have been Sabines or Samnites.

Praenomina

Most of the Spellii known from inscriptions bore common Latin praenomina, such as Quintus, Publius, andn Gaius. From a filiation, we know that the early Spellii also used the Oscan praenomen Ovius.

Members