Spurinnia gens


The gens Spurinnia was a minor plebeian family of Etruscan descent at ancient Rome. No members of this gens are mentioned in ancient writers, but several are known from inscriptions.

Origin

The nomen Spurinna belongs to a class of gentilicia of Etruscan origin, readily distinguished by the suffix , characteristic of Etruscan nomina. The inscriptions of this gens, mostly belonging to the imperial era, and all of which come from either Rome or Etruria, demonstrate that the feminine form was Spurinnia. As a cognomen, Spurinna appears in the Vestricia gens, the members of which gained considerable fame from the time of Caesar to that of Trajan, but the majority of epigraphic occurrences are as a nomen gentilicium.

Praenomina

The inscriptions of the Spurinnae indicate that their favoured praenomina were Lucius, Publius, and Quintus, three of the most common names throughout Roman history. There is also an example of Velthur, a typical Etruscan praenomen.

Members