The gens Septimia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. The gens first appears in history towards the close of the Republic, and they did not achieve much importance until the latter half of the second century, when Lucius Septimius Severus obtained the imperial dignity.^[1]

Origin

The nomen Septimius is a patronymic surname, derived from the rare Latin praenomen Septimus, originally given to a seventh child or seventh son, or to a child born in September, originally the seventh month of the Roman calendar.^[2][3] Several other gentes obtained their nomina in this way, including the Quinctii from Quintus, the Sextii from Sextus, and the Octavii from Octavius.^[2]

Praenomina

The chief praenomina of the Septimii were Publius, Lucius, Gaius, and Titus. There are a few instances of other names, including Aulus, Marcus, and Quintus. The ancestor of the family must have been named Septimus, although none of the members who are known to history bore this praenomen.

Branches and cognomina

The Septimii of the Republic were not clearly divided into separate families. A number of surnames are found at various periods, of which the most notable are Severus, meaning "stern, serious, severe," Aper, a wild boar, and Geta, referring to one of the Getae, a Thracian people.^[4][5] All three cognomina were associated with the imperial family. They were of equestrian rank, and had probably lived in Leptis Magna for some time, for Statius addressed one of his poems to a certain Septimius Severus of that city.^[6][7]

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.

• Titus Septimius Sabinus, curule aedile at some point following the consulship of Lucullus in 74 BC.^[8]
• Publius Septimius Scaevola, a senator, who was one of the judges allegedly bribed by Aulus Cluentius Habitus in order to obtain the condemnation of Statius Albius Oppianicus in 74 BC. Septimius was condemned two years later, ostensibly on a charge of repetundae, or extortion, but probably due instead to his actions during the trial of Oppianicus.^[9]
• Septimius, a participant in the conspiracy of Catiline, who was sent into the ager Picenus in 63 BC.^[10]
• Lucius Septimius, a centurion in the command of Pompeius in 67 BC, during the war against the pirates. He then went to Egypt, where he served under Aulus Gabinius, and remained as part of a garrison supporting Ptolemy XII Auletes and his successors. When Pompeius fled to Egypt after the Battle of Pharsalia, in 48 BC, Septimius slew his old commander.^{[11][12][13][14]}
• Gaius Septimius, a secretary of the consul Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, in 59 BC.^[15]
• Publius Septimius, gave evidence against Lucius Valerius Flaccus in 59 BC.^[16]
• Gaius Septimius, as praetor in 57 BC, supported recalling Cicero from exile. He was an augur in 45 BC.^[17]
• Publius Septimius, had served as quaestor under Marcus Terentius Varro, who sent him three volumes of his treatise De Lingua Latina. Vitruvius speaks of him in connection with Varro, indicating that this Septimius is probably the author of two books on architecture.^[18][19]
• Septimia, the wife of Sicca, a friend of Cicero.^[20]
• Septimius, proscribed by the Second Triumvirate in 43 BC, as his wife was carrying on an affair with one of Antonius' friends. Not realizing his wife's treachery, Septimius fled to her house, where she detained him until his murderers arrived.^[21]
• Septimius, a friend of Augustus, and of the poet Horace, who dedicated one of his odes to Septimius.^[22][23]
• Septimius, one of a number of centurions slain in a soldiers' revolt in Germania, following the death of Augustus. He appealed to the legate, Aulus Caecina, for protection, but the soldiers were so insistent on Septimius' fate that the legate eventually yielded to their demands.^[24]
• Septimius, a soldier in the Praetorian Guard who attempted to protect the praetorian prefect Nymphidius Sabinus from harm when his men deserted him, and declared their allegiance to Galba in AD 68. Septimius deflected a lance aimed at Nymphidius with his shield, but when other soldiers attacked, the prefect fled for his life, until he was cut down by his pursuers.^[25]
• Aulus Septimius Serenus, a lyric poet, of whom only brief fragments are preserved. His subject matter appears to have consisted largely of rural topics.^{[26][27][28][29][30][31]}
• Gaius Septimius Vegetus, governor of Egypt from AD 85 to 88.^[32]
• Quintus Septimius Romanus, the author of a Latin translation of the Dictys Cretensis, a history of the Trojan War, ostensibly written either in Phoenician, or in Greek using the Phoenician alphabet, and translated into ordinary Greek during the reign of Nero.^[33]
• Lucius Septimius Flaccus, consul suffectus in AD 183.^[34]
• Septimius, said by Aelius Lampridius to have written a life of Alexander Severus, which he treated as an authority for his own biography of the emperor.^[35]
• Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, an early Christian writer, who exposited the doctrine of the Trinity.^[36]

See also

• List of Roman gentes

Notes

References

Bibliography