Denarius issued by Publius Petronius Turpilianus, circa 19 or 18 BC. The obverse depicts Augustus, the reverse Pegasus.

The gens Petronia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. This gens claimed an ancient lineage, as a Petronius Sabinus is mentioned in the time of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last of the Roman kings, but few Petronii are mentioned in the time of the Republic. They are frequently encountered under the Empire, holding numerous consulships, and eventually obtaining the Empire itself during the brief reign of Petronius Maximus in AD 455.[1]

Origin

The Petronii were of Sabine origin, as indicated by the surname Sabinus, belonging to the legendary figure from the time of Tarquin, and alluded to by coins minted by Publius Petronius Turpilianus, depicting the death of Tarpeia, whom according to legend was persuaded by the Sabines under Titus Tatius to open the citadel to them, in the time of Romulus.[2] The nomen Petronius appears to be a patronymic surname derived from the Oscan praenomen Petro or Petrus, the Oscan equivalent of the Latin Quartus, fourth, and making Petronius cognate with a number of obscure Latin gentilicia, such as Quartius and Quartinius.[3] An alternative derivation would be from the cognomen Petrus, a rustic, although this may also derive from the Oscan praenomen. Petronius belongs to a large class of gentilicia derived from other names ending in -o, most of which are plebeian.[4]

Praenomina

The early Petronii used the praenomina Gaius, Marcus, and Publius, all of which were very common throughout Roman history. Other names occur toward the end of the second century AD, including Quintus, Lucius, and Sextus, but these may have been inherited from other families.

Members

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

Footnotes

  1. Probably not Petronius Diodotus, as found in some manuscripts of Pliny, or Petronius Musa, as inferred from Galen, which seems to be a misunderstanding of Μουσας in the original.

See also

References

  1. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 215 ("Petronia Gens").
  2. 1 2 Eckhel, vol. v, p. 270 ff, vol. vi., p. 99.
  3. Petersen, "The Numerical Praenomina of the Romans", p. 353 and note 24.
  4. Chase, pp. 118–120.
  5. Valerius Maximus, i. 1. § 13.
  6. Dionysius, iv. 62.
  7. Polybius, xxxii. 26.
  8. Varro, Rerum Rusticarum, iii. 2. § 2.
  9. Plutarch, "The Life of Crassus", 30, 31.
  10. Appian, Bellum Civile, v. 4.
  11. Cassius Dio, liv. 5.
  12. Strabo, xvii. p. 820.
  13. Josephus, Antiquitates Judaïcae, xv. 9. § 2.
  14. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 1192 ("Publius Petronius Turpilianus").
  15. Dioscorides, De Materia Medica, praef. vol. i, p. 2.
  16. Pliny the Elder, xx. 32.
  17. Galen, De Compositione Medicamentorum per Genera, ii. 5, vol. xiii, p. 502, v. 11, p. 831.
  18. CIL V, 6064.
  19. Tacitus, Annales, iii. 49, vi. 45.
  20. Fasti Arvalium, AE 1987, 163; 1991, 306; 1991, 307.
  21. Josephus, Antiquitates Judaïcae, xviii. 9. § 2, Bellum Judaïcum, ii. 10.
  22. Seneca the Younger, Apocolocyntosis.
  23. Cassius Dio, lviii. 27.
  24. Suetonius, "The Life of Tiberius", 73.
  25. Tacitus, Annales, vi. 45.
  26. Gallivan, "The Fasti for the Reign of Gaius".
  27. Gallivan, "The Fasti for the Reign of Nero", pp. 291, 309.
  28. Tacitus, Annales, xvi. 17–19.
  29. Pliny the Elder, xxxvii. 2.
  30. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, pp. 215–218 ("Gaius Petronius").
  31. Tacitus, Annales, xiv. 29, 39, xv. 72, Agricola, 16, Historiae, i. 6, 37.
  32. Plutarch, "The Life of Galba", 15.
  33. Eck, "Miscellanea Prosopographica", pp. 227 ff.
  34. Gallivan, "The Fasti for the Reign of Nero", pp. 302, 303, 310.
  35. Tacitus, Annales, xv. 71.
  36. CIL VI, 2060.
  37. Gallivan, "The Fasti for A.D. 70–96", pp. 189, 215.
  38. Cassius Dio, lxvii. 15.
  39. Eutropius, viii. 1.
  40. Bastianini, "Lista dei prefetti d'Egitto", p. 284.
  41. 1 2 Eck, "Die Fasti consulares der Regierungszeit des Antoninus Pius".
  42. Bastianini, "Lista dei prefetti d'Egitto", pp. 290–291.
  43. 1 2 3 Leunissen, Konsuln und Konsulare, pp. 129–137.
  44. Samuel, Greek and Roman Chronology, pp. 272 ff.
  45. CIL VI, 1686.
  46. CIL IX, 10.
  47. CIL VI, 1752.
  48. ICUR, 1, 1936, 2088.
  49. ICUR, 1, 1358.

Bibliography

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