Crepereia (gens)

The gens Crepereia was a plebeian family of equestrian rank at ancient Rome. The family appears in history from the first century BC to the first or second century AD. Cicero describes the strict discipline of the Crepereii.[1]

Origin

"If a man's nomen is uncommon enough," write Barbara Levick and Shelagh Jameson, "it can reveal something of the origin and history of his family."[2] The gentilicium Crepereius is uncommon, attested only in Italy and certain portions of the Roman Empire, becoming relatively common only in North Africa.

Varro states that the word creper is Sabine, which provides a likely origin for this family.[3] One branch of this gens during the first century BC proceeded east to the Greek-speaking provinces where they prospered as negotiatores;[4] inscriptions bearing the name of this gens can be found at Attaleia and Pisidian Antioch.[5] On the other hand, the Crepereii attested in North Africa, who number about 50, are explained as descendants of one or more recruits who served in the Legio III Augusta during the first or second century AD.[6]

Branches and cognomina

Among those cognomina appearing in history are Rocus, from raucus, "hoarse, shouting, raucous", and Gallus, a common surname with two ambivalent derivations: from gallus, a cockerel, belonging to a common class of surnames derived from the names of familiar objects and animals; or Gallus, a Gaul, frequently applied to persons of Gallic descent, appearance, or habits.[7][8]

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
  • Marcus Crepereius was one of the judges in the case of Verres. However, he was designated one of the military tribunes for 69 BC, and was therefore unable to take part in the trial after the first of January that year.[9]
  • Quintus Crepereius M. f. Rocus, minted several coins depicting Venus and Neptune, the gods of Corinth, from which it may be inferred that he had some connection with that city, perhaps after its restoration by Caesar.[10]
  • Crepereius Gallus, a friend of Agrippina, who perished in the ship that was sunk with the intention of causing Agrippina's death. He might be the same Gaius Crepereius Gallus mentioned as a procurator in an inscription from Antioch in Galatia.[11][12][13]
  • Crepereius Calpurnianus, a native of Pompeiopolis, wrote a history of the wars between Rome and Parthia, which has been lost.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 889 ("Crepereius").
  2. ↑ Levick and Jameson, "C. Crepereius Gallus and His Gens", p. 100.
  3. ↑ Varro, De Lingua Latina, vi. 5.
  4. ↑ Levick and Jameson, "Crepereius Gallus", p. 101.
  5. ↑ Levick and Jameson, "Crepereius Gallus", pp. 102–104.
  6. ↑ Levick and Jameson, "Crepereius Gallus", pp. 104–106.
  7. ↑ Chase, pp. 110, 114.
  8. ↑ New College Latin & English Dictionary, s. vv. raucus, gallus.
  9. ↑ Cicero, In Verrem, i. 10.
  10. ↑ Thesaurus Morellianus, vol. I, pp. 145 ff.
  11. ↑ Tacitus, Annales, xiv. 5.
  12. ↑ AE 1964, 173.
  13. ↑ Levick and Jameson, "Crepereius Gallus".
  14. ↑ Lucian, Quomodo Historia Conscribenda Sit, 15.

Bibliography

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