Veturia (gens)

The gens Veturia, originally Vetusia, was an ancient patrician family of the Roman Republic. According to tradition, the armourer Mamurius Veturius lived in the time of Numa Pompilius, and made the sacred ancilia. The Veturii occur regularly in the Fasti Consulares of the early Republic, with Gaius Veturius Geminus Cicurinus holding the consulship in 499 BC. Like other old patrician gentes, the Veturii also developed plebeian branches. The family faded into obscurity in the later Republic, with the last consular Veturius holding office in 206 BC, during the Second Punic War.[1]

Origin

The nomen Veturius belongs to a class of gentilicia in which the old, medial 's' has been replaced by 'r', as in Valesius, Fusius, Papisius, and Numesius, which in later times were Valerius, Furius, Papirius, and Numerius.[2] Some scholars suppose, both from the fact that Mamurius Veturius had two gentile names, and from his connection with Numa, that the Veturii were of Sabine origin; but Chase classifies the name with those that were either of Latin origin, or which cannot be shown to have originated elsewhere; he derives the name from vetus, "old".[1][3]

Praenomina

The main praenomina of the Veturii were Gaius, Titus, Spurius, and Lucius, but there are also examples of Publius, Tiberius, Marcus, and Postumus. Publius seems to have been one of the earliest names of this gens, but it does not appear in later generations, while Tiberius and Marcus appear in one family of the Veturii Crassi. Lucius, which seems to have been the dominant praenomen of the later Veturii, first appears in the second century of the Republic. Postumus was an uncommon praenomen, presumably because its original meaning, "hindmost, last", referring to a youngest child, was easily confused with the similar sounding post humus, "after burial", with the implication that the child's father was dead.

Branches and cognomina

The main family of the Veturii bore the cognomen Cicurinus, which the antiquarian Varro derived from cicur, quiet or patient. The Veturii who occur in the fasti from the outset of the Republic to the middle of the fifth century BC bore the additional surname of Geminus, a twin. From the time of the Decemvirs, this surname was replaced by Crassus, thick, sometimes with the implication of "dull" or "stupid". The Veturii Cicurini flourished down to the middle of the fourth century BC. Calvinus, bald or balding, occurs in the latter part of the fourth century BC, after which the Veturii fell into obscurity until the Second Punic War, when the surname Philo, one of the earliest cognomina borrowed from Greek, briefly appears. After this, the Veturii vanish from the consular fasti.[4]

Coins of the this gens bear no cognomen, perhaps indicating that they were struck by the plebeian Veturii. One curious example, issued by a Tiberius Veturius, depicts the head of a helmeted man on the obverse, and on the reverse, two men with staves, on either side of a kneeling man holding a pig. The coin seems to commemorate a treaty, but the precise occasion is unknown.[5][1]

Members

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

Veturii Gemini Cicurini

Veturii Crassi Cicurini

  • Spurius Veturius P. f. (Crassus) Cicurinus, father of the decemvir.
  • Spurius Veturius S. f. P. n. Crassus Cicurinus, one of the decemvirs appointed to codify the first ten tables of Roman law, in 451 BC.[12][13]
  • Spurius Veturius S. f. S. n. Crassus Cicurinus, consular tribune in 417 BC.[14][15]
  • Tiberius Veturius S. f. Crassus Cicurinus, father of the consular tribune of 399 BC.
  • Marcus Veturius Ti. f. S. n. Crassus Cicurinus, consular tribune in 399 BC, the only patrician elected this year; his five colleagues were all plebeians.[16][17]
  • Lucius Veturius S. f. Crassus Cicurinus, father of the consular tribune of 368 and 367 BC.
  • Gaius Veturius (L. f. S. n.) Crassus Cicurinus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 377 and 369 BC.[18][19]
  • Lucius Veturius L. f. S. n. Crassus Cicurinus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 368 and 367 BC.[20]

Veturii Philones

  • Postumus Veturius Philo, grandfather of the consul of 220 BC.
  • Lucius Veturius Post. f. Philo, father of the consul of 220 BC.
  • Lucius Veturius L. f. Post. n. Philo, consul in 220 BC, dictator in 217 and censor in 210 BC.
  • Lucius Veturius L. f. L. n. Philo, consul in 206 BC, and subsequently accompanied Scipio on his African campaign.

Others

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 1251 ("Veturia Gens", "Veturius Mamurius").
  2. Chase, p. 127.
  3. Chase, pp. 129–133.
  4. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 586 ("Titus Veturius Calvinus"), 747, 748 ("Cicurinus"), vol. III, p. 298 ("Veturius Philo").
  5. Joseph Hilarius Eckhel, Doctrina Numorum Veterum, v. 337.
  6. Livy, ii. 28–30.
  7. Dionysius, vi. 34.
  8. Asconius Pedianus, In Ciceronis Pro Cornelio, p. 76, ed. Orelli
  9. Livy, iii. 8, 10.
  10. Dionysius, ix. 69.
  11. Diodorus Siculus, xi. 81.
  12. Livy, iii. 33.
  13. Dionysius, x. 56.
  14. Livy, iii. 47.
  15. Dionysius, xiii. 7.
  16. Livy, v. 13.
  17. Diodorus Siculus, xiv. 54.
  18. Livy, vi. 32, 36.
  19. Diodorus Siculus, xv. 61, 77.
  20. Livy, vi. 38, 42.
  21. Livy, xli. 26.

Bibliography

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "article name needed". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

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