Sanquinia gens

The gens Sanquinia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome, which rose out of obscurity in imperial times to attain the highest offices of the Roman state. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of Augustus, and Quintus Sanquinius Maximus held the consulship under Tiberius and Caligula. The family vanishes from history in the time of Claudius.[1]

Branches and cognomina

There may only have been a single family of the Sanquinii, as all of those occurring in history come from the same time and place, and only one other is added from inscriptions anywhere else. The only attested surname, Maximus, seems to have been a personal cognomen, and was probably given to the consul Sanquinius either because he was the eldest brother in his family, or because he was the most illustrious of the Sanquinii.[2]

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
  • Quintus Sanquinius Q. f., held a number of magistracies, including those of quaestor, tribune of the plebs, praetor, and proconsul, during the age of Augustus. He was probably the elder brother of Marcus Sanquinius, the moneyer, but Borghesi thought that Quintus might have been his father.[3][4]
  • Marcus Sanquinius Q. f., a triumvir monetalis in the time of Augustus. His coins feature the head of Caesar, surmounted by a star, on the obverse, and that of Augustus on the reverse.[5]
  • Quintus Sanquinius M. f. Q. n. Maximus, consul suffectus in an uncertain year during the reign of Tiberius, and a second time under Caligula in AD 39. He was praefectus urbi under Caligula, and governor of Germania Inferior under Claudius. He died in office in AD 47.[6][7]
  • Sanquinius, one of the accusers of Lucius Arruntius, a man of unblemished character, during the tumult that followed the downfall of Sejanus. The senate, weary of constant charges of treason, instead chose to punish the accusers. He must be a different man than the consular Sanquinius, who had argued for amnesty and an end to the accusations.[8]
  • Sanquinia C. f., named in an inscription from Caere in Etruria.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, p. 999 ("Sanquinius Maximus"), vol. III, p. 706 ("Marcus Sanquinius").
  2. ↑ Chase, p. 111.
  3. ↑ CIL VI, 1323.
  4. ↑ PIR, vol. III, p. 173.
  5. ↑ Eckhel, vol. v, pp. 299, 300.
  6. ↑ Tacitus, Annales, vi. 4, xi. 18.
  7. ↑ Cassius Dio, lix. 13.
  8. ↑ Tacitus, Annales, vi. 7.
  9. ↑ CIL XI, 7714.

Bibliography

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