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Sextia gens

{{short description|Ancient Roman family}}

The gens Sextia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, from the time of the early Republic and continuing into imperial times. The most famous member of the gens was Lucius Sextius Lateranus, who as tribune of the plebs from 376 to 367 BC, prevented the election of the annual magistrates, until the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia, otherwise known as the "Licinian Rogations," in the latter year. This law, brought forward by Sextius and his colleague, Gaius Licinius Calvus, opened the consulship to the plebeians, and in the following year Sextius was elected the first plebeian consul. Despite the antiquity of the family, only one other member obtained the consulship during the time of the Republic. Their name occurs more often in the consular fasti under the Empire.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 810 ("Sextia Gens").Livy, vi. 34–42.

Origin

The nomen Sextius is a patronymic surname, derived from the praenomen Sextus, meaning "sixth".Chase, p. 123. It is frequently confounded with that of the patrician gens Sestia, and in fact the two families may originally have been the same; however, Roman authors treated them as distinct gentes.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 795 ("Sestia Gens"). The plebeian gens Sextilia was derived from the same praenomen.

Praenomina

The main praenomina of the early Sextii were Marcus, Lucius, and Gaius, the most common names throughout all periods of Roman history. From filiations, we know that some of them also used Numerius and Sextus, of which the former was relatively uncommon at Rome. Later generations of this gens used Publius, Titus, and Quintus, all of which were also common. Epigraphy provides instances of Vibius, a name that was also used by the patrician Sestii, supporting the theory of a common origin.

Branches and cognomina

Most of the Sextii under the Republic bore no surname, or else had only personal cognomina, instead of family-names. These included Baculus, Calvinus, Lateranus, Naso, Paconianus, and Sabinus.

Members

{{filiation}}

  • Marcus Sextius, tribune of the plebs in 414 BC, proposed that a colony should be sent to Bolae.Livy, iv. 49.
  • Numerius Sextius, grandfather of Lucius Sextius Lateranus, the tribune.
  • Sextus Sextius N. f., father of the tribune Lateranus.
  • Lucius Sextius Sex. f. N. n. Sextinus Lateranus, tribune of the plebs with Gaius Licinius Calvus from 376 to 367 BC, succeeded in passing the lex Licinia Sextia, opening the consulship to the plebeians; in 366 he became the first plebeian consul.Fasti Capitolini, {{AE|1900|83}}; 1904, 114.Broughton, vol. I, pp. 108–111, 113–115.
  • Marcus Sextius Sabinus, plebeian aedile in 203 BC, and praetor in the following year, obtained Gaul as his province.Livy, xxx. 26, 27.
  • Sextius, quaestor of the consul Lucius Calpurnius Bestia in Numidia, in 111 BC.Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 29.
  • Publius Sextius, praetor designatus in 100 BC, was accused of bribery by Titus Junius, and condemned. He might be the same person as the quaestor of 111.Cicero, Brutus, 48.Broughton, vol. I, pp. 541, 543 (note 4).
  • Sextius, lictor of Verres in Sicily, and his favorite executioner.Cicero, In Verrem, iii. 67, v. 45, 54.
  • Publius Sextius Baculus, a centurion {{lang|la|primus pilus}} with Caesar's army in Gaul, who distinguished himself on many occasions by his great bravery.Caesar, De Bello Gallico, ii. 25, iii. 5, vi. 38.
  • Sextius Naso, one of the conspirators against Caesar in 44 BC.Appian, Bellum Civile, ii. 113.
  • Quintus Sextius,{{efn-lr|"Marcus Silius" in Valerius Maximus.}} conspired against Quintus Cassius Longinus, governor of Hispania Ulterior, in 48 BC. After the conspiracy was suppressed, Sextius purchased his life from Cassius in exchange for a large sum of money.Hirtius, De Bello Alexandrino, 55.Valerius Maximus, ix. 4. § 2.
  • Quintus Sextius, a Sextian philosopher during the time of Caesar; his works were admired by the younger Seneca.Seneca the Younger, Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, 64, 73, 98, De Ira, iii. 36.
  • Sextius Niger, a Sextian physician during the early Empire, and author of a pharmacological work.
  • Sextius Paconianus, one of the agents of Sejanus, who was imprisoned after his master's downfall in AD 31, and subsequently strangled for having written some libellous verses against the emperor.Tacitus, Annales, vi. 3, 4, 39.
  • Lucius Aninius Sextius Florentinus, a second century Roman senator, entombed at Petra.

=Sextii Calvini=

  • Gaius Sextius, grandfather of the consul of 124 BC
  • Gaius C. f. Sextius, father of the consul of 124 BC
  • Gaius Sextius C. f. C. n. Calvinus, consul in 124 BC, and afterwards assigned the administration of Gaul. He conquered the Salluvii, and founded the colony of Aquae Sextiae.Livy, Epitome, 61.Strabo, Geographica, iv. p. 180.Velleius Paterculus, i. 15.
  • Gaius C. f. Sextius Calvinus, described by Cicero as an excellent but sickly orator who stod as a candidate as praetor against Servilius Glaucia.Cicero, Brutus, 34, De Oratore, ii. 60, 61. He was probably a son of the consul{{Cite book |title=The So-called Altar of Calvinus on the Palatine Hill, in Rome: Identified as the Altar Erected by Romulus as a Part of the Ceremony of Founding Rome |last=Broderick |first=Bonaventure Finnbarr |publisher=Indiana University |year=1940 |pages=8}} and probably the same man as the praetor who restored the altar of an unknown deity. He may also have been the Gaius Calvinus who was a friend of Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo, described as only having one eye.{{Cite book |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |last=Smith |first=William |publisher=J. Murray |year=1873 |pages=585 |volume=1}} Several historians have also identified him as the Sextius who was quaestor under Lucius Calpurnius Bestia in 111 BC.{{Cite book |title=The Quaestorship in the Roman Republic |last=Pina Polo |first=Francisco |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |year=2019 |isbn=9783110666410 |edition=illustrated |pages=319 |last2=Díaz Fernández |first2=Alejandro |series=KLIO / Beihefte. Neue Folge |volume=31}}
  • Publius Sextius Calvinus, Late Republican descendant of the consul of 124 BC, attested from a statue base in ThespiisPIR 2022: von Rohden, Dessau; pp. 236

=Sextii Africani=

See also

Notes

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References

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Category:Roman gentes