Scutaria gens

The gens Scutaria was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned in history, but others are known from inscriptions.[1]

Origin[edit]

The nomen Scutarius belongs to a class of gentilicia derived from occupations; a scutarius was a shield-maker.[2][3] The family seems to have come from Venusia in Apulia, originally a Samnite town, captured during the Third Samnite War. A Roman colony was established there in 291 BC.[4]

Praenomina[edit]

The only praenomina found in the inscriptions of the Scutarii are Lucius and Sextus, both of which were common throughout all periods of Roman history.

Members[edit]

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
  • Scutaria, named in a late second- or early third-century inscription from Aleria in Corsica.[5]
  • Scutarius, named in an inscription from Anicium in Gallia Aquitania.[6]
  • Lucius Scutarius, quaestor at Venusia in Apulia in 32 BC, and one of the duumviri in the following year.[7][8]
  • Sextus Scutarius Aethrius, built a tomb for himself and his family at Rome.[9]
  • Lucius Scutarius Andrea, dedicated an early first-century tomb at Venusia to the freedman Marcus Turellius Diomedes.[10]
  • Scutaria L. l. Epistolio, a freedwoman buried at Allifae in Campania.[11]
  • Sextus Scutarius Successus, named in a funerary inscription from Pisae in Etruria.[12]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ PIR, vol. III, p. 187.
  2. ^ Chase, pp. 111, 112.
  3. ^ New College Latin & English Dictionary, s. v. scutarius.
  4. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, vol. II, pp. 1276, 1277 ("Venusia").
  5. ^ AE 2013, 674.
  6. ^ CIL XIII, 1575.
  7. ^ CIL IX, 422.
  8. ^ Magoffin, The Quinquennales, p. 37.
  9. ^ CIL VI, 687.
  10. ^ CIL IX, 569.
  11. ^ CIL IX, 2418.
  12. ^ CIL XI, 1449.

Bibliography[edit]