The
nomenRutilius is derived from the
LatincognomenRutilus, red or reddish, which was probably borne by an ancestor of the family who had red hair. The nomen belongs to a large class of gentilicia derived from other names using the suffix -ilius.[2]
Praenomina
The Rutilii used relatively few
praenomina, chiefly Publius, Lucius, Marcus, and Gaius, all of which were among the most common names throughout Roman history. The only other praenomen found under the
Republic was Quintus, known from Quintus Rutilius,
quaestor in 44 BC.
Branches and cognomina
The Rutilii of the Republic bore the
cognominaCalvus, Lupus and Rufus. In addition to these, the coins of the Rutilii include the surname Flaccus, which does not occur in literary sources. Other cognomina occur in the
imperial times. A number of Rutilii bore no surname.[1]Rufus, red, was typically given to someone with red hair, and this choice of cognomen may have been influenced by the fact that the nomen Rutilius has the same meaning.[3] Another of the surnames of the Rutilii, Calvus, indicated someone bald, while Lupus, a wolf, belongs to a common type of cognomen derived from familiar objects and animals.[3][4][5]Flaccus indicated someone flabby, or with floppy ears.[3][6]
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Spurius Rutilius Crassus, according to
Livy, one of the
consular tribunes in 417 BC, is probably a mistake for Spurius Veturius Crassus, named by
Diodorus Siculus, since no other Rutilii are mentioned for over two and a half centuries.[7][8][9]
Rutilii Rufi
Publius Rutilius (Rufus?),
tribune of the plebs in 169 BC, opposed the actions of the
censors with regard to the
publicani and one of his own
clients, and brought them to trial, in retaliation for which they removed him from his
tribe, and degraded him to the status of an
aerarius.[10][11]
Gaius Rutilius (P. f.) Rufus, a friend of
Quintus Mucius Scaevola, was one of those who accused
Manius Aquillius, the consul of 129 BC, of repetundae, or extortion in the government of his province.[22]
Rutilia P. f., wife of Marcus Aurelius Cotta, and later Lucius Aurelius Cotta. By Marcus, she was the mother of
Gaius Aurelius Cotta, the orator. By Lucius, she was the mother of
Aurelia, the mother of
Caesar.[23][24]
Publius Rutilius (P. f. L. n.) Lupus, tribune of the plebs in 56 BC, proposed repealing Caesar's agrarian law. Praetor 49, at the beginning of the
Civil War, he was a partisan of
Pompeius, and stationed at
Tarracina, but departed before Caesar's arrival, returning to Rome. In 48, Pompeius appointed him governor of
Achaia.[34][35][36]
Publius Rutilius (P. f. P. n.) Lupus, a grammarian and rhetorician, active during the reign of
Tiberius. He was the author of De Figuris Sententiarum et Elocutionis, a collection of translated passages from Greek authors, many of which are no longer extant in the original.[37]
Publius Rutilius Calvus, praetor in 166 BC, probably received the province of
Hispania Ulterior. Some scholars identify him with the tribune degraded in 169, but Münzer suggests that the tribune was one of the Rutilii Rufi.[38][39]
Publius Rutilius M. f., tribune of the plebs in 136 BC, ordered
Gaius Hostilius Mancinus to vacate his seat in the
senate, on the grounds that his
Roman citizenship had been revoked when the senate handed him over to the
Numantines following his defeat the previous year.[40][41]
Rutilius Maximus, a jurist, and the author of Ad Legem Falcidiam, a treatise on a law enacted in 40 BC by
Publius Falcidius, tribune of the plebs, requiring that the heir of an estate had to take at least one quarter of the property in question.[58]
Claudius Rutilius Numatianus, praefectus urbicirca AD 413 or 414, was a native of Gaul, and the author of an elegy known as the Itinerarium, or De Reditu, in two books, composed about 417. He was a pagan, and his writing shows some hostility to Jewish and Christian practices.[59]
The
nomenRutilius is derived from the
LatincognomenRutilus, red or reddish, which was probably borne by an ancestor of the family who had red hair. The nomen belongs to a large class of gentilicia derived from other names using the suffix -ilius.[2]
Praenomina
The Rutilii used relatively few
praenomina, chiefly Publius, Lucius, Marcus, and Gaius, all of which were among the most common names throughout Roman history. The only other praenomen found under the
Republic was Quintus, known from Quintus Rutilius,
quaestor in 44 BC.
Branches and cognomina
The Rutilii of the Republic bore the
cognominaCalvus, Lupus and Rufus. In addition to these, the coins of the Rutilii include the surname Flaccus, which does not occur in literary sources. Other cognomina occur in the
imperial times. A number of Rutilii bore no surname.[1]Rufus, red, was typically given to someone with red hair, and this choice of cognomen may have been influenced by the fact that the nomen Rutilius has the same meaning.[3] Another of the surnames of the Rutilii, Calvus, indicated someone bald, while Lupus, a wolf, belongs to a common type of cognomen derived from familiar objects and animals.[3][4][5]Flaccus indicated someone flabby, or with floppy ears.[3][6]
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Spurius Rutilius Crassus, according to
Livy, one of the
consular tribunes in 417 BC, is probably a mistake for Spurius Veturius Crassus, named by
Diodorus Siculus, since no other Rutilii are mentioned for over two and a half centuries.[7][8][9]
Rutilii Rufi
Publius Rutilius (Rufus?),
tribune of the plebs in 169 BC, opposed the actions of the
censors with regard to the
publicani and one of his own
clients, and brought them to trial, in retaliation for which they removed him from his
tribe, and degraded him to the status of an
aerarius.[10][11]
Gaius Rutilius (P. f.) Rufus, a friend of
Quintus Mucius Scaevola, was one of those who accused
Manius Aquillius, the consul of 129 BC, of repetundae, or extortion in the government of his province.[22]
Rutilia P. f., wife of Marcus Aurelius Cotta, and later Lucius Aurelius Cotta. By Marcus, she was the mother of
Gaius Aurelius Cotta, the orator. By Lucius, she was the mother of
Aurelia, the mother of
Caesar.[23][24]
Publius Rutilius (P. f. L. n.) Lupus, tribune of the plebs in 56 BC, proposed repealing Caesar's agrarian law. Praetor 49, at the beginning of the
Civil War, he was a partisan of
Pompeius, and stationed at
Tarracina, but departed before Caesar's arrival, returning to Rome. In 48, Pompeius appointed him governor of
Achaia.[34][35][36]
Publius Rutilius (P. f. P. n.) Lupus, a grammarian and rhetorician, active during the reign of
Tiberius. He was the author of De Figuris Sententiarum et Elocutionis, a collection of translated passages from Greek authors, many of which are no longer extant in the original.[37]
Publius Rutilius Calvus, praetor in 166 BC, probably received the province of
Hispania Ulterior. Some scholars identify him with the tribune degraded in 169, but Münzer suggests that the tribune was one of the Rutilii Rufi.[38][39]
Publius Rutilius M. f., tribune of the plebs in 136 BC, ordered
Gaius Hostilius Mancinus to vacate his seat in the
senate, on the grounds that his
Roman citizenship had been revoked when the senate handed him over to the
Numantines following his defeat the previous year.[40][41]
Rutilius Maximus, a jurist, and the author of Ad Legem Falcidiam, a treatise on a law enacted in 40 BC by
Publius Falcidius, tribune of the plebs, requiring that the heir of an estate had to take at least one quarter of the property in question.[58]
Claudius Rutilius Numatianus, praefectus urbicirca AD 413 or 414, was a native of Gaul, and the author of an elegy known as the Itinerarium, or De Reditu, in two books, composed about 417. He was a pagan, and his writing shows some hostility to Jewish and Christian practices.[59]