The gens Statilia was a
plebeian family of
Lucanian origin at
ancient Rome. Members of this
gens are first mentioned in the third century BC, when one of them led the Lucanian assault on the city of
Thurii, and another commanded an allied
cavalry troop during the
Second Punic War; but at Rome the Statilii first come to attention in the time of
Cicero, at which point they held
equestrian rank. The first of the family to attain the
consulship was
Titus Statilius Taurus in 37 BC, and his descendants continued to fill the highest offices of the Roman state until the time of
Marcus Aurelius.[1]
Origin
The
nomenStatilius belongs to a class of gentilicia ending in the suffix -ilius, derived from other names ending in the diminutive suffix -ulus.[2]Statilius is a derivative of the common
OscanpraenomenStatius, the diminutive of which may have been Statulus. The same praenomen also gave rise to the
Statia gens.[3]
Praenomina
The earliest Statilii bore common Oscan praenomina, such as Sthenius (or Statius) and Marius. In the late
Republic, we find Lucius and Quintus, both among the most common praenomina throughout all periods of Roman history. The consular families from the first centuries of the
Empire used Titus to the exclusion of all other regular praenomina, although two of the Statilii Tauri exchanged their original praenomina for the names Sisenna and Taurus. In the case of Taurus, the name was simply the cognomen of the family used as a praenomen, while Sisenna commemorated the descent of the family from the
Cornelii Sisennae, a noble family of the Republic, through a female line.
Branches and cognomina
The most important branch of the Statilii bore the
cognomenTaurus, referring to a bull, and belonging to a large class of surnames derived from the names of animals and everyday objects.[4] This family remained prominent from the end of the Republic to the reign of
Claudius, and its name appears on coins of the era.[1]
Corvinus, borne as a surname by one of the consular Statilii, was inherited from his grandfather,
Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, consul in 31 BC, a descendant of the illustrious house of the
Valerii Messallae, and of
Marcus Valerius Corvus, who obtained his cognomen when, as a young soldier, he defeated a giant
Gaul in single combat, with the apparently divine intervention of a raven, or corvus.[5][6][7]
A later family of the Statilii bore the cognomina Maximus and Severus, both common surnames throughout Roman history.
Titus Statilius Maximus Severus Hadrianus, consul in AD 115, was the descendant of wealthy
Syrian colonists.[8]Maximus, the superlative of Magnus, "great", could have described someone of great stature or high achievement, but was more often used to designate the eldest of several brothers.[9]Severus was used to describe someone whose manner was "stern" or "serious".[9]
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Sthenius or Statius Statilius,[i] the leader of the
Lucanians against
Thurii early in the third century BC. At Rome, the
tribune of the plebs Gaius Aelius passed a measure condemning Statilius, for which he was honoured by the Thurians.[10][11][12]
Lucius Statilius, an
eques, and one of
Catiline's conspirators, was imprisoned along with several of his colleagues in the
Tullianum, where they were strangled on the orders of
Cicero.[17][18][19]
Statilius, an actor of mean ability, with whom Cicero contrasts Quintus Roscius.[20]
Lucius Statilius, one of the
augurs, mentioned by Cicero in 45 BC.[21]
Statilius, a disciple of
Cato the Younger, alongside whom he wished to perish by his own hand during the
Civil War. He was saved by his friends, and after the death of
Caesar, joined the army of the Liberatores, falling in battle at
Philippi.[22]
Titus Statilius Crito, better known as
Criton of Heraclea, the physician of
Trajan, whom he accompanied to
Dacia. In addition to works on medicine, cosmetics, and perhaps also cookery, he wrote a history of the
Dacians and
Getae, known as the Getica, which probably formed part of the basis for Trajan's De Bello Dacico, now lost, along with all of Criton's works, except for fragments and quotations preserved by other writers.[27][28]
Statilius Secundus, governor of an uncertain province, received a
rescript from the emperor
Hadrian, concerning whether and how to punish soldiers whose prisoners had escaped their custody.[29][30]
Statilius Maximus, a grammarian, and the author of De Singularibus apud Ciceronem, together with commentaries on
Cato and
Sallust. His work is repeatedly quoted by
Charisius.[46]
Titus Statilius T. f. T. n. Taurus, triumvir monetalis at an uncertain date, died before achieving higher office.[54]
Titus Statilius T. f. T. n. Taurus, consul in AD 11.[55][56]
Statilia T. f. T. n., daughter of Titus Statilius Taurus, the consul of 37 and 26 BC, married
Lucius Calpurnius Piso, consul in 1 BC. She is probably the Statilia who reportedly reached the age of ninety-nine, and died during the reign of
Claudius.[57][58][59]
Titus Statilius T. f. T. n. Taurus, consul in AD 44, and proconsul of Africa from AD 51 to 53. At the instigation of
Agrippina, he was accused, apparently without evidence, of extortion and divination, and took his own life rather than face what he believed would be inevitable condemnation. He was the builder of the
Horti Tauriani.[64][65]
Titus Statilius T. f. T. n. Statilius Corvinus, also known as Taurus Statilius Corvinus, was consul in AD 45. The following year, he was among those who conspired against the emperor
Claudius. He may have been put to death, but his fate is uncertain; some of the conspirators were exiled.[66][67][7][68]
Statilia T. f. T. n. Corvinus, the sister of Corvinus.
Statilia T. f. T. n. Messalina, probably the daughter or niece of the consul Corvinus, her first husband was
Marcus Julius Vestinus Atticus, consul in AD 65, whose destruction
Nero wrought because not because of any wrongdoing, but because Atticus was too astute to be deceived by the emperor. Messalina became Nero's mistress, and then his third wife, after the death of
Poppaea Sabina. Messalina was one of the few who survived the downfall of Nero.
Otho, who had lost his wife to Nero, promised to marry her, but he fell in the
year of the four emperors.[69][70][71]
Titus Statilius T. f. Taurus, mentioned in several inscriptions dating around AD 140, appears to have been a military tribune in the
Legio XXII Primigenia, and was buried at
Mogontiacum in
Germania Superior, aged thirty-six, with a monument from his freedman, Statilius Fortunatus.[72][73]
Statilii Optati
Titus Statilius T. l. Optatus, a freedman buried at Rome during the first half of the first century, aged twenty-six, was probably part of the household of Titus Statilius Taurus Corvinus, since a Corvinus is mentioned in the same inscription.[74]
Statilius T. f. Homullus, the elder son of Titus Statilius Optatus, who along with his brother, Optatus, dedicated a late first- or early second-century monument at Rome to their father.[75][77]
Statilius T. f. Optatus, the younger son of Titus Statilius Optatus, joined with his brother, Homullus, in dedicating a monument to their father.[75][78]
Titus Statilius Julius Severus, or Lucius Julius Statilius Severus, consul in an uncertain year, was governor of
Moesia Inferior from AD 159 to 160.[84][85][86]
Titus Statilius Severus, consul in AD 171.[87][88][89]
^Galen, De Compositione Medicamentorum Secundum Locos Conscriptorum, i. 3, vol. xii. De Compositione Medicamentorum per Genera, ii. 11, vi. 1, vol. xiii.
Appianus Alexandrinus (
Appian), Bellum Civile (The Civil War), Bella Illyrica (The Illyrian Wars).
Aelius Galenus (
Galen), De Compositione Medicamentorum Secundum Locos Conscriptorum (On the Composition of Medications According to the Place Prescribed), De Compositione Medicamentorum per Genera (On the Composition of Medications According to their Kind).
Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (
Cassius Dio), Roman History.
Aelius Lampridius, Aelius Spartianus, Flavius Vopiscus, Julius Capitolinus, Trebellius Pollio, and Vulcatius Gallicanus, Historia Augusta (Lives of the Emperors).
Johann Albert Fabricius, Bibliotheca Graeca, sive Notitia Scriptorum Veterum Graecorum (The Greek Library, or Knowledge of Ancient Greek Writers), Christian Liebezeit & Theodor Christoph Felginer, Hamburg (1718).
Analecta Veterum Poetarum Graecorum (Fragments by Ancient Greek Poets),
Richard François Philippe Brunck, ed., Bauer and Treuttel, Strasbourg (1772–1776).
Anthologia Graeca sive Poetarum Graecorum Lusus, ex Recensione Brunckii (The Greek Anthology, or Works of the Greek Poets, or the Collection of
Brunck),
Friedrich Jacobs, ed., Dyck, Leipzig (1794).
T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, American Philological Association (1952–1986).
Géza Alföldy, Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter der Antonien (The Consulate and Senatorial State under the Antonines), Rudolf Habelt, Bonn (1977).
Werner Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139" (Annual and Provincial Fasti of the Senatorial Governors from AD 69/70 to 138/139), in Chiron, vol. 12 (1982).
Paul M. M. Leunissen, Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander (Consuls and Consulars from the Time of Commodus to Severus Alexander), Brill (1989).
The gens Statilia was a
plebeian family of
Lucanian origin at
ancient Rome. Members of this
gens are first mentioned in the third century BC, when one of them led the Lucanian assault on the city of
Thurii, and another commanded an allied
cavalry troop during the
Second Punic War; but at Rome the Statilii first come to attention in the time of
Cicero, at which point they held
equestrian rank. The first of the family to attain the
consulship was
Titus Statilius Taurus in 37 BC, and his descendants continued to fill the highest offices of the Roman state until the time of
Marcus Aurelius.[1]
Origin
The
nomenStatilius belongs to a class of gentilicia ending in the suffix -ilius, derived from other names ending in the diminutive suffix -ulus.[2]Statilius is a derivative of the common
OscanpraenomenStatius, the diminutive of which may have been Statulus. The same praenomen also gave rise to the
Statia gens.[3]
Praenomina
The earliest Statilii bore common Oscan praenomina, such as Sthenius (or Statius) and Marius. In the late
Republic, we find Lucius and Quintus, both among the most common praenomina throughout all periods of Roman history. The consular families from the first centuries of the
Empire used Titus to the exclusion of all other regular praenomina, although two of the Statilii Tauri exchanged their original praenomina for the names Sisenna and Taurus. In the case of Taurus, the name was simply the cognomen of the family used as a praenomen, while Sisenna commemorated the descent of the family from the
Cornelii Sisennae, a noble family of the Republic, through a female line.
Branches and cognomina
The most important branch of the Statilii bore the
cognomenTaurus, referring to a bull, and belonging to a large class of surnames derived from the names of animals and everyday objects.[4] This family remained prominent from the end of the Republic to the reign of
Claudius, and its name appears on coins of the era.[1]
Corvinus, borne as a surname by one of the consular Statilii, was inherited from his grandfather,
Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, consul in 31 BC, a descendant of the illustrious house of the
Valerii Messallae, and of
Marcus Valerius Corvus, who obtained his cognomen when, as a young soldier, he defeated a giant
Gaul in single combat, with the apparently divine intervention of a raven, or corvus.[5][6][7]
A later family of the Statilii bore the cognomina Maximus and Severus, both common surnames throughout Roman history.
Titus Statilius Maximus Severus Hadrianus, consul in AD 115, was the descendant of wealthy
Syrian colonists.[8]Maximus, the superlative of Magnus, "great", could have described someone of great stature or high achievement, but was more often used to designate the eldest of several brothers.[9]Severus was used to describe someone whose manner was "stern" or "serious".[9]
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Sthenius or Statius Statilius,[i] the leader of the
Lucanians against
Thurii early in the third century BC. At Rome, the
tribune of the plebs Gaius Aelius passed a measure condemning Statilius, for which he was honoured by the Thurians.[10][11][12]
Lucius Statilius, an
eques, and one of
Catiline's conspirators, was imprisoned along with several of his colleagues in the
Tullianum, where they were strangled on the orders of
Cicero.[17][18][19]
Statilius, an actor of mean ability, with whom Cicero contrasts Quintus Roscius.[20]
Lucius Statilius, one of the
augurs, mentioned by Cicero in 45 BC.[21]
Statilius, a disciple of
Cato the Younger, alongside whom he wished to perish by his own hand during the
Civil War. He was saved by his friends, and after the death of
Caesar, joined the army of the Liberatores, falling in battle at
Philippi.[22]
Titus Statilius Crito, better known as
Criton of Heraclea, the physician of
Trajan, whom he accompanied to
Dacia. In addition to works on medicine, cosmetics, and perhaps also cookery, he wrote a history of the
Dacians and
Getae, known as the Getica, which probably formed part of the basis for Trajan's De Bello Dacico, now lost, along with all of Criton's works, except for fragments and quotations preserved by other writers.[27][28]
Statilius Secundus, governor of an uncertain province, received a
rescript from the emperor
Hadrian, concerning whether and how to punish soldiers whose prisoners had escaped their custody.[29][30]
Statilius Maximus, a grammarian, and the author of De Singularibus apud Ciceronem, together with commentaries on
Cato and
Sallust. His work is repeatedly quoted by
Charisius.[46]
Titus Statilius T. f. T. n. Taurus, triumvir monetalis at an uncertain date, died before achieving higher office.[54]
Titus Statilius T. f. T. n. Taurus, consul in AD 11.[55][56]
Statilia T. f. T. n., daughter of Titus Statilius Taurus, the consul of 37 and 26 BC, married
Lucius Calpurnius Piso, consul in 1 BC. She is probably the Statilia who reportedly reached the age of ninety-nine, and died during the reign of
Claudius.[57][58][59]
Titus Statilius T. f. T. n. Taurus, consul in AD 44, and proconsul of Africa from AD 51 to 53. At the instigation of
Agrippina, he was accused, apparently without evidence, of extortion and divination, and took his own life rather than face what he believed would be inevitable condemnation. He was the builder of the
Horti Tauriani.[64][65]
Titus Statilius T. f. T. n. Statilius Corvinus, also known as Taurus Statilius Corvinus, was consul in AD 45. The following year, he was among those who conspired against the emperor
Claudius. He may have been put to death, but his fate is uncertain; some of the conspirators were exiled.[66][67][7][68]
Statilia T. f. T. n. Corvinus, the sister of Corvinus.
Statilia T. f. T. n. Messalina, probably the daughter or niece of the consul Corvinus, her first husband was
Marcus Julius Vestinus Atticus, consul in AD 65, whose destruction
Nero wrought because not because of any wrongdoing, but because Atticus was too astute to be deceived by the emperor. Messalina became Nero's mistress, and then his third wife, after the death of
Poppaea Sabina. Messalina was one of the few who survived the downfall of Nero.
Otho, who had lost his wife to Nero, promised to marry her, but he fell in the
year of the four emperors.[69][70][71]
Titus Statilius T. f. Taurus, mentioned in several inscriptions dating around AD 140, appears to have been a military tribune in the
Legio XXII Primigenia, and was buried at
Mogontiacum in
Germania Superior, aged thirty-six, with a monument from his freedman, Statilius Fortunatus.[72][73]
Statilii Optati
Titus Statilius T. l. Optatus, a freedman buried at Rome during the first half of the first century, aged twenty-six, was probably part of the household of Titus Statilius Taurus Corvinus, since a Corvinus is mentioned in the same inscription.[74]
Statilius T. f. Homullus, the elder son of Titus Statilius Optatus, who along with his brother, Optatus, dedicated a late first- or early second-century monument at Rome to their father.[75][77]
Statilius T. f. Optatus, the younger son of Titus Statilius Optatus, joined with his brother, Homullus, in dedicating a monument to their father.[75][78]
Titus Statilius Julius Severus, or Lucius Julius Statilius Severus, consul in an uncertain year, was governor of
Moesia Inferior from AD 159 to 160.[84][85][86]
Titus Statilius Severus, consul in AD 171.[87][88][89]
^Galen, De Compositione Medicamentorum Secundum Locos Conscriptorum, i. 3, vol. xii. De Compositione Medicamentorum per Genera, ii. 11, vi. 1, vol. xiii.
Appianus Alexandrinus (
Appian), Bellum Civile (The Civil War), Bella Illyrica (The Illyrian Wars).
Aelius Galenus (
Galen), De Compositione Medicamentorum Secundum Locos Conscriptorum (On the Composition of Medications According to the Place Prescribed), De Compositione Medicamentorum per Genera (On the Composition of Medications According to their Kind).
Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (
Cassius Dio), Roman History.
Aelius Lampridius, Aelius Spartianus, Flavius Vopiscus, Julius Capitolinus, Trebellius Pollio, and Vulcatius Gallicanus, Historia Augusta (Lives of the Emperors).
Johann Albert Fabricius, Bibliotheca Graeca, sive Notitia Scriptorum Veterum Graecorum (The Greek Library, or Knowledge of Ancient Greek Writers), Christian Liebezeit & Theodor Christoph Felginer, Hamburg (1718).
Analecta Veterum Poetarum Graecorum (Fragments by Ancient Greek Poets),
Richard François Philippe Brunck, ed., Bauer and Treuttel, Strasbourg (1772–1776).
Anthologia Graeca sive Poetarum Graecorum Lusus, ex Recensione Brunckii (The Greek Anthology, or Works of the Greek Poets, or the Collection of
Brunck),
Friedrich Jacobs, ed., Dyck, Leipzig (1794).
T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, American Philological Association (1952–1986).
Géza Alföldy, Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter der Antonien (The Consulate and Senatorial State under the Antonines), Rudolf Habelt, Bonn (1977).
Werner Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139" (Annual and Provincial Fasti of the Senatorial Governors from AD 69/70 to 138/139), in Chiron, vol. 12 (1982).
Paul M. M. Leunissen, Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander (Consuls and Consulars from the Time of Commodus to Severus Alexander), Brill (1989).