The gens Tapsennia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. No members of this gens occur in history, but several are known from an inscription dating from the middle of the first century, under the early empire.
The nomen Tapsenna is clearly of Etruscan derivation, as shown by the distinctly Etruscan termination -enna in its masculine form. [1] [2] The inscription mentioning several members of this family is from Teanum Sidicinum in northern Campania, a region that had been colonized by the Etruscans at a very early period, although it is not impossible that the Tapsennae settled there at a later time. [3]
The only cognomen associated with the Tapsennae known from epigraphy is Proculus, originally a praenomen that had fallen out of use in Republican times, but was later revived as a surname. From its form, Proculus seems to be a diminutive of Procus, a very ancient word for a prince, or in later times, a suitor. [4] [5] although a popular explanation in later times was that the name was given to a child born while his father was abroad. [6] [4]
The gens Tapsennia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. No members of this gens occur in history, but several are known from an inscription dating from the middle of the first century, under the early empire.
The nomen Tapsenna is clearly of Etruscan derivation, as shown by the distinctly Etruscan termination -enna in its masculine form. [1] [2] The inscription mentioning several members of this family is from Teanum Sidicinum in northern Campania, a region that had been colonized by the Etruscans at a very early period, although it is not impossible that the Tapsennae settled there at a later time. [3]
The only cognomen associated with the Tapsennae known from epigraphy is Proculus, originally a praenomen that had fallen out of use in Republican times, but was later revived as a surname. From its form, Proculus seems to be a diminutive of Procus, a very ancient word for a prince, or in later times, a suitor. [4] [5] although a popular explanation in later times was that the name was given to a child born while his father was abroad. [6] [4]