The gens Velia was a minor
plebeian family at
ancient Rome. Members of this
gens are first mentioned in the latter part of the first century AD. The first of the Velii to obtain the
consulship was Decimus Velius Fidus in AD 144.
Origin
The Velii share their
nomen with the
Velian Hill, a spur of the
Palatine in the heart of Rome, and also with the town of
Velia in
Lucania. Since the Velii are not mentioned until
imperial times, they may have come from and taken their name from the town, which received the
Roman franchise under the lex Julia of 90 BC.[1]
Branches and cognomina
The only distinct family of the Velii bore the
cognomenRufus, "red", one of a large class of surnames deriving from a person's physical appearance. This
cognomen would probably have been given to an ancestor of the Velii who had red hair.[2] The other cognomina borne by the Velii appear to have been personal surnames, including Celer, swift, Fidus, faithful, and Longus, tall, alluding to the traits or characteristics of an individual, while Senex refers to an old man, and Cerealis, a devotee of
Ceres, the goddess of the harvest, or to the grain with which she was associated.[3][4]
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Gaius Velius, an
aedile, named in an inscription from
Praeneste, dating between AD 14 and 16.[5]
Velius Cerealis or Cerialis, a friend of
Pliny the Younger, addressed in two of his letters.[6][7]
Velius Celer, a grammarian who lived in the time of Hadrian.[16][7]
Decimus Velius Fidus,
consulsuffectus toward the end of AD 144, and governor of an unidentified province, perhaps
Syria, circa 150. He is probably the same as the
pontifex Velius Fidus mentioned in an inscription dating to 155.[17]
Velius Cornificius Gordianus, consul suffectus in September, AD 275.[18]
Velius Rufus Senex, a correspondent of
Marcus Cornelius Fronto, and perhaps the father of Decimus Velius Rufus Julianus, the consul of AD 178.[21][7][22]
Decimus Velius Rufus Julianus, consul in AD 178, was one of those eminent men put to death without cause by
Commoduscirca 183, after the discovery of a plot to assassinate him.[23][24][7][22]
Aelius Lampridius, Aelius Spartianus, Flavius Vopiscus, Julius Capitolinus, Trebellius Pollio, and Vulcatius Gallicanus, Historia Augusta (Augustan History).
Maurus Servius Honoratus (
Servius), Ad Virgilii Aeneidem Commentarii (Commentary on Vergil's Aeneid).
The gens Velia was a minor
plebeian family at
ancient Rome. Members of this
gens are first mentioned in the latter part of the first century AD. The first of the Velii to obtain the
consulship was Decimus Velius Fidus in AD 144.
Origin
The Velii share their
nomen with the
Velian Hill, a spur of the
Palatine in the heart of Rome, and also with the town of
Velia in
Lucania. Since the Velii are not mentioned until
imperial times, they may have come from and taken their name from the town, which received the
Roman franchise under the lex Julia of 90 BC.[1]
Branches and cognomina
The only distinct family of the Velii bore the
cognomenRufus, "red", one of a large class of surnames deriving from a person's physical appearance. This
cognomen would probably have been given to an ancestor of the Velii who had red hair.[2] The other cognomina borne by the Velii appear to have been personal surnames, including Celer, swift, Fidus, faithful, and Longus, tall, alluding to the traits or characteristics of an individual, while Senex refers to an old man, and Cerealis, a devotee of
Ceres, the goddess of the harvest, or to the grain with which she was associated.[3][4]
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Gaius Velius, an
aedile, named in an inscription from
Praeneste, dating between AD 14 and 16.[5]
Velius Cerealis or Cerialis, a friend of
Pliny the Younger, addressed in two of his letters.[6][7]
Velius Celer, a grammarian who lived in the time of Hadrian.[16][7]
Decimus Velius Fidus,
consulsuffectus toward the end of AD 144, and governor of an unidentified province, perhaps
Syria, circa 150. He is probably the same as the
pontifex Velius Fidus mentioned in an inscription dating to 155.[17]
Velius Cornificius Gordianus, consul suffectus in September, AD 275.[18]
Velius Rufus Senex, a correspondent of
Marcus Cornelius Fronto, and perhaps the father of Decimus Velius Rufus Julianus, the consul of AD 178.[21][7][22]
Decimus Velius Rufus Julianus, consul in AD 178, was one of those eminent men put to death without cause by
Commoduscirca 183, after the discovery of a plot to assassinate him.[23][24][7][22]
Aelius Lampridius, Aelius Spartianus, Flavius Vopiscus, Julius Capitolinus, Trebellius Pollio, and Vulcatius Gallicanus, Historia Augusta (Augustan History).
Maurus Servius Honoratus (
Servius), Ad Virgilii Aeneidem Commentarii (Commentary on Vergil's Aeneid).