Fulvia (gens)

The gens Fulvia, originally Foulvia, was one of the most illustrious plebeian families at Rome. By the end of the fourth century BC, they had joined the nobiles through the patronage of the Fabii, who supported the successful candidacy of Lucius Fulvius Curvus for the consulship of 322 BC. They were long active in the politics of the Republic, and gained a reputation for producing excellent military leaders.

Origin

According to Cicero, this gens came to Rome from Tusculum, although some members must have remained in their native place, since Fulvii occur at Tusculum as late as the time of Cicero. The gens Fulvia was believed to have received its sacra from Hercules after he had accomplished his twelve labours.

Praenomina used

The Fulvii used the praenomina Lucius, Gnaeus, Marcus, Quintus, Servius, and Gaius. In the first century BC we also find Fulvii named Publius and Aulus, but these are not known from any of the major families of the gens.

Branches and cognomina

The cognomens which occur in this gens in the time of the Republic are Bambalio, Centumalus, Curvus, Flaccus, Gillo, Nobilior, Paetinus, and Veratius or Neratius.

Fulvia

Fulvia (c. 83 BC – 40 BC) was an aristocratic Roman woman who lived during the Late Roman Republic. She gained access to power through her marriage to three of the most promising men of her generation, Publius Clodius Pulcher, Gaius Scribonius Curio, and Marcus Antonius. All three husbands were politically active populares, tribunes, and supporters of Julius Caesar. Though she is more famous for her involvement in Antony's career, many scholars believe that she was politically active with all of her husbands.

Fulvia is remembered in the history of the late Roman Republic for her political ambition and activity. She is most famous for her activities during her third marriage and her involvement in the Perusine War of 41–40 BC. She was the first Roman non-mythological woman to appear on Roman coins.

Birth and early life

Fulvia was born and raised either in Rome or Tusculum. Her date of birth is not known. Fulvia was a member of the Fulvia gens, which hailed from Tusculum. The Fulvii were one of the most distinguished Republican plebeian noble families in Rome; various members of the family achieved consulship and became senators, though no member of the Fulvii is on record as a consul after 125 BC. Fulvia was the only child of Marcus Fulvius Bambalio and Sempronia. Her father Marcus received the nickname Bambalio, from the Latin to stutter, because of his hesitancy in speech. Her maternal grandfather was Sempronius Tuditanus, who was described by Cicero as a madman, who liked to throw his money to the people from the Rostra.

Fulvia (disambiguation)

Fulvia, an ancient Latin woman's name, may refer to:

People

Other

Fulvia (wife of Saturninus)

Fulvia, the wife of Tiberius' 'amicus' Saturninus, lived during the reign of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. (She is sometimes confused with Fulvia the wife of Marcus Antonius who died before the Principate began.)

Fulvia converted to Judaism through the teachings of a Jew who had sought refuge in Rome to escape punishment. This impostor, together with three others, persuaded her to contribute purple and gold for the Temple at Jerusalem, which contributions they kept for themselves. The discovery of this fraud by the emperor Tiberius through his friend Saturninus, Fulvia's husband, caused the banishment of the Jews from Rome (19 C.E.; Josephus, "Ant." xviii. 3, § 5; comp. Philo, "In Flaccum," § 1; idem, "Legatio ad Caium," § 24; Tacitus, "Annales," ii. 85; Suetonius, "Tiberius," § 36).

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Fulvia". Jewish Encyclopedia. 1901–1906. 

Gens

In ancient Rome, a gens (/ˈɡɛns/ or /ˈdʒɛnz/), plural gentes, was a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps (plural stirpes). The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the period of the Roman Republic. Much of an individual's social standing depended on the gens to which he belonged. Certain gentes were considered patrician, others plebeian, while some had both patrician and plebeian branches. The importance of membership in a gens declined considerably in imperial times.

Origin of the gens

The word gens is sometimes translated as "race" or "nation", meaning a people descended from a common ancestor (rather than sharing a common physical trait). It can also be translated as "clan" or "tribe", although the word tribus has a separate and distinct meaning in Roman culture. A gens could be as small as a single family, or could include hundreds of individuals. According to tradition, in 479 BC the Fabii alone were able to field a militia consisting of three hundred and six men of fighting age. The concept of the gens was not uniquely Roman, but was shared with communities throughout Italy, including those who spoke Italic languages such as Latin, Oscan, and Umbrian, as well as the Etruscans. All of these peoples were eventually absorbed into the sphere of Roman culture.

Gens (disambiguation)

A gens was a family in Ancient Rome in which all of the members typically bore the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor.

Gens can also refer to:

Gens (behaviour)

In animal behaviour, a gens (pl. gentes) or host race is a host-specific lineage of a brood parasite species. Brood parasites such as cuckoos, which use multiple host species to raise their chicks, evolve different gentes, each one specific to its host species. This specialisation allows the parasites to lay eggs that mimic those of their hosts, which in turn reduces the chances of the eggs being rejected by the hosts.

The exact mechanisms of the evolution and maintenance of gens is still a matter of some research. However, it is believed that in common cuckoos, gens-specific properties are sex-linked and lie on the W chromosome of the female. Male cuckoos, which like all male birds have no W chromosome, are able to mate with females of any gens, and thereby maintain the cuckoo as one species. This is not the case in other brood parasites, such as cowbirds, in which both the male and female imprint on their preferred host. This leads to speciation, such as the indigo bird, which is suggested by the fact they have a more recent evolutionary origin than their hosts.