Claudius (gens)
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The gens Claudia was one of the oldest families in ancient Rome, and for centuries its members were regularly leaders of the city and empire.

The family was traditionally held to have begun with Attius Clausus, a Sabine who favored peace with Rome [1]. This was an unpopular position that led to him leaving Regillus with his followers around 504 BC. Rome was welcoming however, making his followers citizens and giving them land, and making Appius Claudius Sabinus Inregillensis, as he was called in Latin, a senator. It is assumed that the name came from the Latin claudeo (to limp), as many of the family members were lame, probably from some congenital disorder.

Contents

Branches of the gens Claudia in the Early Republic

The following branches were descended from the first ancestor or founder Appius Claudius Sabinus.

Branches of the gens Claudia in the Middle Republic

The following branches were descended from the censor Appius Claudius Caecus.

  • Those Claudii with the cognomen Pulcher (fem. Pulchra, meaning "beautiful")[2] were patricians and also very prominent in the Middle and Late Republic; they favoured the praenomina Appius (the only family to bear this praenomen) and Publius. The founder of this branch Publius Claudius Pulcher (consul 149 BC) offended Roman sensibilities by throwing the sacred chickens overboard (after they refused to feed), and later committed suicide ((249 BC/246 BC) after being forced from office as a result of the outcry. He appointed his own freedman Marcus Claudius Glicia as Dictator but the Senate refused to ratify the appointment. Pulcher was the son of Appius Claudius Caudex (consul 264 BC), himself son of Gaius Claudius, himself a son of Appius Claudius Caecus. His son was the first Appius Claudius Pulcher (d. 211 BC), who was consul in 212 BC).


Branches of the gens Claudia in the Late Republic

There were several major branches of the Claudian gens at the end of the Republic.

  • One obscure patrician branch of the family appears to have had no cognomen. A Lucius Claudius served as Rex Sacrorum in the mid-1st Century BC. He is doubly unusual, since "Lucius" is rare in any of the branches of the Claudii and unusual among patricians in general.
  • Those Claudii with the cognomen Marcellus (fem.Marcella, meaning martial) were plebeians. In the first century BC, this branch had three consuls in three successive years (51-49 BC; two brothers and their first cousin); they favoured the praenomina Gaius and Marcus. Gaius Claudius Marcellus (consul 49 BC) was married to Augustus' sister Octavia Minor and their son, Marcus, was married to Augustus' daughter, Julia the Elder. A sub-branch or off-shoot, whose antecedents are unclear, was additionally cognominated Aeserninus as in Marcus Claudius Marcellus Aeserninus.
  • Those Claudii with the cognomen Pulcher (fem. Pulchra, meaning "beautiful")[3] were patricians and also very prominent in the Middle and Late Republic; they favoured the praenomina Appius (the only family to bear this praenomen) and Publius. A plebeian offshoot of this family was created when a Publius Claudius Pulcher, youngest son of an Appius, had himself adopted by a plebeian (for political reasons) and was thereafter known as Publius Clodius. One of his sisters, Clodia, wife of her cousin Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer, also adopted this vulgar spelling. This branch however fell into obscurity with Clodius's death; his daughter Clodia was briefly married to Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, the future Augustus.
  • As noted, some plebian Claudians used the gentilicium "Clodius."

Notable members of the gens Claudia

Note: Consuls of 51 and 49 BC were brothers and first cousins to the consul of 50 BC.

Note: Claudians after the death of Nero were most likely descended from freedmen of the Claudians, or men granted citizenship by Claudians.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Tacitus, Annals XI.23
  2. ^ This was allegedly meant ironically, as were some other Roman cognomina; the first Claudius Pulcher and most of his descendants were far from good-looking.
  3. ^ This was allegedly meant ironically, as were some other Roman cognomina; the first Claudius Pulcher and most of his descendants were far from good-looking.
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