Thegens Julia was one of the most prominentpatrician families inancient Rome. Members of thegens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of theRepublic. The first of the family to obtain theconsulship wasGaius Julius Iulus in 489 BC. The gens is perhaps best known, however, forGaius Julius Caesar, thedictator and grand uncle of the emperorAugustus, through whom the name was passed to the so-calledJulio-Claudian dynasty of the first century AD. Thenomen Julius became very common inimperial times, as the descendants of persons enrolled ascitizens under the early emperors began to make their mark in history.[1]
The Julii were ofAlban origin, mentioned as one of the leading Alban houses, whichTullus Hostilius removed to Rome upon the destruction ofAlba Longa. The Julii also existed at an early period atBovillae, evidenced by a very ancient inscription on an altar in the theatre of that town, which speaks of their offering sacrifices according to thelege Albana, or Alban rites. Their connection with Bovillae is also implied by thesacrarium, or chapel, which the emperorTiberius dedicated to thegens Julia in the town, and in which he placed the statue of Augustus. Some of the Julii may have settled at Bovillae after the fall of Alba Longa.[2][3][4]
As it became the fashion in the later times of the Republic to claim a divine origin for the most distinguished of the Roman gentes, it was contended that Iulus, the mythical ancestor of the race, was the same asAscanius, the son ofAeneas, and founder ofAlba Longa. Aeneas was, in turn, the son ofVenus andAnchises. In order to prove the identity of Ascanius and Iulus, recourse was had to etymology, some specimens of which the reader curious in such matters will find inServius. Other traditions held that Iulus was the son of Aeneas by his Trojan wife,Creusa, while Ascanius was the son of Aeneas andLavinia, daughter ofLatinus.[5][6]
The dictator Caesar frequently alluded to the divine origin of his race, as, for instance, in the funeral oration which he pronounced whenquaestor over his auntJulia, and in givingVenus Genetrix as the word to his soldiers at the battles ofPharsalus andMunda; and subsequent writers and poets were ready enough to fall in with a belief which flattered the pride and exalted the origin of the imperial family.[7]
Though it would seem that the Julii first came to Rome in the reign of Tullus Hostilius, the name occurs in Roman legend as early as the time ofRomulus. It was Proculus Julius who was said to have informed the sorrowing Roman people, after the strange departure of Romulus from the world, that their king had descended from heaven and appeared to him, bidding him tell the people to honor him in future as a god, under the name ofQuirinus.[8] Some modern critics have inferred from this, that a few of the Julii might have settled in Rome in the reign of the first king; but considering the entirely fabulous nature of the tale, and the circumstance that the celebrity of the Julia gens in later times would easily lead to its connection with the earliest times of Roman story, no historical argument can be drawn from the mere name occurring in this legend.[1][9][10]
In the later Empire, the distinction between praenomen, nomen, and cognomen was gradually lost, andJulius was treated much like a personal name, which it ultimately became. The Latin form is common in many languages, but other familiar forms exist, includingGiulio (Italian),Julio (Spanish),Jules (French),Júlio (Portuguese),Iuliu (Romanian) andЮлий (Yuliy, Bulgarian and Russian).
The Julii of the Republic used thepraenominaLucius,Gaius, andSextus. There are also instances ofVopiscus andSpurius in the early generations of the family. The earliest of the Julii appearing in legend bore the praenomenProculus, and it is possible that this name was used by some of the early Julii, although no later examples are known. In the later Republic and imperial times,Vopiscus andProculus were generally used as personal cognomina.
The gens was always said to have descended from and been named after a mythical personage namedIulus orIullus, even before he was asserted to be the son of Aeneas; and it is entirely possible thatIulus was an ancient praenomen, which had fallen out of use by the early Republic, and was preserved as a cognomen by the eldest branch of the Julii. The name was later revived as a praenomen byMarcus Antonius, the triumvir, who hada son namedIulus. Classical Latin did not distinguish between the letters "I" and "J", which were both written with "I", and for this reason the name is sometimes writtenJulus, just asJulius is also writtenIulius.
The many Julii of imperial times, who were not descended from the gens Julia, did not limit themselves to the praenomina of that family. The imperial family set the example by freely mingling the praenomina of the Julii with those of thegens Claudia, using titles and cognomina as praenomina, and regularly changing their praenomina to reflect the political winds of the empire.
Aeneas, legendary ancestor of the Julii, with the god of the Tiber.
The family-names of the Julii in the time of the Republic areCaesar,Iulus,Mento, andLibo, of which the first three are undoubtedly patrician; but the only families which were particularly celebrated were those ofIulus andCaesar, the former at the beginning and the latter in the last century of the Republic. On coins the only names found areCaesar andBursio, the latter of which does not occur in ancient writers.[1]
Due to the activity of Julius Caesar in Gaul over many years, a number of natives of the Gallic provinces adoptedJulius as their gentilicum, and have no other connection to the Republican Julii. Examples of their descendants includeJulius Florus, andGaius Julius Civilis. Other Julii are descended from the numerousfreedmen, and it may have been assumed by some out of vanity and ostentation.[1]
Iullus, also written asIulus andJullus, was the surname of the eldest branch of the Julii to appear in Roman history. The gens claimed descent from Iulus, who was in some manner connected with Aeneas, although the traditions differed with respect to the details.[11]
In some accounts, Iulus was the son of Aeneas and Creüsa, who came to Latium from the ruins ofTroy, together with his father and others seeking a land in which to settle. In others, Ascanius was the son of Creüsa, while Iulus was the son of Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, the king of Latium with whom Aeneas made peace after landing in Italy. In still different accounts, Iulus was the son not of Aeneas, but of Ascanius.
Perhaps an indigenous origin of the name is suggested by theDe Origo Gentis Romanae of Aurelius Victor, in which Iulus and Ascanius are identical. Described as the son of Jupiter, he was originally known asJobus, and thenJulus. This calls to mind the use ofJove forJupiter, and theDictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology suggests thatIulus might be a diminutive ofDius, which is also the root ofJupiter.[11] Furthermore, Livy reports that after his death Aeneas was worshiped asJupiter Indiges, "the local Jove".[12] This suggests the early fusion of the Aeneas story with a local cult hero, said to have been the son of Jupiter.
Irrespective of the historicity of the Iulus of Roman myth, there is little reason to doubt thatIullus was an ancient personal name, perhaps even a praenomen,[i] and thatJulius is a patronymic surname built upon it.Iullus seems to be the original and better attested spelling, although the trisyllabic formIulus became common afterVergil introduced it in hisAeneid.[13][14][15]
During the century and a half between the last records of the Julii Iuli and the first appearance of the Julii Caesares, we encounter aLucius Julius Libo, consul in BC 267. Chase translates his surname as "sprinkler", deriving it fromlibare, and suggests that it might originally have signified the libation pourer at religious ceremonies.[16] It is not certain whether the name was personal, or whether the consul inherited it from his father and grandfather, of whom all we know is that they were named Lucius. Some scholars have supposed that Libo was descended from the Julii Iuli, and that Lucius, the father of Sextus Julius Caesar, was his son; but the evidence is very slight.[17]
It is uncertain which member of the Julia gens first obtained the surname ofCaesar, but the first who occurs in history is Sextus Julius Caesar,praetor in BC 208. The origin of the name is equally uncertain.Spartianus, in his life ofAelius Verus, mentions four different opinions respecting its origin:
That the word signified an elephant in the language of theMoors, and was given as a surname to one of the Julii because he had killed an elephant.
That it was given to one of the Julii because he had been cut (caesus) out of his mother's womb after her death; or
Because he had been born with a great quantity of hair (caesaries) on his head; or
Because he had azure-colored (caesii) eyes of an almost supernatural kind.
Of these opinions, the third, which is also given byFestus, seems to come nearest the truth.Caesar andcaesaries are both probably connected with the Sanskritkêsa, "hair", and it is quite in accordance with the Roman custom for a surname to be given to an individual from some peculiarity in his personal appearance. The second opinion, which seems to have been the most popular one with the ancient writers, arose without doubt from afalse etymology. With respect to the first, which was the one adopted, says Spartianus, by the most learned men, it is impossible to disprove it absolutely, as we know next to nothing of the ancient Moorish language; but it has no inherent probability in it; and the statement ofServius is undoubtedly false, that the grandfather of the dictator obtained the surname on account of killing an elephant with his own hand in Africa, as there were several of the Julii with this name before his time.
An inquiry into the etymology of this name is of some interest, as no other name has ever obtained such celebrity —"clarum et duraturum cum aeternitate mundi nomen."[18][19] It was assumed by Augustus as the adopted son of the dictator, and was by Augustus handed down to his adopted sonTiberius. It continued to be used byCaligula,Claudius, andNero, as members either by adoption or female descent of Caesar's family; but though the family became extinct with Nero, succeeding emperors still retained it as part of their titles, and it was the practice to prefix it to their own name, as for instance,Imperator Caesar Domitianus Augustus. WhenHadrian adopted Aelius Verus, he allowed the latter to take the title ofCaesar; and from this time, though the title ofAugustus continued to be confined to the reigning prince, that ofCaesar was also granted to the second person in the state and the heir presumptive to the throne.[20]
Gaius Julius Iullus, nominateddictator in 352 BC, ostensibly to carry on war against theEtruscans, but in fact to carry the election of two patricians in the consular comitia, in violation of thelex Licinia Sextia.[34]
Gaius Julius (Sex. f. L. n.) Caesar, great-grandfather of the dictator.
Sextus Julius (Sex. f. Sex. n.) Caesar, praetorurbanus in 123 BC; he is probably the same Sextus Julius Caesar who wastriumvir monetalis about this time.
Lucius Julius Sex. f. Sex. n. Caesar, father of the consul of 90 BC, married Popillia, widow of Quintus Lutatius Catulus, and mother ofQuintus Lutatius Catulus, consul in 102 BC.
Julius Polyaenus, a contemporary of Caesar, and the author of four epigrams in theAnthologia Graeca.[42][43]
Lucius Julius Calidus, a poet in the final years of the Republic, proscribed by Volumnius, the partisan of Marcus Antonius, but saved through the intercession ofAtticus.[44]
Gaius Julius Hyginus, a freedman of Augustus, appointed head of the Palatine library, and the author of numerous books about history, mythology, and science.
Julius Modestus, a freedman of Gaius Julius Hyginus, who became a distinguished grammarian, and the author ofQuaestiones Confusae.[45][46][47]
Julius Marathas, a freedman of Augustus, who wrote a life of his master.[48]
Julius Florus, an orator, jurist, poet, and either the author or editor of several satires during the reign of Augustus. He accompanied Tiberius to Armenia, and may have been the uncle of Julius Secundus, and perhaps the friend ofQuintilian, who calls him an eminent orator ofGaul.[50]
Julius M. f. Vestalis, a son of Marcus Julius Cottius, was a centurion, and in AD 12 commanded the force that retook the frontier post of Aegyssus from the Getae, a deed celebrated by Ovid.[51]
Gaius Julius M. f. Donnus, son of Marcus Julius Cottius, prefect of the Ligures, fought forTiberius.[52]
Marcus Julius M. f. Cottius, another son of Marcus Julius Cottius, prefect of the Ligures, was granted title of king by the emperor Claudius.[53]
Julius Florus, leader of an insurrection of theTreveri during the reign ofTiberius.
Julius Montanus, a senator, poet, and friend of Tiberius, cited by both theelder andyounger Seneca. After the emperorNero assaulted him in the dark, Montanus resisted forcefully before recognizing his attacker and begging for mercy, but he was compelled to commit suicide.[57][58][59]
Julius Africanus, of theGallic state of theSantones, was condemned by Tiberius in AD 32.[61]
Julius Celsus, a tribune of the city cohort, was condemned to death under Tiberius, but broke his own neck in prison, in order to avoid a public execution.[62]
Julius Canus, aStoic philosopher, condemned to death by the emperorCaligula. He had promised to appear to his friends after his death, and fulfilled his promise by appearing to one of them in a vision.[63][64]
Julius Graecinus, a writer on botany, and the father of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, was put to death by Caligula.[65][66][67]
Gaius Julius Sex. f. Postumus,governor of Egypt from AD 45 to 48.[68][69]
Marcus Julius Romulus, adlected into the Senate after serving as tribune of the plebs, also served aslegate of theLegio XV Apollinaris, and proconsul of Macedonia.[70]
Julius Fronto, a supporter ofOtho, put in chains by the soldiers because his brother, Julius Gratus, was a supporter ofVitellius.
Julius Gratus, prefect of the camp in the army ofAulus Caecina Alienus, the general of Vitellius, was put in chains by the soldiers because his brother, Julius Fronto, supportedOtho.
Julius Carus, one of the murderers ofTitus Vinius when the emperor Galba was put to death in AD 69.[75]
Julius Tutor, of the Treviri, joined in the rebellion of Classicus.[77]
Julius Calenus, of the Aedui, a partisan of Vitellius, was sent toGaul as proof of the emperor's defeat atCremona in AD 69.[78]
Julius Priscus, appointedPraetorian Prefect by Vitellius in AD 69, he failed to hold the passes of the Apennines, and returned to Rome in disgrace.[79]
Julius Burdo, commander of the Roman fleet in Germania, in AD 70. Previously suspected by the soldiers of having a hand in the death of Gaius Fonteius Capito, he was protected by Vitellius.[82]
Sextus Julius Gabinianus, a celebrated rhetorician who taught in Gaul during the time of Vespasian, and was spoken of bySuetonius inDe Claris Rhetoribus.[83][84]
Julius Ferox, consulsuffectus from the Kalends of November in AD 100, and subsequently Curator of the Banks and Courses of the Tiber, and of the Cloaca Maxima. He is sometimes confused with the juristUrseius Ferox.[94][95]
Gaius Julius Lacer, an architect during the reign ofTrajan. His name is inscribed uponthe famous bridge over theTagus, which he built, and which still stands.[96]
Gaius Julius Africanus, grandson of the orator, consulsuffectus in AD 108.
Julius Frontinus, a Latin rhetorician, who gave instruction in his art toSeverus Alexander.[108]
Julius Granianus, a rhetorician at the time of Severus Alexander, who was instructed by him in rhetoric.[108]
Julius Paulus, a distinguished jurist and prolific writer on the law, during the early third century.
Julius Martialis, joined the conspiracy against the emperorCaracalla, whom he killed with his own hand, before being slain by the emperor's Scythian guards.[109]
Julius Obsequens, perhaps of the fourth century, an author of a tract known asDe Prodigiis, orProdigiorum Libellus, describing various prodigies and phenomena found in the works of earlier writers.
Julius Exsuperantius, a late Roman historian, probably of the fifth or sixth century; his tract,De Marii, Lepidi, ac Sertorii Bellis Civilibus may have been abridged from the histories ofSallust.
Claudius Julius or Joläus, a Greek historian of unknown date, wrote works onPhoenicia and thePeloponnesus.[119]
Julius Celsus, a scholar atConstantinople in the seventh century, who made a recension of the text of Caesar's commentaries.[120]
^During the first century BC, when the revival of ancient praenomina was fashionable, the triumvirMarcus Antonius gave this name toone of his sons, no doubt with the intention of reminding the people that he was himself a descendant of the Julian gens.
^Normally the surnameSilanus is associated with theJunia gens; but the combinationJulius Silanus is attested by theFasti Ostienses and multiple other inscriptions of the period.
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus,De Claris Rhetoribus (The Eminent Orators);De Illustribus Grammaticis (The Illustrious Grammarians);De Vita Caesarum (Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars).
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870).Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.