Thegens Caelia was aplebeian family atancient Rome. ThenomenCaelius is frequently confounded withCoelius andCaecilius, with some individuals referred to asCaelius in manuscripts, while appearing asCoelius orCoilius on coins. Although the Caelii asserted their great antiquity, none of them attained any of the higher offices of the Roman state until thepraetorship of Publius Caelius in 74 BC, and the first of thisgens who obtained theconsulship was Gaius Caelius Rufus in AD 17. The emperorBalbinus was a descendant of the Caelii.^[1]

The Caelii claimed descent from theEtruscan hero,Caelius Vibenna, whose adventures were legendary inEtruria, but largely forgotten at Rome; the emperorClaudius, who was deeply interested in Etruscan culture, described the adventures of Caelius, his brother, Aulus Vibenna, and their companion, Macstarna, whom Claudius maintained was the same person asServius Tullius, the sixthKing of Rome. The famousFrançois Tomb discovered atVulci includes a fresco depicting one such episode, in which, aided by a companion, the three heroes and their friends escape from captivity, and slay an enemy namedGnaeus Tarquinius of Rome. Subsequently Vibenna and his followers settled at Rome, on the Querquetulan, or oak-covered hill, which in later times was generally known as theCaelian Hill, one of the famedseven hills of Rome.^[2][3][4]

The mainpraenomina of the Caelii during theRepublic wereMarcus,Publius,Gaius, andQuintus, all amongst the most common names throughout Roman history. In imperial times, some of the Caelii usedGnaeus, also a common praenomen, andDecimus, which was somewhat more distinctive.

The onlycognomen of this gens under theRepublic wasRufus, originally typically given to a person with red hair.^[5][1][6] A variety of surnames are found in imperial times, includingCensorinus, direct relative of acensor;Cursor, a runner;Pollio, originally a polisher of armor; andSabinus, designating someone ofSabine descent or habits.^[7]

This list includes abbreviatedpraenomina. For an explanation of this practice, seefiliation.

• Marcus Caelius,tribune of the plebs, attacked in a speech byMarcus Porcius Cato, the censor.^[8]
• Gaius Caelius, praetor about 90 BC.^[9]
• Publius Caelius, placed in command ofPlacentia by the consulGnaeus Octavius in 87 BC, and when the town was taken byCinna's army, he caused himself to be put to death, rather than fall into the hands of the Marian party.^[10]
• Publius Caelius (P. f.),praetor in 74 BC.^[11]
• Marcus Caelius, aneques, from whomVerres took away several silver vases, in 71 BC.^[12]
• Gaius Caelius, tribune of the plebs in 51 BC, with several of his colleagues vetoed thesenate's decrees directed against Caesar.^[13]
• Marcus Caelius Rufus, praetorperegrinus in 48 BC, during the Civil War, deprived of his office after deliberately causing a riot, and subsequently slain by the cavalry, whom he attempted to bribe to surrender the city ofThurii.
• Quintus Caelius, a friend and follower ofMarcus Antonius, attacked byCicero.^[14]
• Caelius, a moneylender, with whom Cicero had some dealings.^[15]
• Caelius Cursor, an eques, put to death byTiberius, for having falsely charged the praetor Magius Caecilianus with treason.^[16]
• Marcus Caelius T. f.,primus pilus ofLegio XVIII, died during theBattle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9.
• Publius Caelius T. f., built the cenotaph of his brother Marcus Caelius, theprimus pilus.
• Gaius Caelius Rufus, consul in AD 17.^[17][18]
• Caelius Pollio, commander of the Roman army inArmenia in AD 51, bribed byRhadamistus to betray the cause ofMithridates, the Roman client king.^[19][20]
• Gnaeus Arulenus Caelius Sabinus, a jurist, appointed consul by the emperorOtho in AD 69, and retained byVitellius.
• Quintus Caelius Honoratus, consulsuffectus in AD 105.
• Decimus Caelius Calvinus Balbinus, Roman emperor withMarcus Clodius Pupienus in AD 238.
• Caelius Apicius, the attributed author of a culinary treatise in ten books, probably in the first century AD.
• Caelius Firmianus Symposius, a poet, and the author of a series of riddles, of uncertain date.
• Caelius Aurelianus, a physician of uncertain date during the imperial period.
• Gaius Caelius Saturninussigno Dogmatius, praetorian prefect under Constantine I.^[21][22]
• Gaius Caelius Censorinus, governor of Campania and suffect consul under Constantine I.^[23][24][25]
• Caelius Censorinus, governor of Numidia between 375 and 378, and possibly a property owner at Baiae.^[26][27][25]

• List of Roman gentes

• Caelii
• Roman gentes

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