{{short description|Ancient Roman family}} The '''gens Sextia''' was a [[plebeian]] family at [[ancient Rome]], from the time of the early [[Roman Republic|Republic]] and continuing into [[Roman Empire|imperial times]]. The most famous member of the [[gens]] was [[Lucius Sextius Lateranus]], who as [[tribune of the plebs]] from 376 to 367 BC, prevented the election of the annual [[Roman magistrates|magistrates]], until the passage of the ''[[lex Licinia Sextia]]'', otherwise known as the "Licinian Rogations," in the latter year. This law, brought forward by Sextius and his colleague, [[Gaius Licinius Stolo|Gaius Licinius Calvus]], opened the [[Roman consul|consulship]] to the plebeians, and in the following year Sextius was elected the first plebeian consul. Despite the antiquity of the family, only one other member obtained the consulship during the time of the Republic. Their name occurs more often in the [[consular fasti]] under the Empire.<ref name="DGRBM Sextia Gens">''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III, p. 810 ("[[s:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Sextia gens|Sextia Gens]]").</ref><ref name="Livy vi 34 42">Livy, vi. 34–42.</ref>
==Origin== The [[nomen gentilicium|nomen]] ''Sextius'' is a patronymic surname, derived from the [[praenomen]] ''[[Sextus (praenomen)|Sextus]]'', meaning "sixth".<ref name="Chase 123">Chase, p. 123.</ref> It is frequently confounded with that of the [[patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] ''[[Sestia gens|gens Sestia]]'',<ref name="DGRBM Sextia Gens"/> and in fact the two families may originally have been the same; however, Roman authors treated them as distinct gentes.<ref>''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III, p. 795 ("[[s:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Sestia gens|Sestia Gens]]").</ref> The plebeian ''[[Sextilia gens|gens Sextilia]]'' was derived from the same praenomen.<ref name="Chase 123"/>
==Praenomina== The main praenomina of the early Sextii were ''[[Marcus (praenomen)|Marcus]]'', ''[[Lucius (praenomen)|Lucius]]'', and ''[[Gaius (praenomen)|Gaius]]'', the most common names throughout all periods of Roman history. From filiations, we know that some of them also used ''[[Numerius (praenomen)|Numerius]]'' and ''[[Sextus (praenomen)|Sextus]]'', of which the former was relatively uncommon at Rome. Later generations of this gens used ''[[Publius (praenomen)|Publius]]'', ''[[Titus (praenomen)|Titus]]'', and ''[[Quintus (praenomen)|Quintus]]'', all of which were also common. Epigraphy provides instances of ''[[Vibius (praenomen)|Vibius]]'', a name that was also used by the patrician Sestii, supporting the theory of a common origin.
==Branches and cognomina== Most of the Sextii under the Republic bore no surname, or else had only personal [[cognomen|cognomina]], instead of family-names. These included ''Baculus'', ''Calvinus'', ''Lateranus'', ''Naso'', ''Paconianus'', and ''Sabinus.''<ref name="DGRBM Sextia Gens"/>
==Members== {{filiation}}
* Marcus Sextius, [[tribune of the plebs]] in 414 BC, proposed that a colony should be sent to [[Bolae]].<ref>Livy, iv. 49.</ref> * Numerius Sextius, grandfather of Lucius Sextius Lateranus, the tribune.<ref name="Fasti Capitolini"/> * Sextus Sextius N. f., father of the tribune Lateranus.<ref name="Fasti Capitolini"/> * [[Lucius Sextius Sextinus Lateranus|Lucius Sextius Sex. f. N. n. Sextinus Lateranus]], [[tribune of the plebs]] with [[Gaius Licinius Stolo|Gaius Licinius Calvus]] from 376 to 367 BC, succeeded in passing the ''[[lex Licinia Sextia]]'', opening the [[Roman consul|consulship]] to the plebeians; in 366 he became the first plebeian consul.<ref name="Livy vi 34 42"/><ref name="Fasti Capitolini">''[[Fasti Capitolini]]'', {{AE|1900|83}}; 1904, 114.</ref><ref>Broughton, vol. I, pp. 108–111, 113–115.</ref> * Marcus Sextius Sabinus, [[aedile|plebeian aedile]] in 203 BC, and [[praetor]] in the following year, obtained [[Gaul]] as his province.<ref>Livy, xxx. 26, 27.</ref> * Sextius, [[quaestor]] of the consul [[Lucius Calpurnius Bestia (consul 111 BC)|Lucius Calpurnius Bestia]] in [[Numidia]], in 111 BC.<ref>Sallust, ''Bellum Jugurthinum'', 29.</ref> * Publius Sextius, praetor ''designatus'' in 100 BC, was accused of bribery by Titus Junius, and condemned. He might be the same person as the quaestor of 111.<ref>Cicero, ''Brutus'', 48.</ref><ref>Broughton, vol. I, pp. 541, 543 (note 4).</ref> * Sextius, [[lictor]] of [[Verres]] in [[Sicily]], and his favorite executioner.<ref>Cicero, ''In Verrem'', iii. 67, v. 45, 54.</ref> * Publius Sextius Baculus, a [[centurion]] {{lang|la|[[primus pilus]]}} with [[Caesar]]'s army in Gaul, who distinguished himself on many occasions by his great bravery.<ref>Caesar, ''De Bello Gallico'', ii. 25, iii. 5, vi. 38.</ref> * Sextius Naso, one of the conspirators against Caesar in 44 BC.<ref>Appian, ''Bellum Civile'', ii. 113.</ref> * Quintus Sextius,{{efn-lr|"Marcus Silius" in Valerius Maximus.}} conspired against [[Quintus Cassius Longinus]], governor of [[Hispania Ulterior]], in 48 BC. After the conspiracy was suppressed, Sextius purchased his life from Cassius in exchange for a large sum of money.<ref>Hirtius, ''De Bello Alexandrino'', 55.</ref><ref>Valerius Maximus, ix. 4. § 2.</ref> * [[Quintus Sextius]], a [[School of the Sextii|Sextian]] philosopher during the time of Caesar; his works were admired by the younger [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]].<ref>Seneca the Younger, ''Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium'', 64, 73, 98, ''De Ira'', iii. 36.</ref> * [[Sextius Niger]], a [[School of the Sextii|Sextian]] physician during the early Empire, and author of a pharmacological work. * [[Sextius Paconianus]], one of the agents of [[Sejanus]], who was imprisoned after his master's downfall in AD 31, and subsequently strangled for having written some libellous verses against the emperor.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annales'', vi. 3, 4, 39.</ref> * [[Lucius Aninius Sextius Florentinus]], a second century Roman senator, entombed at [[Petra]].
===Sextii Calvini=== * Gaius Sextius, grandfather of the consul of 124 BC * Gaius C. f. Sextius, father of the consul of 124 BC * [[Gaius Sextius Calvinus|Gaius Sextius C. f. C. n. Calvinus]], consul in 124 BC, and afterwards assigned the administration of Gaul. He conquered the [[Salyes|Salluvii]], and founded the colony of [[Aix-en-Provence|Aquae Sextiae]].<ref>Livy, ''Epitome'', 61.</ref><ref>Strabo, ''Geographica'', iv. p. 180.</ref><ref>Velleius Paterculus, i. 15.</ref> * Gaius C. f. Sextius Calvinus, described by Cicero as an excellent but sickly orator who stod as a candidate as praetor against Servilius Glaucia.<ref>Cicero, ''Brutus'', 34, ''[[De Oratore]]'', ii. 60, 61.</ref> He was probably a son of the consul<ref>{{Cite book |title=The So-called Altar of Calvinus on the Palatine Hill, in Rome: Identified as the Altar Erected by Romulus as a Part of the Ceremony of Founding Rome |last=Broderick |first=Bonaventure Finnbarr |publisher=Indiana University |year=1940 |pages=8}}</ref> and probably the same man as the praetor who restored the altar of an unknown deity. He may also have been the Gaius Calvinus who was a friend of [[Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo]], described as only having one eye.<ref>{{Cite book |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |last=Smith |first=William |publisher=J. Murray |year=1873 |pages=585 |volume=1}}</ref> Several historians have also identified him as the Sextius who was [[quaestor]] under [[Lucius Calpurnius Bestia (consul)|Lucius Calpurnius Bestia]] in 111 BC.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Quaestorship in the Roman Republic |last=Pina Polo |first=Francisco |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |year=2019 |isbn=9783110666410 |edition=illustrated |pages=319 |last2=Díaz Fernández |first2=Alejandro |series=KLIO / Beihefte. Neue Folge |volume=31}}</ref> * Publius Sextius Calvinus, Late Republican descendant of the consul of 124 BC, attested from a statue base in Thespiis<ref>''PIR'' 2022: von Rohden, Dessau; pp. 236</ref>
===Sextii Africani=== * [[Titus Sextius (legate of Caesar)|Titus Sextius]], one of Caesar's [[legatus|legates]] in Gaul, he subsequently held the province of [[Africa Province|Africa]] on behalf of the [[Second Triumvirate|triumvirs]], until the government was given to [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Marcus Aemilius Lepidus]], in 40 BC. * Sextia, the wife of [[Mamercus Aemilius Scaurus]]; they took their own lives after Scaurus was accused of {{lang|la|[[Law of majestas|maiestas]]}} in AD 34.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annales'', vi. 29.</ref> * [[Titus Sextius Africanus]], was discouraged by [[Julia Agrippina|Agrippina]] from marrying Junia Silana, the widow of [[Gaius Silius (lover of Messalina)|Gaius Silius]]; in AD 62 he took the census in the provinces of Gaul.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annales'', xiii. 19, xiv. 46.</ref> * Sextia, the mother-in-law of [[Lucius Antistius Vetus (consul 55)|Lucius Antistius Vetus]]; they were put to death by the emperor [[Nero]] in AD 65.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annales'', xvi. 10, 11.</ref> * [[Titus Sextius Magius Lateranus (consul 94)|Titus Sextius Magius Lateranus]], consul in AD 94.<ref name="Fasti Ostienses"/> * [[Titus Sextius Cornelius Africanus]], consul in AD 112 with the emperor [[Trajan]].<ref name="Fasti Ostienses">''[[Fasti Ostienses]]'', {{CIL|14|244}}.</ref> * [[Titus Sextius Lateranus (consul 154)|Titus Sextius Lateranus]], consul in AD 154.<ref name="Fasti Ostienses"/> * [[Titus Sextius Magius Lateranus (consul 197)|Titus Sextius Magius Lateranus]] consul in AD 197.<ref>Mennen, ''Power and Status of the Roman Empire''.</ref>
==See also== *[[List of Roman gentes]] *[[Sestia gens]] *[[School of the Sextii]]
==Notes== {{reflist|group=lower-roman}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== {{Refbegin|30em}} * [[Cicero|Marcus Tullius Cicero]], ''[[Brutus (Cicero)|Brutus]]'', ''[[De Oratore]]'', ''[[In Verrem]]''. * [[Julius Caesar|Gaius Julius Caesar]], ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' (Commentaries on the Gallic War). * [[Aulus Hirtius]], ''[[De Bello Alexandrino]]'' (On the Alexandrine War). * Gaius Sallustius Crispus ([[Sallust]]), ''Bellum Jugurthinum'' (The Jugurthine War). * Titus Livius ([[Livy]]), ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri|History of Rome]]''. * [[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]''. * [[Marcus Velleius Paterculus]], ''Roman History''. * [[Valerius Maximus]], ''Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium'' (Memorable Facts and Sayings). * Lucius Annaeus Seneca ([[Seneca the Younger]]), ''[[Epistulae morales ad Lucilium|Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium]]'' (Moral Letters to Lucilius), ''[[De Ira]]'' (On Anger). * [[Tacitus|Publius Cornelius Tacitus]], ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annales]]''. * Appianus Alexandrinus ([[Appian]]), ''Bellum Civile'' (The Civil War). * ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', [[William Smith (lexicographer)|William Smith]], ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849). * George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897). * [[Thomas Robert Shannon Broughton|T. Robert S. Broughton]], ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association (1952–1986). * Inge Mennen, ''Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193–284'', Brill (2011). * [[Christian Settipani]], ''Prosopographie sénatoriale romaine: nouveautés autour des Sextii'', L’Année Epigraphique (2014). {{Refend}}
[[Category:Sextii| ]] [[Category:Roman gentes]]