Caedicia (gens)


The gens Caedicia was a plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens first came to prominence in the early decades of the Republic, but none obtained the consulship until Quintus Caedicius Noctua in 289 BC. The family faded from public life during the later Republic, but one of the Caedicii was known to Juvenal, toward the end of the first century AD.

Origin

The nomen Caecicius belongs to a class of gentilicia derived from cognomina ending in -ex or -icus. Here the root seems to be a surname, Caedicus, the meaning of which is uncertain.

Praenomina

The Caedicii used the common praenomina Lucius, Gaius, Marcus, and Quintus.

Branches and cognomina

The only cognomen found among the Caedicii of the Republic is Noctua, an owl. Surnames derived from familiar objects and animals were quite common at Rome. Noctia seems to have been a personal cognomen, as it was not borne by later Caedicii. None of the other Caedicii mentioned in history bore any surname.

Members