The nomenCalvisius is probably based on the Latin adjectivecalvus, meaning "bald". Both Calvus and its diminutive, Calvinus, were common Roman surnames. With respect to their place of origin, Ronald Syme begins a survey of the evidence by stating, "Calvisii might issue from any region of Italy except old Latium." He lists a placename, "villa Calvisia" in Southern Etruria, amongst the properties of a Hadrianic consular; two Calvisii attested in Puteoli, and fifteen named in sources from Transpadane Italy, but concludes "et they lead nowhere"; the evidence is frustratingly inconclusive. However, for one branch of the gens, the Calvisii Rusones, Syme suggests that their origins lay in Gallia Narbonensis. A further clue lies in the surname Sabinus, borne by the only distinct family of the early Calvisii, which may point to a Sabine origin.
Most of the Calvisii appearing in history belong to one of two distinct families, bearing the surnames Sabinus and Ruso. Sabinus, belonging to the earlier of the two, typically indicated Sabine ancestry, although as an adjective it could also suggest that the original bearer resembled a Sabine, either in his appearance or manner. The Calvisii Sabini flourished from the end of the Republic to about the time of the emperor Claudius, when the surname is replaced by that of Ruso. The latter surname might be formed from rus, the country, or russus, ruddy or red-haired; the latter derivation is suggested by the fact that two later Calvisii, whose relationship to the others is unclear, bore the surname Rufus, which generally referred to someone with red hair.
Members
Calvisii Sabini
Gaius Calvisius C. f. Sabinus, legate of Caesar during the Civil War, he secured Aetolia in BC 48, and three years later he was assigned the province of Africa. He was praetor in 44, and consul in 39. He became one of the trusted friends and commanders of Octavian, who sent him against Sextus Pompeius.
Gaius Calvisius C. f. C. n. Sabinus, consul in 4 BC.
Gaius Calvisius Sabinus, consul in AD 26. He was one of those accused of maiestas in 32, but saved by the tribune Celsus, who was one of the informers. He was governor of Pannonia under Caligula, when he and his wife, Cornelia, were accused of plotting against the emperor. Seeing no hope of escape, they took their own lives.
Calvisius Sabinus, the son of a freedman, whose wealth and pretension earned him the scorn of the younger Seneca.
