Rania gens


The gens Rania was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens occur in history, but others are known from inscriptions. Lucius Ranius Optatus was consul in the early third century AD.

Origin

The nomen Ranius resembles other gentilicia formed using the suffix -anius, typically derived from place names and cognomina ending in -anus. No corresponding location or surname is known, but the root of the nomen resembles rana, a frog, and as a cognomen could have belonged to a common class of surnames derived from the names of familiar animals and objects.
The Ranii may have been of Sabine extraction, as one of the Ranii bore the surname Sabinus, typically indicating Sabine ancestry, while another family of the name lived at Alba Fucens, in Sabinum. Chase lists Ronius among various gentilicia of Oscan derivation, but this may be a typo for Ranius, as only a single Ronius is known from inscriptions.

Praenomina

The main praenomina of the Ranii were Lucius, Gaius, and Quintus, three of the most common names throughout Roman history. Examples of Aulus and Titus are also known.

Branches and cognomina

The Ranii used a number of surnames, including Felix, fortunate or happy, Fronto, originally applied to someone with a prominent forehead, Pullo, blackish, Sabinus, a Sabine, and Optatus, desired or welcome, the only surname known to have been passed down through a distinct family of the Ranii.

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