Remmia gens


The gens Remmia, occasionally written Remia, was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Only a few members of this gens are mentioned in history, of whom the most illustrious was the grammarian Quintus Remmius Palaemon, but many others are known from inscriptions.

Origin

The Remmii claimed descent from Remus, the twin brother of Romulus, the legendary founder and first King of Rome. Although the traditions relating to them date back to at least the fourth century BC, Romulus and Remus are not generally regarded as historical figures, and in the Greek authors Remus is generally called Romus, for which the apparent diminutive Romulus might be regarded as a doublet. However, the nomen Remmius could still be derived from Remus, perhaps a cognomen of uncertain derivation. Chase classifies it among the gentilicia that either originated at Rome, or cannot be shown to have come from anywhere else. Schulze, on the other hand, regards it as an Etruscan name, rem-ne, perhaps sharing a root with place names such as Remona and Remoria.

Praenomina

The Remmii largely confined themselves to the most common praenomina, particularly Marcus, Lucius, Gaius, Publius, and Quintus. One of the women of this gens bore the feminine praenomen Prima. Other women of the Remmii bore individualizing surnames derived from old praenomina, identical in form but placed at the end of the name, like cognomina, including Maxima, Octavia, Salvia, and Secunda, as well as Tertullina, a diminutive of Tertia.

Branches and cognomina

The only distinct family of the Remmii under the Republic bore the surname Rufus, originally given to someone with red hair. Most of the other surnames of the Remmii seem to have been personal cognomina, many of them belonging to freedmen, and indicating their original names. Of those that represent traditional Roman surnames, Faustus, fortunate, was an old praenomen that came to be widely used as a cognomen in the late Republic and imperial times. Felix means "happy", Festus "joyous" or "festive", Fidelis "faithful", Fortis "strong", Fructa "fruitful", Fructuosa "very fruitful", Jucundus "pleasant", Scaeva "left-handed" or "unlucky", and Severus "stern" or "severe". Three of the Remmii were named after months, and bore Januarius, Aprilis, and December as surnames.

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