Rubellia gens


The gens Rubellia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of Augustus, and they achieved prominence during the first century, when two of them obtained the consulship: Gaius Rubellius Blandus in AD 18, and Lucius Rubellius Geminus in AD 29.

Origin

The first of the Rubellii mentioned in history was a native of Tibur in Latium. Originally a Sabine town, Tibur became part of Roman territory at the end of the Latin War in 338 BC, and its inhabitants gained full Roman citizenship during the Social War. The nomen Rubellius belongs to a class of gentilicia formed using the diminutive suffix -ellius, typically derived from other gentile names. In this case the root may have been a name such as Rubius, Rubrius, or Rufius, derived from ruber, reddish or ruddy, or rufus, red.

Praenomina

The chief praenomina of the Rubellii were Gaius and Lucius, the two most common names throughout Roman history. Titus, also a very common name, appears in a filiation.

Branches and cognomina

The main family of the Rubellii bore the surname Blandus, charming or flattering. One member of this family was known as Plautus, a common surname originally given to someone with flat or splayed feet. There also seems to have been a family bearing the surname Geminus, a twin, perhaps a cadet branch of the Blandi.

Members