Sicinia (gens)


The gens Sicinia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens occur throughout the history of the Republic, but only one of them obtained the consulship, Titus Sicinius Sabinus in 487 BC. Throughout the long Conflict of the Orders, the Sicinii were celebrated for their efforts on behalf of the plebeians.

Origin

The only hint as to the origin of the Sicinii comes from the surname Sabinus, applied to one of the first members of this family appearing in history. Sabinus belongs to a common class of surnames derived from the names of peoples or localities, and suggests that the Sicinii may have been of Sabine origin. Although the earliest Sicinii occurring in history were plebeians, as were all of the later members of this gens, some scholars have concluded that Titus Sicinius Sabinus must have been a patrician, and the gens originally a patrician family, since the consulship was opened to the plebeians by the lex Licinia Sextia in 367 BC, a hundred and twenty years after Sabinus. But more recent scholarship suggests that the consulship was not originally restricted to the patricians, and only became so in the years following the decemvirate, from 451 to 449 BC.

Praenomina

The main praenomina of the Sicinii were Lucius, Gaius, Gnaeus, Titus, and Quintus, all of which were common throughout Roman history. The early generations of the family may have used Spurius, but the nomen of this individual is uncertain, and he may not have been a member of the same family.

Branches and cognomina

The Sicinii do not seem to have been divided into distinct branches, and most of those mentioned in history bore no cognomen. Of those that do appear, Vellutus or Bellutus seems to be derived from vellus, wool, and must have designated someone with conspicuously abundant or wooly hair. Sabinus referred to a Sabine, presumably referring either to a tradition that the Sicinii were of Sabine extraction, or that the individual to whom the surname was first applied had the characteristic habits or appearance of a Sabine. Dentatus would have been applied to someone with prominent teeth.

Members