Ummidia (gens)


The gens Ummidia was a Roman family which flourished during the first and second centuries. The first member of the gens to achieve prominence was Gaius Ummidius Durmius Quadratus, governor of Syria during the reigns of Claudius and Nero. The Ummidii held several consulships in the second century, and through the marriage of Gaius Ummidius Quadratus Annianus Verus they were related to the emperor Marcus Aurelius.

Origin

The Ummidii were a minor family, apparently not of any great antiquity, and was not familiar to contemporary writers. The nomen Ummidius is given in various forms by different authors. Josephus writes it as Numidius, while in different editions of Tacitus, Plinius, and the authors of the Historia Augusta, it is written as Numidius, Vindius, and Ummidius. The latter occurs in some of the best manuscripts, and in inscriptions. The name is mentioned by the poet Horatius, where again different manuscripts give it variously, but it appears that the original reading was Ummidius.
The family probably came from the town of Casinum, in Latium adiectum, where an inscription mentions Ummidia Quadratilla, who funded the building of an amphitheater and a temple for the townspeople. In this case, the Ummidii may have been of Volscian origin, although the antiquarian Varro believed the inhabitants of Casinum to be Samnite.

Praenomina

The only praenomina associated with the Ummidii are Gaius and Marcus; in some manuscripts of Tacitus, Titus is given in place of Gaius, but this appears to be a mistake.

Branches and cognomina

The only family-name of the Ummidii was Quadratus, meaning "square", presumably referring to someone with squarish proportions or angular features. All of the Ummidii known to history bore this surname.

Members