Statilia gens

The gens Statilia was a plebeian family of Lucanian origin at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the third century BC, when one of them led the Lucanian assault on the city of Thurii, and another commanded an allied cavalry troop during the Second Punic War; but at Rome the Statilii first come to attention in the time of Cicero, at which point they held equestrian rank. The first of the family to attain the consulship was Titus Statilius Taurus in 37 BC, and his descendants continued to fill the highest offices of the Roman state until the time of Marcus Aurelius.

Origin

The nomen Statilius belongs to a class of gentilicia ending in the suffix -ilius, derived from other names ending in the diminutive suffix -ulus. Statilius is a derivative of the common Oscan praenomen Statius, the diminutive of which may have been Statulus. The same praenomen also gave rise to the Statia gens.

Praenomina

The earliest Statilii bore common Oscan praenomina, such as Sthenius (or Statius) and Marius. In the late Republic, we find Lucius and Quintus, both among the most common praenomina throughout all periods of Roman history. The consular families from the first centuries of the Empire used Titus to the exclusion of all other regular praenomina, although two of the Statilii Tauri exchanged their original praenomina for the names Sisenna and Taurus. In the case of Taurus, the name was simply the cognomen of the family used as a praenomen, while Sisenna commemorated the descent of the family from the Cornelii Sisennae, a noble family of the Republic, through a female line.