In
ancient Rome, a
gens (pl.
gentes) was a family or
clan that shared a common name (the
nomen, plural
nomina) and a belief in a common ancestor. In the
Roman system of three names, the second name was the name of the
gens to which the person belonged.
The origins of the
gentes are unclear, although they are probably not as ancient as the Romans themselves thought. Few of the
gens names have clear
Indo-European etymologies, and some have been traced to
Etruscan names.
Some
gentes were associated by tradition with particular cults or ceremonies, but while one's
gens-identity was based in kinship, during the
Republic these public religious functions were not hereditary, though sons often succeeded fathers in certain priesthoods such as the
Flamen Martialis. Nevertheless, the relationships among the
gentes was a major factor in politics, particularly through
marriage and
adoption. On rare occasions, notable members of
patrician gentes had themselves adopted by
plebeian families in order to run for offices not open to the
patricii. Members of the same
gens were usually (though far from always) political allies.
During the Republic, the
gens as a legal entity owned property, including a family burial ground. There was a
gens "chief", more formally in early Rome and less formally in later Rome (compare
paterfamilias). Members of a
gens had a legal obligation to help one another when asked. A
gens was
exogamous; that is, individuals sought marriage partners from outside the
gens.
A
gens was
patrilineal and
patriarchal. Originally patricians and plebeians were not allowed to
intermarry, until the
Lex Canuleia was passed in 445 BC.
Among the patricians, there were
gentes maiores and the
gentes minores. The
maiores were the leading families of Rome: these were the
Aemilii,
Claudii,
Cornelii,
Fabii, and
Valerii.
See also
