The poet
Vergil linked the family of the Memmii with the
Trojan hero
Mnestheus. This late tradition suggests that by the end of the Republic, the gens had become a conspicuous part of the Roman nobility.[2] The
nomenMemmius is classified by Chase with those
gentilicia that either originated at Rome, or cannot be shown to have come from anywhere else. From its morphology, the name could be derived from a
cognomen, Memmus, the significance of which is unknown.[3] The use of
Quirinus, a
Sabine deity, on the denarii of Gaius Memmius in 56 BC, perhaps alludes to a Sabine origin of the gens.[4]
The Memmii of the Republic did not possess hereditary surnames, but two distinct families are identifiable by their respective voting
tribes, the Galeria and the Menenia.[5] They did nevertheless use a number of personal cognomina, including Quirinus, thought to have been the name of a Sabine god, who came to be equated with both
Janus and
Romulus; Gallus, referring to a cockerel, or perhaps to a
Gaul; and Geminus, traditionally given to a twin.[6] Other cognomina are found in imperial times, including Maximus, given to an eldest brother, or someone particularly notable; Regulus, a diminutive of rex, a king, used by a number of old Roman families; Pollio, a polisher, particularly of armour; Afer, referring to the province of
Africa; and Senecio, a diminutive of senex, an old man.[7][8]
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Gaius Memmius C. f. Quirinus, plebeian
aedile prior to 210 BC, was the first to exhibit the
Cerealia at Rome.[9][10]
Titus Memmius, commissioner sent by the
senate to hear the complaints of the
Achaeans and
Macedonians against the Roman magistrates, in 170 BC.[13][14]
Lucius Memmius C. f., a senator in 129 BC, perhaps the son of Gaius Memmius, the praetor of 172. He was probably the senator who visited Egypt in 112 BC.[17][18][19]
Lucius Memmius, triumvir monetalis in 106 BC, pictured
Venus on his denarii, an allusion to the gens' claim of Trojan descent.[i][9][1]
Gaius Memmius L. f., triumvir monetalis in 87 BC, together with his brother, Lucius.[ii][31]
Lucius Memmius L. f., triumvir monetalis in 87 BC, together with his brother, Gaius.[31]
Gaius Memmius (C. f.), married a sister of
Gnaeus Pompeius, under whom he served in Sicily in 81 BC, and later in
Hispania, where he died in 75. He was probably the son of Gaius Memmius, the tribune of 111.[9][32][33][34][35]
Publius Memmius, a witness for the defense at the trial of Aulus Caecina in 69 BC.[9][36]
Lucius Memmius C. f. L. n., of the tribe Galeria, a tribune of the plebs at an uncertain date, distributed lands to the veterans of the 7th and 26th legions in 41 BC.[42][43]
^The legend GAL on his coins refers to his tribe, Galeria, and is not a cognomen; he used it to distinguish himself from Lucius Memmius, the moneyer of 109.
^Evidently the sons of Lucius Memmius, the moneyer of 106, since they reused the design of his coins, as well as mentioning the tribus Galeria.