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.[2] 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.[1] 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.[3]
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.[1] 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.[4]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.[2]Dentatus would have been applied to someone with prominent teeth.[5]
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Spurius Sicinius Bellutus, tribune of the plebs in 492 BC, perhaps a brother of Lucius, although some scholars think him a mistake for Spurius Icilius, otherwise his colleague in the tribunate.[9][10]
Lucius Sicinius Dentatus,[iii] tribune of the plebs in 454 BC, was a famous warrior, described by ancient historians as "the Roman Achilles", for his courage and martial prowess. Under the second decemvirate, he encouraged the people to secede again, and was assassinated by the decemvirs.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20]
Gaius Sicinius L. f. L. n. (Bellutus), son of Lucius Sicinius, one of the first tribunes of the plebs in 493 BC, was elected to that office during
the second secession in 449 BC. Together with his colleagues, he called for the election of new consuls to replace the decemvirs, to restore the right of appeal, and for there to be no retribution against the leaders of the secession.[21][22]
Titus Sicinius, tribune of the plebs in 395 BC, he proposed the establishment of a substantial
colony at
Veii, the great
Etruscan rival of Rome, which had been conquered by
Camillus the previous year.[23][24]
Gnaeus Sicinius,[iv] tribune of the plebs in 76 BC, led the assault on the
Sullan law, which deprived the tribunes of much of their power. He harshly criticized the aristocracy, but Cicero relates that he was a poor orator, his chief virtue being the ability to make his audience laugh.[29][30][31][32][33][34][35]
Gaius Sicinius, a grandson of Quintus Pompeius, the consul of 141 BC, was
quaestorcirca 70 BC, but died before his career could advance further. Cicero mentions him among those Romans who had developed a talent for oratory.[36][37]
Quintus Sicinius, triumvir monetalis in 49 BC, possibly the same as the man mentioned by Cicero in 51. A supporter of
Pompeius, with whom he departed Rome ahead of
Caesar's approach, but he continued to mint coins for Pompeius during their flight.[39]
Sicinius Amicus, the first husband of Aemilia Pudentilla, and father of Sicinius Pontianus and Sicinius Pudens. After his death, his elder son encouraged a friend, the writer
Apuleius, to marry Pudentilla, who was quite wealthy.[40]
Sicinius Aemilianus, the brother of Sicinius Amicus and Sicinius Clarus, and uncle of Sicinius Pontianus and Sicinius Pudens, was persuaded by Herennius Rufus to join the accusation against Apuleius.[41]
Sicinius Clarus, the brother of Sicinius Amicus and Sicinius Aemilianus, described by Apuleius as a feeble old country gentleman.[40]
Sicinius Pontianus, a native of
Oea (now
Tripoli), and friend of Apuleius at Athens. He encouraged Apuleius to marry his mother, Pudentilla, a wealthy widow. However, Pontianus' father-in-law, Herennius Rufinus, eager to ensure that Prudentilla's money should remain in his family, induced Pontianus, his younger brother, Sicinius Pudens, and his uncle, Sicinius Aemilianus, to charge Apuleius with gaining Prudentilla's affections through witchcraft. Apuleius' spirited and ultimately successful defense formed the basis of his Apologia, or "Discourse on Magic".[42]
Pontianus Pudens, the younger brother of Sicinius Pontianus, was only a boy when Herennius Rufus persuaded him to join the accusation against Apuleius.[40]
Marcus Sicinius Philodamus, a boy buried at Rome, was the son of a vir egregius, a member of the
equestrian nobility of the late second or early third centuries.[43]
Quintus Sicinius Clarus, governor of
Thracecirca AD 202.[44]
Footnotes
^Sicinius in Livy and Festus, but Siccius in Dionysius, Cassiodorus, and apparently the Fasti Capitolini.
Barthold Georg Niebuhr, The History of Rome, Julius Charles Hare and Connop Thirlwall, trans., John Smith, Cambridge (1828).
Wilhelm Drumann, Geschichte Roms in seinem Übergang von der republikanischen zur monarchischen Verfassung, oder: Pompeius, Caesar, Cicero und ihre Zeitgenossen, Königsberg (1834–1844).