Clodius is an alternate form of the ancient Rome nomen Claudia gens, a patrician gens that was traditionally regarded as Sabine in origin. The alternation of o and au is characteristic of the Sabine dialect. The feminine form is Clodia.
Republican era
Publius Clodius Pulcher
Other Clodii of the Republic
In addition to Clodius, Clodii from the Republican era include:
-
Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus, presumably a "Clodius" before his adoption
-
Clodius Aesopus, a tragic actor in the 50s BC who may have been a freedman of one of the Clodii Pulchri.
-
Claudia, daughter of Clodius Pulcher and Fulvia, the first wife of emperor Augustus.
-
Clodia, sister of Publius Clodius Pulcher, sometimes identified in Catullus' poems as "Lesbia".
Women of the Claudii Marcelli branch were often called "Clodia" in the late Republic.
Imperial era
People using the name
Clodius during the period of the
Roman Empire include:
-
Gaius Clodius Licinus, consul suffectus in AD 4.
-
Gaius Clodius Vestalis, possible builder of the Via Clodia
-
Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus, senator and philosopher during the reign of Nero
-
Lucius Clodius Macer, a legatus who revolted against Nero
-
Publius Clodius Quirinalis, from Arelate in Gaul, teacher of rhetoric in time of Nero
-
Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus, commonly known as Clodius Albinus, rival emperor 196–197
-
Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus, known as Pupienus, co-emperor 238
-
Titus Clodius Pupienus Pulcher Maximus, son of emperor Pupienus and suffect consul c. 235
Clodii Celsini
The Clodii Celsini continued to practice the traditional religions of antiquity in the face of Christian hegemony through at least the 4th century, when Clodius Celsinus Adelphius (see below) converted.
[Bernice M. Kaczynski, "Faltonia Betitia Proba: A Virgilian Cento in Praise of Christ," in Women Writing Latin (Routledge, 2002), vol. 1, p. 132 online.] Members of this branch include:
-
Quintus Fabius Clodius Agrippianus Celsinus, proconsul of Caria in 249 and the son of Clodius Celsinus (b. ca. 185); see for other members of the family.
-
Clodius Celsinus Adelphius, praefectus urbi in 351.
-
Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius, consul 379
See also
Bibliography
Further reading
