Cornelius (fem. Cornelia, masc. plural Cornelii) was the nomen of the patrician gens Cornelia, one of the most important gentes, or families, of Ancient Rome. The origins of the family, or clan, are unknown; however, the nomina of the clans, which are names of noble individuals of only one name, date to the Roman kingdom. The monarch, Servius Tullius, is said to have utilized the services of the priest of Diana, Cornelius, in acquiring and sacrif...
more
Cornelius (fem. Cornelia, masc. plural Cornelii) was the nomen of the patrician gens Cornelia, one of the most important gentes, or families, of Ancient Rome. The origins of the family, or clan, are unknown; however, the nomina of the clans, which are names of noble individuals of only one name, date to the Roman kingdom. The monarch, Servius Tullius, is said to have utilized the services of the priest of Diana, Cornelius, in acquiring and sacrificing to the Roman people a cow of prodigious horns (cornua), which long stood in the temple of the goddess.
The first known consulship of any Cornelius was that of Servius Cornelius who served with Quintus Fabius in 485 BC, only twenty-five years after the founding of the republic. If Livy's persistent use of only two names is an accurate representation of the society of the period, no branches of the clans cited, including the Cornelii, had yet been formally recognized. In that year the trial of the former consul, Spurius Cassius, for...
less
