Cornelia (gens)

House of Cornelius Rufus, Pompeii

The gens Cornelia was one of the most distinguished Roman gentes, and produced a greater number of illustrious men than any other house at Rome. The first of this gens to achieve the consulship was Servius Cornelius Cossus Maluginensis, who held that office in 485 BC.^[1]

The gens was a major contributor to the highest offices of the Republic, and contested for consulships with the Fabii and the Valerii from the third century BC. Over thirty percent of all consulships were held by men from this gens; several great commanders also came from this family.

Origin

The origin of the Cornelii is lost to history, but the nomen Cornelius may be formed from the hypothetical cognomen Corneus, meaning "horny", that is, having thick or callused skin. The existence of such a cognomen in early times may be inferred from its diminutive, Corneolus.^[2]

Another possibility is that the name is related to the surname Cossus, used by the most ancient branch of the gens. Cossus may be an archaic praenomen used by the ancestors of the Cornelii, which was subsequently used as a cognomen by the family. A similar instance is found in the patrician Furia gens, originally Fusia, which was evidently derived from the archaic praenomen Fusus. That gens later used Fusus as a cognomen, just as the Cornelii did with Cossus. Long after that branch of the family had disappeared, Cossus was revived as a praenomen by the later Cornelii.^[1]

Praenomina

The Cornelii employed a wide variety of praenomina, although individual families tended to favor certain names and avoid others. Servius (abbreviated Ser.), Lucius (L.), Publius (P.), Gnaeus (Cn.), and Marcus (M.) were common to most branches. Aulus (A.) was used by the Cornelii Cossi. Gaius (C.) was used by both the Cornelii Cethegi and Lentuli. The praenomen Tiberius (Ti.) also appears once amongst the Lentuli, who later revived the former cognomen Cossus as a praenomen.^[1]

In the first century BC, the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla named his twin children Faustus (F.) and Fausta, reviving an old praenomen that was regularly used by his descendants over the next two centuries, and making the Cornelii the only patrician family known to have used that name. Sulla's youngest daughter is believed to have been named Postuma, although no other instances of this name amongst the Cornelii are known.^[3]

Branches and cognomina

Tombstone of the brothers Gaius and Lucius Cornelius, sons of Gaius

The gens included both patricians and plebeians, but all its great families belonged to the patrician order. The names of the patrician families are Arvina, Blasio, Cethegus, Cinna, Cossus, Dolabella, Lentulus, Maluginensis, Mammula, Merenda, Merula, Rufinus, Scapula, Scipio, Sisenna, and Sulla. The names of the plebeian families are Balbus and Gallus, and we also find various cognomina, as Chrysogonus, Culleolus, Phagita, etc., given to freedmen of this gens. There are also several plebeians mentioned without any surname. Under the Empire the number of cognomina increased considerably.^[1]

The most ancient stirpes of the Cornelii bore the cognomina Cossus and Maluginensis. The Cossi and Maluginenses were probably one family originally, for at first both these surnames are united, as for instance, in the case of Servius Cornelius Cossus Maluginensis, consul in 485 BC. Afterwards, however, the Cossi and Maluginenses became two separate families. The Cossi produced many illustrious men in the fourth and fifth centuries BC, but afterwards sunk into oblivion. The last consuls from this stirps bore the surname Arvina. The name Cossus was afterwards revived as a praenomen in the family of the Lentuli, who belonged to the same gens. The Maluginenses last held consular authority in 367 BC.^[1]

The Cornelii Scipiones first appear at the beginning of the 4th century BC, with Publius Cornelius Scipio, said to have been magister equitum to the dictator Marcus Furius Camillus in 396 BC. The Capitoline Fasti identify the magister equitum of that year as Publius Cornelius Maluginensis, suggesting that the Scipiones may have originated as a branch of the Maluginenses.^[4][5]

The surname Scipio, which signifies a stick or staff, is said to have been originally given to a Cornelius, because he served as a staff in directing his blind father (patrem pro baculo regebat), and to have been handed down by him as a family name to his descendants. This family produced some of the greatest men in Rome, and to them she was more indebted than to any others for the empire of the world. They bore the agnomina Africanus, Asiaticus, Asina, Barbatus, Calvus, Hispallus, Nasica, and Serapio. With the additional cognomen Orfitus, the family remained prominent until the second century AD^[1][6]

Lentulus was the name of one of the haughtiest families of the Cornelian gens; so that Cicero coins the words Appietas and Lentulitas to express the qualities of the high patrician party. When we find plebeians bearing the name (as tribunes of the plebs), they were no doubt descendants of freedmen. Lentulus was said to be derived from lens, a lentil, much as Cicero is said to be derived from cicer, a chickpea. However, the Latin adjective lentulus means "slow". The Lentuli first appear in history at the time of the Gallic sack of Rome, early in the fourth century BC, and from that time remained prominent until the first century AD. They bore the agnomina Caudinus, Clodianus, Crus, Gaetulicus, Lupus, Maluginensis, Marcellinus, Niger, Rufinus, Scipio, Spinther, and Sura.^[1][7][8]

The Cornelii Rufini appear in the latter half of the fourth century BC, beginning with Publius Cornelius Rufinus, dictator in 334 BC. From the surname Rufinus, meaning "reddish", one may infer that the first of this family had red hair. A descendant of this family was the first to assume the cognomen Sulla, about the time of the Second Punic War. The name is probably a diminutive of Sura, a cognomen found in several gentes, including among the Cornelii Lentuli. Plutarch, who erroneously believed that the dictator Sulla was the first to bear the name, thought it must have referred to a blotchy, reddish complexion, while Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius derives it from Sibylla, an etymology that is rejected by Quintilian. The Sullae continued in the highest offices of the state well into imperial times. Some of them bore the agnomen Felix.^[1][9][10]

The Dolabellae first came to prominence at the beginning of the 3rd century BC, and so remained until the second half of the first century AD. The Cornelii Blasiones flourished for about a century, beginning in the early third century BC. The Cethegi, who first appear in the latter half of the third century BC, were described by Quintus Horatius Flaccus as cinctuti Cethegi, for their old-fashioned practice of wearing their arms bare. They remained prominent for the next two centuries.^[1][11]

Merula signifies an ouzle, or blackbird. The family that bore this surname rose from obscurity at the beginning of the 2nd century BC., and continued for the next century. The Cornelii Cinnae flourished from the late 2nd century BC to the early decades of the Empire.^[1]

The Cornelii Balbi were, properly speaking, no part of the Cornelia gens. The first of this name was not a Roman; he was a native of Gades; and his original name probably bore some resemblance to the Latin Balbus. Gaius Cornelius Gallus, the poet, and later prefect of Egypt, was evidently of Gallic descent, coming as a young man from the town of Forum Julii, and presumably manumitted by one of the Cornelii Cinnae or Sullae. None of his descendants achieved any prominence.^[1]

Over 30% of all the consuls of the republican period of ancient Rome were Cornelians. The notable men and women of the Cornelii family are listed separately, below.

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.

Cornelii Maluginenses

• Servius Cornelius P. f. Cossus Maluginensis, consul in 485 BC.
• Lucius Cornelius Ser. f. P. n. Maluginensis, consul in 459 BC.
• Marcus Cornelius L. f. Ser. n. Maluginensis, a member of the second decemvirate in 450 BC.^[12][13]
• Marcus Cornelius M. f. Maluginensis, consul in 436 BC.
• Publius Cornelius M. f. M. n. Maluginensis, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 404 BC.
• Publius Cornelius P. f. M. n. Maluginensis, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 397 and 390, and magister equitum in 396 BC.
• Publius Cornelius Maluginensis Cossus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 395, and consul in 393 BC.
• Marcus Cornelius P. f. P. n. Maluginensis, censor in 393 BC.
• Servius Cornelius P. f. M. n. Maluginensis, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 386, 384, 382, 380, 376, 370, and 368 BC.^[14][15]
• Marcus Cornelius Maluginensis, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 369 and 367 BC.^[16]
• Servius Cornelius Ser. f. M. n. Maluginensis, magister equitum in 361 BC.

Cornelii Cossi

• Servius Cornelius P. f. Cossus Maluginensis, consul in 485 BC.
• Servius Cornelius M. f. L. n. Cossus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 434 BC.^[17][18]
• Aulus Cornelius M. f. L. n. Cossus, consul in 428 and tribunus militum consulari potestate in 426 BC, slew Lars Tolumnius, King of Veii.
• Publius Cornelius A. f. P. n. Cossus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 415 BC.^[19][20]
• Gnaeus Cornelius A. f. M. n. Cossus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 415 and consul in 409 BC.
• Aulus Cornelius A. f. M. n. Cossus, consul in 413 BC.
• Publius Cornelius A. f. M. n. Cossus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 408 BC.^[21][22]
• Publius Cornelius M. f. L. n. Rutilus Cossus, dictator in 408 and tribunus militum consulari potestate in 406 BC.
• Gnaeus Cornelius P. f. A. n. Cossus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 406, 404, and 401 BC.
• Publius Cornelius Maluginensis Cossus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 395, and consul in 393 BC.
• Aulus Cornelius Cossus, dictator in 385 BC.
• Aulus Cornelius Cossus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 369 and 367 BC.^[16]
• Aulus Cornelius P. f. A. n. Cossus Arvina, consul in 343 and 332, and dictator in 322 BC.
• Publius Cornelius A. f. P. n. Arvina, consul in 306 and 288, and censor in 294 BC.

Cornelii Scipiones

• Publius Cornelius P. f. M. n. Maluginensis Scipio, magister equitum in 396 BC, and tribunus militum consulari potestate in 395 and 394.^[23]
• Publius Cornelius P. f. Scipio, one of the two first curule aediles appointed in 366 BC, and magister equitum in 350.
• Lucius Cornelius P. f. Scipio, consul in 350 BC.
• Publius Cornelius Scipio Scapula, consul in 328 BC and dictator in 306.^[24][25]
• Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio, father of the consul of 298 BC.
• Lucius Cornelius Cn. f. Scipio Barbatus, consul in 298 BC, and censor in 280.
• Gnaeus Cornelius L. f. Cn. n. Scipio Asina, consul in 260 and 254 BC, during the First Punic War.
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. Cn. n. Scipio, consul in 259 and censor in 258 BC, captured Sardinia and Corsica.
• Publius Cornelius Cn.f. L. n. Scipio Asina, consul in 221 BC.
• Gnaeus Cornelius L. f. L. n. Scipio Calvus, consul in 222 BC, slain in Hispania, 211.
• Publius Cornelius L. f. L. n., consul in 218 BC, slain in Hispania, 211.
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. L. n. Scipio, brother of the preceding.
• Publius Cornelius P. f. L. n. Scipio Africanus, the conqueror of Hannibal; consul in 205 and 194 BC, and censor in 199; Princeps Senatus.
• Publius Cornelius Cn. f. L. n. Scipio Nasica, consul in 191 BC.
• Lucius Cornelius P. f. L. n. Scipio Asiaticus, consul in 190 BC. Defeated Antiochus III the Great in 189.
• Publius Cornelius P. f. L. n. Scipio Africanus, elected augur in 180 BC and Flamen Dialis.
• Lucius Cornelius P. f. L. n. Scipio Africanus, praetor peregrinus in 174 BC, expelled from the Senate by the censors.
• Cornelia P. f. L. n., wife of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum.
• Cornelia P. f. L. n. Africana, wife of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus.
• Gnaeus Cornelius L. f. L. n. Scipio Hispallus, consul in 176 BC.
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. L. n. Scipio Asiaticus, quaestor in 167 BC.
• Publius Cornelius P. f. Cn. n. Scipio Nasica Corculum, consul in 162 and 155 BC, and censor in 159; Princeps Senatus.
• Publius Cornelius P. f. P. n. Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Minor, consul in 147 and 134 BC, and censor in 142.
• Gnaeus Cornelius Cn. f. L. n. Scipio Hispallus, praetor in 139 BC.
• Publius Cornelius P. f. P. n. Scipio Nasica Serapio, consul in 138 BC.
• Publius Cornelius P. f. P. n. Scipio Nasica, consul in 111 BC.
• Gnaeus Cornelius Cn. f. Cn. n. Scipio Hispallus, prevented by the Senate from going to his province of Hispania,^[26] consul 171 BC.^[27]
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. L. n. Scipio Asiaticus, the father of Scipio Asiaticus.^[1]
• Publius Cornelius P. f. P. n. Scipio Nasica, praetor in 94 BC.
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. L. n. Scipio Asiaticus, consul in 83 BC.^[28]
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. L. n. Scipio Asiaticus Aemilianus, the eldest son of M. Aemilius Lepidus, adopted by the consul of 83 BC.^[28]
• Publius Cornelius P. n. Scipio Nasica, afterward Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica, consul in 52 BC.
• Cornelia P. f. Metella, daughter of the consul of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica; married first Publius Licinius Crassus, and after his death, Gnaeus Pompeius.
• Publius Cornelius Scipio, the first husband of Scribonia, who was afterwards the wife of Augustus.
• Cornelia P. f., daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio Salvito, and stepdaughter of Augustus; married first a Sextus Julius Caesar, and after his death, Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus.
• Publius Cornelius Scipio Salvito, accompanied Caesar on his African campaign, in 46 BC.^{[29][30][31][32]}
• Publius Cornelius P. f. Scipio, consul in 16 BC.
• Cornelia P. f., married Paullus Aemilius Lepidus, consul suffectus in 34 BC.
• Cornelius (P. f.) Scipio, legate of Quintus Junius Blaesus, proconsul of Africa in AD 22.^[33]
• Publius Cornelius Lentulus Scipio, consul suffectus in AD 2.
• Servius Cornelius Orfitus, consul in AD 51^[34][35]
• Publius Cornelius (P. n.) Scipio, consul in AD 56.^[36][37]
• Cornelius Scipio Orfitus, consul suffectus in AD 101.^[1]
• Servius Scipio Orfitus, consul in AD 149.^[1][38]

Cornelii Lentuli

• Lucius Cornelius Lentulus, according to his son, the only senator who voted against paying Brennus and the Gauls to leave Rome, in 389 BC.^[39]
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. Lentulus, consul in 327 and dictator in 320 BC.
• Servius Cornelius Cn. f. Cn. n. Lentulus, consul in 303 BC.^[5][40]
• Tiberius Cornelius Ser. f. Cn. n. Lentulus, son of the consul of 303 BC.^[1]
• Lucius Cornelius Ti. f. Ser. n. Lentulus Caudinus, consul in 275 BC.^[5]
• Lucius Cornelius L.f. Ti. n. Lentulus Caudinus, consul in 237 BC.
• Publius Cornelius L.f. Ti. n. Lentulus Caudinus, consul in 236 BC.^[5]
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. L. n. Lentulus Caudinus, curule aedile in 209 BC.^[41]
• Publius Cornelius P. f. L. n. Lentulus, praetor in 214 BC.
• Servius Cornelius Lentulus, curule aedile in 207 BC, and tribunus militum in Hispania in 205.^[42]
• Publius Cornelius L. f. L. n. Lentulus Caudinus, praetor in 204 BC.
• Gnaeus Cornelius L. f. L. n. Lentulus, consul in 201 BC.
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. L. n. Lentulus, consul in 199 BC.
• Gaius Cornelius Lentulus, triumvir for the establishment of a new colony in 199 BC.^[43]
• Servius Cornelius Ser. f. Lentulus, ambassador sent to Greece in 171 BC, and praetor in Sicilia in 169.^[44]
• Publius Cornelius Ser. f. Lentulus, brother of the praetor of 169, also an ambassador sent to Greece in 171 BC.^[45]
• Lucius Cornelius Lentulus, messenger of Lucius Aemilius Paullus, after the defeat of Perseus, in 168 BC.^[46]
• Publius Cornelius L. f. L. n. Lentulus, consul suffectus in 162 BC.
• Lucius Cornelius Cn. f. L. n. Lentulus Lupus, consul in 156 and censor in 147 BC.
• Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus, consul in 146 BC.
• Lucius Cornelius Ser. f. Ser. n. Lentulus, praetor in 140 BC.^[47]
• Cornelius Lentulus, praetor in Sicilia, defeated c.134 BC. during the First Servile War.^[48]
• Publius Cornelius P. f. L. n. Lentulus, father of Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, consul in 71 BC.^[5]
• Publius Cornelius L. f. Lentulus, father of Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther.^[1]
• Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus, consul in 97 BC.
• Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus, consul in 72, and censor in 70 BC.
• Publius Cornelius P. f. P. n. Lentulus Sura, consul in 71 BC, later one of Catiline's conspirators.
• Publius Cornelius P. f. L. n. Lentulus Spinther, consul in 57 BC.
• Publius Cornelius P. f. P. n. Lentulus Spinther, partisan of Gnaeus Pompeius, and later one of the conspirators against Caesar.
• Publius Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus, the son of Marcus Claudius Marcellus, he was adopted by one of the Cornelii Lentuli. He was a lieutenant of Pompeius during the war against the pirates, in 67 BC, and was an orator of considerable merit.^[49][50][51]
• Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Cn. f. Clodianus, sent to observe the progress of the Helvetii in 60 BC.
• Gnaeus Cornelius P. f. Lentulus Marcellinus, consul in 56 BC.
• Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Vatia, mentioned by Cicero in 56 BC.^[52]
• Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Niger, Flamen Martialis, d. 56 BC.
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. Lentulus (fl. 20 BC.), Flamen Martialis.
• Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus, consul in 49 BC, partisan of Gnaeus Pompeius.
• (Publius) Cornelius Cn. f. P. n. Lentullus Marcellinus, quaestor in the army of Caesar during the Civil War; he was defeated by Pompeius, who suffered heavy losses, at Dyrrhachium, and was afterward saved by Marcus Antonius.^[53][54]
• Cornelius Lentulus Cruscellio, proscribed by the triumvirs in 43 BC, but escaped.^[55][56]
• Lucius Cornelius Lentulus, consul suffectus in 38 BC.
• Gnaeus Cornelius L. f. Lentulus, consul in 18 BC.^[57]
• Publius Cornelius Lentulus P. f. (Cn. n.) Marcellinus, consul in 18 BC.^[58][59]
• Gnaeus Cornelius Cn. f. Lentulus Augur, consul in 14 BC.
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. Lentulus, consul in 3 BC.^[60][61]
• Cornelia (L. f.), wife of Lucius Volusius Saturninus, consul suffectus in AD 3.
• Cossus Cornelius Cn. f. (Cn. n.) Lentulus Gaetulicus, consul in 1 BC.
• P. Cornelius Lentulus Scipio, consul suffectus in AD 2
• Cossus Cornelius Cossi f. Cn. n. Lentulus, consul in AD 25
• Gnaeus Cornelius Cossi f. Cn. n. Lentulus Gaetulicus, consul in AD 26
• Cossus Cornelius (Cossi f. Cn. n.) Lentulus, consul in AD 60^[62][63]
• Cornelius Lentulus, an actor in and writer of pantomimes.^[1]

Cornelii Rufini et Sullae

• Publius Cornelius Rufinus, dictator in 334 BC.
• Gnaeus Cornelius Rufinus, son of the last.
• Publius Cornelius Cn. f. P. n. Rufinus, grandson of the dictator in 334 BC. He was consul in 290 and 277, and dictator in 280 BC.^[64]
• Lucius Cornelius Rufinus Sulla, Flamen Dialis c.250 BC.^[65] The first with the cognomen Sulla
• Publius Cornelius Sulla, and praetor urbanus and peregrinus in 212 BC. Held the first Ludi Apollinares.^[66]
• Publius Cornelius P. f. Sulla, praetor in 186 BC, obtained Sicilia as his province.^[67]
• Servius Cornelius P. f. Sulla, praetor in 175 BC obtained Sardinia as his province.^[68] commissioner, sent to assist Lucius Aemilius Paullus in arranging the affairs of Macedonia, in 167 BC.^[69]
• Lucius Cornelius P. f. P. n. Sulla, son of the praetor in 186 BC and father of the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix.^[70]
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. P. n. Sulla Felix (138-78 BC.), praetor urbanus in 93,^[71] consul in 88 and 80, and dictator rei publicae constituendae causa from 82 to 81 BC.
• Servius Cornelius L. f. P. n. Sulla, brother of the dictator.^[72][73]
• Cornelia L. f. L. n., daughter of the dictator by his first wife, Ilia; married first Quintus Pompeius Rufus, and after his death, Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus.
• Cornelius L. f. L. n. Sulla, son of the dictator by his fourth wife, Caecilia Metella, died in the lifetime of his father.^[74][75]
• Faustus Cornelius L. f. L. n. Sulla, son of the dictator, was quaestor in 54 BC, and later a partisan of Pompeius.
• Fausta Cornelia L. f. L. n., daughter of the dictator, and twin sister of Faustus Cornelius Sulla.
• Postuma Cornelia L. f. L. n., daughter of the dictator by his fifth wife, Valeria.
• Publius Cornelius Ser. f. L. n., a nephew of the dictator, was elected consul in 66 BC, but disqualified from the office.
• Servius Cornelius Ser. f. L. n. Sulla, another nephew of the dictator, took part in both of the conspiracies of Catiline.^[76][77]
• Cornelia F. f. L. n., daughter of Faustus Cornelius Sulla.
• Publius Cornelius P. f. Ser. n. Sulla, son of the consul of 66 BC, may have been the father of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, consul in 5 BC.^[78]
• Lucius Cornelius P. f. P. n. Sulla, consul in 5 BC.^[79][80]
• Faustus Cornelius L. f. P. n. Sulla Lucullus, son of the consul of 5 BC, was consul suffectus in AD 31.
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. P. n. Sulla Magnus, another son of the consul of 5 BC, was consul in AD 33.^[81][82]
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. L. n. Sulla, son of the consul of AD 33, was consul suffectus in AD 52.^[5]
• Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix Barbatullus, consul in AD 60.
• Faustus Cornelius L. f. L. n. Sulla Felix, son of the consul of AD 52, was put to death by Nero in 63.
• Cornelius Sulla, governor of Cappadocia, put to death by Elagabalus.^[83]

Cornelii Dolabellae

• Publius Cornelius Dolabella Maximus, consul in 283 BC.
• Marcus Cornelius Dolabella, praetor in Sicily in 211 BC
• Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella, inaugurated as rex sacrorum in place of Marcus Marcius in 208 BC, and held this office until his death in 180.^[84]
• Lucius Cornelius Dolabella, duumvir navalis in 180 BC.
• Gnaeus Cornelius Cn. f. Cn. n. Dolabella, consul in 159 BC.
• Gnaeus Cornelius Cn. f. Cn. n. Dolabella, put to death in 100 BC, together with the tribune Lucius Appuleius Saturninus.^[1]
• Gnaeus Cornelius Cn. f. Cn. n. Dolabella, consul in 81 BC.
• Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella, praetor urbanus in 81 BC, an accomplice of Verres.
• Publius Cornelius Dolabella, praetor urbanus in 67 BC, and later proconsul of Asia.^[85][86]
• Publius Cornelius Dolabella, consul suffectus in 44 BC, and Cicero's son-in-law
• Publius Cornelius P. f. Dolabella, consul in AD 10.
• Publius Cornelius P. f. P. n. Dolabella, proconsul of Africa in AD 23 and 24, conqueror of Tacfarinas.
• Cornelius Dolabella, put to death by Aulus Vitellius in AD 69.^[87]
• Servius Cornelius Dolabella Petronianus, consul in AD 86.^[1]

Cornelii Blasiones

• Gnaeus Cornelius L. f. Cn. n. Blasio, consul in 270 and 257 BC, and censor in 265.
• Gnaeus Cornelius Blasio, praetor in Sicilia in 194 BC.^[88]
• Publius Cornelius Blasio, ambassador to the Carni, Istri, and Iapydes in 170 BC, and special commissioner in 168.^[89]

Cornelii Cethegi

• Marcus Cornelius M. f. M. n. Cethegus, a failed flamen,^[90] censor in 209 and consul in 204 BC.
• Gaius Cornelius L. f. M. n. Cethegus, consul in 197 and censor in 194 BC, cousin of the latter.
• Publius Cornelius L. f. P. n. Cethegus, consul in 181 BC.
• Publius Cornelius Cethegus, praetor in 184 BC.^[91]
• Marcus Cornelius C. f. C. n. Cethegus, consul in 160 BC.
• Lucius Cornelius Cethegus, supporter of a bill by the tribune Lucius Scribonius Libo to impeach Servius Sulpicius Galba in 149 BC.^[92][93]
• Publius Cornelius Cethegus, a partisan of Gaius Marius, pardoned by Sulla in 83 BC.
• Gaius Cornelius Cethegus, joined the second conspiracy of Catiline, 63 BC.
• Servius Cornelius Cethegus, consul in AD 24.^[1]
• Marcus Gavius Cornelius Cethegus, consul in AD 170

Cornelii Merulae

• Lucius Cornelius L. f. Merula, praetor urbanus in 198 BC and consul in 193 BC^[94]
• Gnaeus Cornelius Merula, appointed legate by the Senate to resolve a dispute respecting the sovereignty of Cyprus in 162 BC.
• Lucius Cornelius Merula, aedile curul in 161 BC^[95]
• Lucius Cornelius Merula, Flamen Dialis, and consul suffectus in 87 BC.

Cornelii Cinnae

• Lucius Cornelius L. f. Cinna, consul in 127 BC.^[1]
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. L. n. Cinna, consul in 87 (deposed), and from 86 to 84 BC.
• Cornelia L. f. L. n., wife of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus.
• Cornelia L. f. L. n., sometimes known as Cinnilla, daughter of the consul of 87 BC, and wife of Gaius Julius Caesar.
• Lucius Cornelius L. f. L. n. Cinna, praetor in 44, and consul suffectus in 32 BC.
• Cornelius (L. f. L. n.) Cinna, quaestor of Publius Cornelius Dolabella against Marcus Junius Brutus.^[96][97]
• Gnaeus Cornelius Cinna Magnus, consul in AD 5.

Cornelii Balbi

• Lucius Cornelius Balbus, consul suffectus in 40 BC.
• Publius Cornelius Balbus, brother of the consul of 40 BC.^[1]
• Lucius Cornelius P. f. Balbus, proconsul of Africa (Roman province) in 21 BC, triumphed over the Garamantes.

Other Cornelii during the Republic

• Publius Cornelius Calussa, elected pontifex maximus c.330 BC without holding curule office^[98]
• Servius Cornelius P. f. Ser. n. Merenda, consul in 274 BC.
• Publius Cornelius Merenda, failed candidate to consulship 217 BC
• Aulus Cornelius Mammula, praetor in Sardinia 217 BC and propraetor in 216 BC
• Aulus Cornelius Mammula, praetor in Bruttium 191 BC and propraetor in 190 BC^[99]
• Publius Cornelius Mammula, praetor in Sicily 180 BC^[27]
• Gnaeus Cornelius, installed as flamen dialis in 174 BC^[100]
• Marcus Cornelius Mammula, sent in 173 BC to Macedonia and Egypt
• Cornelius, scriba in the dictatorship of Sulla, and quaestor during that of Caesar.^[101][102]
• Cornelius Phagita, captured Caesar when he was proscribed by Sulla in 82 BC.^[103][104]
• Lucius Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor, a freedman of Greek origin, was a scholar, tutor, and writer on history and geography during the first half of the first century BC.
• Gaius Cornelius, quaestor of Gnaeus Pompeius, and tribunus plebis in 67 BC.
• Gaius Cornelius, one of Catiline's conspirators in 63 BC.^[105][106]
• Publius Cornelius, tribunus plebis in 51 BC.^[107]
• Cornelius, a centurion in the army of Octavianus in 43 BC, sent to Rome to demand the consulship for their general.^[108]
• Gaius Cornelius Gallus, poet, and prefect of Egypt in 30 BC.

Other Cornelii of Imperial Times

• Cornelius Tlepolemus, a painter from Cibyra in Sicily, who came into the service of Verres. Cicero called him one of Verres' canes venatici (hunting dogs).^[109]
• Cornelius Nepos, a historian and contemporary of Cicero.
• Cornelius Severus, poet during the time of Augustus.^[1]
• Aulus Cornelius Celsus, a celebrated Latin writer on medicine, probably during the early part of the 1st century AD.
• Cornelius Tuscus, a historian spoken of by Lucius Annaeus Seneca, who accused Mamercus Aemilius Scaurus of majestas in AD 34.^[110][111]
• Cornelius Fuscus, a Roman general and supporter of Vespasianus.
• Cornelius Fuscus, probably son of the general, written to by the younger Plinius.^[112]
• Cornelius Martialis, served in the army of Titus Flavius Sabinus, and perished in the burning of the Capitol, in AD 69.^[113]
• Cornelius Laco, prefect of the Praetorian Guard under the emperor Galba, AD 69-70.
• Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, historian during the latter part of the 1st century.^[1]
• Aulus Cornelius Palma Frontonianus, consul in AD 99 and 109, put to death by Hadrian in AD 117.
• Servius Cornelius, a jurist in the time of Hadrian.^[1]
• Marcus Cornelius Fronto, a famous orator, and consul suffectus in AD 143.^[1]
• Cn. Cornelius Severus, consul in AD 152.
• Julia Cornelia Paula, empress and first wife of the emperor Elagabalus, from AD 219 to 220.
• Titus Cornelius Celsus, one of the Thirty Tyrants (Roman) enumerated by Trebellius Pollio in the Augustan History.

See also

• Prominent branches: Scipio, Cethegus, Lentulus, Dolabella, Sulla, Cinna
• Notable Roman families relatives of the Cornelius: Aemilia, Fabia, and Sempronia gentes
• List of many Roman families: Category:Ancient Roman families
• List of Roman gentes

References

1. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
2. George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII (1897).
3. Mika Kajava, Roman Female Praenomina: Studies in the Nomenclature of Roman Women (1994).
4. Livy, Ab Urbe Condita v. 19.
5. Fasti Capitolini
6. Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, Saturnalia i. 6.
7. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares iii. 7. § 5, Pro Lege Manilia 19, Epistulae ad Atticum i. 19. § 2.
8. Gaius Plinius Secundus, Naturalis Historia xviii. 3.
9. Plutarch, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans Sulla 2.
10. Macrobius, Saturnalia i. 17.
11. Horace, Ars Poëtica 50.
12. Livy, iii. 35, 40, 41.
13. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia x. 58, xi. 15, 23.
14. Livy, vi. 6, 18, 22, 27, 36, 38.
15. Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica xv. 71.
16. Livy, vi. 36, 42.
17. Diodorus Siculus, xii. 53.
18. Livy, iv. 23.
19. Livy, iv. 49.
20. Diodorus Siculus, xiii. 34.
21. Livy, iv. 56.
22. Diodorus Siculus, xiii. 104.
23. Robert T. Broughton, The Magistrates of Roman Republic, v.1 p. 88
24. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (1952).
25. Friedrich Münzer "Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families" p. 42.
26. Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX vi. 3. § 3.
27. Münzer, "Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families" p. 189.
28. Münzer, "Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families" p. 282.
29. Suetonius, De Vita Caesarum, 59.
30. Plutarch, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans Caesar 52.
31. Cassius Dio, Roman History xlii. 58.
32. Pliny the Elder, vii. 12, xxx. 2.
33. Tacitus, Annales iii. 74.
34. Tacitus, Annales xii. 41, xvi. 12; Historiae iv. 42.
35. Pliny the Elder, ii. 31.
36. Tacitus, Annales xi. 2, 4, xii. 53, xiii. 25.
37. Pliny the Elder, vii. 12, s. 14.
38. Julius Capitolinus, Antoninus Pius 8.
39. Livy, ix. 4.
40. Livy, x. 1.
41. Livy, xxvii. 21.
42. Livy, xxviii. 10, xxix. 2.
43. Livy, xxxii. 2.
44. Livy, xlii. 37, 47, 49, 56, xliii. 15.
45. Livy, xlii. 37, 47, 49, 56.
46. Livy, xlv. 1.
47. Sextus Julius Frontinus, De Aquaeductu 7.
48. Florus, Epitome de T. Livio Bellorum omnium annorum DCC Libri duo iii. 19, 7.
49. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Brutus, 36.
50. Appian, Bella Mithridatica, 95.
51. Johann Caspar von Orelli, Onomasticon Tullianum, p. 177.
52. Cicero, Epistulae ad Quintum Fratrem
53. Gaius Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Civili, iii. 62-65.
54. Paulus Orosius, Historiarum Adversum Paganos Libri VII, vi. 15.
55. Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX vi. 7. § 3.
56. Appian, Bellum Civile iv. 39.
57. Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus, Roman History liv. 12.
58. Cassius Dio, liv. 12, Arg. liv.
59. Riccio, Monete Consolari, p. 52.
60. Cassius Dio, Roman History
61. Suetonius, Galba 4.
62. Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales xiv. 20.
63. Sextus Julius Frontinus, De Aquaeductu 102.
64. Münzer, "Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families" p. 195.
65. Münzer, "Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families" p. 110.
66. Robert T.Broughton, The Magistrates of Roman Republic, v.1 p. 268
67. Livy, xxxix. 6, 8.
68. Münzer, "Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families" p. 200.
69. Livy, xlv. 17.
70. Plutarchus, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans Sulla 1.
71. Münzer, "Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families" v.II.
72. Gaius Sallustius Crispus, The Conspiracy of Catiline 17.
73. Cassius Dio, Roman History xxxvi. 27.
74. Senec. Cons. ad Marc. 12.
75. Plutarch, Sulla 37.
76. Gaius Sallustius Crispus, The Conspiracy of Catiline 17, 47.
77. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Pro Sulla 2.
78. Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares xv. 17; Pro Sulla 31.
79. Pliny the Elder, vii. 11. s. 13.
80. Cassius Dio, Roman History index, lib. lv.
81. Cassius Dio, lviii. 20.
82. Tacitus, Annales vi. 15.
83. Cassius Dio, lxxix. 4.
84. Livy, xxvii. 36, xl. 42.
85. Cicero, Pro Caecina 8.
86. Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac dictorum viii. 1; Ambustae, § 2.
87. Tacitus, Historiae i. 88, ii. 63.
88. Livy, xxxiv. 42, 43.
89. Livy, xliii. 7, xlv. 13.
90. Friedrich Münzer "Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families" p.232.
91. Livy, xxxix. 32, 38, 39.
92. Livy, Epitome 49.
93. Cicero, De Oratore i. 52; Brutus, 23; Epistulae ad Atticum xii. 5.
94. Münzer, "Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families" p. 346.
95. Münzer, "Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families" p. 444.
96. Cicero, Philippicae x. 6.
97. Plutarch, Brutus 25.
98. Münzer, "Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families", p. 171.
99. Münzer, "Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families"
100. Münzer, "Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families", p. 406.
101. Sallust, Hist. in Or. Lep.
102. Cicero, De Officiis ii. 8.
103. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, De Vita Caesarum Caesar 74.
104. Plutarch, Caesar 1.
105. Sallust, The Conspiracy of Catiline 17, 28.
106. Cicero, Pro Sulla 2, 6, 18.
107. Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares viii. 8.
108. Suetonius, Augustus 26.
109. Cicero, In Verrem iii. 28, iv. 13.
110. Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Suasoriae 2, sub fin.
111. Tacitus, Annales vi. 29.
112. Pliny the Younger, Epistulae vii. 9.
113. Tacitus, Annales xv. 71, Historiae iii. 70, 73.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "^{article name needed}". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.