Curtius (gens)

The Curtia Gens was a very ancient Roman family, whose roots came from the Sabine race. According to the historian Titus Livius, the Curtia Gens was one of the hundred families already existing at founding of Rome. The name of this gens came from the Latin curtus, which means "short" or "without a part of the body". It was used first as a nickname of a particular member of the Gens, then later as a first name (a praenomen), becoming at last the name of the entire Gens (a nomen). Some other Ancient Roman gentes took their names from physical qualities, like the famous Gens Flavia from the Latin flavus, meaning "blonde".

The Curtia Gens included several families, that each took their own surname (a cognomen), like "Philon", a family that produced Gaius Curtius Philon, Consul of the Roman Republic in 445 BC. Another famous surname was "Rufus", the family of the famous historian Quintus Curtius Rufus.

Legends of the Lacus Curtius

The Curtia Gens is connected with the Roman legends about the Lacus Curtius. The Lacus Curtius is a very old site in the middle of the Roman Forum; its origins are explained with three different traditions reported by Titus Livius and Marcus Terentius Varro.

According to the oldest story by Titus Livius: During the war between Romulus and Titus Tatius, begun after the rape of the Sabine Women, the Roman commander Hostus Hostilius (grandfather of King Tullus Hostilius) was killed in a duel by the Sabine commander Mettius Curtius. Romulus came with many soldiers to take vengeance upon him; Mettius Curtius had no way out, and fell with his horse into a marsh. Romulus thought he was dead, so retired to his headquarters on the Capitoline hill's Arx. But the Sabini went there, found their commander still alive in the marsh, and rescued him. The place henceforth took its name from Mettius Curtius.

A second story is told by Marcus Terentius Varro: in 445 BC lightning hit a spot in the Roman Forum; In accordance with the Roman religion, the place was declared sacred and closed with a palisade by the Consul Gaius Curtius Philon. The place took its name from that Consul's nomen.

Veronese. The sacrificial death of Marcus Curtius

A third story, again from Titus Livius, tells that in 362 BC a chasm opened up in the middle of the Roman Forum. The people began to try to fill it, putting in several kinds of votive offerings, but the abyss remained. So they asked the Auguri what they should do: they answered that the chasm would be closed only putting inside it "the most precious thing of all". The Romans tried to guess what that could be, and tried many different offerings, but the chasm still did not close. Then a young Roman eques named Marcus Curtius had an inspiration: the most precious thing of Rome had to be the courage and strength of Roman soldiers, the real power of Rome. So he wore all his weapons, and riding his horse threw himself as a sacrifice into the hole, which was immediately filled. The heroic act was honoured by the Roman people who gave to the place the same nomen of the young and brave horseman.

In 1553, near the Column of Phocas, a bas-relief was installed showing the horseman Marcus Curtius falling down the chasm. A copy of the original bas-relief (visible in the near Capitolini Museums) is standing by the side of the Lacus Curtius, in the middle part of the Roman Forum.

Other Notable Family Members

Other members of the Curtia Gens that are remembered by history include:

• Quintus Curtius, Triunvir for minting coins in 116-115 BC, together with Marcus Iunius Silanus and Cneus Domitius Enobarbus. He had silver coins (denarii) marked with his name, shortened to: "Q CURT".

• Quintus Curtius, an auctioneer in Abidos, Egypt.

• Curtius Rufus, Proconsul in Africa, probably father of Quintus Curtius Rufus.

• Quintus Curtius Rufus, historian, author of the "Histories of Alexander the Great"; he was the first Roman to write about foreign affairs.

• Gaius Curtius, a famous Roman eques and relative of the Senator Gaius Rabirius.

External links

• Article by Samuel Ball Platner, with photographs
• Images of the silver coins ("denarii") made by order of the coinage Triunvir Quintus Curtius in 115-116 B.C.