Annia (gens)

The gens Annia was a plebeian family of considerable antiquity at Rome. The first person of this name whom Livy mentions is the Latin praetor Lucius Annius of Setia, a Roman colony in 340 BC. By the time of the Second Punic War, the Annii were obtaining minor magistracies at Rome, and in 153 BC, Titus Annius Luscus attained the consulship. The gens remained prominent at Rome through the first century. The emperor Marcus Aurelius was descended from a family of this name.

Although the earliest of the Annii was from the Volscian town of Setia, he seems to have been a Latin, and the names used by the various members of this family are consistent with a Latin origin. Whether Roman Annii were descended from this Lucius Annius is not known. At least one early Annius was from Campania, but by this time, the family was already established at Rome.

The main families of the Annii at Rome used the praenomina Titus, Lucius, and Gaius. The Annii Lusci preferred Titus and Gaius, while the Annii Bellieni used Lucius and Gaius. Other members of the gens used Lucius, Publius, Gaius, and Quintus.

A number of Annii during the Republic bore no cognomen. The principal branches of the Annii were surnamed Luscus and Bellienus (or Bilienus). Luscus is derived from a word variously translated as "one-eyed", "bleary-eyed", or "partly blind". It must have been applied to an ancestor of the oldest family of the gens, and the only one to obtain the consulship at Rome. One member of this family bore the additional surname Rufus, probably in reference to his red hair. The last noteworthy member of the family became known as Milo, apparently a reference to a notorious robber in southern Italy. A variety of surnames were borne by individual Annii, including Asellus, Bassus, Cimber, Faustus, Gallus, and Pollio.

...
Wikipedia