Calavia (gens)

The gens Calavia was a distinguished Campanian family of Roman times. Several members of the gens were involved in the events of the Samnite Wars and during the Second Punic War. The most famous of its members was undoubtedly Pacuvius Calavius, the chief magistrate of Capua during Hannibal's invasion of Italy, and son-in-law of Publius Claudius Pulcher.

When Calavius feared that the Capuans would massacre their own senators and surrender the city to Hannibal, he shut them in the senate-house until he convinced the citizens to place their trust in their leaders once more. When Hannibal nevertheless entered Capua following the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, Calavius restrained his son from a rash attempt on the general's life. In revenge for the subsequent ill treatment of Campania by Rome, a family of this name joined with other Campanians in setting fire to various parts of Rome in 211 BC.

The Calavii were Campanians, and their native language was Oscan. The early members of the gens all bore Oscan praenomina, and were prominent in the events of southern Italy during the 3rd and 4th centuries BC.

The Calavii are known to have used the Oscan praenomina Ovius, Ofilius, Novius, and Pacuvius. It is not certain whether Perolla, a name assigned to the son of Pacuvius Calavius, was also an Oscan praenomen.

None of the Calavii during the Republic bore any surname. In imperial times we find the cognomen Sabinus, referring to one of the Sabines, or their culture.

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

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