Manlia (gens)

The gens Manlia was one of the oldest and noblest patrician houses at Rome, from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gnaeus Manlius Cincinnatus, consul in 480 BC. The family was probably numbered amongst the gentes maiores, the most important of the patrician families.

The Manlii were said to hail from the ancient Latin city of Tusculum. The nomen Manlia may be a patronymic surname, based on the praenomen Manius, presumably the name of an ancestor of the gens. The gens Manilia was derived from the same name. However, Manius was not used by any of the Manlii in historical times.

The Manlii used the praenomina Publius, Gnaeus, Aulus, Lucius, and Marcus. The Manlii Torquati also favored the name Titus, using primarily that, Aulus, and Lucius.

A well-known story relates that after Marcus Manlius Capitolinus was condemned for treason, the Roman Senate decreed that henceforth none of the gens should bear the praenomen Marcus. However, this legend may have originated as a way to explain the scarcity of the name amongst the Manlii, as the name was occasionally used in later generations.

The earliest cognomen found amongst the Manlii is Cincinnatus, better known as a cognomen of the Quinctii. This name, probably referring to a person with fine, curly hair, may have been a personal surname, as it does not seem to have been used by later generations. The cognomen Vulso appeared shortly thereafter, and this family flourished for over three hundred years. Several other early Manlii appear without cognomina.

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