Caecina was the name of an Etruscan family of Volaterrae, one of the ancient cities of Etruria. Persons of this gens are first mentioned in the first century BC. Under the Empire the name is of frequent occurrence. As late as the reign of Honorius, we read of the poet Decius Albinus Caecina, residing at his villa in the neighborhood of Volaterrae; and until modern times there has been a family of this name at the modern Volterra. The family tomb of the Caecinae has been discovered in the neighborhood of Volterra; in this tomb there was found a beautiful sarcophagus, now in the Museum of Paris.
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Origin
The family seems either to have derived its name from, or given it to, the river Caecina, which flows by the town of Volterra. From the tomb of the Caecinae, we learn that Ceicna was the Etruscan form of the name.
Branches and cognomina
The family was divided into several branches, and we accordingly find on the funeral urns the cognomina Caspu and Tlapuni; in Latin inscriptions we also meet with the surnames Quadratus and Placidus, and various others occur.