The gens Nonia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members first appear in history toward the end of the Republic. The first of the Nonii to obtain the consulship was Lucius Nonius Asprenas in 36 BC. From then until the end of the fourth century, they regularly held the highest offices of the Roman state.
The nomen Nonius is a patronymic surname, based on the praenomen Nonus, presumably belonging to an ancestor of the gens. The name is undoubtedly Latin, although the first of the Nonii to rise to prominence at Rome is said to have come from Picenum. Another branch of the family seems to have come from Aesernia.
The chief praenomina of the Nonii were Lucius, Marcus, and Publius, all of which were used by the Nonii Asprenates, while the Quinctiliani used Lucius and Sextus, the latter coming from the Quinctilii, in the maternal line. The Nonii Galli used Marcus and Gaius, while the Macrini used Marcus and Publius. Other praenomina occasionally appear among Nonii whose connection to the main branches of the family, if any, is unknown, including Aulus, Gnaeus, and Quintus Titus is given in some sources as the earliest ancestor of the Asprenates, solely from the filiation of the consul of 36 BC, but this is very uncertain, and the name is not otherwise found among the Nonii.
Branches and cognomina
The main surnames of the Nonii were Asprenas, Balbus, Gallus, Quinctilianus, and Sufenas, of which only the last two appear on coins. A few of the Nonii occur without surnames. Asprenas, the name of the most prominent family of the Nonii, and Sufenas belong to a class of cognomen apparently derived from the names of towns that can no longer be identified. Balbus was a common surname, originally given to someone with a pronounced stammer, while Gallus could signify either a Gaul or a cockerel.
The Nonii Asprenates emerge into history in the time of Caesar. They remained prominent through the middle of the second century, and the Quinctiliani appear to have constituted a cadet branch of this family. The Nonii Galli were the next family to appear, coming from the town of Aesernia, in the Samnite country, where a Latin colony had been sent at the end of the Third Samnite War.
Beginning in the mid-second century there is a family with the surname Macrinus, a diminutive of the cognomen Macro, a Greek name meaning "great" or "large". This family distinguished itself through military and civil service, and evidently obtained patrician rank, as Marcus Nonius Arrius Paulinus Aper was advanced to the office of praetor without having first served as tribune of the plebs.
This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
Aulus Nonius, an opponent of Saturninus and Glaucia, by whom he was murdered in 100 BC, when Nonius was a candidate for tribune of the plebs.
Nonius, a friend of Gaius Flavius Fimbria, who called upon his soldiers to swear to support him against Sulla in 84 BC. Notwithstanding their friendship, Nonius refused the oath.
Marcus Nonius Sufenas, tribune of the plebs in 56 BC, with two of his colleagues, prevented the comitia from being held, and new consuls elevted. He was tried for this action, but acquitted. He was praetor circa 52, and afterward governor of one of the eastern provinces, perhaps Crete and Cyrenaica or Macedonia.
Sextus Nonius Sufenas, issuer of a coin, depicting the head of Saturn on the obverse, and Victoria crowning a woman on the reverse.
Nonius Struma, appointed to a curule magistracy by Caesar, he proved himself unfit for his position, causing the poet Catullus to remark sarcastically, quid est, Catulle, quid moraris emori? Sella in curuli Struma Nonius sedet.
Nonius, the son of Struma, was said to possess an opal of immense value. According to Pliny, he was proscribed by the triumvir Antonius on account of his treasure.
Nonius, a centurion, was murdered by his soldiers in 41 BC, while attempting to quell a mutiny on the Campus Martius in 41 BC.
Nonius, placed in charge of one of the gates of Rome during the Perusine War, permitted Lucius Antonius to enter the city.
Lucius Nonius T.? f. Asprenas, father of the consul of 36 BC.
Lucius Nonius L. f. T.? n. Asprenas, as proconsul in 46 BC, during the Civil War, he served under Caesar in Africa and Spain. He was consul suffectus in 36.
Nonia L. f. Polla, married Lucius Volusius Saturninus, consul suffectus in 12 BC.
Lucius Nonius L. f. Asprenas, an intimate friend of Augustus, was accused of poisoning the guests at a banquet he gave, and acquitted largely through the emperor's influence.
Lucius Nonius L. f. L. n. Asprenas, consul in AD 6. In AD 9, he was a legate under his uncle, Publius Quinctilius Varus, who was slain in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. Asprenas was able to prevent the complete destruction of the army following his uncle's death. He was proconsul of Africa in AD 14. He married Calpurnia.
Marcus Nonius Asprenas, father of the consul of AD 38.
Lucius Nonius L. f. L. n. Asprenas, consul suffectus in AD 29.
Nonius Asprenas Calpurnius Serranus, brother of Lucius, the consul of AD 29.
Publius Nonius M. f. Asprenas, consul in AD 38. He was slain by the bodyguard of Caligula in the hunt for their master's murderers in 41, although his garments were only stained with the blood of a sacrifice he had offered in a priestly capacity.
Publius Nonius Asprenas, an orator frequently mentioned by Seneca in his Controversiae.
Lucius Nonius Asprenas, another orator frequently mentioned in Seneca's Controversiae.
Publius Nonius Asprenas Caesianus, known from an inscription mentioning his slave, Olympus Asprenatis, and his wife.
Nonia P. l. Ionica, a freedwoman, was the wife of Olympus Asprenatus.
Lucius Nonius L. f. L. n. Calpurnius Torquatus Asprenas, consul suffectus in AD 71.
Lucius Nonius L. f. L. n. Calpurnus Torquatus Asprenas, consul in AD 94, and again in 128.
Nonia L. f. L. n. Torquata, married Quintus Volusius Saturninus.
Lucius Nonius Calpurnius Torquatus Asprenas, consul suffectus in September of an uncertain year, circa AD 151.
Sextus Nonius L. f. L. n. Quinctilianus, probably the second son of Lucius Nonius Asprenas, the friend of Augustus, was consul in AD 8.
Sextus Nonius Sex. f. L. n. Quinctilianus, consul suffectus in AD 38.
Lucius Nonius Sex. f. L. n. Quinctilianus, son of the consul of AD 8, and brother of the consul of 38.
Lucius Nonius L. f. Sex. n. Quintilianus, grandson of the consul of AD 8, was an augur, and one of the Salii Palatinii. He died at the age of twenty-four.
Marcus Nonius (Gallus), great-grandfather of the general Aeserninus.
Gaius Nonius M. f. (Gallus), grandfather of the general Aeserninus.
Gaius Nonius C. f. M. n. (Gallus), one of the quattuorviri quinquennalis, the municipal officials of Aesernia in Samnium.
Marcus Nonius C. f. C. n. Gallus Aeserninus, consul suffectus about 35 BC, was afterward sent against the Treveri and Germani, whom he defeated in 29. He might be the same Nonius who served under Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus during the Civil War.
Nonius Balbus, tribune of the plebs in 32 BC, vetoed a law devised by the consul Gaius Sosius, one of Antonius' supporters, which was aimed at Octavian.
Marcus Nonius M. f. Balbus, married Viciria Archais, and was the father of Marcus Nonius Balbus, proconsul of Crete and Cyrenaica.
Marcus Nonius M. f. M. n. Balbus, had been praetor, and subsequently proconsul of Crete and Cyrenaica. He was judicial magistrate at Herculaneum, and helped restore the city after the earthquake of AD 62. He married Volasennia Tertia.
Marcus Nonius Macrinus, father of the quaestor Macrinus.
Publius Nonius M. f. Macrinus, quaestor in AD 138.
Marcus Nonius M. f. Macrinus, one of the quindecimviri sacris faciundis, was consul in AD 154, and afterward legate pro praetore of Pannonia Superior and proconsul of Asia. He married Arria. This Macrinus is supposed to have been one of the historical figures who inspired the character of "Maximus Decimus Meridius" in the film Gladiator.
Marcus Nonius M. f. M. n. Arrius Mucianus, was, like his father and brother, one of the quindecimviri sacris faciundis. He was consul in AD 201.
Marcus Nonius M. f. M. n. Arrius Paulinus Aper, one of the quindecimviri sacris faciundis, like his father and brother. He was praetor urbanus, but it is not clear whether he ever became consul. His wife was (Roscia?) Pacula.
Nonia Arria Hermionilla, the wife of Sextus Valerius Poplicola Vettilianus, an eques, and grandmother of Marcus Annius Valerius Catullus.
Nonia C. f., named in an inscription found on a cippus, or pedestal, in the garden of Titianus.
Nonia Antistia, named in an inscription found on a pipe.
Nonia Maxima, named in an inscription found on a pipe.
Gaius Nonius C. f. Proculus, consul suffectus in an uncertain year.
Gnaeus Nonius, an eques who was discovered wearing a sword while in a crowd around the emperor Claudius, in AD 47.
Nonius Receptus, a centurion in the twenty-second legion, who remained loyal to the emperor Galba in AD 69. He was imprisoned and put to death by his colleagues, who had taken the side of Vitellius.
Nonius Attianus, one of the delatores in the reign of Nero, was punished in AD 70, following the accession of Vespasian.
Nonius Celer, helped arrange the marriage of Quintilianus, a friend of Pliny the Younger.
Marcus Nonius M. f. Mucianus Publius Delphius Peregrinus, consul suffectus in October of AD 138. It is uncertain whether he was related to the Nonii Macrini, among whom there was Marcus Nonius Arrius Mucianus; a Publius Nonius Macrinus was quaestor in the year of Peregrinus' consulship.
Quintus Nonius Sosius Priscus, consul in AD 149.
Nonius Bassus, consul suffectus in an uncertain year.
Lucius Nonius Bassus, prefect of the Cohors I Brittonum milliaria under Antoninus Pius.
Nonius Gracchus, one of the prominent Romans whom Septimius Severus had put to death without cause.
Nonia Celsa, wife of the emperor Macrinus, and mother of Diadumenian.
Nonius Philippus, legatus pro praetore of Britannia Inferior in AD 242.
Nonius Gratilianus, a minor Roman noble, was chosen to join the collegium of Beneventum in AD 257.
Nonius Paternus, consul circa AD 279, and perhaps praefectus urbi in 281.
Nonius Atticus, consul in AD 397.
Nonius Marcellus, a Latin grammarian of uncertain date, and the author of an important treatise entitled De Compendiosa Doctrina per Litteras ad Filium, also known as De Proprietate Sermonis. The work is itself highly disorganized, but it contains numerous quotations from notable authors whose own works have been lost.
