The gens Sedatia, occasionally written Sedata, was a plebeian family from Roman Gaul, which flourished from the first century to the third century. The only known member of the gens to achieve a position in the Roman Senate was Marcus Sedatius Severianus, consul suffectus in 153.
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Etymology
Sedatius derives from the name of the god, Sedatus, known from the dedications discovered in the Danubian regions and who belonged to the Celtic pantheon. In Gaul, this name which began as a theonym also served as an anthroponym. It had been transformed into a gens in usage by an ancestor of Marcus Sedatius Severianus, who had obtained his own nomen without power, or taking the nomen of the imperial family. This practice was very exceptional in 1st century Roman society, and was even illegal.
Background
The power of the wealthy Sedatii was founded on trade and commerce. The Sedatii depended on the Loire river, and were known to have had interests in Ostia.
The social and political rise of the Sedatii illustrates the decline of the aristocratic Iulii who had been the leading class in Roman Gaul since the time of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The possible marriage of Marcus Sedatius Severianus' father with Julia Rufina might have contributed to winemakers and land owners becoming the leading class in Gaul until the Flavians.