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The ''gens Claudia'' (), sometimes written ''Clodia'', was one of the most prominent patrician houses at Rome. The ''gens'' traced its origin to the earliest days of the Roman Republic. The first of the Claudii to obtain the consulship was Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis, in 495 BC, and from that time its members frequently held the highest offices of the state, both under the Republic and in imperial times. Plebeian Claudii are found fairly early in Rome's history. Some may have been descended from members of the family who had passed over to the plebeians, while others were probably the descendants of freedmen of the gens.〔''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', William Smith, Editor.〕 In his life of the emperor Tiberius, who was a scion of the Claudii, the historian Suetonius gives a summary of the gens, and says, "as time went on it was honoured with twenty-eight consulships, five dictatorships, seven censorships, six triumphs, and two ovations." Writing several decades after the fall of the so-called "Julio-Claudian dynasty", Suetonius took care to mention both the good and wicked deeds attributed to members of the family.〔Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, ''De Vita Caesarum'', "Tiberius," 1-3 (translated by J. C. Rolfe, Loeb Classical Library, 1912-13).〕 The patrician Claudii were noted for their pride and arrogance, and intense hatred of the commonalty. In his ''History of Rome,'' Niebuhr writes, That house during the course of centuries produced several very eminent, few great men; hardly a single noble-minded one. In all ages it distinguished itself alike by a spirit of haughty defiance, by disdain for the laws, and iron hardness of heart.〔Barthold Georg Niebuhr, ''History of Rome'', vol. i. p. 599.〕 During the Republic, no patrician Claudius adopted a member of another gens; the emperor Claudius was the first who broke this custom, by adopting Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, afterwards the emperor Nero.〔〔Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, ''De Vita Caesarum'', "Claudius," 39.〕〔Publius Cornelius Tacitus, ''Annales'', xii.〕 ==Origin of the gens== According to legend, the first of the Claudii was a Sabine, by the name of ''Attius Clausus'',〔Clausus' praenomen is spelled various ways in different sources and manuscripts, including ''Attius, Attus'', and ''Atta''.〕 who came to Rome with his retainers in 504 BC, the sixth year of the Republic. At this time, the fledgling Republic was engaged in regular warfare with the Sabines, and Clausus is said to have been the leader of a faction seeking to end the conflict. When his efforts failed, he defected to the Romans. Clausus was enrolled among the patricians, and exchanged his Sabine name for the Latin ''Appius Claudius''.〔Titus Livius, ''Ab Urbe Condita'', ii. 16.〕〔Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, ''De Vita Caesarum'', "Tiberius," 1. An alternative tradition, mentioned by Suetonius, asserted that the Claudii came to Rome with Titus Tatius, king of the Sabine town of Cures, during the reign of Romulus, the first King of Rome.〕 The emperor Claudius is said to have referred to this tradition, in a speech made before the Roman Senate, in which he argued in favor of admitting Gauls to that body. "My ancestors, the most ancient of whom was made at once a citizen and a noble of Rome, encourage me to govern by the same policy of transferring to this city all conspicuous merit, wherever found." The Claudii were also said to have been granted a tract of land for their dependents on the far side of the Anio,〔The inhabitants of this region were later known as the "old Claudian tribe".〕 and a burial site at the foot of the Capitoline Hill.〔〔Publius Cornelius Tacitus, ''Annales'', xi. 24.〕〔Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, ''De Vita Caesarum'', "Tiberius," 1.〕 By imperial times, the influence of the Claudii was so great that the poet Vergilius flattered them by a deliberate anachronism. In his Aeneid, he makes Attius Clausus a contemporary of Aeneas, to whose side he rallies with a host of ''quirites'', or spearmen. The ''nomen Claudius'', originally ''Clausus'', according to legend, is usually said to be derived from the Latin adjective ''claudus'', meaning "lame". As a ''cognomen, Claudus'' is occasionally found in other gentes. This etymology was argued by Antoine Meillet and Karl Braasch. However, since there is no tradition that any of the early Claudii were lame, the nomen might refer to some ancestor of Attius Clausus. It could also have been metaphorical, or ironic, and the possibility remains that this derivation is erroneous.〔 The authors cite 〕 The metathesis of ''Clausus'' into ''Claudius'', and its common by-form, ''Clodius'', was discussed in the ''Dictionnaire Étymologique Latin''. The alternation of 'o' and 'au' seems to have been common in Sabine. The alternation of 's' and 'd' occurs in words borrowed from Greek: Latin ''rosa'' from Greek ''rhodos''; but in this instance ''clausus'' or '' *closus'' is a Sabine word becoming ''clod-'' in Latin. The name could have come from Greek settlers in Latium, but there is no evidence in favor of this hypothesis. The Sabine praenomen ''Attius'' has been the subject of similar fascination for philologists. The form ''Attus'' is mentioned by Valerius Maximus, who connected it with the bucolic Greek name Atys. Braasch translated it as ''Väterchen'', "little father," and connected it with a series of childhood parental names: "atta, tata, acca," and the like, becoming such names as ''Tatius'' (also Sabine) and ''Atilius''.〔Karl Braasch, ''Lateinische Personennamen, nach ihrer Bedeutung zusammen gestellt'' (1892), pp. 7-8.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Claudia (gens)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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