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The ''gens Flavia'' was a plebeian family at Rome. Its members are first mentioned during the last three centuries of the Republic. The first of the Flavii to achieve prominence was Marcus Flavius, Tribune of the plebs in 327 and 323 BC; however, no Flavius attained the consulship until Gaius Flavius Fimbria in 104 BC. The gens became illustrious during the first century AD, when the family of the Flavii Sabini claimed the imperial dignity. Under the Empire, the number of persons bearing this nomen becomes very large, perhaps due to the great number of freedmen under the Flavian dynasty of emperors. It was a common practice for freedmen to assume the nomina of their patrons, and so countless persons who obtained the Roman franchise under the Flavian emperors adopted the name ''Flavius'', which was then handed down to their descendants.〔''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', William Smith, Editor.〕 During the later period of the Empire, the name ''Flavius'' frequently descended from one emperor to another, beginning with Constantius, the father of Constantine the Great. The name became so ubiquitous that it was sometimes treated as a praenomen, to the extent of being regularly abbreviated ''Fl.'', and it is even described as a praenomen in some sources, although it was never truly used as a personal name. The last emperor to take the name was eastern emperor Constantine IV. After the name fell into disuse among the Byzantine emperors, it was used as a title of legitimacy among the barbarian rulers of former Roman provinces, such as Spain, where the Visigoths and their Spanish successors used the title ″Emperor of All Spain″, and the kings of the barbarian successor kingdoms of Italy, such as the Ostrogoths and the Lombards also used it, with a special meaning as the ″protector″ of the Italian peoples under Lombard rule. The vast majority of persons named ''Flavius'' during the later Empire could not have been descended from the Flavia gens; and indeed, the distinction between nomina and cognomina was all but lost, so that in many cases one cannot even determine with certainty whether it is a nomen or a cognomen. However, because it is impossible to determine which of these persons used ''Flavius'' as a gentile name, they have been listed below.〔 ==Origin== The Flavii seem to have been of Sabine origin, and may have been connected with the Flavii who lived at Reate during the first century AD, and to whom the emperor Vespasian belonged. But the name ''Flavius'' also occurs in other countries of Italy, as Etruria and Lucania. The name is derived from ''flavus'', meaning "golden" or "golden-brown," and probably referred to the blond hair possessed by an early member of the family. ''Flavus'' was also a surname found in a number of gentes.〔〔D.P. Simpson, ''Cassell's Latin & English Dictionary'' (1963).〕〔George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII (1897).〕 In modern use, ''Flavius'' is a personal name, and widely used in romance languages, including Italian and Spanish ''Flavio'' (fem. ''Flavia''), French ''Flavien'' (fem. ''Flavie''), Portuguese ''Flávio'' (fem. ''Flávia''), and Romanian ''Flavius'' or ''Flaviu'' (fem. ''Flavia''). 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「Flavia (gens)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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