Etruscan urn containing the ashes of Pomponius Notus
In the latter part of the Republic, it was common for various gentes to claim descent from the founding figures of Rome; the companions of Aeneas, Romulus, or those who came to Rome in the time of the kings. The Pomponii claimed to be descended from Pompo, one of the sons of Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome, whose image appears on some of their coins. Several other gentes also claimed Numa as their ancestor.[lower-roman 1][2][3][4][5]
Pompo, asserted as the name of the ancestor of the Pompilii, does indeed appear to have been an ancient praenomen of Sabine origin. It was the Oscan equivalent of Quintus, a very common name. Numa's father is said to have been named Pompo Pompilius, and it is evident that the nomenPompilius was itself a patronymic surname derived from Pompo. Pomponius appears to be derived from an adjectival form of that name, and the equivalent of the Latin nomen Quinctilius. Thus, it is reasonably certain that some ancestor of the Pomponii was indeed named Pompo, although the claim that he was the son of Numa may well be a later addition.[6]
An alternative explanation suggested during the early nineteenth century, was that the name might be derived from an Etruscan root, Pumpu or Pumpili.[7] In her History of Etruria, Mrs. Hamilton Gray supposed Pumpu to have been the name of Numa's mother, adopted as a surname according to a tradition common to the Etruscan and Sabine cultures.[8]
The Pomponii used a wide variety of praenomina. The principal names were Marcus, Lucius, and Titus. A few of the Pomponii bore the praenomina Quintus, Publius, and Sextus. The illustrious family of the Pomponii Mathones favored Manius, and there are individual instances of Gaius and Gnaeus.
In the earliest times, the Pomponii were not distinguished by any surname, and the only family that rose to importance in the time of the Republic bore the surname Matho. On coins we also find the cognomina Molo, Musa, and Rufus, but none of these occur in ancient writers. The other surnames found during the Republic, such as Atticus, were personal cognomina. Numerous surnames appear in imperial times.[1]
This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
Marcus Pomponius, tribunus plebis in 362 BC, brought an accusation against Lucius Manlius Capitolinus, the dictator of the preceding year, but withdrew it after being threatened by the dictator's son, Titus Manlius Torquatus.[10][11][12][13]
Pomponii Rufi
Lucius Pomponius Rufus, grandfather of the consular tribune of 399 BC.[14]
Lucius Pomponius L. f. Rufus, father of the consular tribune.[14]
Quintus Pomponius (L. f. L. n. Rufus), tribune of the plebs in 395 BC, opposed a measure to establish a colony at Veii, for which reason he was accused and fined two years later.[17][18]
Pomponii Mathones
Manius Pomponius Matho, grandfather of the consul of 233 BC.[19]
Manius Pomponius M'. n. Matho, father of the consul of 233 BC.[19]
Titus Pomponius Veientanus, a publicanus, who as commander of some of the allied troops in southern Italy in 213 BC, attacked the Carthaginian general Hanno; he was defeated and taken prisoner.[25]
Marcus Pomponius, praetor urbanus in 161 BC, obtained a decree of the senate, forbidding philosophers and rhetoricians from living at Rome.[26][27][28]
Marcus Pomponius, an intimate friend of Gaius Gracchus, who sacrificed himself to afford Gracchus to escape his pursuers on the day of his death, in 121 BC.[29][30][31][32]
Pomponius, proscribed by the triumvirs in 43 BC, he escaped Rome disguised as a Praetor, accompanied by slaves playing the part of lictors.[40]
Pomponii of imperial times
Publius Pomponius Graecinus, consul suffectus in AD 16, was a friend of Ovid, and the brother of Lucius Pomponius Flaccus, who was consul the following year.
Lucius Pomponius Flaccus, consul in AD 17, was a friend of Tiberius, and the brother of Publius Pomponius Graecinus, who had been consul the preceding year.[41]
Marcus Pomponius Marcellus, a celebrated grammarian and advocate during the reign of Tiberius.[42][43]
Pomponius Labeo, governor of Moesia during the reign of Tiberius, he was denounced by the emperor for maladministration, and put an end to his life in AD 34.[44][45]
The gentes which are known to have claimed descent from Numa were the Aemilii, Calpurnii, Pinarii, and Pomponii, by sons named Mamercus, Calpus, Pinus, and Pompo, respectively; and, through a daughter, Pompilia, the Marcii.
Eck, Werner; Holder, Paul; Pangerl, Andreas (2010). "A Diploma for the Army of Britain in 132 and Hadrian's Return to the East". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 174 (2010): 193.
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, De Claris Rhetoribus (On the Eminent Orators), De Illustribus Grammaticis (The Illustrious Grammarians)..
Appianus Alexandrinus (Appian), Bellum Samniticum (History of the Samnite War), Bella Mithridatica (The Mithridatic Wars), Bellum Civile (The Civil War).
