The gens Horatia was a patrician family at ancient Rome. In legend, the gens dates back to the time of Tullus Hostilius, the third King of Rome. One of its members, Marcus Horatius Pulvillus, was consul suffectus in 509 BC, the first year of the Republic, and again in 507. The most famous of the Horatii was his nephew, Publius Horatius Cocles, who held the Sublician bridge against the army of Lars Porsena circa 508 BC.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, p. 518 ("Horatia Gens").
Origin The nomen Horatius is said to have been derived from the hero Horatus, to whom an oak wood was dedicated. The gens was certainly of Latin origin, although there was some uncertainty as to when they arrived at Rome. A legend relates that in the reign of Tullus Hostilius, the fate of the ancient city of Alba Longa was decided by combat between three brothers from that city and three from Rome. The historian Livy states that most sources assigned the Horatii to Rome, and their opponents, the Curiatii, to Alba Longa. The victory of the Horatii was a pretext for the destruction of Alba Longa, and the transfer of its noble families to Rome.Livy, i. 24–26.Dionysius, iii. 12–22, 28–32; v. 14.
Praenomina The patrician Horatii used the praenomina Publius, Marcus, Lucius, and Gaius. To these, the plebeian Horatii of the late Republic and imperial times added Quintus and Sextus. No other praenomina are found in epigraphic sources, with the possible exception of a single instance of Titus, but the reading of this inscription is uncertain.
Branches and cognomina The Horatii of the Republic bore the surnames Barbatus, Cocles, and Pulvillus. Of these, Barbatus and Pulvillus were cognomina designating different branches of the family, while Cocles appears to have been a personal surname, or agnomen, given to the hero of the Sublician bridge. Plutarch supposes that it was derived from the Greek cyclops, because he had lost an eye, or because the shape of his face made it appear as if he had but one eye.Plutarch, "The Life of Poplicola", 16.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, pp. 809, 810 ("Cocles, Horatius"). Cocles is said to have been the nephew of Marcus Horatius Pulvillus, and if he left any issue, they do not seem to have carried on his surname. Other surnames appearing amongst the Horatii in later times may have been adopted by freedmen of the gens; the poet Horace was the son of a libertinus, and the cognomen Flaccus is not otherwise found amongst the Horatii.
Members
Early Horatii
Publius Horatius, father of the Horatii who fought against the Curiatii, absolved his son of guilt in the death of his sister. In some versions of the story, his praenomen is Marcus.Livy, i. 26.Zonaras, vii. 6.Dionysius, iii. 28–32.Cicero, Pro Milone, 3. Publius Horatius, one of the Horatii, three brothers who fought against the three Curiatii in the reign of Tullus Hostilius; and the sole survivor of the combat. Enraged by his sister's grief for one of the slain Curiatii, to whom she had been betrothed, he slew her as well, and by custom his life was forfeit; but their father decreed that in light of his service to his country, his penance was to pass under the yoke. Horatia Camilla, sister of the Horatii, was betrothed to one of the Curiatii, and because of her display of grief was slain by her victorious brother. An ancient tomb near the Porta Capena was said to have been hers.Dionysius, iii. 21.Livy, i. 26.Florus, i. 3.
Horatii Pulvilli Marcus Horatius Pulvillus, father of the consul of 509, and according to legend, grandfather of Publius Horatius Cocles.Fasti Capitolini, ; 1904, 114. Marcus Horatius M. f. Pulvillus, consul suffectus in 509 BC, the first year of the Republic; he was consul again in 507.Livy, ii. 8.Dionysius, v. 19, 21.Broughton, vol. I, pp. 3, 6. Publius Horatius — f. M. n. Cocles, one of the heroes of the Republic, defended the Sublician bridge against the army of Lars Porsena, circa 508 BC, was a nephew of the consul Marcus Horatius Pulvillus.Livy, i. 10.Dionysius, v. 24, 25.Valerius Maximus, iii. 2. § 1.Florus, i. 10.Aurelius Victor, De Viris Illustribus, 11.Seneca the Younger, Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, 120 ff. Gaius Horatius M. f. M. n. Pulvillus, consul in 477 and 457 BC; he defeated the Aequi.Livy, ii. 51, iii. 30.Diodorus, xi. 53, 91.Broughton, vol. I, pp. 26, 27 (and note 1), 41 (and note 1). Publius Horatius (Pulvillus), according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, one of the consuls in 453 BC; other sources give Publius Curiatius Fistus Trigeminus.Dionysius, x. 53.Livy, iii. 32.Broughton, vol. I, pp. 43, 44 (and note 1). Lucius Horatius Pulvillus, consular tribune in 386 BC.Livy, vi. 6.Broughton, vol. I, pp. 100, 101. Marcus Horatius Pulvillus, consular tribune in 378 BC.Livy, vi. 31.Broughton, vol. I, p. 107 (and note 1).
Horatii Barbati Marcus Horatius M. f. L. n. Barbatus, with Lucius Valerius Potitus, helped to abolish the decemvirate in 449 BC; the two elected consuls for the same year; Horatius triumphed over the Sabines.Livy, iii. 55.Dionysius, xi. 5.Diodorus, xii. 26.Cicero, De Republica, ii. 54.Broughton, vol. I, pp. 47–50 (and note 1). Lucius Horatius M. f. M. n. Barbatus, consular tribune in 425 BC.Livy, iv. 35.Diodorus, xii. 81.Broughton, vol. I, p. 67 (and note 1).
Others Lucius Horatius L. f., one of the aediles at Aquileia in Venetia and Histria, together with his colleague, Gaius Lucretius, made a religious donation recorded in an inscription from the early to middle part of the second century BC.. Horatius Balbus, built a sepulchre at Sassina in Umbria, dating from the middle of the first century BC.. Quintus Horatius Flaccus, better known as Horace, a poet in the time of Augustus, during the first century BC. Lucius Horatius L. f., buried at Casilinum in Campania, in a tomb dating from the latter half of the first century BC, built by his freedwoman, identified in the inscription as "Silenium".. Horatius Antipatrus, named on a plaster inscription dedicated to the gods at Virunum in Noricum, dating from the latter half of the first century BC.. Lucius Horatius L. f. L. n., named in a sepulchral inscription from Tibur in Latium, dating between the middle of the first century BC and the middle of the first century AD.. Publius Horatius P. f., a native of Malaca in Hispania Citerior, named in a dedicatory inscription from Ilici, also in Hispania Citerior, dating from the late first century BC.. Horatius C. l. Dio, a freedman buried at Venusia in Samnium in the late first century BC or early first century AD.. Quintus Horatius Narcissus, buried at Rome, with a monument dating from the late first century BC or early first century AD.. Horatia Q. l. Prima, a freedwoman buried in a family sepulchre at Stabiae in Campania, dating between the late first century BC and early first century AD, built from the proceeds of the will of Lucius Scanius for himself, Horatia Prima, perhaps his wife, and his parents, Lucius Scanius and Veratia Galla.. Lucius Horatius L. f., one of the priests at the Colony of Sutrium in Etruria, named in an inscription dating between the late first century BC and the middle of the first century AD.. Marcus Horatius M. f. Bodonilur, one of the municipal duumvirs at Urgalo Alba in Hispania Baetica in the late first century BC or early first century AD. His wife was Lucretia Sergieton.. Marcus Horatius, named in a sepulchral inscription from Tarvisium in Venetia and Histria, dating from the reign of Augustus.. Marcus Horatius M. l. Protus, a freedman, and the heir of Gaius Mevius Rodonis, also a freedman, built a tomb at Rome, dating from the first half of the first century, for himself and his family.. Lucius Horatius M. f. Viseradin, buried at the site of modern Requena, formerly part of Hispania Citerior, in a tomb dating from the early or middle part of the first century.. Horatius Amadio, perhaps a merchant, and the recipient of some Liquamen, or fish sauce, named in an inscription from Pompeii in Campania.. Lucius Horatius Longus, was tribune of the second cohort of the Vigiles, and subsequently one of the duumvirs at Tarvisium in Venetia and Histria. He was buried in a first century tomb built by his clients, Gaius Publicius Anteros and Lucius Publicius Perennis.. Horatius Lupus, named in a first-century sepulchral inscription from Forum Livii in Cisalpine Gaul.. Marcus Horatius R[...], named in a first-century inscription from Tarraco in Hispania Citerior.Hispania Epigraphica, 2012, 499. Gaius Horatius [...]us, served as princeps praetorius, an officer in the Legio IV Macedonica, stationed at Cremona in Venetia and Histria in AD 45.Dessau, Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae, 2283. Sextus Horatius Diadumenus, inurned at Rome, in a columbarium made for Diadumenus, Quintus Caulius Carpus, and Caulia Trophime, dating from the latter half of the first century.. Publius Horatius P. f. Florus, one of the quattuorvirs at Comum in Gallia Narbonensis, buried with his wife, Novellia Rufa, in a tomb built by their daughter, Horatia Maxima, dating from the first or second century.. Horatia P. f. P. n. Maxima, the daughter of Publius Horatius Florus and Novellia Rufa, built a tomb at Comum for her parents, dating from the first or second century. Marcus Horatius Mercurialis, buried at the site of modern Requena, aged fifty-eight, in a tomb built by his wife, Fabricia Serana, dating between the middle of the first century and the middle of the second.. Horatius Mercurialis, together with Licinia Limphidia, built a tomb at Requena, dating between the middle of the first century and the middle of the second, for Junia Cupida, aged fifty-five. Possibly the same person as Marcus Horatius Mercurialis, the husband of Fabricia Serana.. Horatia Vitalis, built a tomb at Edeta in Hispania Citerior, dating from the late first or early second century, for herself and her son, Marcus Horatius Vitalio.. Marcus Horatius Vitalio, a youth buried at Edeta, aged twelve, in a tomb built by his mother, Horatia Vitalis, for herself and her son, dating from the late first or early second century. Marcus Horatius Numisianus, a soldier in the Cohors II Lusitanorum, a Roman Auxiliary unit from Lusitania stationed in Roman Egypt in AD 109, during the reign of Trajan.. Horatia L. f. Mustia, buried at Castellum Celtianum in Numidia, aged eighty, in a tomb dating from the first half of the second century.. Horatia Q. f. Sabina, a woman buried at Castellum Celtianum, aged forty-five, in a tomb dating from the first half of the second century.Gsell, Inscriptions Latines de L'Algérie, ii. 1, 2712. Quintus Horatius Q. f. Baricio, buried in a second-century tomb at Castellum Celtianum, aged forty-five.Gsell, Inscriptions Latines de L'Algérie, ii. 1, 2701. Lucius Horatius Crescens, buried in a second-century tomb at Castellum Celtianum, aged one hundred and ten.. Horatia Eutychia, the patron of Marcus Horatius Trophimus and Horatia Tryphosa, who built a second-century tomb for her at Puteoli in Campania.. Sextus Horatius Felix, buried in a second-century tomb at Castellum Celtianum, aged one hundred.Gsell, Inscriptions Latines de L'Algérie, ii. 1, 2703. Quintus Horatius Fuscus, the father of Horatia Saturnina, a woman buried in a second century tomb at Lambaesis in Numidia.. Horatia Ingenua, a girl buried in a second-century tomb at Castellum Celtianum, aged twelve.Gsell, Inscriptions Latines de L'Algérie, ii. 1, 2706. Horatia Lucida, a woman buried in a second-century tomb at Castellum Celtianum, aged fifty.Gsell, Inscriptions Latines de L'Algérie, ii. 1, 2707 Horatia Q. f. Pocula, a woman buried in a second-century tomb at Castellum Celtianum, aged thirty-five.Gsell, Inscriptions Latines de L'Algérie, ii. 1, 2710. Horatia Procula, a woman buried in a second-century tomb at Castellum Celtianum, aged sixty-two.Gsell, Inscriptions Latines de L'Algérie, ii. 1, 2711.