The gens Terentia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Dionysius mentions a Gaius Terentius Arsa, tribune of the plebs in 462 BC, but Livy calls him Terentilius, and from inscriptions this would seem to be a separate gens. No other Terentii appear in history until the time of the Second Punic War. Gaius Terentius Varro, one of the Roman commanders at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, was the first to hold the consulship. Members of this family are found as late as the third century AD.

Origin
The antiquarian Varro derived the nomen Terentius from a Sabine word, terenus, meaning "soft". However, Chase suggests a Latin origin, from terens, one who grinds or threshes, and classifies the name among those gentilicia which either originated at Rome, or cannot be shown to have come from anywhere else.

Praenomina
The chief praenomina of the Terentii were Marcus, Gaius, Aulus, and Publius, all of which were very common throughout Roman history. The Culleones used Quintus, and other names occur occasionally.

Branches and cognomina
The main families of the Terentii used the cognomina Culleo, Lucanus, and Varro. Of these, Varro seems to be derived from the same root as the Latin baro, a fool; Culleo refers to a leather sack or pouch, and may have referred to a leatherworker; while Lucanus signified an inhabitant of Lucania, and must have been given to one of the Terentii who either came from or perhaps had some connection with that region, or its people.

Members

Terentii Varrones
 Marcus Terentius Varro, the grandfather of Gaius Terentius Varro, consul in 216 BC.
 Gaius Terentius M. f. Varro, said to have been a butcher, was the father of Gaius, the consul of 216 BC.
 Gaius Terentius C. f. M. n. Varro, consul in 216 BC, commanded the Roman forces at the disastrous Battle of Cannae, and gathered the survivors at Canusium. Returning to Rome, he nominated Marcus Fabius Buteo dictator in order to fill the vacancies left in the senate.
 Terentius Varro, triumvir monetalis between 206 and 200 BC. He could be Aulus Terentius Varro, the praetor of 184.
 Aulus Terentius Varro, one of the legates sent to the senate by Aulus Cornelius Mammula in 190 BC, to report news from Asia. He was praetor in 184, and was assigned the province of Hispania Ulterior, for which he levied an army. He defeated the Suessetani, and as proconsul in 183 defeated the Ausetani and Celtiberi, and on his return to Rome received an Ovation.
 Terentius Varro, triumvir monetalis between 169 and 158 BC. He could be either the quaestor of 154, or the ambassador of 146.
 Terentius Varro, quaestor in 154 BC under the praetor Lucius Calpurnius Piso. Piso was badly defeated by the Lusitani, and Varro perished in the battle.
 Aulus Terentius Varro, one of the ambassadors sent in 146 BC to assist the consul Lucius Mummius Achaicus in reorganizing Greece.
 Marcus Terentius Varro, adopted Marcus Licinius Lucullus, who subsequently became Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus.
 Marcus Terentius M. f. Varro Lucullus, the brother of Lucius Licinius Lucullus, was a trusted lieutenant of Sulla. He was consul in 73 BC, and afterward governor of Macedonia, receiving a triumph for his campaigns against the barbarians. He was a supporter of the aristocratic party, and of Cicero, who became his good friend.
 Marcus Terentius Varro, surnamed Reatinus, one of the greatest scholars and antiquarians at the end of the Republic. He held a naval command under Pompeius during the Third Mithridatic War and the War Against the Pirates, and was Pompeius' legate in Spain during the Civil War. Although pardoned by Caesar, he was proscribed by the Second Triumvirate, but eventually received Octavian's protection. Although most of his vast literary output was destroyed, his treatise on agriculture and part of one on the Latin language survive.
 Publius Terentius Varro Atacinus, a celebrated poet of the first century BC. He wrote an Argonautica, a work on geography, one on using animals to predict the weather, and works on Europe, the Gallic Wars, love, and epigrams, but only fragments of his work survive.
 Marcus Terentius Varro Gibba, a protégé of Cicero, with whom he worked in the defense of Saufeius in 52 BC. He was quaestor under Marcus Junius Brutus in 46 BC, when the latter had the command in Cisalpine Gaul.
 Aulus Terentius Varro Murena, a friend of Cicero, and a partisan of Pompeius, under whom he served in Greece during the Civil War.
 Aulus Terentius A. f. Varro Murena, consul in 23 BC.
 Terentia A. f., or Terentilla, the daughter of Aulus Terentius Varro, and sister of the younger Murena, married Gaius Maecenas, and was one of the mistresses of Augustus.
 Terentia A. f., the sister-in-law of Maecenas, was the grandmother of Sejanus.

Terentii Culleones
 Quintus Terentius Culleo, a senator who had been taken prisoner during the Second Punic War, and was released at its conclusion. As tribune of the plebs in 189 BC, carried a plebiscite requiring the censors to enroll all free-born Romans into the various tribes, including the sons of freedmen. Praetor peregrinus in 187, he required Latins residing at Rome to return to their native towns, and perhaps oversaw the investigation and trial of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, although this is now in doubt.
 Quintus Terentius Culleo, tribune of the plebs in 58 BC, attempted to prevent the banishment of his friend, Cicero, and afterward worked for his recall. From 43 he served under Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and was assigned to guard a passage of the Alps against Marcus Antonius, but offered no resistance when Anonius' forces crossed.
 Quintus Terentius Culleo, proconsul of Sicily under Augustus.
 Quintus Terentius Culleo, consul suffectus from the Ides of January in AD 40, was the son or grandson of Quintus Terentius Culleo, the Augustan proconsul.
 Terentia Albia, the mother of Otho, may have been the sister or daughter of Quintus Terentius Culleo, consul in AD 40.

Terentii Lucani
 Publius Terentius Lucanus, a senator, and the former master of Publius Terentius Afer, the celebrated playwright of the early second century BC.
 Gaius Terentius Lucanus, minted a number of coins, depicting the head of Pallas with the figure of Victoria on the obverse, and the Dioscuri on the reverse.
 Gaius Terentius Lucanus, a painter mentioned by the elder Pliny.

Others
 Gaius Terentius Arsa, named by Dionysius as the tribune of the plebs who called for the codification of Roman law in 462 BC, should probably be read Terentilius, as in Livy.
 Quintus Terentius, one of two envoys dispatched by the senate in 218 BC to recall the consul elect Gaius Flaminius, whose election and inauguration were heralded by terrible omens. Flaminius ignored the summons, and later perished with his army at Lake Trasimine.
 Lucius Terentius Massaliota, plebeian aedile in 200 BC, and praetor in 187 BC, in which year he was assigned the province of Sicily. He is probably the same Lucius Terentius who was an ambassador in 196. He was a military tribune in Hispania Citerior from 182 to 180.
 Lucius Terentius, one of the ambassadors sent to Antiochus III in 196 BC, is probably to be identified with Lucius Terentius Massaliota.
 Gaius Terentius Istra, praetor in 182 BC, was assigned the province of Sardinia. In 181, he was appointed one of the triumvirs for establishing a colony at Graviscae.
 Publius Terentius Tuscivanus, was one of the ambassadors sent to assist the propraetor Lucius Anicius Gallus in settling the affairs of Illyria.
 Publius Terentius Afer, the playwright better known as "Terence", was a freedman of the senator Publius Terentius Lucanus. He lived during the first half of the second century BC, and is known primarily for six comedies adapted from contemporary Greek models, which were exhibited from 166 to 161 BC.
 Terentia, the wife of Cicero, with whom he appears to have fallen out during his exile in 58 BC. They were divorced in 46, and Cicero was obliged to repay a substantial dowry. She is said to have lived to the age of one hundred and three.
 Terentius Vespa, made a humorous remark that Cicero quotes in his treatise on oratory. A certain Titius was known for his athleticism, but was suspected of having vandalized some statues. In accounting for his friend's absence, Vespa explained that Titius had broken an arm.
 Lucius Terentius, a close friend of the young Pompeius. While the two were serving together under Pompeius' father in 87 BC, the consul Lucius Cornelius Cinna is reported to have bribed Terentius to kill his friend, but Pompeius learned of the plot and narrowly avoided death.
 Gnaeus Terentius, a senator given custody of Caeparius, one of the accomplices of Catiline.
 Publius Terentius Hispo, representative of the publicani in Asia, befriended Cicero, and received his recommendation to Publius Silius.
 Servius Terentius, a friend of Decimus Junius Brutus, attempted to act as the latter's decoy after the Battle of Mutina, thus allowing his friend to escape. Before he could be executed, he was recognized by one of Antonius' cavalry officers, and his life was spared.
 Marcus Terentius, an eques during the reign of Tiberius. After the downfall of Sejanus, Terentius was accused of being one of his associates, but was acquitted following a spirited defense.
 Gaius Terentius Tullius Geminus, consul suffectus in AD 46, from September the end of the year.
 Terentius Lentinus, an eques condemned in AD 61 as an accomplice of Valerius Fabianus, the notorious forger of wills.
 Terentius, reputed to have been the murderer of Galba.
 Terentius Strabo Erucius Homullus, consul suffectus for the months of May and June, in AD 83.
 Terentius Maximus an usurper during the reign of Titus.
 Decimus Terentius Scaurianus, consul suffectus in AD 102 or 104, was an experienced soldier and probably a veteran of the Second Dacian War.
 Decimus Terentius Gentianus, consul suffectus from July to September in AD 116, was at one time considered a possible successor by Hadrian, but having fallen out of favour he may have become one of the emperor's victims.
 Terentius Clemens, a jurist who probably flourished in the time of Hadrian, wrote a treatise on the Lex Papia Poppaea, of which a number of fragments are preserved in the Digest.
 Quintus Terentius Scaurus, a grammarian of the time of Hadrian, and one of the tutors of Lucius Verus. Although he wrote a treatise on grammar, and commentaries on Plautus, Virgil, and Horace, none of his works are known to survive.
 Gnaeus Terentius Homullus Junior, consul suffectus for the months of July and August, AD 146.
 Terentius Maurus, a writer belonging to the third century AD.

See also
 List of Roman gentes
 Terentius Varro, for a list of Terentii who used the cognomen Varro

Footnotes

References

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 John Briscoe, "Quintus Terentius Culleo", in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, online edition.

Roman gentes