Antonia (gens)

The gens Antonia was a Roman family of great antiquity, with both patrician and plebeian branches. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Titus Antonius Merenda, one of the decemvirs in 450 B.C.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
==Origin of the gens==
Marcus Antonius, the triumvir, pretended that his gens was descended from Anton, a son of Heracles. We are told that he harnessed lions to his chariot to commemorate his descent from this hero; and many of his coins bear a lion for the same reason.Plutarchus, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans Antonius 4, 36, 60.Gaius Plinius Secundus, Naturalis Historia viii. 16. s. 21; comp. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum x. 13.Joseph Hilarius Eckhel, Doctrina Numorum Veterum vi. pp. 38, 44.
==Praenomina used by the gens==
The patrician Antonii used the praenomina Titus and Quintus. Titus does not appear to have been used by the plebeian Antonii, who instead used Quintus, Marcus, Lucius, and Gaius. There is also one instance of Aulus, while Marcus Antonius the triumvir named one of his sons Iulus. This name, also borne by a later descendant of the triumvir, may have been an ancient praenomen revived by the family, but it was probably also intended to call to mind the connections of the Antonii with the illustrious gens Julia.
==Branches and cognomina of the gens==
The patrician Antonii bear the cognomen Merenda; the plebeian Antonii bear no surname under the Republic, with the exception of Quintus Antonius, propraetor in Sardinia in the time of Sulla, who is called Balbus on coins.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
==Members of the gens==
* Titus Antonius Merenda, Decemvir in 450 B.C., defeated by the Aequi on Mount Algidus.Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia x. 58, xi. 23, 33.Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita iii. 35, 38, 41, 42.Fasti Capitolini
* Quintus Antonius T. f. Merenda, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 422 B.C.Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita iv. 42.Fasti Capitolini
* Marcus Antonius, magister equitum in 334 B.C.Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita viii. 17.
* Lucius Antonius, expelled from the Senate by the censors in 307 B.C.Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX ii. 9. § 2.
* Quintus Antonius, one of the officers in the fleet under the praetor Lucius Aemilius Regillus, in the war with Antiochus the Great, in 190 B.C.Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xxxvii. 32.
* Aulus Antonius, sent by the consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus, with two others to Perseus, after the defeat of the latter, in 168 B.C.Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xlv. 4.
* Marcus Antonius, tribunus plebis in 167 B.C., opposed the bill introduced by the praetor Marcus Juventius Thalna for declaring war against the Rhodians.Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xlv. 21, 40.
* Gaius Antonius, the father of Marcus Antonius the orator.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
* Marcus Antonius C. f., the orator, praetor in 104 B.C. and censor in 97, put to death by Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Cinna in 87.
* Marcus Antonius M. f. C. n., surnamed Creticus, praetor in 75 B.C.
* Gaius Antonius M. f. C. n., surnamed Hybrida, consul in 63 B.C.
* Antonia M. f. C. n., daughter of Marcus Antonius the orator, captured by pirates, and ransomed.Plutarchus, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans Pompeius 24.
* Marcus Antonius M. f. M. n., the triumvir, magister equitum in 47 and consul in 44 B.C.
* Gaius Antonius M. f. M. n., praetor in 44 B.C., put to death by Marcus Junius Brutus in 42.
* Lucius Antonius M. f. M. n., surnamed Pietas, consul in 41 B.C.
* Antonia C. f. M. n., married Gaius Caninius Gallus.Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX iv. 2. § 6.
* Antonia C. f. M. n., married her cousin, Marcus Antonius, the triumvir, but was divorced from him in 47 B.C.Marcus Tullius Cicero, Philippicae ii. 38.Plutarchus, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans Antonius 9.
* Antonia M. f. M. n., daughter of the triumvir, married Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the younger.Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus, Roman History xliv. 53.Appianus, Bellum Civile v. 93.
* Marcus Antonius M. f. M. n., called Antyllus by the Greek writers, put to death by Augustus in 30 B.C.
* Iulus Antonius M. f. M. n., consul in 10 B.C., condemned to death by Augustus in 2 B.C.
* Antonia M. f. M. n. Major, married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, and grandmother of the emperor Nero.Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, De Vita Caesarum Nero 5.Plutarchus, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans Antonius 87.
* Antonia M. f. M. n. Minor, married Decimus Claudius Drusus, and mother of the emperor Claudius, grandmother of Nero.
* Alexander, called Helios by his father, the triumvir.
* Cleopatra, called Selene by her father, the triumvir.
* Ptolemaeus Philadelphus, son of the triumvir.
* Lucius Antonius Iuli f. M. n., exiled to Massilia in 2 B.C.Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales iv. 44.
* Antonia, daughter of the emperor Claudius, refused to marry her cousin, the emperor Nero, and put to death by him in A.D. 66.Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, De Vita Caesarum Claudius 27, Nero 35.Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales xii. 2, xiii. 23, xv. 53.Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus, Roman History lx. 5.
==See also==
List of Roman gentes
==References==
Category:Roman gentes
Category:Ancient Roman families
Category:Prosopography of Ancient Rome