Licinia gens
The gens Licinia was a celebrated plebeian family at ancient Rome, which appears from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times, and which eventually obtained the imperial dignity. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Licinius Calvus Stolo, who, as tribune of the plebs from 376 to 367 BC, prevented the election of any of the annual magistrates, until the patricians acquiesced to the passage of the "lex Licinia Sextia", or Licinian Rogations. This law, named for Licinius and his colleague, Lucius Sextius, opened the consulship for the first time to the  plebeians. Licinius himself was subsequently elected consul in 364 and 361 BC, and from this time, the Licinii became one of the most illustrious gentes in the Republic. Origin. The nomen "Licinius" is derived from the cognomen "Licinus", or "upturned", found in a number of Roman gentes. "Licinus" may have been an ancient praenomen, but few examples of its use as such are known. The name seems to be identical with the Etruscan "Lecne", which frequently occurs on Etruscan sepulchral monuments. Some scholars have seen evidence of an Etruscan origin for the Licinii in the tradition that Etruscan players were  first brought to Rome to take part in the theatrical performances ("ludi scaenici") in the consulship of Gaius Licinius Calvus, BC 364. This could, however, be coincidental, as Livy explains that the games were instituted this year in order to palliate the anger of the gods. In fact, the name of "Licinius" appears to have been spread throughout both Latium and Etruria from a very early time, so the fact that it had an Etruscan equivalent does not definitely show that the gens was of Etruscan derivation. Praenomina. The chief praenomina used by the Licinii were "Publius, Gaius, Lucius", and  Marcus, all of which were very common throughout Roman history. The family occasionally used "Sextus", and there is at least one instance of "Gnaeus" during the first century BC. "Aulus" was used by the Licinii Nervae. As in other Roman families, the women of the Licinii generally did not have formal praenomina, but were referred to simply as "Licinia"; if further distinction were needed, they would be described using various personal or family cognomina. Branches and cognomina. The family-names of the Licinii are "Calvus" (with the agnomina "Esquilinus" and "Stolo"), "Crassus" (with the agnomen "Dives"), "Geta, Lucullus, Macer, Murena , Nerva, Sacerdos", and "Varus". The other cognomina of the gens are personal surnames, rather than family-names; these include "Archias, Caecina, Damasippus, Imbrex, Lartius, Lenticula, Nepos, Proculus, Regulus, Rufinus, Squillus", and "Tegula". The only cognomina which occur on coins are "Crassus, Macer, Murena, Nerva", and "Stolo". A few Licinii are known without a surname; most of these in later times were freedmen. The surname "Calvus" was originally given to a person who was bald, and it was the cognomen of the earliest family of the Licinii to distinguish itself under the Republic. The first of this family bore the agnomen  Esquilinus, probably because he lived on the Esquiline Hill. "Stolo", a surname given to the most famous of the family, may be derived from the "stola", a long outer garment or cloak, or might also refer to a branch, or sucker. Although the family of the Licinii Calvi afterward vanished into obscurity, the surname "Calvus" was later borne by the celebrated orator and poet Gaius Licinius Macer, who lived in the first century BC. His cognomen "Macer", designated someone who was lean. Another family of the Licinii bore the cognomen "Varus", which means "crooked, bent," or "knock-kneed." The Licinii  Vari were already distinguished, when their surname was replaced by that of "Crassus." This was a common surname, which could mean "dull, thick," or "solid," and may have been adopted because of the contrast between this meaning and that of "Varus". The surname "Dives", meaning "rich" or "wealthy," was borne by some of the Licinii Crassi. It was most famous as the surname of Marcus Licinius Crassus, the triumvir, and has been ascribed to his father and brothers, but it is not altogether certain whether it originated with his father, or with the triumvir, in which case it was retroactively  applied to the previous generation. "Lucullus", the cognomen of a branch of the Licinii, which first occurs in history towards the end of the Second Punic War, is probably derived from "lucus", a grove, or perhaps a diminutive of the "praenomen Lucius". The surname does not appear on any coins of the gens. A family of the Licinii bore the surname "Murena" (sometimes, but erroneously, written "Muraena"), referring to the sea-fish known as the murry or lamprey, a prized delicacy since ancient times. This family came from the city of Lanuvium, to the southeast of Rome, and was said  to have acquired its name because one of its members had a great liking for lampreys, and built tanks for them. The same surname occurring in other families might be said to be derived from the type of shellfish known as "murex", from which a valuable dye was extracted. Of the other surnames of the Licinii might be mentioned "Nerva", the surname of a family of the Licinii that flourished from the time of the Second Punic War until the early Empire, derived from "nervus", "sinewy"; "Geta", perhaps the name of a Thracian people, to whom one of the Licinii  might have been compared; and "Sacerdos", a priest, one of a number of cognomina derived from occupations.