The nomenSeius is derived from the name of Seia, the goddess of sowing. Chase classifies it among those gentilicia that either originated at Rome, or cannot be shown to have come from anywhere else.[2]
Praenomina
The main praenomina of the Seii were Lucius and Marcus, two of the most common names throughout Roman history. Other common names were occasionally used, including Gnaeus, Publius, and Quintus.
Members
This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
Marcus Seius L. f., a friend of Cicero, who despite having been heavily fined early in his career, spent lavishly as curule aedile. He was the accuser of Marcus Saufeius, whom Cicero defended on the charge that he had participated in the murder of Publius Clodius Pulcher.[3][4][5][6]
Quintus Seius Postumus, an eques, whose house Publius Clodius Pulcher coveted. Seius refused Clodius' offer, and according to Cicero, was poisoned by Clodius as a result.[7]
Marcus Seius (M. f. L. n.), a friend of Decimus Brutus, under whom he served as legate in 44 BC.[8]
Gnaeus Seius, the first owner of the infamous equus Seianus, a greatly-admired beast who supposedly brought doom to all who possessed him, giving rise to the proverb, ille homo habet equum Seianum,[ii] said of those suffering ill fortune.[10]
Lucius Seius L. f. M. n. Tubero, the brother or half-brother of Sejanus, was appointed consul suffectus in AD 18, in the place of Tiberius. He served alongside Germanicus, whose legate he had been during his campaign in Germania. In 24, he was falsely accused of majestas, impugning the emperor's dignity. He might be the same Lucius Seius who was proconsul of Sicily.[14][15][16]
Lucius Seius L. f. M. n., better known as Lucius Aelius Sejanus, praetorian prefect under Tiberius, gained the emperor's trust and became his closest advisor, exploiting rivalries within the imperial household to his own benefit, and maneuvering himself into a position to succeed to the empire. His schemes were revealed, and he was condemned and put to death during his own consulship, in AD 31.[17][18][19][20][21]
Seius Quadratus, implicated as one of the associates of Sejanus, following the latter's downfall.[22]
Lucius Seius Quadratus, perhaps the associate of Sejanus, was one of the Seviri Augustales, according to an inscription dating to the first half of the first century AD.[23]
Marcus Seius Varanus, consul suffectus in AD 41, holding office for the months of September and October.
Gaius Seius M. f. Calpurnius Quadratus Sittianus, perhaps a descendant of the Seius Quadratus who was implicated in the schemes of Sejanus, was tribune of the plebs, quaestor, praetorperegrinus, and governor of Gallia Narbonensis.[25]
Decimus Seius Seneca, consul suffectus around AD 150[26]
Seia M. f. Gaetula, the wife of Marcus Naevius Censitus, mother of Naevia Marciana, Naevia Naevilla, and Marcus Naevius Sejanus, and grandmother of Sabinia Celsina, was buried at Cirta in Numidia.[29]
Seius P. n. Carus, the grandson of Fuscianus, was put to death by Elagabalus in AD 219, allegedly for plotting a revolt among the soldiers, but in fact because of his wealth and influence.[30]
Seia P. n. Fuscinilla, the sister of Seius Carus, named on a lead pipe discovered at Rome.[31]
^Werner Eck, "Die Fasti consulares der Regierungszeit des Antoninus Pius, eine Bestandsaufnahme seit Géza Alföldys Konsulat und Senatorenstand" in Studia epigraphica in memoriam Géza Alföldy, hg. W. Eck, B. Feher, and P. Kovács (Bonn, 2013), p. 82
^Alföldy, Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter der Antonien, pp. 159 ff.
T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, American Philological Association (1952–1986).
Géza Alföldy, Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter der Antonien (The Consulate and Senatorial State under the Antonines), Rudolf Habelt, Bonn (1977).
Giovanni Lettich, Iscrizioni romane di Iulia Concordia (Roman Inscriptions from Julia Concordia), Centro Studi Storico-Religiosi del Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trieste (1994).