Submitted for award of PhD September 2006. - King's College London

Numerous nomina gentilicia of magistrates are exclusive to Pompeii. These are:
Atinius, Audius, Epidius, Matius, Mezius, Seppius, Sittius, Spurius, Vicinius and most
of the genies shown in the tile stamps. Some, however, appear also in other Oscan-
speaking territories. A member of the gens Sairia, Trebius Satrius son of Trebius, is
attested as ineddix tuticus of the Pentri. 789 Members of the gens Pontia were scattered
over a wide territory: we find them in Sicily, in the territory of the Paeligni, in Samnium
and at Saticula in Campania 790 A curse tablet at Crimisa in Lucania attests a Pupidius 791
The gens name of one of the quaestors, Campanus, in the inscription ST Po 14, suggest
that his family migrated from Capua.
A curious phenomenon is that several names attested as praenomina in other
Samnite areas appear in Pompeii as nomina gentilicia. One example is the gens name
Seppius, attested in a Pompeiian painted inscription, ST Po 59.792 Sepis and Sepieis
occur as praenomina at Capua in the iuvilas inscriptions. 93 Similarly, the gens name
Spurius of the eituns inscriptions (ST Po 36), also attested in the fragmentary ST Po 9,
turns up as a praenomen at Capua and Rome. 794 We have examples in Pompeii for the
use of Trebius as praenomen and gentilicium. 795
The variety of families that held the office of meddix tulicus clearly shows that the
magistracies of the town were not dominated by a small group of genies and that they
were probably elected.
789
See section 2.5.
790
rropntotFS in Messina: Me 1,2,3; ponties in Sulmo of the Paeligni: ST Pg 5; pompt(iis) in Samnium
see section 2.5; puntieis at Saticula: ST Cm 28.
791 ST Lu 44: patop ntorrrb[Lop].
792 ST Po 8, quaestor.
79; ST Cp 27: Sepis Helevis; ST Cp 28: Sepieis Heleviieis.
794 ST Cp 29: affiliation; Cp 30: praenomen.
238