List of Roman tribes
Voters in ancient Rome were registered not by political party, but by tribe (Latin tribus).
Original tribes
Latin tribus derives from trēs ("three", dative and ablative plural tribus). In the earliest period of Roman history, in the legendary time of Romulus, there were only three tribes:[1]
- Ramnes
- Tities
- Luceres
Tribes as of 242 BC
In 242 BC, the official number of tribes was set at 35:
Urban tribes
People of the city of Rome itself, typically belonged to the four urban tribes,[2] which were the largest and had the least political power. These tribes were named for districts of the city.
- Collina
- Esquilina
- Palatina
- Suburana
Rural tribes
Landowners and aristocracy traditionally belonged to the 31 smaller rural tribes. Many rural tribes derive from prominent Roman gentes, or family names, such as Cornelia or Fabia.
- Aemilia
- Aniensis
- Arniensis
- Camilia
- Claudia
- Clustumina
- Cornelia
- Fabia
- Falerna/Falerina
- Galeria
- Horatia
- Lemonia
- Maecia
- Menenia
- Oufentina/Oufetina
- Papiria
- Poblilia
- Pollia
- Pomptina/Pontina
- Quirina
- Romilia
- Sabatia/Sabatina
- Scaptia
- Sergia
- Stellatina
- Teretina
- Tromentina
- Velina
- Voltinia/Votinia
- Voturia
Two of the tribes are unclear; the thirty-fifth tribe has been found listed as both Succusana and Pupinia.
References
- ^ About.com: 35 Tribes of Rome, accessed 2nd October, 2010, 4:15 am (GMT)
- ^ About.com: Names of the 35 Tribes of Rome, accessed 2nd October, 2010, 4:25 am (GMT)
External links
- http://www.roman-Britain.org/roman_tribes.htm[dead link]
- Names of the Roman Tribes, Names of the 35 Major Roman Voting Tribes, By N.S. Gill, About.com Guide
Read in another language
This page is available in 5 languages
