The gens Cossutia was a minor plebeian family of equestrian rank of ancient Rome.Jiménez, Caesar Against Rome, p. 13. Only a few members of this gens appear in history, but many others are known from epigraphy.William Smith, "Cossutia Gens", in Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 866.
Origin The Cossutii were evidently not of Latin origin. Chase suggests that their name is derived from the Volscian name Cossuties.Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", p. 128. This accords with recent scholarship; based on the various cognomina borne by members of this gens, Rawson concludes that they likely originated in the highlands of central Italy. Cicero mentions the tabernae, or wine-shops of Cossutius, a merchant near Caesena in Cisalpine Gaul,Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, xvi. 27. perhaps indicating that the Cossutii were an Umbrian family of that area.
Praenomina The chief praenomina of the Cossutii were Gnaeus, Marcus, Gaius, Quintus, and Lucius, all of which were common throughout Roman history. A few of the Cossutii bore other common names, with several instances of Publius and Sextus known from epigraphy, and a few occurrences of Aulus, Decimus, Titus, and Servius.
Branches and cognomina Besides the architect Decimus Cossutius, other Cossutii lived throughout the Greek world during the first and second centuries BC, including at Erythrae and in Eretria, and on the islands of Delos, Ios, Kos, and Paros, the latter of which was known for its marble. These Cossuti often worked in the stone industry, in which the family was involved in various capacities until at least the second century. Coins of the Cossutii include the cognomina Maridianus and Sabula, but nothing is known of the persons bearing these surnames.
A branch of the family, possibly including Decimus Cossutius, may have been resident at Athens from the early second century BC; an inscription from the city's Kerameikos cemetery commemorates "Marcus Cossutius, son of Gaius, a Roman", rendering the name "Marcus" in Greek letters as : the double-alpha spelling is most common in inscriptions from around the turn of the first century BC.
Three first-century BC statues from Italy, two depicting the god Pan from a villa at Lanuvium and one from Rome depicting a fragment of drapery, were signed by freedmen of this gens. A late first- or early second-century funerary inscription for a member of this family from Rome shows stoneworkers' tools, and two of its members are known to have been active at Chemtou in North Africa in the second century.Russell, Economics of the Roman Stone Trade, p. 205. From the late second century BC, freedmen of the gens are known to have served as magistrates in Campania, and to have lived at Puteoli; Cossutii are also attested at Pompeii, probably early in the first century AD, and in undated inscriptions in and around Campania. Other inscriptions place a freedman of the gens in Etruria and two freedmen of the gens as marble-workers.
Members
Decimus Cossutius, a Roman architect, was retained by Antiochus IV Epiphanes about 168 BC to rebuild the Temple of Olympian Zeus at Athens. Cossutius' reconstruction featured splendid decoration in the Corinthian style, but the temple was left unfinished after the death of Antiochus in 164. Parts of Cossutius' pillars were later removed by Sulla.Vitruvius, De Architectura, Praef., vii.Livy, History of Rome, xli. 20.Velleius Paterculus, Roman History, i. 10.Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, v. p. 594, a.Strabo, Geographica, ix. p. 396.Pliny the Elder, Historia Naturalis, xxxvi. 5.William Smith, "Cossutius", in Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 866. Gaius Cossutius M. f., buried at Aquileia in Venetia and Histria, in a tomb dating from the first half of the first century BC, built by Titus Cossutius, apparently his brother.. Titus Cossutius M. f., built a tomb at Aquileia, dating from the first half of the first century BC, for Gaius Cossutius, apparently his brother. Marcus Cossutius M. Ɔ. l. Antiochus, a freedman buried in a first-century BC tomb at Rome, along with his fellow freedman, Marcus Cossutius Eros. The inscription is thought to be modern.. Marcus Cossutius M. Ɔ. l. Eros, a freedman buried in a first-century BC tomb at Rome, along with his fellow freedman, Marcus Cossutius Antiochus. The inscription is thought to be modern. Marcus Cossutius, an eques of Sicily, defended Xeno before Verres during the latter's administration of that province. Cicero describes him as and a man of great integrity and respectability.Cicero, In Verrem, iii. 22, 80.William Smith, "M. Cossutius", in Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 866. Cossutia, the fiancée and perhaps the first wife of Caesar, belonged to a very wealthy equestrian family. Caesar's parents arranged their marriage when he was but a child, but when he was sixteen, he either repudiated or divorced her in order to marry Cornelia.Suetonius, "The Life of Caesar", 1.William Smith, "Cossutia", in Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 866. Cossutia A. l. Amata, buried at Atella in Campania, in a tomb dating from the latter half of the first century BC.. Cossutia L. l. Chrysis, a freedwoman named along with the freedman Gaius Maruleius Eros, in an inscription from Rome dating from the latter half of the first century BC.NSA 1916–392. Gaius Cossutius Maridianus, triumvir monetalis under Caesar in 44 BC. Rawson suggests that his branch of the family had a rural equestrian background.Sear, History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators, p. 76. Cossutia Rufa, buried at Rome, along with Lucius Sergius Eros, in a tomb dating between the latter half of the first century BC and the first half of the first century AD.NSA, 1923–378. Quintus Cossutius P. f., one of the municipal quattuorvirs at Tarquinii in Etruria, paid for the local ludi, according to an inscription dating from the late first century BC. He was buried at Tarquinii, aged seventy-four, along with his wife, Vibia Quarta, aged fifty-six... Gaius Cossutius C. l. Diogenes, a freedman buried at Casilinum in Campania, in a tomb dating from the late first century BC, or the early first century AD. A freedwoman named Cossutia Phil[...] was buried in the same place.Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 1901, 124–87. Cossutia C. l. Phil[...], a freedwoman buried at Casilinum, in a tomb dating from the late first century BC, or the early first century AD. The freedman Gaius Cossutius Diogenes was buried in the same place. Gnaeus Cossutius Niceros, named in an inscription from Rome, dating from the Julio-Claudian Dynasty.. Marcus Cossutius C. f., buried at Athens around the beginning of the first century. Aulus Cossutius, a priest of Apollo Soter on Ios at some point before the middle of the first century. Cossutius, together with Minucia, former master and mistress of the freedwoman Primigenia, named in an inscription from Rome, dating from the first half of the first century. The inscription is thought to be modern.. Gnaeus Cossutius, together with Quintus Cossutius, former masters of the freedwoman Fabia Prima, according to an inscription from Rome, dating from the first half of the first century.. Quintus Cossutius, together with Gnaeus Cossutius, former masters of the freedwoman Fabia Prima, named in an early first-century inscription. Cossutia Tertia, buried along with Quintus Cossutius Optatus and others in an early first-century tomb at the present site of Meana di Susa. Cossutius, the father of Capito, according to a funerary inscription from Simitthus in Africa, dating rom the first half of the first century.. (Cossutius) Capito, the son of Cossutius, was buried at Simitthus in a tomb dating from the first half of the first century. Gaius Cossutius Calidius Celer, named in an inscription from Rome, dedicated by his freedman, Cossutius Epaphroditus, dating from the first half of the first century.. (Gaius) Cossutius Epaphroditus, the freedman of Gaius Cossutius Calidius Celer, for whom Epaphroditus dedicated an inscription at Rome, dating from the first half of the first century. Sextus Cossutius Euschemus, named in an inscription from Tergeste in Venetia and Histria, dating from the first half of the first century.. Gnaeus Cossutius Faustus, buried at Rome, in a tomb dating from the first half of the first century.. Cossutia Ɔ. l. Hilara, a freedwoman named along with the freedman Lucius Cossutius Lena, in an inscription from Rome, dating from the first half of the first century.. Lucius Cossutius Ɔ. l. Lena, a freedman named along with the freedwoman Cossutia Hilara, in an inscription from Rome, dating from the first half of the first century. Cossutia Cn. l. Nymphe, a freedwoman named in an inscription from Rome, dating from the first half of the first century.. Quintus Cossutius Optatus, buried along with Cossutia Tertia and others in a tomb located at the present site of Meana di Susa, formerly part of Alpes Cottiae, dating from the first half of the first century.. Cossutia M. l. Tryphera, a freedwoman named in an inscription from Rome, dating from the first half of the first century.. Cossutius, the master of Euhemerus Hilas, a young slave buried in a first-century tomb at Ostia.. Cossutia, commissioned the freedman Phileros to build a first-century tomb at Rome for her, and for her son and freedman, Marcus Cossutius Antus.. Quintus Cossutius Q. f., named in the sepulchral inscription of Aemilia Pia, a young woman buried in a first-century tomb at the site of modern Montopoli di Sabina, formerly part of Sabinum, aged fifteen years, six months, and two days.. Marcus Cossutius Antus, the son and freedman of Cossutia, who had the freedman Phileros build a tomb for herself and her son. Gnaeus Cossutius Eros, buried in a first-century tomb at Aquileia.. Gnaeus Cossutius Eros, buried in a first-century tomb at Formiae in Latium.. Cossutia Q. l. Lepida, a freedwoman buried in a first-century tomb at Firmum Picenum, along with the freedman Gaius Isidius Philerotis.. Gaius Cossutius C. f. Myrmex, one of the aediles, named in a first-century inscription from the Temple of Diana Nemorensis in Latium.. Gaius Cossutius C. f. Primus, a boy buried in a first-century tomb at Simitthus, aged nine.. Cossutia Cn. l. Tryphera, a freedwoman buried in a first-century tomb at Rome, dedicated by her contubernalis, Publius Attius Helius.. Gnaeus Cossutius Agathangelus, dedicated tombs at Rome for his wife, Cossutia Arescusa, and brother, the freedman Gnaeus Cossutius Cladus, dating from the first or early second century. The inscriptions are thought to be modern.. Cossutius Arescusa, buried at Rome, aged forty-five, in a first- or early second-century tomb built by her husband, Gnaeus Cossutius Agathangelus. The inscription is thought to be modern. Gnaeus Cossutius Cladus, a freedman buried at Rome, aged thirty-five, in a tomb dating from the first or early second century, built by his brother, Gnaeus Cossutius Agathangelus. The inscription is thought to be modern. Cossutia Prima, buried in a first- or early-second century tomb at Rome, dedicated by one or more of her children.. Quintus Cossutius, a resident of Corinth, was the former master of Quintus Cossutius Corinthus, Quintus Cossutius Speratus, and perhaps Cossutia Prima, the wife of Speratus, freedmen buried in a first- or second-century tomb at Rome.. Quintus Cossutius Q. Ɔ. l. Corinthus, a freedman of the Cossutii of Corinth, was buried in a first- or second-century tomb at Rome, along with his wife, Licinia Cinnamis, fellow freedman Quintus Cossutius Speratus and his wife, Cossutia Prima, and Marcus Decius Saliander. Cossutia Irene, built a first- or second-century tomb at Rome for her son, Gaius Calvius Mercator, aged six years, five months..