Author Description

This work proposes to fully and comprehensively describe the members of the Roman gens, who were closely associated with the Roman emperors, some of whom were their descendants. It was a prestigious family of ancient Rome belonging mainly to the equestrian rank. In the later years of the Empire some of them joined the senatorial rank, others were philosophers and grammarians. Over the years many origins have been proposed on the name Artorius. Some scholars have proposed a Celtic or Etruscan origin but, in this article, a Calabrian (i.e. Messapian) origin will be considered. By analyzing epigraphic sources and many books, it was discovered that about 230 members of the family lived between the 4th or 3rd century BC and the 5th century. The most famous was Lucius Artorius Castus and he was close to the emperors Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, and Septimius Severus.