Gabii, Giunone e i Cornelii Cethegi

Starting from the cognomen Cethegus inscribed on a fragment of the altar of the temple of Juno at Gabii (second quarter of the 2nd century B.C.), the research proposes a reconstruction of the relationship between the ancient Latin city and this branch of the gens Cornelia, distinguished within a limited time span (last decades of the 3rd-mid-2nd century B.C.) but frequently remembered as conserving traditions and specific practices related to the origins of the family. Examination of a number of antiquarian sources (as rich as little considered) enables us to document not only the devotion of Cethegi towards the divine figure of Juno (in Gabii as in Rome) but also their avowed ancient Latin origin and their claim to have belonged to the Roman gentes already present in the senate from the time of Romulus. In this context, a special relationship of the family with Gabii could emerge from the adoption of the particular clothing called cinctus Gabinus which, even in the Late Republic, was a distinctive feature of the mores of the gens.