The gens Rustia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned toward the end of the Republic, and a few of them achieved prominence in imperial times, with Titus Rustius Nummius Gallus attaining the consulship under Tiberius in AD 34.[1]
The nomen Rustius seems to belong to a class of gentilicia of Umbrian derivation.,[2] and one of the Rustii held high office at Interamnia NaharsinUmbria. The nomen Rusius, found in a handful of authors and inscriptions, may be an error for Rustius, as may Ruscius, although the latter may have been a variant of Roscius.[1]
The main praenomina of the Rustii were Lucius and Titus, both of which were among the most common names throughout Roman history. There are also instances of Gaius, Marcus and Quintus, also very common names.
The only distinct family of the Rustii bore the surname Caepio, from caepa, an onion, one of a large class of cognomina derived from the names of familiar objects, plants, and animals. Members of this family appear in history for about two hundred years, from the first century BC to the second century AD.[3] Gallus, used by one of the family, referred either to a cockerel, or a Gaul.[4]
