Calpurnia gens

The gens Calpurnia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which first appears in history during the third century BC.

[6] The family-names of the Calpurnii under the Republic were Bestia, Bibulus, Flamma, Lanarius, and Piso.

Like many other cognomina, this name is connected with agriculture, and comes from the verb pisere or pinsere, which refers to the pounding or grinding of corn.

The family first rose from obscurity during the Second Punic War, and from that time it became one of the most distinguished in the Roman state.

[1] Of the other surnames of the Republican Calpurnii, Bestia refers to a "beast", "an animal without reason".

Bust of Lucius Calpurnius Piso , consul in 15 BC. Found at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum , and now at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples .
Denarius of Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, 2nd Century BC. The obverse features a head of Roma , while the reverse depicts the Dioscuri .
Altar of Fortuna , dedicated by Gnaeus Calpurnius Verus, prefect of a cohort of soldiers stationed at Castellum apud Confluentes, modern Koblenz .