Antistia gens

The gens Antistia, sometimes written Antestia on coins, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome.

[1][2][3] Tradition indicates that the Antistii came to Rome from Gabii, an ancient Latin town a short distance to the east.

According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antistius Petro, leader of Gabii, concluded a treaty with Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last King of Rome.

In the earlier ages of the Republic, none of the members of the gens appear with any surname, and even in later times they are sometimes mentioned without one.

Gragulus refers to a jackdaw (graculus in Latin), which is displayed on the bronze coins of the only known Antestius with this cognomen.

Denarius of Gaius Antistius, 146 BC. The obverse shows the head of Roma , behind which is the shape of a dog. The Dioscuri are depicted on the reverse.