Aquillia gens

Two of the Aquillii are mentioned among the Roman nobles who conspired to bring back the Tarquins, and a member of the house, Gaius Aquillius Tuscus, was consul in 487 BC.

The oldest families of the Aquillii bore the praenomina Gaius, Lucius, and Marcus, which were the three most common names at all periods of Roman history.

However, one family, which rose to considerable prominence in the final century of the Republic, preferred the less-common praenomen Manius.

[6] Tuscus, the oldest surname of the gens, means "Etruscan", and this branch of the family is thought by some writers to have been patrician, since they were among the Roman nobility at the beginning of the Republic, and according to tradition, the consulship was closed to the plebeians until the lex Licinia Sextia of 367 BC.

However, modern scholarship suggests that the nobility of the Roman monarchy was not exclusively patrician, and that a number of early consuls belonged to families that were later regarded as plebeian.

Denarius of Manius Aquillius, 65 BC. On the obverse is Virtus . The reverse depicts the consul Manius Aquillius raising an allegory of Sicily , an allusion to his victory in the Second Servile War .
Denarius of Augustus and Lucius Aquillius Florus, 19 BC. Augustus is portrayed on the obverse. The flower on the reverse alludes to Florus' name.
Denarius of Augustus and Lucius Aquillius Florus, 19 BC. Sol is portrayed on the obverse. The reverse shows a quadriga carrying a modius, a reference to corn distributions made by Augustus.
Denarius of Manius Aquillius, 109-108 BC. On the obverse is the head of Sol, while the reverse depicts Luna driving a biga with stars around.
Medallion naming Gaius Aquillus Proculus, a centurion of the Legio VIII Augusta . Valkhof Museum , Nijmegen