The gens Aemilia, originally written Aimilia, was one of the greatest patrician families at ancient Rome. The gens was of great antiquity, and claimed descent from Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome. Its members held the highest offices of the state, from the early decades of the Republic to imperial times.[1] The Aemilii were almost certainly one of the gentes maiores, the most important of the patrician families. Their name was associated with three major roads (the Via Aemilia, the Via Aemilia Scauri, and the Via Aemilia in Hirpinis), an administrative region of Italy, and the Basilica Aemilia at Rome.
- ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 30 ("Aemilia Gens").