The nobiles (sg. nobilis, transl. 'noble', 'noteworthy') were members of a social rank in the Roman Republic indicating that one was "well known".[1] This may have changed over time: in Cicero's time, one was notable if one descended from a person who had been elected consul.[2] In earlier periods and more broadly, this may have included a larger group consisting of those who were patricians, were descended from patricians who had become plebeians via transitio ad plebem, or were descended from plebeians who had held curule offices.[3]