A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

the name of an Etruscan family of Volaterrae, one of the ancient cities of Etruria. It seems either to have derived its name from, or given it to, the river Caecina, which flows by the town. Persons of this name are first mentioned in the century before Christ, and they are expressly said to have been natives of Volaterrae. Under the empire the name is of frequent occurrence, and it is probable that all these Caecinae were of Etruscan origin. As late as the reign of Honorius, we read of the poet Decius Albinus Caecina [see below], residing at his villa in the neighbourhood of Volaterrae; and there is, or was lately, a family of this name at the modern Volterra, which Italian antiquaries would make out to be descended from the ancient Caecinae. There has been discovered in the neighbourhood of Volterra the family tomb of the Caecinae, from which we learn that Ceicna was the Etruscan form of the name. In this tomb there was found a beautiful sarcophagus, now in the Museum of Paris. The family was divided into several branches, and we accordingly find on the funeral urns the cognomens Caspu and and Tlauni:. in Latin inscriptions we also meet with the surnames Quadratusand Placidus; and various others occur below. (Müller, Etrusker, vol. i. p. 416, &c.) The most important persons of this name are: