A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

or COE'LIA GENS, plebeian. In manuscripts the name is usually written Caelius, while on coins it generally occurs in the form of Coelius or Coilius, though we find on one coin L. Caelius Tax. (Eckhel, v. pp. 156, 175.) From the similarity of the names, Caelius is frequently confounded with Caecilius. The gens traced its origin to the Etruscan leader, Caeles Vibenna, in the time of the Roman kings, but no members of it obtained the higher offices of the state till the beginning of the first century B. C. : the first who obtained the consulship was C. Caelius Caldus in B. C. 94. There were only two family-names in this gens, CALDUS and RUFUS : the other cognomens are personal surnames, chiefly of freedmen. For those without a surname see CAELIUS.