plebeian, pretended to be descended from Calpus, the third of the four sons of Numa; and accordingly we find the head of Numa on some of the coins of this gens. (Plut. Num. 21; Hor. Ars Poet. 292; Festus, s. v. Calpurni; Eckhel, v. p. 160.) The Calpurnii are not mentioned till the time of the first Punic war, and the first of them who obtained the consulship was C. Calpurnius Piso in B. C. 180; but from this time their consulships are very frequent, and the family of the Pisones becomes one of the most illustrious in the Roman state. The family-names under the republic are BESTIA, BIBULUS, FLAMMA, and PISO, and some of the Pisones are distinguished by the surnames of Caesoninus and Frugi.