an Alban house, which, on the destruction of Alba Longa, migrated to Rome. (Dionys. A. R. 3.29.) Since the Metilii were immediately admitted into the Roman senate, they must at the time of their migration have been of patrician rank. In history, however, they occur only as plebeians. Pliny (Plin. Nat. 35.17) mentions a lex Metilia de Fullonibus in B. C. 220.
[W.B.D]A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology
Smith, William
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890