A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

plebeian, laid claim to high antiquity, since a Petronius Sabinus is said to have lived in the reign of Tarquinius Superbus. [PETRONIUS, No. 1.] The coins struck by Petronius Turpilianus, who was one of the triumvirs of the mint in the reign of Augustus, likewise contain reference to the real or supposed Sabine origin of the gens. [TURPILIANUS.] But during the time of the republic scarcely any one of this name is mentioned. Under the empire, however, the name frequently occurs both in writers and in inscriptions with various cognomens; many of the Petronii obtained the consular dignity, and one of them, Petronius Maximus, was eventually raised to the imperial purple in A. D. 455. The name, however, is best known from the celebrated writer spoken of below.