The gens Ulpia was a Roman family that rose to prominence during the first century AD. The gens is best known from the emperor Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, who reigned from AD 98 to 117. The Thirtieth Legion took its name, Ulpia, in his honor. The city of Serdica, modern day Sofia, was renamed as Ulpia Serdica.

Origin

The Ulpii were from Umbria. Little is known of them except that they were connected with a family of the Aelii from Picenum. The name Ulpius may be derived from an Umbrian cognate of the Latin word lupus, meaning "wolf"; perhaps related to vulpes, Latin for "fox". The most illustrious members of this gens were the Ulpii Trajani, whom according to a biographer of Trajan, came from the city of Tuder, in southern Umbria; there is evidence of a family of this name there. Members of this family were colonists of Italica in Roman Spain, where Trajan was born. They were related to a family of the Aelii, which had evidently come from Atria; Trajan's aunt was the grandmother of Hadrian, who was likewise born at Italica.

Branches and cognomina

The Ulpii of the empire seem to have used a few cognomina like Trajanus, Marcellus and Leurus. Trajanus indicates descent from or relation to the gens Traia, a family also known to have been present in Hispania. Marcellus is a diminutive of the praenomen Marcus.

Members

Ulpii Trajani

Ulpii Marcelli

Others