Julio-Claudians
(27 BC-68 AD)
The Claudii and the Julii are two of the oldest Patrician families in Ancient Rome. Suetonius tells us that the Claudii originally migrated along with their king, Titus Tatius, from the Sabine town of Regilli to Rome shortly after its foundation in 753 BC. There is an alternate history in which the Claudii under leadership of Atta Claudius were admitted into the patrician order by the senate shortly after the expulsion of the Tarquinii (circa 509 BC). The family served the state with distinction, holding 28 consulships, 5 dictatorships, 7 censorships, 7 triumphs and 2 ovations.
Here is one example of a family member of the Claudii achieving prominence in public life. It was Appius Claudius Caecus who persuaded the Roman Senate not to accept a peace treaty with Pyrrhus after the Roman defeat at Asculum. This was the same man responsible for the construction of the first Roman aqueduct (Aqua Appia) and the first major Roman road (Via Appia).
The gens Iulia was originally of Alban origin and was believed to have migrated to Rome with the destruction of Alba Longa by the Roman King Tullus Hostillius. It was also one of the most ancient patrician families in Rome. Gaius Iulius Iulus was elected consul in 489 BC. The Iulii were prominent in politics throughout the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The Caesares branch of the Iulii was prominent during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC; often holding the offices of consul, praetor, censor and tribunus militum.
But the greatest of them all was Gaius Iulius Caesar and his adopted son and grand- nephew Octavian (Gaius Iulius Caesar Octavianus), men who transformed the Roman State.