Caelius
Caelius is a Latin masculine nomen, best known as the name of the ancient Roman gens Caelia. In Roman onomastics the gens name appears in inscriptions and literary texts, signaling membership in the Caelia family and often accompanying a personal name (praenomen) and a further cognomen. The Caelia gens is attested from the Republic period into the Imperial era, and its members took part in political, military, and civic life to varying degrees. Etymology is not unequivocally established, but the name is generally treated as part of Rome’s traditional patrician or plebeian nomenclature. The feminine form of the gens name is Caelia, and the plural form Caelii can occur in inscriptions when referring to members of the family collectively.
Caelius also refers to a notable topographical feature in Rome. Collis Caelius, the Caelian Hill, is one
In modern scholarship, Caelius is encountered primarily in studies of Roman prosopography, Latin epigraphy, and toponymy.