Reference edition:

Valentini R. - Zucchetti G., Codice topografico della Città di Roma, I, Roma 1940, 269-281.

The anonymous Origo gentis Romanorum has long been erroneously considered part of the Chronographus anni 354 (see the card), since it is handed down together with the Chronographus in the ms. Vindobonensis 3416 (V) of the late 15th or early 16th century. Only five short excerpta of the text have been found in other mss. The work consists of a list of Roman kings and emperors, starting from Picus in the mythical era, up to Licinius, in the 4th century. Since the killing of Licinius in Thessalonica is mentioned, after fifteen years of reign (325 AD), the composition of the Origo must be dated to the following years, during the reign of Constantine. For the royal age, the center of attention is the place where the city of Rome stands, even before its foundation: we start ex quo primum in Italia regnare ceoperunt, from Picus to Aeneas; followed by reges Albani; finally reges Romanorum number VIII up to Tarquinius Superbus. While the series of Alban kings consists almost only of a list of names, for the others the duration of the reign and some main events are noted, such as donations to the plebs, creation and modification of the Roman calendar, foundation of colonies.

For the period of the Roman republic, in which the list of all the consuls would have entailed an excessive extension of the text, the author limits himself to around twenty-five names, under the title nomina dictatorum, even if not all the characters mentioned were dictators in the strict sense and not all are clearly identifiable, also due to errors in the entries, in imprecise chronological order. The list of emperors (Imperia Caesarum) begins with Julius Caesar, like various other ancient sources (from Suetonius to Josephus Flavius), and for each entry the years, months and days of reign, place and manner of death are detailed, as well as the donatives given, the foundation or maintenance of thermae, theaters and temples, the organization of games and entertainments. The center of attention is always the city of Rome and news are also given on mirabilia that have occurred, such as disasters and mirabilia of various kinds. [R. Tabacco]