The Aemilii were a very old clan; they were supposed to have descended from Mamercus, a son of Pythagoras who was surnamed "Aemylos" or "Aimilios" because of his refinement and speaking ability. Another version quoted by Plutarch said that Mamercus was the fourth son of Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome, Numa being an admirer of Pythagoras and so naming a son after Pythagoras' son. The branches of the Aemilii were Barbula, Buca, Lepidus, Mamercus, Papus, Paullus, Regilus and Scaurus. Of these, the Aemilii Lepidi had become the most notable, especially at the end of the Republic.

The family lent its name to both the road Via Aemilia and the much later Via Aemilia Scauri, and the Basilica Aemilia in Rome.

Notable Aemilii from the Republic

Aemilii Barbulae

• Quintus Aemilius Q.f. Barbula, consul 317 BC
• Lucius Aemilius Q.f. Barbula, consul 281 BC, conqueror of Taranto

Aemilii Mamercini

• Lucius Aemilius Mam.f. Mamercinus (Mamercus), consul 484, 478, 473 BC
• Tiberius Aemilius L.f. Mamercinus (Mamercus), consul 467 BC
• Manius Aemilius Mam.f. Mamercinus, consul 410 BC
• Lucius/Marcus Aemilius L.f. Mamercinus (Mamercus), consul 366, 363 BC
• Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus Privernas, consul 341, 329 BC
• Tiberius Aemilius Mamercinus, consul 339 BC

Aemilii Paulli

• Lucius Aemilius Paullus, consul 219, 216 (father of Macedonicus)
• Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, (229 BC-160 BC), consul 182, 168.

Aemilii Lepidi

• Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, consul 187
• Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (120-77 BC)
• Manius Aemilius Lepidus (consul 66 BCE)
• Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir) (49 BC)
• Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the Younger, son of the previous
• Manius Aemilius Lepidus (consul 11 CE), son of the previous
• Aemilius Lepidus Paullus, consul in 34 BC
• Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, consul 6

Aemilii Papi

• Quintus Aemilius Papus, consul 282 BC and 278 BC
• Lucius Aemilius Papus, consul 225 BC

Aemilii Scauri

• Marcus Aemilius Scaurus several, including a princeps senatus and his son (2nd/1st century BC)

Other Republican Aemilii

• Marcus Aemilius , consular tribune 390 BC
• Gaius Aemilius, consular tribune 390 BC
• Lucius Aemilius, consular tribune 388 BC and later
• Quintus Aemilius (Aulius) Q.f. Cerretanus, 323 BC
• Lucius Aemilius Regillus, praetor (190 BC)

Notable Aemilii from the Empire

• Marcus Aemilius Aemilianus, Emperor Aemilianus (253)
• Blossius Aemilius Dracontius (5th century)
• Aemilius Papinianus, jurist (141-212)
• Aemilius Asper, commentator (2nd century)
• Aemilius Macer, poet (d. 16 BC)
• Aemilius Magnus Arborius, elegaic poet
• Aemilius Pacensis, a tribune of the city cohorts at the death of Nero

References

• Friedrich Munzer, Roman Aristocratic Parties and Families (1920)
• T.R.S. Broughton, Magistrates of the Roman Republic (1950-1, 1986)