Obviously, the most famous of the Julii were Gaius Julius Caesar and his adopted son. So, I got to thinking, in my review of Roman history, I can’t think of any Julii who aren’t also Caesars. I realize by the end of the Republic, the old patrician families were dying off, and that the Jullii weren’t as prolific as the Cornellii, for instance, but were there any other patrician Jullii stirps which ever produced anyone of note?
Right, but all of those people are either Julii Caesares, or Julii from the Empire, so I don’t know if those are patrician Jullii or imperial freedmen/clients who took the name.
While the Caesars were by far the most famous branch of the Julii, there were a few other notable ones: Gnaeus Julius Agricola finished off what his most famous cousin started and completed the conquest of Britain. Sextus Julius Frontinus rebuilt the water supply system of Rome: we know pretty much all we do about running water in ancient times from this guy. Gaius Julius Severus reconquered Palestine and Jerusalem. All three of these men also served as Governers of Britain at one time or another.
So that’s three other cadet branches who produced men of note: the Agricolae, the Frontini and the Severi. All three undoubtedly had slews of men serving in the Senate and in minor government posts over the years, as well.
That is a pretty tough thing to figure out: it was the most common name for freedmen or immigrants (or Romanizing locals, rather) to take. I’m pretty sure at least Agricola was a genuine Julius, but it gives me an excuse to read through Tacitus to check to make sure.
I remember a pseudo-genealogical reference (the sort of thing that traces Irish royal lineages, the legendery Merovingian lineage, etc.) that purportedly linked Caesar back to Aeneas’s grandson Iulus. While obviously the accuracy of the linege is highly dubious, I was struck by the fact that about eight generations back the Caesares diverged from a lineage using cognomen Iulus, most of the preceding figures being n. Iulius Iulus (n. of course being a variety of praenomens). While I wouldn’t give great credence (or even little credence) to the alleged lineage, it does serve as testimony to a Iulus stirps.