GENS
gens (jenz), n.[Latin] Roman law. A clan or group of families who share the same name and
(supposedly) a common ancestor; extended family. • Members of a gens are freeborn and possess
full civic rights. Pl. gentes.
“A wider group still is the gens, of great importance in early law though its importance was
gone in classical times. This consisted of all who bore the same nomen, the gentile name.” W.W.
Buckland, A Manual of Roman Private Law 61 (2d ed. 1953). [Blacks Law 8th]