Aufidia (gens)
Encyclopedia
The gens Aufidia was a plebeian
family at Rome
, which is not known till the later times of the Republic
. The first member to obtain the consulship
was Gnaeus Aufidius Orestes, in 71 BC.
Gnaeus
, Titus
, Marcus
, and Sextus
. Lucius
and Gaius
are not found prior to the 2nd century. The character Tullus Aufidius in Shakespeare's
play Coriolanus
predates the earliest historical mention of the gens by some three hundred years, but the praenomen Tullus
was in general use during the period in which Coriolanus is set.
of the Aufidii under the Republic are Lurco and Orestes. Gnaeus Aufidius Orestes was descended from the Aurelii Orestides, but was adopted by the historian Gnaeus Aufidius in his old age.
Plebs
The plebs was the general body of free land-owning Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher order of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian...
family at Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, which is not known till the later times of the Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
. The first member to obtain the consulship
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
was Gnaeus Aufidius Orestes, in 71 BC.
Praenomina used by the gens
In Republican times, the Aufidii used the praenominaPraenomen
The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus , the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy...
Gnaeus
Gnaeus (praenomen)
Gnaeus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was common throughout the period of the Roman Republic, and well into imperial times. The feminine form is Gnaea. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Naevia...
, Titus
Titus (praenomen)
Titus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, and was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Titia. The feminine form is Tita or Titia...
, Marcus
Marcus (praenomen)
Marcus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Marca or Marcia. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Marcia, as well as the cognomen Marcellus...
, and Sextus
Sextus
Sextus is a common ancient Roman praenomen. It probably means "sixth" . Parallel praenomina are Secundus, Tertius, Quintus, Septimus, Octavius and Decimus...
. Lucius
Lucius (praenomen)
Lucius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Lucia . The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gentes Lucia and Lucilia, as well as the cognomen Lucullus...
and Gaius
Gaius (praenomen)
Gaius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Gaia. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Gavia...
are not found prior to the 2nd century. The character Tullus Aufidius in Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
play Coriolanus
Coriolanus (play)
Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader, Gaius Marcius Coriolanus.-Characters:*Caius Martius, later surnamed Coriolanus...
predates the earliest historical mention of the gens by some three hundred years, but the praenomen Tullus
Tullus (praenomen)
Tullus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was used from the earliest times to the end of the Roman Republic. Although never particularly common, the name gave rise to the patronymic gens Tullia, and it may have been used as a cognomen by families that had formerly used the name. The...
was in general use during the period in which Coriolanus is set.
Branches and cognomina of the gens
The cognominaCognomen
The cognomen nōmen "name") was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within...
of the Aufidii under the Republic are Lurco and Orestes. Gnaeus Aufidius Orestes was descended from the Aurelii Orestides, but was adopted by the historian Gnaeus Aufidius in his old age.
Members of the gens
- Gnaeus Aufidius, tribune of the plebsTribuneTribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
in 170 BC. - Gnaeus Aufidius, praetorPraetorPraetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
in 108 BC, a learned historian and senatorRoman SenateThe Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
, who became blind in old age. - Titus Aufidius, a jurist, quaestorQuaestorA Quaestor was a type of public official in the "Cursus honorum" system who supervised financial affairs. In the Roman Republic a quaestor was an elected official whereas, with the autocratic government of the Roman Empire, quaestors were simply appointed....
in 84 BC, and afterwards praetor of Asia. - Gnaeus Aufidius Orestes, consul in 71 BC.
- Marcus Aufidius LurcoAufidius LurcoMarcus Aufidius Lurco or known as Aufidius Lurco, was a Roman magistrate who lived in the 1st century BC. Lurco was a member of the gens Aufidia, a Roman family of Plebs status, who appeared in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. They became a family of consular rank...
, tribunus plebis in 61 BC, grandfather of the Empress Livia DrusillaLiviaLivia Drusilla, , after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14 also known as Julia Augusta, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus and his adviser...
. - Aufidia M. f., wife of Marcus Livius Drusus ClaudianusMarcus Livius Drusus ClaudianusMarcus Livius Drusus Claudianus was a senator of the Roman Republic. He was born with the name Appius Claudius Pulcher, into the patrician family of the Claudii. According to Suetonius, Drusus was a direct descendant of the consul and censor Appius Claudius Caecus...
, and mother of Livia Drusilla. - Aufidius Namusa, a pupil of the jurist Servius Sulpicius RufusServius Sulpicius RufusServius Sulpicius Rufus , surnamed Lemonia from the tribe to which he belonged, was a Roman orator and jurist.He studied rhetoric with Cicero, and accompanied him to Rhodes in 78 BC. Finding that he would never be able to rival his teacher he gave up rhetoric for law...
, who compiled a work based on the books of Sulpicius' various students. - Sextus Aufidius, warmly recommended by CiceroCiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
to Quintus Cornificius, proconsul of AfricaAfrica ProvinceThe Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, and the small Mediterranean coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor...
in 43 BC. - Titus Aufidius, a physician and native of SiciliaSicilySicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, who probably lived during the 1st century BC - (Publius) Aufidius BassusAufidius BassusAufidius Bassus was a Roman historian who lived in the reign of Tiberius.His work, which probably began with the civil wars or the death of Caesar, was continued by the elder Pliny. The elder Pliny carried it down at least as far as the end of Nero's reign...
, an orator and historian, who lived under AugustusAugustusAugustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
and TiberiusTiberiusTiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
. - Lucius Aufidius Pantera, praefectusPrefectPrefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
of the fleet at Britannia, in the early 2nd century - Titus Aufidius, consul in AD 129, perhaps the same man as the jurist Aufidius Chius.
- Gaius Aufidius Victorinus, consul in AD 183.
- Marcus Aufidius C. f. Fronto, consul in AD. 199.
- Marcus Aufidius M. f. C. n. Fronto, son of the consul of AD 199.
- Gaius Aufidius Victorinus, consul in AD 200.
- Gaius Aufidius Marcellus, consul in AD 226.
- Tullus Aufidius, general of the VolsciVolsciThe Volsci were an ancient Italic people, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. They then inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the south, the Hernici on the east, and stretching roughly from...
an army in The Tragedy of CoriolanusCoriolanus (play)Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader, Gaius Marcius Coriolanus.-Characters:*Caius Martius, later surnamed Coriolanus...
by William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
.