Aufidia (gens)


The gens Aufidia was a plebeian family at Rome, which is not known until the later times of the Republic. The first member to obtain the consulship was Gnaeus Aufidius Orestes, in 71 BC.

Praenomina

In Republican times, the Aufidii used the praenomina Gnaeus, Titus, Marcus, and Sextus. Lucius and Gaius are not found prior to the second century AD. The character Tullus Aufidius in Shakespeare's play Coriolanus predates the earliest historical mention of the gens by some three hundred years, and is identified as Attius Tullius in Livy; there is no other evidence that the praenomen Tullus was used by the Aufidii.

Branches and cognomina

The cognomina 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