Opsilia (gens)


The gens Opsilia was an obscure plebeian family at Rome. No members of this gens are known to have held any magistracies, but several are found in inscriptions.

Origin

The nomen Opsilius belongs to a class of gentilicia formed from other names using the suffix -. In this case the nomen is derived from the more common Opsius; the same nomen also gives rise to the gens Opsidia or Obsidia. The common root of all three nomina is op-, "help", found in the name of the goddess Ops, as well as the praenomen Opiter, and the derived patronymics Opiternius and Opetreius, and the nomen Oppius. Most of these names are thought to be of Sabine or Samnite origin.

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