Orfidia (gens)


The gens Orfidia was a minor plebeian family at Rome. Only a few members of this gens occur in history, but others are mentioned in inscriptions. The most illustrious of the Orfidii was probably Publius Orfidius Senecio, consul suffectus in AD 148.

Origin

The nomen Orfidius appears to belong to a class of gentilicia formed from other names using the suffix -idius. In this instance, the name was probably formed from the nomen Orfius, or perhaps the cognomen Orfitus, both of which are probably derived from the Oscan cognate of the Latin Orbus, a waif or orphan.

Members