Viridia gens
The gens Viridia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are known only from inscriptions, evidently dating to imperial times.
Origin
[edit]The nomen Viridius seems to be derived from the Latin viridis, green.[1] Since one of the Viridii left a libationary inscription at Aquae Sulis in Britain, some connection with the obscure British deity Viridios has been suggested, but other Viridii are known from different parts of the Empire.[2]
Branches and cognomina
[edit]Too few Viridii are known to tell if they were ever divided into distinct families. Two cognomina appear in extant inscriptions: Firmus, a common surname that translates as "firm, strong, hardy",[3] and Tertulla, a diminutive of Tertia, an old feminine praenomen, which was widely used as a surname throughout Roman history.[4]
Members
[edit]- Viridia, named in an inscription from Narbo in Gallia Narbonensis.[5]
- Publius Viridius, named in an inscription Forum Julii in the province of Venetia and Histria, dating to the latter part of the first century AD.[6]
- Quintus Viridius, dedicated a libation to the goddess Sulis, the local genius of Aquae Sulis in Britain.[7]
- Viridius Firmus, named in an inscription from Poetovio in Pannonia Superior, dating to AD 244, and dedicated to Mithras as Sol Invictus.[8]
- Viridia Tertulla, the mother of Albucia Tertulla, buried at Brixia in Venetia and Histria.[9]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ New College Latin & English Dictionary, s. v. viridis.
- ^ "HD046856". Epigraphic Database Heidelberg. Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
- ^ New College Latin & English Dictionary, s. v. firmus.
- ^ Chase, pp. 168–173.
- ^ CIL XII, 5246.
- ^ CIL V, 1780.
- ^ AE 2001, 1273.
- ^ CIL III, 15184.
- ^ CIL V, 4522.
Bibliography
[edit]- Theodor Mommsen et alii, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated CIL), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present).
- René Cagnat et alii, L'Année épigraphique (The Year in Epigraphy, abbreviated AE), Presses Universitaires de France (1888–present).
- George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897).
- John C. Traupman, The New College Latin & English Dictionary, Bantam Books, New York (1995).