The gens Orbia was a minor
plebeian family at
Rome. No members of this
gens are known to have held any
magistracies, but many of them are known from inscriptions. The most illustrious of the family may have been the jurist Publius Orbius, a contemporary of
Cicero.[1]
Origin
The
nomenOrbius is derived from the
cognomenOrbus, a waif or orphan.[2][3] It is the cognate of the
Sabine or
Oscan nomen Orfia.[4] At least two other
gentilicia are derived from Orbius using different suffixes: Orbilius using the diminutive suffix -ilius, and Orbicius using the suffix -icius.[5]
Praenomina
The Orbii used a wide variety of
praenomina, of which the most important were Marcus and Lucius. The family also used Publius and Titus, and there are few examples of Gaius, Aulus, and Quintus. All of these were very common names throughout Roman history. There is also a single instance of Decimus, a much less common name.
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Publius Orbius, a jurist shortly before the time of Cicero, who describes him as an unpracticed advocate, but very learned in the civil law. He was a student of Titus Juventius.[6][1]
Publius Orbius,
praetor in 65 BC, and governor of
Asia the following year.[7][8]
Orbius, a wealthy farmer alluded to by
Horace.[9][10]
Orbius Laetianus, subpraefectus of the Vigiles in AD 191.[11][10]
Lucius Orbius, named in an inscription from
Tibur in
Samnium.[13]
Lucius Orbius L. f., the husband of Tullia, named in an inscription from Rome.[14]
Lucius Orbius M. f., a schoolmaster named in a dedicatory inscription from the island of
Tenos in
Achaea.[15]
Lucius Orbius M. f., named in an inscription from the island of
Delos in Achaea, perhaps the same identified as magister Italiceis in another inscription.[16]
Marcus Orbius, named in an inscription from Rome.[17]
Marcus Orbius M. f., a native of
Aquae Sextiae in
Gallia Narbonensis, was a lieutenant stationed at Rome some time in the late second or early third century.[19]
Marcus Orbius, named in an inscription from
Casinum in Latium.[20]
Marcus Orbius,
Decurion of the
colony at
Ostia, buried in a family sepulchre at Ostia, together with his wife, Januaria, and daughter, Orbia Januaria, dedicated by his son, Marcus Orbius Protogenes.[21]
Titus Orbius L. f., dedicated a
basilica to the people of Tibur.[22]
Orbia Acume, a freedwoman mentioned in three funerary inscriptions at Rome.[23]
Giovanni Battista de Rossi, Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romanae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores (Christian Inscriptions from Rome of the First Seven Centuries, abbreviated ICUR), Vatican Library, Rome (1857–1861, 1888).
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 (1897).
Stéphane Gsell, Inscriptions Latines de L'Algérie (Latin Inscriptions from Algeria, abbreviated ILAlg), Edouard Champion, Paris (1922–present).
Hilding Thylander, Inscriptions du port d'Ostie (Inscriptions from the Port of Ostia, abbreviated IPOstie), Acta Instituti Romani Regni Sueciae, Lund (1952).
T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, American Philological Association (1952).
D.P. Simpson, Cassell's Latin and English Dictionary, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York (1963).
Hispania Epigraphica (Epigraphy of Spain, abbreviated HEp), Madrid (1989–present).
Giovanni Battista Brusin, Inscriptiones Aquileiae (Inscriptions of Aquileia, abbreviated InscrAqu), Udine (1991–1993).
Carlo Molle, “Varia epigraphica dalla valle del Liri”, in Heikki Solin, Le Epigrafi della Valle di Comino, Atti del dodicesimo convegno epigrafico cominese (“Miscellaneous Epigraphy from the Liri Valley”, in Heikki Solin's The Epigraphy of the Valley of Comino, Proceedings of the Twelfth Epigraphic Conference at Comino), pp. 91–116, San Donato Val di Comino (2016).
The gens Orbia was a minor
plebeian family at
Rome. No members of this
gens are known to have held any
magistracies, but many of them are known from inscriptions. The most illustrious of the family may have been the jurist Publius Orbius, a contemporary of
Cicero.[1]
Origin
The
nomenOrbius is derived from the
cognomenOrbus, a waif or orphan.[2][3] It is the cognate of the
Sabine or
Oscan nomen Orfia.[4] At least two other
gentilicia are derived from Orbius using different suffixes: Orbilius using the diminutive suffix -ilius, and Orbicius using the suffix -icius.[5]
Praenomina
The Orbii used a wide variety of
praenomina, of which the most important were Marcus and Lucius. The family also used Publius and Titus, and there are few examples of Gaius, Aulus, and Quintus. All of these were very common names throughout Roman history. There is also a single instance of Decimus, a much less common name.
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Publius Orbius, a jurist shortly before the time of Cicero, who describes him as an unpracticed advocate, but very learned in the civil law. He was a student of Titus Juventius.[6][1]
Publius Orbius,
praetor in 65 BC, and governor of
Asia the following year.[7][8]
Orbius, a wealthy farmer alluded to by
Horace.[9][10]
Orbius Laetianus, subpraefectus of the Vigiles in AD 191.[11][10]
Lucius Orbius, named in an inscription from
Tibur in
Samnium.[13]
Lucius Orbius L. f., the husband of Tullia, named in an inscription from Rome.[14]
Lucius Orbius M. f., a schoolmaster named in a dedicatory inscription from the island of
Tenos in
Achaea.[15]
Lucius Orbius M. f., named in an inscription from the island of
Delos in Achaea, perhaps the same identified as magister Italiceis in another inscription.[16]
Marcus Orbius, named in an inscription from Rome.[17]
Marcus Orbius M. f., a native of
Aquae Sextiae in
Gallia Narbonensis, was a lieutenant stationed at Rome some time in the late second or early third century.[19]
Marcus Orbius, named in an inscription from
Casinum in Latium.[20]
Marcus Orbius,
Decurion of the
colony at
Ostia, buried in a family sepulchre at Ostia, together with his wife, Januaria, and daughter, Orbia Januaria, dedicated by his son, Marcus Orbius Protogenes.[21]
Titus Orbius L. f., dedicated a
basilica to the people of Tibur.[22]
Orbia Acume, a freedwoman mentioned in three funerary inscriptions at Rome.[23]
Giovanni Battista de Rossi, Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romanae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores (Christian Inscriptions from Rome of the First Seven Centuries, abbreviated ICUR), Vatican Library, Rome (1857–1861, 1888).
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 (1897).
Stéphane Gsell, Inscriptions Latines de L'Algérie (Latin Inscriptions from Algeria, abbreviated ILAlg), Edouard Champion, Paris (1922–present).
Hilding Thylander, Inscriptions du port d'Ostie (Inscriptions from the Port of Ostia, abbreviated IPOstie), Acta Instituti Romani Regni Sueciae, Lund (1952).
T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, American Philological Association (1952).
D.P. Simpson, Cassell's Latin and English Dictionary, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York (1963).
Hispania Epigraphica (Epigraphy of Spain, abbreviated HEp), Madrid (1989–present).
Giovanni Battista Brusin, Inscriptiones Aquileiae (Inscriptions of Aquileia, abbreviated InscrAqu), Udine (1991–1993).
Carlo Molle, “Varia epigraphica dalla valle del Liri”, in Heikki Solin, Le Epigrafi della Valle di Comino, Atti del dodicesimo convegno epigrafico cominese (“Miscellaneous Epigraphy from the Liri Valley”, in Heikki Solin's The Epigraphy of the Valley of Comino, Proceedings of the Twelfth Epigraphic Conference at Comino), pp. 91–116, San Donato Val di Comino (2016).