Galba (Suessiones)

Galba as a Roman cognomen is associated with a branch of the gens Sulpicia. Although the most famous bearer is the Emperor Galba in the 1st century AD, a Servius Sulpicius Galba also served under Caesar in Gaul.^[3] Suetonius says that in Gaulish Galba means "fat"^[4] (compare Old Irish golb, "paunchy, fat"), and Galba is usually regarded as Celtic in origin.^[5] Since physical fitness was a requirement of Gallic fighting men, who might be fined if they reported for duty overweight, the Celtic name is likely either to have lost the connotations of its original meaning, or in regard to a king to refer to "fat times" or prosperity.^{[citation needed]}