Ofilia gens

Ancient Roman family From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The gens Ofilia, also spelled Ofillia and Ofellia,[i] was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its most illustrious member was the jurist Aulus Ofilius, a friend of both Caesar and Cicero.[1]

Origin

The nomen Ofilius first appears in history during the period of the Samnite Wars, both as a praenomen and a nomen among the Samnites, but by the first century BC individuals of this gens are found at Rome. As a nomen, Ofilius may be regarded as a patronymic surname based on the existing praenomen, but Chase suggests a derivation from Ofella, a cognomen formed as a diminutive of offa, "a morsel".[2]

Members

See also

Footnotes

  1. Each of these spellings is found in inscriptions, but the ancient historians usually preferred Ofilius.
  2. Pomponius appears to call him Gaius Aulus Ofilius, but this seems to be a copyist's error.

References

Bibliography

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