Orchia (gens)


The gens Orchia or Orcia was a minor plebeian family at Rome. Few members of this gens held Roman magistracies, of whom the most notable was probably Gaius Orchius, tribune of the plebs in 181 BC, and the author of a sumptuary law, the repeal of which was strongly opposed by Cato the Elder. Other Orchii are known from inscriptions.

Origin

The nomen Orchius belongs to a class of gentilicia that are probably not Latin, but Sabine or Oscan. It seems to be the source of the nomen Orcivius or Orchivius, formed using an irregular suffix, -ivius, to create a new name out of an existing nomen.

Praenomina

All of the Orchii known from ancient writers and inscriptions bore the praenomina Aulus, Gaius, or Lucius, all of which were common names throughout Roman history.

Members