{{short description|Ancient Roman family}} 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== The nomen ''Viridius'' seems to be derived from the Latin ''viridis'', green.<ref>''New College Latin & English Dictionary'', ''s. v. viridis''.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edh-www.adw.uni-heidelberg.de/edh/inschrift/HD046856|website=Epigraphic Database Heidelberg|publisher=Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities|title=HD046856}}</ref>
==Branches and cognomina== 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",<ref>''New College Latin & English Dictionary'', ''s. v. firmus''.</ref> and ''Tertulla'', a diminutive of ''Tertia'', an old feminine praenomen, which was widely used as a surname throughout Roman history.<ref>Chase, pp. 168–173.</ref>
==Members== * Viridia, named in an inscription from Narbo in Gallia Narbonensis.<ref>{{CIL|12|5246}}.</ref> * 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.<ref>{{CIL|5|1780}}.</ref> * Quintus Viridius, dedicated a libation to the goddess Sulis, the local genius of Aquae Sulis in Britain.<ref>{{AE|2001|1273}}.</ref> * Viridius Firmus, named in an inscription from Poetovio in Pannonia Superior, dating to AD 244, and dedicated to Mithras as Sol Invictus.<ref>{{CIL|3|15184}}.</ref> * Viridia Tertulla, the mother of Albucia Tertulla, buried at Brixia in Venetia and Histria.<ref>{{CIL|5|4522}}.</ref>
==See also== * List of Roman gentes
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== * 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).
Category:Roman gentes