The gens Avidia was a Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 family during the early centuries of the Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

. Several of its members rose to prominence during the late 1st and 2nd centuries.

Branches and cognomina of the gens

Two branches of this family appeared towards the end of the first century. They were descended from two brothers, who bore the surnames Quietus, meaning "calm" or "peaceful", and Nigrinus, a diminutive of niger, meaning "blackish".

Members of the gens

This list includes abbreviated praenomina

Praenomen

The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus , the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy...

. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.

• Avidius Quietus
  Tiberius Avidius Quietus
  Tiberius Avidius Quietus was a Roman politician the lived between the 1st century and the 2nd century.Quietus came from a wealthy, distinguished and well connected political family in Faventia...
  
  , a friend and contemporary of the younger Plinius
  Pliny the Younger
  Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him...
  
  , whom he supported in his accusation of Publicius Certus in 96.
• Avidius Quietus, consul suffectus in 111.
• Gaius Avidius Nigrinus, proconsul
  Proconsul
  A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
  
   during the reign of Domitian
  Domitian
  Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...
  
  , and brother of the elder Quietus; Plutarch
  Plutarch
  Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
  
  us dedicated a treatise on brotherly love to them.
• Gaius Avidius C. f. Nigrinus
  Gaius Avidius Nigrinus
  Gaius Avidius Nigrinus was a Roman that lived between the 1st and 2nd centuries.Nigrinus’ paternal and maternal ancestors were Romans of the highest political rank. He was the son of an elder Gaius Avidius Nigrinus by an unnamed mother, his brother was the consul Titus Avidius Quietus and his...
  
  , consul suffectus during the first half of 110; probably one of four senators put to death in the year following the accession of Hadrian
  Hadrian
  Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
  
  .
• Avidia C. f. C. n. Plautia
  Avidia Plautia
  Avidia Plautia Nigrini or most commonly known as Avidia Plautia , was a well-connected noble Roman woman. She is among the lesser known members of the ruling Nerva–Antonine dynasty of the Roman Empire....
  
  , the daughter of Nigrinus, married Lucius Ceionius Commodus
  Lucius Aelius
  Lucius Aelius Caesar became the adopted son and intended successor, of Roman Emperor Hadrian , but never attained the throne....
  
  , Hadrian's heir; her son, Lucius Ceionius Commodus
  Lucius Verus
  Lucius Verus , was Roman co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius, from 161 until his death.-Early life and career:Lucius Verus was the first born son to Avidia Plautia and Lucius Aelius Verus Caesar, the first adopted son and heir of Roman Emperor Hadrian . He was born and raised in Rome...
  
  , was adopted by Antoninus Pius
  Antoninus Pius
  Antoninus Pius , also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He did not possess the sobriquet "Pius" until after his accession to the throne...
  
  , and was emperor with Marcus Aurelius from 161 to 169.
• (Avidius) Heliodorus
  Gaius Avidius Heliodorus
  Gaius Avidius Heliodorus was a Roman politician and a noted Orator.He was of Greek origin and became Secretarius ab epistolis under Hadrian and Praefectus of Egypt between 137 and 142 or between 138 and 140....
  
  , a rhetorician, and native of Syria, who became a private secretary and friend of Hadrian; he was appointed praefectus
  Prefect
  Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
  
   of Egypt
  Aegyptus (Roman province)
  The Roman province of Egypt was established in 30 BC after Octavian defeated his rival Mark Antony, deposed his lover Queen Cleopatra VII and annexed the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt to the Roman Empire. The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai Peninsula...
  
  .
• Avidius Cassius
  Avidius Cassius
  Gaius Avidius Cassius was a Roman general and usurper who briefly ruled Egypt and Syria in 175.-Origins:He was the son of Gaius Avidius Heliodorus, a noted orator who was Prefect of Egypt from 137 to 142 under Hadrian, and wife Junia Cassia Alexandra...
  
  , son of Heliodorus, and a successful general under Marcus Aurelius, against whom he rebelled in 175.
• Avidius Maecianus, the son of Avidius Cassius, entrusted with the command of Alexandria
  Alexandria
  Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
  
  during his father's rebellion; he was slain by his own soldiers.