Viridia gens
# Viridia gens

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. 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.

## 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", and Tertulla, a diminutive of Tertia, an old feminine praenomen, which was widely used as a surname throughout Roman history.

## Members

* Viridia, named in an inscription from Narbo in Gallia Narbonensis.
* 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.
* Quintus Viridius, dedicated a libation to the goddess Sulis, the local genius of Aquae Sulis in Britain.
* Viridius Firmus, named in an inscription from Poetovio in Pannonia Superior, dating to AD 244, and dedicated to Mithras as Sol Invictus.
* Viridia Tertulla, the mother of Albucia Tertulla, buried at Brixia in Venetia and Histria.
