Gavius
- name of a Roman gens. So L. Gavius, who was crucified by Verres, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 61 sq.
- —Hence, Gāvĭānus, a, um, adj., of Gavius: crux, Lact. 4, 18.
or Ga'bius, a name which occurs in some Roman municipia. Cicero mentions at least three persons of this name : --
1. P. Gavius, of Cosa, crucified by Verres (Cic. c. Verr. 5.61).
2. T. Gavius Caepio, a man of wealth and rank, whose son was tribune of the soldiers in the army of Bibulus in Syria, B. C. 50 (ad Att. 5.20.4).
3. L. Gavius, who attended to the business of Brutus in Cappadocia, when Cicero was proconsul in Cilicia, and to whom Cicero offered a praefecture at the request of Brutus. Cicero, however, complains bitterly of the disrespectful behaviour of Gavius, and calls him " canis P. Clodii." (ad Att. 6.1.4, 3.6.) Whether he is the same as the Gavius of Firmum (ad Att. 4.8. b. § 3) cannot be determined.
Three persons of this name likewise occur in the history of Roman literature : --
1. Gavius Apicius [Apicius, No 2.)
2. Gavius Bassus [Bassus.]
3. Gavius Silo, a rhetorician, mentioned by the elder Seneca. (Senec. Controv. v. Praef.)