Vibius is a Latin ''

praenomen The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the bir ...

'', or

personal name A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is kno ...

, which was occasionally used throughout the period of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

and perhaps into imperial times. It gave rise to the patronymic '' gens Vibia''. The feminine form is ''Vibia''. As a praenomen, it was usually abbreviated V.''Dictionary of Greek & Roman Biography & Mythology''''Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft'' Although never especially common, the praenomen Vibius appears in a number of Roman families, including the ''gentes Anicia,

Curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...

, Octavia, Oppia, Sestia, Sextia'', and '' Vedia''. The Sestii are the only patrician family known to have used the name, which, like many other praenomina, appears to have been more common in the countryside than at Rome.

Origin and meaning of the name

Vibius appears to belong to that class of praenomina which was common to Latin, Oscan, and Umbrian. Chase cites a number of examples, mostly from Oscan and Umbrian families, and clearly the name was more common in other parts of Italy than at Rome. But the name was clearly used at Rome and treated as a Latin praenomen. It may be that it arrived in Rome shortly after the founding of the city, since much of the early Roman populace was of

Sabine The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines di ...

origin. However, because the name was seldom used by prominent families, there are few examples from this early period.George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII (1897) The meaning of the praenomen is unknown. Chase disposes of it after concluding that it was of Oscan origin, and cites no authorities on its possible meaning. The Etruscan form of this praenomen was ''Vipie''.

Jacques Heurgon Jacques Heurgon (25 January 1903 – 27 October 1995) was a French university, normalian, Etruscan scholar and Latinist, professor of Latin language and literature at the Sorbonne. Married to Anne Heurgon-Desjardins, founder in 1952, of the Ce ...

, ''Daily Life of the Etruscans'' (1964)

References

{{Praenomina Ancient Roman praenomina