Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus was the name of several Roman men who lived during the early Roman Empire. They were descendants of Orfitus who was adopted by Servius Cornelius Scipio, an otherwise unknown member of the patrician branch of the Cornelii Scipiones. At least six members of this family used this name, all of whom were direct male descendants of the earliest known member of this branch, the consul of 51. Except for the first two generations, little is known about any of them.

Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus (consul 51)

Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus was ordinary consul in AD 51 as the colleague of the emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

. He was one of the victims of Marcus Aquilius Regulus, the ''

delator Delator (plural: ''delatores'', feminine: ''delatrix'') is Latin for a denouncer, one who indicates to a court another as having committed a punishable deed. Secular Roman law In Roman history, it was properly one who gave notice (''deferre' ...

'' during the reign of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus (consul 1st century)

Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus was a suffect consul in some year prior to 87; his colleague has not been identified. He was the son of the consul of AD 51. He was also a victim of imperial suspicion and was first banished to an island by the emperor

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

, then later executed.

Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus (consul 110)

Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus was ordinary consul in AD 110 as the colleague of Marcus Peducaeus Priscinus. He was the son of the previous Orfitus. The only other fact known of his life is that he was

Urban prefect The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, an ...

of Rome during the reign of

Antoninus Pius Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roma ...

states that Orfitus succeeded Lucius Catilius Severus (whom Hadrian removed from that post), and although the ''

Historia Augusta The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, Caesar (title), designated heirs and Roman usurper, usurpers from 117 to 284. S ...

'' states that he asked

to be released from the office, Syme speculates that this language "may mask a swift demotion".

Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus (proconsul of Africa)

Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus is known through inscriptions to have been

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

in 163/164. From this it can be inferred that this Orfitus was suffect consul around 146. It is surmised he was the son of the consul of 110. It was assumed at one point that this Orfitus was also the ordinary consul of 149, but more recent research has identified that Orfitus as Lucius Sergius Salvidienus Scipio Orfitus, a member of the ''

gens Sergia The gens Sergia was a patrician (ancient Rome), patrician family at ancient Rome, which held the highest offices of the Roman state from the first century of the Roman Republic, Republic until Roman Empire, imperial times. The first of the Sergii ...

''.

Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus (consul 178)

Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus was ordinary consul in AD 178 with Decimus Velius Rufus as his colleague. He is known only through consular dating; it is surmised he was the son of the previous Orfitus.

Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus (salius Palatinus)

Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus was a member of the '' Salii Palatinii'', an ancient Roman priesthood for the years 189 and 190., It is surmised he was the son of the previous Orfitus. There is no record of this Orfitus acceding to the consulate; while this may indicate that he died before the age of 31 or 32, the earliest point a Patrician could be a consul, attestations of suffect consuls become much more scarce after 180 and evidence of his consulate may simply await recovery.

References

{{Set index article, ancient Rome Salvidienus Orfitus Ancient Roman prosopographical lists