Avidia

Avidia (flourished 2nd century) was a well-connected noble Roman woman. She is among the lesser known members of the ruling Nerva–Antonine dynasty of the Roman Empire. Biography Avidia was the daughter of the well-connected Roman Senator Gaius Avidius Nigrinus and his first wife, whose name is unknown. It is thought that Plautia was her stepmother. Avidia was born and raised in Faventia (modern Faenza, Italy). Her family was distinguished, wealthy and well-connected. Her family were friends of the Greek historian Plutarch, Roman Senator Pliny the Younger, Roman Emperor Trajan and his family. Her family had strong links to Greece, as her paternal grandfather Gaius Avidius Nigrinus had served at an unknown date during the reign of Roman Emperor Domitian (81-96) as Proconsul of Achaea, a position in which her great uncle Titus Avidius Quietus had also served. Her family may have been related to the consul Gaius Petronius Pontius Nigrinus, who had served his consulship at the time that the Roman Emperor Tiberius had died in 37. Avidia's father was executed in 118 on orders from the Roman Senate, because he was one of four senators involved in a failed plot to overthrow the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Sometime after her father's execution, her mother or stepmother may have married another Roman senator.