The gens Aviena, occasionally written Avienia, was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Hardly any members of this gens are mentioned in history, but a number of Avieni are known from inscriptions. Origin The nomen Avienus belongs to a class of names formed using the suffix -enus, typically derived from other . There was a gens Avia, also known primarily from inscriptions, derived from , grandfather. Praenomina The main praenomina of the Avieni were Sextus and Titus, with a few other names receiving occasional use, including Gaius, Publius, and Quintus. All of these were very common throughout Roman history. One family of the Avieni at Ostia used Sextus alone, and were differentiated by their cognomina, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as the "fossilization" of a praenomen, which became common in imperial times. Branches and cognomina The Avieni do not appear to have been divided into distinct stirpes, or branches, identified by hereditary surnames. There was a family of this name at Ostia, where at least some of them were part of the shipwrights' guild, but the members of this family used distinctive personal cognomina. Members Gaius Avienus, a military tribune with the tenth legion, under the command of Caesar, who dismissed him due to his conduct in the African war, in 46 BC. Avienia, named in an inscription from Rome. Avienus, the husband of Clodia, named in an inscription from Ameria in Umbria, dating to the late first century BC. Avienus, named in an inscription from Haedui in Gallia Lugdunensis. Avienus, named in an inscription from Bituriges Cubi in Gallia Aquitania. Avienus, named in a series of inscriptions from the present site of Stanton Low, formerly part of Roman Britain. Gaius Avienus, named in an inscription from Florentia in Etruria. Sextus Avienus, named in an inscription from Hispalis in Hispania Baetica. Sextus Avienus, named in an inscription from Ameria, dating from the reign of Augustus. Titus Avienius, a cornicularius, or hornblower, buried at Rome. Sextus Avienius Sex. f. Sex. n. [...], the son of Sextus Avienius Livianus and Annia, buried in the family sepulchre at Ostia. Sextus Avienius Sex. f. Agathyrsus, the brother of Sextus Avienius Livianus, buried in the family sepulchre at Ostia. Sextus Avienus Calliclus, named in an inscription from Sulci in Sardinia, along with Aviena Philomena. Aviena Calliope, named in an inscription from Tucci in Hispania Baetica. Gaius Avienus C. l. Ciratus, a freedman named in