Julius Nepos
Avitus was born in Clermont to a family of the Gallo-Roman nobility. His father was possibly Agricola, consul in 421. Avitus had two sons, Agricola (fl 455 – living 507, a "vir illustris") and Ecdicius Avitus (later "patricius" and "magister militum" under Emperor Julius Nepos) and a daughter Papianilla; she married Sidonius Apollinaris, whose letters and panegyrics remain an important source for Avitus' life and times.