Pedia gens
The gens Pedia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in history during the final century of the Republic, and for the next two centuries they were distinguished in statesmanship, rhetoric, art, and law. The first of the Pedii to obtain the consulship was Quintus Pedius, the nephew of Caesar, in 43 BC. Origin. Little is known of the Pedii and their origin. The nomen "Pedius" might be derived from the cognomen "Pedo", a name referring to someone with broad feet. Praenomina. The main families of the Pedii used the praenomina  Quintus and "Sextus", both of which were very common throughout Roman history. Individual families used other names, such as "Lucius, Gaius, Marcus, Publius, Titus, Gnaeus", and "Numerius". Branches and cognomina. The Pedii of the Republic do not seem to have had any hereditary surnames, but one member of the family bore the cognomen "Poplicola" or "Publicola", famous from an early family of the Valerii; the surname means "one who courts the people." Although this cognomen appears in other families, the Pedii were connected with the Valerii Messallae, a later family of the Valeria gens which revived the more ancient surname , and it seems clear that it was through this relationship that the name appears among the Pedii. Not long after the time of this family, another branch appears bearing the surname "Hirrutus", of uncertain origin. The first of this family rose to prominence early in the reign of Tiberius, and although the name does not appear again until the second century, one of the Pedii Hirruti obtained the consulship in AD 158. The jurist Sextus Pedius may have belonged to this family, although proof is wanting; other prominent Pedii during this period may also have belonged to this branch. Pedia