The gens Catia was a plebeian family at Rome from the time of the Second Punic War to the third century AD.
The Catii may have been of Vestinian origin; Gaius Catius, who served under Marcus Antonius, is said to have belonged to this ancient race.
[1] However, members of the family were already at Rome by the time of the Second Punic War, when Quintus Catius was plebeian aedile.
[2] The philosopher Catius was an Insuber, a native of Gallia Transpadana, and may have been a freedman of the gens, or perhaps his name arose by coincidence.
[3] The nomen Catius itself may perhaps be related to a Roman divinity of that name, invoked for the purpose of granting children thoughtfulness and prudence.