Persia gens

The most illustrious of the family was the satirist Aulus Persius Flaccus, who lived during the middle part of the first century.

[2] One of the Persii living in Dalmatia bore the surname Etruscus, further indicating that the family claimed Etruscan descent.

[3] The chief praenomina of the Persii were Aulus, Gaius, and Lucius, all of which were common names throughout Roman history.

Flaccus, a common surname that translates as "flabby", "droopy", or "flop-eared", was borne by the family of the poet.

[4] Of the other surnames found among the various Persii, Hybrida was used of the merchant Persius, because his father was Roman and his mother Greek; Etruscus signified the Etruscan descent of its bearer; and Lepidus, more famous from a family of the Aemilii, referred to someone who was pleasant or agreeable.