1. A native of Larinum, highly respected and esteemed not only in his own municipium but in the whole surrounding country, on account of his ancient descent, unblemished reputation, and great moral worth. He married Sassia, and died in B. C. 88, leaving one son and one daughter. (Pro Cluent. 5.)
In modern editions of Cicero the cognomen Avitus uniformly appears instead of Habitus, having been first introduced, in opposition to all the best MSS. both of Cicero and Quintilian, by Lambinus at the suggestion of Cujaccius, who maintained, that Habitus must in every case be considered as a corruption of the transcribers, and appealed for the confirmation of his opinion to the Florentine MS. of the Digest (48. tit. 19. s. 39), where, however, upon examination the reading is found to be Abitus. Accordingly, Orelli, following Niebuhr and Classen, has restored the ancient form in his Onomasticon, although not in the text of the oration. (Rheinisches Museum for 1827, p. 223.)