or AURA'TA, C. SE'RGIUS, was a contemporary of L. Crassus the orator, and lived a short time
before the Marsic war. He was distinguished for his great wealth, his love of luxury and
refinement, and possessed withal an unblemished character. In a fragment of Cicero, preserved
by Augustin, Orata is described as a man "ditissimus, amoenissimus, deliciosissimus ;" and it
is related of him, that he was the first person who invented the pensiles
balneae, that is, baths with the hypocausta under them (Dict. of Ant. s. u. Balneum), and also the first who formed artificial
oyster-beds at Baiae, from which he obtained a large revenue. He is further said to have been
the first person who asserted and established the superiority of the shell-fish from the
Lucrine lake, although under the empire they were less esteemed than those from Britain. His
surname Orata or Aurata was given to him, according
to some authorities, because he was very fond of goldfish (auratae
pisces), according to others, because he was in the habit of wearing two very large gold
rings. (Augustin. de Beata Vita, 100.26, p. 308, ed. Bened.; Cic. de Off, 3.16, de Fin. 2.22, de
Orat. 1.39; R. R. 3.3.10; Saturn. 2.11; Festus, s. v.
Orata.)