was properly speaking no Roman gens. A few insignificant persons of this name are mentioned towards the end of the republic, but the name became of importance in the imperial period from the emperor, M. Salvias Otho, who was descended from an ancient and noble family of the town of Ferentinum in Etruria.
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology
Smith, William
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890