Aulus Ofilius was a Roman

Roman citizenship

Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....

 jurist of Equestrian

Equestrian (Roman)

The Roman equestrian order constituted the lower of the two aristocratic classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the patricians , a hereditary caste that monopolised political power during the regal era and during the early Republic . A member of the equestrian order was known as an eques...

 rank, who lived in the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

. He is named as a jurist by Pomponius. Ofilius was a friend to Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...

, dictator Gaius Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

 and in opinion had opposed the jurist Trebatius Testa

Trebatius Testa

Gaius Trebatius Testa was a jurist of ancient Rome, whose family, and himself, originated from Elea.He was a protege of Cicero; Cicero dedicated his Topica to Trebatius, and recommended Trebatius as a legal advisor to Julius Caesar...

.

Ofilius was educated by the jurist Servius Sulpicius Rufus

Servius Sulpicius Rufus

Servius Sulpicius Rufus , surnamed Lemonia from the tribe to which he belonged, was a Roman orator and jurist.He studied rhetoric with Cicero, and accompanied him to Rhodes in 78 BC. Finding that he would never be able to rival his teacher he gave up rhetoric for law...

 and in turn Ofilius became the tutor to the future jurists Quintus Aelius Tubero

Quintus Aelius Tubero

Quintus Aelius Tubero was a Roman consul in 11 BC. He was most likely the father of Sextus Aelius Catus, who was himself consul in 4 AD. His granddaughter was Aelia Paetina, who married future Emperor Claudius in 28. Her adopted brother was Lucius Aelius Sejanus, the Praetorian Prefect who was...

, Marcus Antistius Labeo

Marcus Antistius Labeo

Marcus Antistius Labeo was a prominent jurist of ancient Rome.He was the son of Quintus Antistius Labeo, a jurist who caused himself to be slain after the defeat of his party at Philippi...

 and Gaius Ateius Capito

Gaius Ateius Capito (jurist)

Gaius Ateius Capito was a Roman jurist in the time of emperors Augustus and Tiberius and consul suffectus in the year 5.-Life:...

. He obtained a high reputation for legal knowledge.

Ofilius had written various legal treaties. He had addressed one of his treaties to wealthy Equestrian and friend to Cicero, Titus Pomponius Atticus

Titus Pomponius Atticus

Titus Pomponius Atticus, born Titus Pomponius , came from an old but not strictly noble Roman family of the equestrian class and the Gens Pomponia. He was a celebrated editor, banker, and patron of letters with residences in both Rome and Athens...

. Ofilius was also the author of an extensive commentary on Praetorian Edict or Proclamations. He is often cited in the Digest

Pandects

The Digest, also known as the Pandects , is a name given to a compendium or digest of Roman law compiled by order of the emperor Justinian I in the 6th century .The Digest was one part of the Corpus Juris Civilis, the body of civil law issued under Justinian I...

.

Sources

• http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2352.html
• http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199276073/resources/timeline/jurists_rep2.pdf