The cognomina of the Baebii are Dives, Herennius, Sulca, and Tamphilus. The last is the only surname which appears on coins, where it is written Tampilus. All of the consuls and most of the praetors of this gens during the Republic belonged to this branch of the family.
Gnaeus Baebius Q. f. Cn. n. Tamphilus, praetor in 199 BC, was assigned to Cisalpine Gaul, where he was defeated by the Insubres; the consulLucius Cornelius Lentulus replaced him, and sent Baebius to Rome. consul in 182, Baebius fought against the Ligures with some success.
Gnaeus Baebius Tamphilus, praetor urbanus in 168 BC, and in the following year one of five legates sent into Illyricum.
Marcus Baebius Q. f. Tamphilus, triumvir monetalis in 137 BC.
Baebius, tribune of the plebs in 103 BC. Attempted to veto the agrarian law of his colleague, Saturninus, who had proposed that veterans should be granted parcels of land in the province of Africa; Baebius was stoned and forced to flee. Possibly the same Marcus Baebius who was put to death by Marius in 87 BC.
Gaius Baebius Tamphilus, appears on a coin of uncertain date.
Other Baebii of the Republic
Quintus Baebius Herennius, tribune of the plebs in 217 BC. He was a relative by marriage of Gaius Terentius Varro, and actively supported his candidacy for the consulship against the senatorial elite who objected to Varro's humble origins. According to Livius, Baebius criticized the emergence of a new elite forged from the patricians and plebeian nobiles, altering the traditional conflict of the orders.
Lucius Baebius, one of the ambassadors sent by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus to Carthage in 202 BC. He was afterwards left by Scipio in command of the camp.
Quintus Baebius, tribune of the plebs in 200 BC, opposed a motion to declare war onPhilip of Macedon, and accused the Senate of warmongering; perhaps the eldest brother of the consular Baebii.
Marcus Baebius, one of the three commissioners sent into Macedonia in 186 BC, to investigate the charges brought by the Maronitae and others against Philip.
Lucius Baebius, one of three commissioners sent into Macedonia in 168 BC, to inspect the state of affairs there, before Lucius Aemilius Paullus invaded the country.
Aulus Baebius, a prefect under the command of Lucius Aemilius Paullus in 167 BC. He was left in command of a garrison at Demetrias, and became involved in the internal political struggles of the Aetolians. He used Roman soldiers to surround a meeting of the Aetolian Senate, and allowed Aetolian soldiers to massacre five hundred and fifty attendees. Proscriptions and exiles followed. Paullus may have been complicit, for he received complaints circumspectly, took no action against the Aetolian leaders, and censured Baebius only for allowing Roman soldiers to take part. Baebius was afterwards condemned at Rome.
Gaius Baebius, tribune of the plebs in 111 BC, bribed by Jugurtha to quash the investigation of Gaius Memmius.
Marcus Baebius, put to death by Marius and Cinna when they entered Rome in 87 BC. Instead of being killed by any weapon, Baebius was literally torn to pieces by the hands of his enemies.
Numerous Baebii are known from the Imperial era, particularly from inscriptions. Baebii with the praenomen Lucius are found concentrated around Saguntum in Hispania.
Baebius Massa, formerly governor of Hispania Baetica, for the maladministration of which he was condemned in AD 93; but he avoided punishment through the favour of the emperor Domitian, under whom he became a notorious informer.