Lobus Caecilius

Lobus Caecilius was a man who lived in Pompeii before Vesuvius erupted in 79. Husband of Metella and father to Evelina and Quintus, Caecilius was a marble trader with political ambitions; it was to impress Lucius Petrus Dextrus, high priest of the Cult of Vulcan, that he bought the Tenth Doctor's TARDIS at the market, intending to display it as "modern art".

Along with his family, Caecilius was spared from the devastation of Pompeii by the timely intervention of the Doctor. By early 80, Caecilius and his family had resettled in Rome, and adopted the Tenth Doctor and Donna as their household gods. (TV: The Fires of Pompeii)

Behind the scenes

 * This character's surname was derived from books in the Cambridge Latin Course, which were based upon real people.  For this reason, it is frequently asserted that this character is meant to be .  However, this is not the case asserted by Russell T Davies in The Italian Job, the episode of Doctor Who Confidential which accompanied The Fires of Pompeii.  There, Davies makes quite clear that he merely nicked the family name  from Cambridge Latin Course books. It was not the authorial intent that this character be a genuine historical figure. Instead, Davies characterised the use of the name "Caecilius" as a gag, supporting the many other broad Latin gags in the episode that were reminiscent of Davies' beloved  comics.
 * Actor Peter Capaldi later played John Frobisher in Torchwood: Children of Earth and the Twelfth Doctor. Russell T Davies, interviewed for Torchwood Declassified, suggested that Frobisher may be a distant descendant of Caecilius. The fate of Lucius' family (all of them surviving), would be reversed in Frobisher's family's fate (all of them dying).