The Gellius mentioned in the Gellia gens Wikipedia entry as having "spent his life in dissipation" refers to Gellius Publicola, a political agitator and stepson of Lucius Marcius Philippus. He was a notorious follower of the demagogue Publius Clodius Pulcher. [1, 2]

Our primary knowledge of his debauchery and financial ruin comes directly from Marcus Tullius Cicero, who savagely attacked him in his 56 BC speech, Pro Sestio. Cicero reveals that Gellius spent his youth literally eating through his inheritance. After losing his fortune, he falsely claimed to be a Greek-style philosopher while pawning his library books to buy more wine. [1, 2, 3]

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🏛️ The Latin Source

The explicit details of his "dissipation" are recorded in Cicero, Pro Sestio, 110:

"...qui, cum eius adulescentia in amplissimis honoribus summi viri, L. Philippi vitrici, florere potuisset, usque eo non fuit popularis ut bona solus comesset;..." (The full text can be found at The Latin Library) [1]

"...patrimoniumne tibi tuum, Gelli, permissum est esse, an id ipse comedisti?" (Section 111)

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🇬🇧 English Translation (Adapted from Loeb Classical Library) [1]

"...Although in his youth he might have thrived... he devoured his entire estate all by himself. Then, from a filthy and reckless young man, after he had reduced his patrimony... he suddenly wished to be thought of as a refined Greek man of leisure... his books were even frequently pawned to buy wine..." [1, 2]

"...Was your patrimony left to you, Gellius, or did you devour it yourself?" [1]

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🔍 Summary of His "Dissipation"

Cicero’s invective highlights a life of extreme excess, including wasting his inheritance and pawning his books to fund alcohol, all while acting as a hypocritical, "Greek-style" intellectual. [1, 2]