Rules for writing ancient Greek and Roman names. Roman names: structure, features of male and female names, examples

For fourteen centuries, the Romans and other peoples of Italy used a naming system that differed from that used by other European and Mediterranean cultures, consisting of a combination of personal and generic names. The traditional Roman system of three names (Latin tria nomina) combines praenomen (Latin Praenomen), nomen (Latin Nomen) and cognomen (Latin Cognomen), which came to be considered as the basic elements of a Roman name. In fact, the Roman name system has been a continuous process of development since at least the 7th century BC. e. until the end of the 7th century AD. Names, developing within this system, became a defining characteristic of Roman civilization, and although the system itself disappeared during the early Middle Ages, the names of this system had a huge influence on the development of European naming practices, and many of them live on in modern languages.

Roman names

lat. Romani nomina

A distinctive feature of Roman names was the use of personal names and permanent surnames. Throughout Europe and the Mediterranean, other ancient civilizations distinguished individuals through the use of distinct personal names. Composed of two separate elements, these names allowed for hundreds or even thousands of possible combinations. A completely different system of names arose in Italy, where a hereditary surname was added to the personal name. Over time, this binomial system expanded to include additional names and designations.

The most important of these names was nomen gentilicium, or simply nomen, a hereditary surname that identified a person as a member of a particular lineage. This was preceded praenomen, or Name, a personal name that served to distinguish different members of the clan. The origins of this binary system are lost in prehistory, but the system appears to have been established in Latium and Etruria around 650 BC. e. In writing, the nomen was usually accompanied by descent, indicating the personal name of the individual's father and sometimes the name of the mother or other predecessors. Towards the end of the Roman Republic this was accompanied by the name of the citizen's electoral tribe. Finally, these elements could be followed by additional surnames, or cognomina, which could be either personal or hereditary, or a combination of both.

Roman philologists began to consider the combination of praenomen, nomen, and cognomen as a defining feature of Roman citizenship, known as tria nomina. But although all three elements of the Roman name existed throughout most of Roman history, the concept tria nomina may be misleading because not all of these names were necessary or used throughout Roman history. During the period of the Roman Republic, the praenomen and nomen represented the basic elements of a name; The cognomen first appeared among the Roman aristocracy at the beginning of the Republic, but was not widely used until the second century BC among the plebeians who made up the majority of the Roman people. But even then, not all Roman citizens bore the cognomen, and until the end of the Republic, the cognomen was considered somewhat less than the official name. In contrast, in imperial times the cognomen became the main distinguishing element of the Roman name, and although the praenomen never completely disappeared, the main elements of the Roman name from the 2nd century onwards were the nomen and the cognomen.

Women's names also differed from the classical concept tria nomina. Initially, Roman women used a binomial naming system for men; but over time the praenomen became less useful as a distinguishing element, and female praenomen were gradually abandoned or replaced by informal names. By the end of the Republic, most Roman women either did not have or did not use a praenomen. Most women were referred to by their nomen alone or by a combination of nomen and cognomen. The praenomen was still given when necessary, and as with the male praenomen the practice survived into imperial times, but the proliferation of personal cognomen eventually rendered the use of the female praenomen obsolete.

In the late empire, members of the Roman aristocracy used several different schemes of application and inheritance of the nomen and cognomen, both to indicate their rank and to indicate their family and social connections. Some Romans became known by alternative names, and the full names of most Romans, even among the aristocracy, were rarely recorded.

Thus, although the three types of names called as tria nomina, existed throughout Roman history, the period during which the majority of citizens had exactly three names was relatively short. However, since most important persons in the best recorded periods of Roman history had all three names, then tria nomina remains the best known concept of the Roman name.

For a number of reasons, the Roman naming system collapsed some time after the collapse of imperial power in the west. The praenomen had already become scarce in written records in the 4th century, and by the fifth century it was retained only by the most conservative sections of the old Roman aristocracy. As Roman institutions and social structures gradually disappeared during the 6th century, the need to distinguish between nomen and cognomen also disappeared. By the end of the seventh century, the populations of Italy and Western Europe had returned to separate names. But many of the names that originated within tria nomina have been adapted for use and have survived into modern times.

The three types of names that came to be seen as typically Roman were praenomen, nomen and cognomen. In their unity they were called tria nomina. Although not all Romans had three names, the practice of using multiple names with different functions was a distinctive feature of Roman culture that distinguished citizens from foreigners.

The Roman naming system distinguishes between male and female names of Roman citizens, names of slaves and names of freedmen.

Names of Roman citizens

Male names

During the classical period, a full Roman male name usually consisted of three components:

— prenomena - personal name,

— nomena - family name,

— cognomena (cognomen) - an individual nickname or clan name.

Sometimes a second or third cognomen was added, which was called agnomen. Nomen and later cognomen were essentially always hereditary. This system originated from the Etruscan civilization.

Prenomen

The personal name was similar to the modern one male name. This was the only part of the name where the parents had any choice. This name was given to the boy on the day of his lustration (from the Latin lustratio - purification through sacrifice). As a rule, only family members called the boy his prenomen. According to Roman custom, women did not have a praenomen.

The Romans used a small number of praenomen out of a total of 72 names. Approximately 98% of all male Roman names were made up of the 18 most important praenomen, of which the most popular - Lucius, Gaius, Marcus - accounted for 59%. As a rule, praenomen were of such ancient origin that in the classical era the meaning of most of them was forgotten. In inscriptions, personal names were almost always written abbreviated (1-3 letters).

The boy received a personal name on the eighth or ninth day after birth. There was a tradition of giving a personal name only to the four eldest sons, and the remaining personal names could be ordinal numbers: Quintus (fifth), Sextus (sixth), Septimus (seventh), Octavius (eighth), and Decimus (tenth). Over time, these names became commonly used (that is, they turned into personal ones), and as a result, a person bearing the name Sextus does not necessarily have to be the sixth son in the family. As an example, we can recall the commander Sextus Pompey , second son of a member of the first triumvirate Gnaeus Pompey the Great .

Often the eldest son received his father's praenomen. In 230 BC. e. This tradition was consolidated by a decree of the Senate, so the father’s personal name began, as a rule, to pass to the eldest son. For example, the emperor Octavian Augustus had, like his great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather and father, the name Guy .

Common Roman personal names

Prenomen	Reduction	Note
Appius	App.	Appius; According to legend, this name comes from Sabine Atta and was brought to Rome by the Claudian family
Aulus	A. or Avl.	Avl; in common parlance there was an archaic form Olus, so this name can also be abbreviated ABOUT.
Decimus	D. or Dec.	Decimus; archaic Decumos; from the ordinal number "tenth"
Gaius	C.	Guy; often written as Caius, therefore abbreviated as C., and very rarely - as G... It dates back to the times when C and G were not distinguished in writing. The name comes from the Etruscan Cae or Cai, meaning unknown.
Gnaeus	Cn.	Gney; archaic form of Gnaivos; very rarely abbreviated as Gn.; there are forms Naevus, Naeus, Cnaeus.
Kaeso	TO.	Quezon; another spelling option - Caeso. Means "cut from the womb." An uncommon praenomen, used only in the Fabi family.
Lucius	L.	Lucius; archaic Loucios- from lux (light).
Mamercus	Mam.	Mamerk; name of Oscan origin, used only in the Emilian family
Manius	M`.	Mania; the comma-shaped sign in the upper right corner is the remainder of the five-line outline of the letter M.
Marcus	M.	Mark; there is a spelling Marqus. Derived from Etruscan Marce, meaning unknown. It was very common.
Numerius	N.	Numerius; Oscan origin. Related to gender *Fabiev* .
Publius	P.	Publius; archaic Poblios, abbreviated as Po. Comes from Lat. publius- “folk”, and this, in turn, from the Etruscan Puplie.
Quintus	Q.	Quint; in common parlance Cuntus, meet Quinctus, Quintulus; from the ordinal number “fifth”. It was very common.
Servius	Ser.	Servius- from servo(to protect, to protect). Less common.
Sextus	Sex.	Sextus; from the ordinal number "sixth"
Spurius	S. or Sp.	Spurius; can also be used not as a praenomen, but in its original meaning “illegitimate”
Titus	T.	Titus- from Etruscan Tite, meaning unknown.
Tiberius	Ti. or Tib.	Tiberius- from Etruscan Thefarie, which possibly means "river". It was very common.

Other personal names were rarely used and were usually written in full:

Agrippa - "born feet first."

Aruns, Vel, Lar, are of Etruscan origin.

Vopiscus, Drusus - used only in the patrician family Klavdiev .

Decius - associated with a patrician family Minutia .

Camillus - used only in the patrician family branch Fury , who united with the family Arruntsiev . More commonly known as cognomen.

Marius - possibly derived from the Roman god Mars.

Marcellus - comes from the Celtic "having a fatal blow." More commonly known as cognomen.

Mettius ("Mettius") - from Etruscan Metie.

Nonus - "ninth", Octavianus - "eighth", Primus - "first", Secundus - "second", Septimus - "seventh", Tertius - "third",

Opiter - associated with a patrician family Verginiev .

Postumus - “born after the death of the father.”

Faustus - “happy”, archaic praenomen revived by the dictator Sulla for his twin children and used by his descendants. Uncommon praenomen.

Flavius (Flavius) - from flavus (gold), imperial praenomen after the 3rd century. Reached the 8th century. n. e.

Caelus - from Etruscan Caele.

Erius (Herius) - used in the plebeian family Asiniev .

Amulius, Ancus, Annius, Atta, Vibius, Volero, Volusus, Denter, Eppius, Cossus, Messius, Minatius, Minius, Nero, Novius, Numa, Ovius, Opiavus, Hospolis, Hostus, Paulus, Pacvius, Paquius, Pescennius, Percennius, Petro, Plancus, Plautus, Pompo, Popidius, Potitus , Proc (u) lus, Retus, Salvius, Servius, Sertor, Sisenna, Statius, Tirrus, Trebius (Trebius), Tullus (Tullus), Turus (Turus), Fertor (Fertor).

Personal name Pupus(boy) was used only in relation to children.

In some genera, a limited number of personal names were used. For example, at Korneliev Scipionov there were only Gnaeus, Lucius and Publius, Klavdiev Neronov - only Tiberius and Decimus, Domitsiev Agenobarbov - only Gnaeus and Lucius.

The criminal's personal name could be forever excluded from the family to which he belonged; for this reason in the patrician family Klavdiev the name Lucius was not used, but in the patrician family Manliev - name Mark. By decree of the Senate, the name Mark was forever excluded from the family Antoniev after the fall of the triumvir Mark Antony .

Nomen

The generic name was the name of the clan and corresponded approximately to the modern surname. It was indicated in the form of a masculine adjective and ended in the classical era with -ius: Tullius - Tullius (from the genus Tulliev ), Julius - Julius (from the family Yuliev ); in republican time the endings -is, -i are also found. Generic names of non-Roman origin had endings different from those indicated.

Origins and suffixes of generic names:

Origin	Ending	Examples
Roman	-ius	Tullius, Julius
	-is	Caecilis
	-i	Caecili
Sabine-Osk	-enus	Alfenus, Varenus
Umbrian	-as	Maenas
	-anas	Mafenas
	-enas	Asprenas, Maecenas
	-inas	Carrinas, Fulginas
Etruscan	-arna	Mastarna
	-erna	Perperna, Calesterna
	-enna	Sisenna, Tapsenna
	-ina	Caecina, Prastina
	-inna	Spurinna

In inscriptions, family names are usually written in full; in imperial times, only the names of very famous genera were abbreviated: Aelius - Ael., Antonius - Ant. or Anton., Aurelius - Avr., Claudius - Cl. or Clavd., Flavius - Fl. or Fla., Julius - I. or Ivl., Pompeius - Pomp., Valerius - Val., Ulpius - Vlp.

Total number of generic names, by Varro , reached a thousand. Most family names are of such ancient origin that their meaning has been forgotten. Only a few have a specific meaning: Asinius from asinus (donkey), Caelius from caecus (blind), Caninius from canis (dog), Decius from decem (ten), Fabius from faba (bean), Nonius from nonus (ninth), Octavius from octavus (eighth), Ovidius from ovis (sheep), Porcius from porca (pig), Septimius from septimus (seventh), Sextius and Sextilius from sextus (sixth), Suillius from suilla (pork).

From the 1st century BC. e., when the prerequisites for the transition from a republican form of government to autocracy appeared in Rome, those who seized supreme power began to justify their rights to power by their descent from ancient kings and heroes. Julius Caesar, for example, indicated that his paternal family goes back to the gods: Jupiter - Venus - Aeneas - Yul - family Yuliev , and on the mother's side to the kings: from Anka Marcia happened Marcia Rex (Latin rex - king).

Cognomen

An individual nickname, once given to one of the representatives of the clan, was often passed on to descendants and became the name of a family or a separate branch of the clan: Cicero - Cicero, Caesar - Caesar. For example, to the family Korneliev belonged to the family Scipionov , Rufinov , Lentulov etc. The presence of a cognomen is not necessary in some plebeian clans (among Mariev , Antoniev , Octaviev , Sertoriev etc.) personal nicknames, as a rule, were absent. However, the absence of a cognomen was an exception to the rule, since many of the families of Rome were of such ancient origin that each of them had several branches.

Since the father's personal name passed on to the eldest son, in order to distinguish the son from the father, it was necessary to use a third name. In the inscriptions there are Lucius Sergius I , Quintus Aemilius II ; in one inscription the grandfather, son and grandson are called Quintus Fulvius Rusticus , Quintus Fulvius Attianus And Quintus Fulvius Carisianus .

Cognomen arose much later than personal and generic names, so their meaning is clear in most cases. They may say:

- about the origin of the family ( fufia moved to Rome from the Campanian town of Cales and therefore had the cognomen Calenus),

- about memorable events (in a plebeian family Mutsiev The cognomen Scaevola (left-handed) appeared after 508 BC. e. during the war with the Etruscans Gaius Mucius burned his hand on the fire of a brazier, which made his enemies and their king tremble Porsenna ),

- about the appearance or special features of their first owners (Paullus - short, Rufus - red, Strabo - cross-eyed, Habitus - plump, Ahenobarbus - red-bearded, Crassus - fat, Rutilus - red, Massa - block, Crispus - curly, Arvina - fat, Pilosus - hairy, Laetus - corpulent, Calvus - bald, Macer - thin, Ravilla - yellow-eyed, Celsus - tall, Paetus - slyly looking, Luscus - one-eyed, Longus - long; Capito - big-headed, Nasica - pointed-nosed, Dentatus - toothy, Naso - big-nosed, Flaccus - lop-eared, Silus - snub-nosed, Balbus - stutterer, Blaesus - lisping, Pansa - with wide feet, Scaurus - clubfooted, Varus - bow-legged, Dives - rich, Carus - expensive, Nobilior - very noble and etc.),

- about character (Severus - cruel, Probus - honest, Lucro - glutton, Pulcher - beautiful, Lepidus - graceful, Nero - brave, etc.).

Agnomen

There were cases when one person had two nicknames, the second of which was called agnomen (lat. agnomen). The appearance of the agnomen is partly due to the fact that the eldest son often inherited all three of his father’s names, and thus there were several people with the same names in one family. For example, the famous orator Marcus Tullius Cicero's father and son had exactly the same name.

Agnomen was most often a personal nickname if the cognomen was hereditary. Sometimes a Roman received an agnomen for some special merit. Publius Cornelius Scipio in honor of the victory he won over Hannibal in Africa in 202 BC. e., began to be called solemnly African (lat. Africanus). Lucius Aemilius Paulus received the nickname Macedonian (lat. Macedonicus) for the victory over the Macedonian king Perseus in 168 BC e. dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla he himself added the agnomen Felix (Latin Felix - happy) to his name, so his full name became Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix . Agnomen Felix from a personal nickname it then turned into a hereditary one (consul 52 AD. Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix (Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix)).

As a rule, members of ancient and noble families, numbering many branches and cognomen, had agnomen. In such genera, the cognomen sometimes almost merged with the generic name and was used inseparably with it to name the genus. Famous plebeian family Tsetsiliev (Caecilii) had the ancient cognomen Metellus, the meaning of which is forgotten (freed mercenary). This cognomen seemed to merge with the name of the genus, which became known as Caecilia Metella . Naturally, almost all members of this family had an agnomen.

The patrician family had many branches Korneliev . One of the members of this family received the nickname Scipio (lat. scipio - rod, stick), because he was the guide of his blind father and served him as if instead of a staff. Cognomen Scipio stuck with his descendants, over time Cornelia Scipione took a prominent place in their family and received agnomens. In the 3rd century BC. e. Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio received the agnomen Asina (donkey) for bringing a donkey loaded with gold to the Forum as a pledge. The nickname Asina passed on to his son Publius (Publius Cornelius Scipio Asina). Another representative Korneliev Scipionov received the nickname Nasica (sharp-nosed), which passed on to his descendants and began to serve as the name of a branch of the clan, so that in the clan Korneliev separated from the Scipioni branch Scipioni Nasica . It is natural that Scipioni Nasica a third cognomen was received as an individual nickname, so that the full name could already consist of five names: Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapion (Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio), consul 138 BC e.; nickname Serapio (from Egyptian god Serapis) was given to him by the tribune of the people Curiatii for his resemblance to a dealer in sacrificial animals.

Some people had two family names; this was the result of adoption. According to Roman customs, the adopted person took the personal name, family name and cognomen of the one who adopted him, and retained his family name in a modified form with the suffix -an-, which took the place of the agnomen. Guy Octavius , future emperor August , after adopting him Gaius Julius Caesar got a name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian (Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus).

Female names

In late republican and imperial times, women did not have personal names, female name there was a feminine form of the generic name: Tullia - Tullia (from the clan Tulliev eg daughter Mark of Tullius Cicero ), Julia - Julia (from the family Yuliev eg daughter Guy Julius Caesar ), Cornelia - Cornelia (from the genus Korneliev eg daughter Publius Cornelius Scipio ). Since all women in one clan had the same name, within the clan they differed in age. When another daughter appeared in the family, a prenomen was added to the name of both: Minor (younger) and Major (elder); other sisters were nicknamed Secunda (second), Tertia (third), Quinta (fifth), etc.; The youngest one had the Minor rank.

A married woman kept her name, but her husband’s cognomen was added to it: Cornelia, filia Cornelii, Gracchi - Cornelia, daughter of Cornelius, (wife) Gracchi.

Noble women could bear, in addition to the family name, the cognomen of their father; for example, wife Sulla was a daughter Lucia Caecilia Metella Dalmatica and was called Caecilia Metella , wife of the emperor Augusta was a daughter Mark Livius Drusus Claudiana and was called Livia Drusilla .

In the inscriptions with the names of women, the praenomen and cognomen of the father are sometimes indicated, as well as the cognomen of the husband in the clan. case: Caeciliae, Q (uinti) Cretici f (iliae), Metellae, Crassi (uxori) - Cecilia Metella, daughter of Quintus Creticus, (wife) of Crassus. From the inscription it follows that this woman was the daughter Quinta Caecilius Metella Creticus and wife Crassus . The inscription was made on a large round mausoleum near Rome on the Appian Way, in which she was buried Caecilia Metella , daughter of the consul of 69 BC. e., wife Crassus , presumably the eldest son of the triumvir Mark of Licinius Crassus .

Slave names

IN ancient times slaves did not have individual names. Legally, slaves were considered not a subject, but an object of law, that is, they were the property of the master and were as powerless as all members of the family. This is how archaic slave names were formed, composed of the personal name of the master, the father of the surname, and the word puer (boy, son): Gaipor, Lucipor, Marcipor, Publipor, Quintipor, Naepor (Gnaeus + puer), Olipor (Olos - archaic form of the personal name Aulus ).

With the development of slavery, the need arose for personal names for slaves. Most often, slaves retained the name they bore when they still lived as free people. Very often, Roman slaves had names of Greek origin: Alexander, Antigonus, Hippocrates, Diadumen, Museum, Felodespot, Philocalus, Philonicus, Eros, etc. Greek names were sometimes given to barbarian slaves.

The slave's name could indicate his origin or place of birth: Dacus - Dacian, Corinthus - Corinthian, Sir (native of Syria), Gall (native of Gaul), Phrixus (from Phrygia); found in the inscriptions are slaves with the name Peregrinus - foreigner.

Slaves were also given the names of mythical heroes: Achilles, Hector; names of plants or stones: Adamant, Sardonicus, etc. Instead of a name, a slave could have the nickname “First”, “Second”, “Third”.

It is known that the slave lot in Rome was very difficult, but this did not in any way affect the names of slaves who do not have mocking nicknames. On the contrary, among slaves the names Felix and Faustus (happy) are found. Obviously, these nicknames, which became names, were received only by those slaves whose lives were relatively successful. The inscriptions mention: Faust, baker Tiberius Germanicus , and Faust, manager of his master's perfume shop Popilia , Felix, in charge of decorations Guy Caesar , another Felix, manager of the estates Tiberius Caesar , and another Felix, an overseer in the wool weaving workshops Messalina ; the daughters of one slave from the house of Caesars were called Fortunata and Felitsa.

The name Ingenus or Ingenuus (freeborn) is often found among slaves. Slaves born into slavery have the names Vitalio and Vitalis (tenacious).

There were no hard and fast rules regarding slave names. Therefore, when buying a slave in an official document, his name was accompanied by the clause “or by whatever other name he may be called” (Latin: sive is quo alio nomine est).

In the inscriptions after the name of the slave, the name of the master in the genitive case and the nature of the slave’s occupation are indicated. After the name of the master there is the word servus (slave) always abbreviated ser, very rarely s, it can also appear between two cognomen of the master; There is no strict word order at all. The word "slave" is often completely absent; as a rule, slaves owned by women do not have it. For example, Euticus, Aug (usti) ser (vus), pictor - Euticus, slave Augusta (imperial slave), painter; Eros, cocus Posidippi, ser (vus) - Eros, cook Posidippa , slave; Idaeus, Valeriae Messalin (ae) supra argentum - Idaeus, treasurer Valeria Messalina .

A sold slave retained the family name or cognomen of his former master in a modified form with the suffix -an-: Philargyrus librarius Catullianus - Philargyrus, scribe purchased from Catullus .

Freedmen's names

A freedman (i.e., a slave who received freedom) acquired the personal and family names of the former master, who became his patron, and retained his former name as a cognomen. Yes, secretary Cicero Tyrone, freed from slavery, was called: M. Tullius M. libertus Tiro - Mark Tullius freedman of Mark Tiron. A slave named Apella, set free Mark Manny Prim , became known as Marcus Manneus Apella. Bassa's slave, freed Lucius Hostilius Pamphilus , received the name Hostilia Bassa (women did not have a name). Lucius Cornelius Sulla freed ten thousand slaves who belonged to persons who died during the proscriptions; they all became Lucius Cornelius (the famous “army” of ten thousand “Cornelians”).

The names of imperial freedmen are often found in the inscriptions: baker Gaius Julius Eros , theatrical costume tailor Tiberius Claudius Dipter , in charge of the emperor's triumphal white robe Mark Koktsey Ambrosius , in charge of the emperor's hunting clothes Mark Ulpius Euphrosynus in charge of receiving the emperor's friends Marcus Aurelius Success and etc.

In the inscriptions between the nomen and the cognomen of the freedman, the personal name of the master is abbreviated and stands l or lib (= libertus), very rarely the tribe is indicated: Q (uintus) Serto, Q (uinti) l (ibertus), Antiochus, colonus pauper - Quintus Sertorius Antiochus , freedman Quintus, poor colon. In rare cases, instead of the personal name of the former master, his cognomen stands: L (ucius) Nerfinius, Potiti l (ibertus), Primus, lardarius - Lucius Nerfinius Prim, freedman of Potiti, sausage maker. The freedmen of the imperial house in the inscriptions are abbreviated Avg l (Avg lib), i.e. Augusti libertus (after the family name or after the cognomen): L (ucio) Aurelio, Aug (usti) lib (erto), Pyladi, pantomimo temporis sui primo - Lucius Aurelius Pylades, imperial freedman, the first pantomime of his time.

Rarely are freedmen with two cognomens: P (ublius) Decimius, P (ublii) l (ibertus), Eros Merula, medicus clinicus, chirurgus, ocularius - Publius Decimius Eros Merula, freedman of Publius, general practitioner, surgeon, ophthalmologist.

Are female freedmen abbreviated in inscriptions? L (the inverted C represents a remnant of the archaic female personal name Gaia): L (ucius) Crassicius, ? (= mulieris) l (ibertus), Hermia, medicus veterinarius - Lucius Crassicius Hermia, freedman of a woman, veterinarian.

Freedmen of cities received the name Publicius (from publicus - public) or the name of the city as a family name: Aulus Publicius Germanus, Lucius Saepinius Oriens et Lucius Saepinius Orestus - freedmen of the city of Sepin in Italy.

Doctors, servants of the deity Aesculapius (Greek: Asclepius), usually bore his name. For example, Gaius Calpurnius Asclepiades is a doctor from Prusa near Olympus, who received Roman citizenship from Emperor Trajan. However, the name Asclepius, or Asklepiades, did not always belong to the doctor: in one inscription, Asklepiades, a slave of Caesar, a marble maker, appears.

The freedmen of the corporations retained their names in their name: the freedmen of the corporation of quilters and tailors (fabri centonarii) were called Fabricii and Centonii.

Provincial names

With the development of Roman expansion beyond the Apennine Peninsula, foreign names were introduced into use. Liberated soldiers of the foreign Roman legions and all others who received Roman citizenship could (and many did) continue to use at least part of their old names. Most of them were of Greek origin, while others came from regions that were under Roman influence. Foreign soldiers in the active army who were granted citizenship often adopted their emperor's nomen, adding their foreign name as a cognomen.

New citizens often accepted the reigning emperor's nomen in addition. For example, after Caracalla (Marcus Aurelius Septimius Bassianus Antoninus) extended civil rights to all free people in the empire, many of them accepted the nomen Aurelius (in fact, nomen Caracallas was Septimius. The nomen Aurelius was added to claim Roman nobility).

Full name example :

MarcusAureliusMarcif.Quintin.tribuGaleriaAntoninusPius,domoCaesaraugusta, which consists of the following elements:

prenomen: Mark

nomen: Aurelius (belongs to the genus Avreliev )

father's name: son Brand

grandfather's name: grandson Quint

tribe: Galeria (tribe in the Caesaraugusta region of Spain)

cognomen: Antonin (family Antoninov )

agnomen: Pius (probably due to its mildness it is rarely passed on to offspring)

city: Caesaraugusta (now Zaragoza in Spain)

Another example of a full name:

C (= Gaius) Cornelius, C (= Gaii) f (ilius), Pom (ptina tribu), Dert (ona), Verus.

Gaius Cornelius Verus, son of Gaius, from the Pomptine tribe, originally from Dertona...

In daily communication, a combination of nomen and praenomen, or often simply cognomen, was commonly used. So, Marcus Livius Drusus could just be Drusus or Marcus Livius. Julia Marciana it could just be Julia.

The topic of these names is vast and you can delve into it for a very long time - naming traditions have changed over the course of one and a half millennia, and each clan had its own quirks and customs. But I tried and simplified it all for you into ten interesting points. I think you'll like:

1. The classical name of a Roman citizen consisted of three parts:

The personal name, "prenomen", was given by the parents. It is similar to today's names.

The clan name, “nomen” is something like our surnames. Belonging to an old noble family meant a lot.

An individual nickname, “cognomen”, was often given to a person for some kind of merit (not necessarily good), or was passed down by inheritance.

For example, the most famous Roman, Gaius Julius Caesar, had Gaius as his prenomen, Julius as his nomen, and Caesar as his cognomen. Moreover, he inherited all three parts of his name from his father and grandfather, both of whom had exactly the same name - Gaius Julius Caesar. So “Julius” is not a name at all, but rather a surname!

2. In general, it was a tradition for the eldest son to inherit all his father's names. Thus, he also took over the status and titles of his parent, continuing his work. The remaining sons were usually given different prenomen, so as not to confuse the children. As a rule, they were called the same as their father's brothers.

But they only bothered with the first four sons. If more of them were born, then the rest were simply called by number: Quintus (fifth), Sextus (sixth), Septimus (seventh), etc.

Eventually, due to the continuation of this practice for many years, the number of popular praenomen narrowed from 72 to a small handful of repeated names: Decimus, Gaius, Caeso, Lucius, Marcus, Publius, Servius and Titus were so popular that they were usually abbreviated with just the first letter . Everyone immediately understood what it was about.

3. Society Ancient Rome clearly divided into plebeians and patricians. And although there were sometimes cases where families of distinguished plebeians achieved aristocratic status, a much more common method of social advancement was adoption into a noble family.

Usually this was done to prolong the lineage of an influential person, which means that the adopted person had to take the name of the new parent. At the same time, his previous name turned into a nickname-cognomen, sometimes in addition to the existing cognomen of his adoptive father.

Thus, Gaius Julius Caesar adopted in his will his great-nephew, Gaius Octavius Furius, and he, having changed his name, began to be called Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian. (Later, as he seized power, he added several more titles and nicknames.)

4. If a person did not inherit the cognomen from his father, then he spent the first years of his life without it until he somehow distinguished himself from his relatives.

During the late Republic, people often chose out-of-fashion praenomen as cognomen. For example, at the dawn of the Roman state there was a popular praenomen "Agrippa". As the centuries passed, its popularity waned, but the name was revived as a cognomen among some influential families of the late Republican period.

A successful cognomen was fixed for many generations, creating a new branch in the family - this was the case with Caesar in the Julian family. Also, each family had its own traditions regarding which kongnomen its members appropriated.

5. All Roman names had masculine and feminine forms. This extended not only to personal praenomen, but also to surnames-nomens, and nicknames-cognomens. For example, all women from the Julian clan were called Julias, and those who had the cognomen Agrippa were called Agrippinas.

When getting married, a woman did not take her husband’s nomen, so it was difficult to confuse her with other family members.

6. But personal names, praenomen, were rarely used among women of the late Republic. And Cognomen too. Perhaps this was due to the fact that women did not take part in the public life of Rome, so there was no need for outsiders to distinguish between them. Be that as it may, most often, even in noble families, daughters were called simply the feminine form of their father's nomen.

That is, all the women in the Yuli family were Yulia. It was easy for parents to name their daughter, but others didn’t need it (until she got married). And if there were two daughters in the family, then they were called Yulia the Elder and Yulia the Younger. If three, then Prima, Second and Tertius. Sometimes the eldest daughter could be called "Maxima".

7. When a foreigner acquired Roman citizenship - usually upon completion military service- he usually took the name of his patron, or, if he was a freed slave, then the name of his former master.

During the period of the Roman Empire, there were many cases when a huge number of people immediately became citizens by imperial decree. According to tradition, they all took the name of the emperor, which caused considerable embarrassment.

For example, the Edict of Caracalla (this emperor received his cognomen from the name of the Gallic clothing - a long robe, the fashion for which he introduced) made all free people on its vast territory citizens of Rome. And all these new Romans accepted the imperial nomen Aurelius. Of course, after such actions, the meaning of these names greatly decreased.

8. Imperial names are generally something special. What are they lived longer and the emperor reigned, the more names he collected. These were mainly cognomen and their later variety, agnomen.

For example, Emperor Claudius's full name was Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus.

Over time, "Caesar Augustus" became not so much a name as a title - it was adopted by those who sought imperial power.

9. Beginning with the early empire, praenomen began to fall out of favor, and were largely replaced by cognomen. This was partly due to the fact that there were few prenomen in use (see point 2), and family traditions increasingly dictated that all sons be named the father’s prenomen. Thus, from generation to generation, praenomen and nomen remained the same, gradually turning into a complex “surname”.

At the same time, it was possible to roam around on kongnomen, and after the 1st - 2nd centuries AD, they became real names in our understanding.

10. Starting from the 3rd century AD, the prenomen and nomen in general began to be used less and less. This was partly due to the fact that a bunch of people with the same names appeared in the empire - people who received citizenship en masse as a result of the imperial decree (see point 7) and their descendants.

Since cognomen had become a more personal name by this time, people preferred to use it.

The last documented use of the Roman nomen was in the early 7th century.

Roman names

Introduction

Names in Latin epigraphy have great importance, since they occur very often. To read the name in the inscription, you need to know both the epigraphic rules for writing the full name and the basic principles of Roman anthroponymy.

By the name one can judge the social status of the person mentioned, and sometimes the time and authenticity of the inscription.

The Romans usually had three names, just like we do - first name, patronymic and last name. The first name - praenomen - was personal, like Peter or Mary. There were few such Roman names; there are only eighteen of them. In writing they were abbreviated by one, two or three letters. Such abbreviations were very common, and therefore one must be able to reveal them; Here are the most common: Appius, Gaius, Gnaeus, Decimus, Lucius, Manius, Marcus, Publius, Quintus, Servius, Sextus, Tiberius, Titus, Vopiscus.

The second name - nomen - was the name of the clan and corresponded approximately to our surname.

The third name - cognomen - was a nickname that was assigned to everyone according to some characteristics: the red-haired one - Rufus, the trickster - Cato, the big-nosed one - Nazon.

Let's take a closer look at the various elements of Roman names and their uses.

1.Men'snames

In classical times, a full Roman male name usually consisted of three components: a personal name, or praenomen, a generic name, or nomen, and an individual nickname or branch name, cognomen.

1.1 Prenomen(praenomen)

The personal name was similar to the modern male name. The Romans used a small number of personal names (18 names out of a total of 72); as a rule, they were of such ancient origin that in the classical era the significance of most of them was forgotten. In inscriptions, personal names were almost always written abbreviated (1-3 letters).

Common Roman personal namesPrenomenAbbreviationNoteAppiusApp.Appius; According to legend, this name comes from the Sabine Atta and was brought to Rome by the Claudian family AulusA. or Avl.Avl; in common parlance there was an archaic form of Olus, so abbr. this name can also serve as O.DecimusD. or Dec.Decim; arch. Decumos; from ordinal number. "tenth" GaiusC.Gai; very rarely abbreviated as G.GnaeusCn.Gnaeus; archaic form of Gnaivos; very rarely abbreviated as Gn.; the forms Naevus, NaeusKaesoK.KezonLuciusL.Lucius are found; archaic LouciosMamercusMam.Mamerk; a name of Oscan origin, used only in the Emilian family ManiusM`.Manius; the comma-shaped sign in the upper right corner is the remainder of the five-line outline of the letter MMarcusM.Mark; there is a spelling MarqusNumeriusN.Numerius; Oscan originPubliusP.Publius; archaic Poblios, abbreviated as Po.QuintusQ.Quintus; in common parlance Cuntus, there are Quinctus, Quintulus; from the ordinal number “fifth” ServiusSer.ServiusSextusSex.Sext; from the ordinal number “sixth” SpuriusS. or Sp.Spurius; can also be used not as a praenomen, but in its original meaning “illegitimate”TitusT.TitTiberiusTi. or Tib.Tiberius

The remaining personal names were rarely used and were usually written in full: Agrippa, Ancus, Annius, Aruns, Atta, Cossus, Denter, Eppius, Faustus, Fertor, Herius, Hospolis, Hostus, Lar, Marius, Mesius, Mettus, Minatius, Minius, Nero, Novius, Numa, Opiter, Opiavus, Ovius, Pacvius (Paquius), Paullus, Pescennius (Percennius), Petro, Plancus, Plautus, Pompo, Popidius, Postumus, Primus, Proculus, Retus, Salvius, Secundus, Sertor, Statius, Servius, Tertius, Tirrus, Trebius, Tullus, Turus, Volero, Volusus, Vopiscus. The personal name Pupus (boy) was used only in relation to children.

The boy received a personal name on the eighth or ninth day after birth. There was a tradition of giving a personal name to only the four eldest sons, and the rest could use ordinal numbers as a personal name: Quintus (fifth, cf. Old Russian. Pyatak), Sextus (sixth, cf. Old Russian. Shestak), Septimus (seventh, cf. Old Russian. . Semak), Octavius (eighth, cf. Old Russian. Osmak), and Decimus (tenth). Over time, these names became commonly used (that is, they turned into personal names), and as a result, a person bearing the name Sextus was not necessarily the sixth son in the family. As an example, we can recall the commander Sextus Pompey, the second son of a member of the first triumvirate, Gnaeus Pompey the Great, who fought for a long time with Julius Caesar.

Often the eldest son received his father's praenomen. In 230 BC e. this tradition was consolidated by a decree of the Senate, so that the father’s personal name began, as a rule, to pass to the eldest son. For example, Emperor Octavian Augustus, like his great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather and father, bore the name Gaius.

In some genera, a limited number of personal names were used. For example, the Cornelius Scipios had only Gnaeus, Lucius and Publius, the Claudius Nero had only Tiberius and Decimus, the Domitius Ahenobarbi had only Gnaeus and Lucius.

The criminal's personal name could be forever excluded from the family to which he belonged; for this reason, in the patrician family of the Claudii the name Lucius was not used, and in the patrician family of the Manliev the name Mark was not used. By decree of the Senate, the name Mark was forever excluded from the Antony family after the fall of the triumvir Mark Antony

1.2 Nomen

Origin and suffixes of generic names Origin Ending Examples Roman-iusTullius, Julius-isCaecilis-iCaecili Sabine-Oscian-enusAlfenus, VarenusUmbrian-asMaenas-anasMafenas-enasAsprenas, Maecenas-inasCarrinas, FulginasEtruscan-arnaMastarna-ernaPerperna, -ennaSisenna, Tapsenna-inaCaecina, Prastina-innaSpurinna

The generic name was the name of the clan and corresponded approximately to the modern surname. It was indicated in the form of a masculine adjective and ended in -ius in the classical era: Tullius - Tullius (from the Tullian family), Julius - Julius (from the Julius family); in republican time the endings -is, -i are also found. Generic names of non-Roman origin had endings different from those named.

The total number of generic names, according to Varro, reached a thousand. Most family names are of such ancient origin that their meaning has been forgotten. Only a few have a specific meaning: Asinius from asinus (donkey), Caelius from caecus (blind), Caninius from canis (dog), Decius from decem (ten), Fabius from faba (bean), Nonius from nonus (ninth), Octavius from octavus (eighth), Ovidius from ovis (sheep), Porcius from porca (pig), Septimius from septimus (seventh), Sextius and Sextilius from sextus (sixth), Suillius from suilla (pork).

1.3 Cognomen

Romanname gender

An individual nickname, once given to one of the representatives of the clan, was often passed on to descendants and became the name of a family or a separate branch of the clan: Cicero - Cicero, Caesar - Caesar. For example, the families of the Scipios, Rufini, Lentuli, etc. belonged to the Cornelian clan. The presence of a cognomen is not necessary, and in some plebeian clans (Marii, Antoniev, Octavian, Sertorian, etc.) personal nicknames, as a rule, were absent. However, the absence of a cognomen was an exception to the rule, since many of the families of Rome were of such ancient origin that each of them had several branches.

Since the father's personal name passed on to the eldest son, in order to distinguish the son from the father, it was necessary to use a third name. The inscriptions include Lucius Sergius the First, Quintus Aemilius the Second; in one inscription the grandfather, son and grandson are named Quintus Fulvius Rusticus, Quintus Fulvius Attianus and Quintus Fulvius Carisianus.

Cognomen arose much later than personal and generic names, so their meaning is clear in most cases. They can talk about the origin of the clan (the Fufii moved to Rome from the Campanian town of Cales and therefore had the cognomen Calenus), about memorable events (the cognomen Scaevola (left-handed) appeared in the plebeian clan of the Mucii after the war in 508 BC with the Etruscans, Gaius Mucius burned his hand on the fire of a brazier, which made the enemies and their king Porsenna tremble), about appearance (Crassus - fat, Laetus - fat, Macer - thin, Celsus - tall, Paullus - short, Rufus - red, Strabo - cross-eyed, Nasica - sharp-nosed, etc.), about character (Severus - cruel, Probus - honest, Lucro - glutton, etc.).

1.4 Agnomen

Agnomen was most often a personal nickname if the cognomen was hereditary. Sometimes a Roman received an agnomen for some special merit. Publius Cornelius Scipio in honor of the victory he won over Hannibal in Africa in 202 BC. e., began to be called solemnly African (lat. Africanus, cf. the nicknames of Russian commanders - Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Suvorov-Rymniksky, Potemkin-Tavrichesky). Lucius Aemilius Paullus received the nickname Macedonicus for his victory over the Macedonian king Perseus in 168 BC. e. The dictator Sulla himself added the agnomen Felix (happy) to his name, so that his full name became Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix. Agnomen Felix turned from a personal nickname into a hereditary one (consul 52 AD Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix).

2.Female names

In late republican and imperial times, women did not have personal names; the female name was the feminine form of the generic name: Tullia - Tullia (from the Tullian family, for example, the daughter of Mark Tullius Cicero), Julia - Julia (from the Julian family, for example, the daughter of Gaius Julia Caesar), Cornelia - Cornelia (from the Cornelian family, for example, the daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio). Since all women in one clan had the same name, within the clan they differed in age. When another daughter appeared in the family, a prenomen was added to the name of both: Minor (younger) and Major (elder); other sisters were called Secunda (second), Tertia (third), Quintilla (fifth), etc.; The youngest one had the Minor rank.

A married woman kept her name, but her husband's cognomen was added to it: Cornelia, filia Cornelii, Gracchi - Cornelia, daughter of Cornelius, (wife) Gracchi.

Noble women could bear, in addition to the family name, the cognomen of their father; for example, Sulla's wife was the daughter of Lucius Caecilius Metella Dalmatica and was called Caecilia Metella, the wife of Emperor Augustus was the daughter of Marcus Livius Drusus Claudian and was called Livia Drusilla.

2.1 Slave names

In ancient times, slaves did not have individual names. Legally, slaves were considered the master’s children (more precisely, slaves were not a subject of law, but an object of law, that is, they were the master’s thing) and were just as powerless as all members of the family. This is how archaic slave names were formed, composed of the personal name of the master, the father of the surname, and the word puer (boy, son): Gaipor, Lucipor, Marcipor, Publipor, Quintipor, Naepor (Gnaeus = Naeos + puer), Olipor (Olos is the archaic form of the personal named Aulus).

In the inscriptions after the name of the slave, the name of the master in the genitive case and the nature of the slave’s occupation are indicated. After the name of the master there is the word servus (slave) always abbreviated ser, very rarely s, it can also appear between two cognomen of the master; There is no strict word order at all. The word "slave" is often completely absent; as a rule, slaves owned by women do not have it. Eg., Euticus, Aug(usti) ser(vus), pictor - Euticus, slave of Augustus (imperial slave), painter, Eros, cocus Posidippi, ser(vus) - Eros, cook, slave of Posidippi, Idaeus, Valeriae Messalin(ae ) supra argentum - Ideas, treasurer of Valeria Messalina.

3.Use of name

Here we will look at how to use Roman names. It should be noted that there cannot be static rules here.

Latin vocative case

When addressing someone, you need to change the ending of the name to indicate that you are addressing the person and not talking about them. As a rule, names ending in -us take on the ending -e (eg Brutus -> Brute) (exactly what you and I, Custos, were talking about), while -ius becomes -i (Tullius -> Tulli ). Names ending in -a are usually unchanged, as are names with other endings.

When addressing a person by their first name, it is polite to use cognomen. VIPs should always be contacted using cognomen. Ordinary people can also be called by nomen, this will not be an insult, however, at a minimum, it will be difficult to understand who, in fact, they are talking about we're talking about. If the person you are addressing has more than one cognomen, you should use the first one. Addressing a person by his agnomen, if, of course, he has one, is an obvious compliment. Adoptively, you should only address a person if you want to draw attention solely to their family and pre-adoption identification: this is not necessarily polite or unpolite, but depends on the context. In the same way, when addressing a person by his matronymic cognomen, he first of all draws attention to the maternal line of his family. Don't make the mistake of constantly calling a person by his adoptive cognomen. There is often a temptation to do this, since in this way it is easy to distinguish between the adopted and the adopted in a conversation, but this is not a Roman custom. For the Roman, the adopted person became, in all senses and respects, the son of the parents who adopted him. Therefore, as a rule, it is not worth pressing the use of its adoptive.

Only by pranomen is a highly personal name, for use within the family. You should not address the Roman only by pranomen, unless he is your close relative or very close friend. Even spouses (!), as a rule, do not call each other by their pranomina - they usually use nomina or cognomina.

Other requests

Much more often than in modern world The Romans addressed each other without using names, or by combining such addresses with names.

Relatives

When speaking to each other or about each other, relatives call themselves by name or by kinship terms (for example, Pater - father, soror - sister, patruus - uncle). These terms can be combined with terms of endearment, which will be discussed below. As already noted, close relatives can address each other by praenomina.

Spouses and lovers

As already indicated above, spouses and lovers usually addressed each other more often by cognomen than by praenomen. They could also call each other vir (husband) and uxor (wife), but most often they used endearments.

Friends and acquaintances

As a rule, people who know each other, but are not particularly close, used names for address, sometimes with “mi” (see below). Words such as iuvenis (young man), amicus (friend) and senex (old man) were sometimes used. Depending on the relationship between people, they could use both affectionate and offensive epithets.

Strangers

The Romans had no direct equivalent modern words"Mr" or "Madam". If you met someone you didn't know, it was perfectly normal to resort to words like "petasate" ("you with the hat") or "senex" ("old man") or "viator" ("traveler") "). Very often they said "quiquis es" ("whoever you are"). However, if your curiosity was not limited to determining the time of day, the most successful approach was to try to find out the name of the person you are addressing: “adulescens, dic mihi nomen tuum, quaeso” (“young man, please tell me your name”) or "O qui vocaris?" ("oh, what's your name?")

Endearments and comparisons

The Romans were always very creative with endearments. "carissimus" was used very often, often in combination with a name, e.g. "salve Brute carissime" ("greetings, dear Brutus"), "salve soror carissima" ("greetings, dear sister"). Also common were "dulcis" ("sweet"), "inclitus" ("glorious"), "magnus" ("great"), "optimus" ("best"), "fortissimus" (strongest). In general, this is enough to get a general impression of the subject.& Domina

Some modern users of Latin use the words "dominus" and "domina" as equivalents to the English Mr. and Miss (or Mrs.). This is absolutely wrong. “Dominus” means “lord” or “master”, and to address someone this way is disrespectful. The exception is when lovers call each other this way, but this word is for the bedroom.semper adora

Always honor the traces of the past (Stations)

Conclusion

A name is a means for one person talking about another to make it clear to everyone who exactly they are talking about. Accordingly, the correct use of a name is determined by how clear it is about whom we are talking about.

It is accepted that the more formal the situation, the more names are used. Using all three (or more) names is very formal and rare. Call someone M. Tullius Cicero is about the same thing as saying: Mr. Robert James Grant, Esq.

Two names are usually enough to understand who you are talking about. Using two names is quite formal and polite. Calling someone M. Tullius is about the same as Robert Grant, or Mr. Grant. When you mention someone in a letter or speech for the first time, or greet someone, it is common to use two names.

Using one name is relatively loose and informal. If you are in the middle of a conversation with someone, or in the middle of a speech about someone, you may well call them by their first name, especially if you know the person relatively well. Calling someone Cicero is about the same as saying Robert in the modern world. But in formal situations, or when mentioning someone for the first time, using only one name can be too familiar and even impolite.

Which name you choose to address someone depends on how many names you use.

When calling someone by two names, you should choose these names depending on the status of the person you are calling. If he is an important person, he should be called by praenomen and cognomen (eg P. Scipio). If your interlocutor is not so important bird, you can call it by praenomen and nomen (eg M. Tullius). Since in our time there are not so many Roman patricians and senators left, you can address people precisely by praenomen and nomen. If you accidentally call a noble Roman that name, he most likely will not be offended, especially if you apologize in time for your mistake. After all, if you're not sure, you can always ask.

Bibliography

1.Fedorova E.V. Introduction to Latin epigraphy. M., Publishing house Mosk. Univ., 1982, 256 p. P.85-101

.Le Boek Y. The Roman army of the Early Empire. "Russian Political Encyclopedia". Moscow, 2001.

.History of ancient Rome. Ed. Bokshchanina A.G. M., graduate School, 1971

.Kumanetsky K. History of culture ancient Greece and Rima M., Higher School, 1990

.Mommsen T. History of Rome St. Petersburg, Lenizdat, 1993

.History and culture ancient world. Edited by Kobylin M.M. M., Nauka, 1977 (Vasilchenko S.N.)

.Protasov M. On the streamlining and unification of the transcription of proper names and historical terms in the history of the ancient world “Vestnik” ancient history", 1940, No. 1

.Lyast R.E. Some problems of the nomenclature of slaves and freedmen in foreign literature// Ancient antiquity and the Middle Ages. Vol. 11. - Sverdlovsk, 1975.

.Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978.

.Latin-Russian and Russian-Latin dictionary of popular words and expressions. - M.: Russian Language. N.T. Babichev, Ya.M. Borovskaya. 1982.

.Aphorisms. Golden fund of wisdom. Eremishin O. - M.: Education; 2006

Tags: Roman names Abstract History

I started reading about what people were called in Ancient Rome and was very impressed. Compared to how these guys stuck out in our world today, everything is very simple (even if we take into account Russian patronymics).
The topic of these names is vast and you can delve into it for a very long time - naming traditions have changed over the course of one and a half millennia, and each clan had its own quirks and customs. I've simplified it all for you into ten interesting points.

1.

The classical name of a Roman citizen consisted of three parts:

The personal name, "prenomen", was given by the parents. It is similar to today's names.

The clan name, “nomen” is something like our surnames. Belonging to an old noble family meant a lot.

An individual nickname, “cognomen”, was often given to a person for some kind of merit (not necessarily good), or was passed down by inheritance.

2.

In general, it was a tradition for the eldest son to inherit all his father's names. Thus, he also took over the status and titles of his parent, continuing his work. The remaining sons were usually given different prenomen, so as not to confuse the children. As a rule, they were called the same as their father's brothers.

But they only bothered with the first four sons. If more of them were born, then the rest were simply called by number: Quintus (fifth), Sextus (sixth), Septimus (seventh), etc.

3.

The society of Ancient Rome was clearly divided into plebeians and patricians. And although there were sometimes cases where families of distinguished plebeians achieved aristocratic status, a much more common method of social advancement was adoption into a noble family.

4.

If a person did not inherit the cognomen from his father, then he spent the first years of his life without it until he somehow distinguished himself from his relatives.

5.

All Roman names had masculine and feminine forms. This extended not only to personal praenomen, but also to surnames-nomens, and nicknames-cognomens. For example, all women from the Julian clan were called Julias, and those who had the cognomen Agrippa were called Agrippinas.

When getting married, a woman did not take her husband’s nomen, so it was difficult to confuse her with other family members.

6.

But personal names, praenomen, were rarely used among women of the late Republic. And Cognomen too. Perhaps this was due to the fact that women did not take part in the public life of Rome, so there was no need for outsiders to distinguish between them. Be that as it may, most often, even in noble families, daughters were called simply the feminine form of their father's nomen.

7.

When a foreigner acquired Roman citizenship - usually upon completion of military service - he usually took the name of his patron, or, if he was a freed slave, the name of his former master.

8.

Imperial names are generally something special. The longer the emperor lived and ruled, the more names he collected. These were mainly cognomen and their later variety, agnomen.
For example, Emperor Claudius's full name was Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus.

Over time, "Caesar Augustus" became not so much a name as a title - it was adopted by those who sought imperial power.

9.

Beginning with the early empire, praenomen began to fall out of favor, and were largely replaced by cognomen. This was partly due to the fact that there were few prenomen in use (see point 2), and family traditions increasingly dictated that all sons be named the father’s prenomen. Thus, from generation to generation, praenomen and nomen remained the same, gradually turning into a complex “surname”.

At the same time, it was possible to roam around on kongnomen, and after the 1st - 2nd centuries AD, they became real names in our understanding.

10.

Starting from the 3rd century AD, the prenomen and nomen in general began to be used less and less. This was partly due to the fact that a bunch of people with the same names appeared in the empire - people who received citizenship en masse as a result of the imperial decree (see point 7) and their descendants.

Since cognomen had become a more personal name by this time, people preferred to use it.

The last documented use of the Roman nomen was in the early 7th century.

In Ancient Rome they took names and their meanings very seriously. The Romans believed that man's destiny lay in them. They believed that if an ill-wisher found out the name, he could use magic to take the person’s life. This is why slaves were forbidden to speak the name of their master.

Rome is one of the oldest cities in the world; it was once the capital of the famous Roman Empire. The inhabitants of the city at that time can be divided into two groups: free and slaves. Meanwhile, each of these groups consisted of many other smaller communities. Free citizens could be both native inhabitants of Rome, they are called patricians, and visitors from other regions of the empire - plebeians. Slaves received their status based on their origin and place of service. They could be private, public, prisoners of war, purchased at special markets, or born in the owner's house. And what’s most interesting is that Roman names were given depending on a person’s status, his origin and his membership in the family tree.

Structure of ancient Roman names

The history of the origin of Roman names was quite confusing, because it took shape over many centuries. The final system of names and their assignments, which were firmly established in Ancient Rome, was formed around the 2nd century AD. e. - at the very peak of the heyday of the powerful Roman Empire.

In those days, Roman names had a clear structure, by which it was possible to determine to which genus a person belonged. Moreover, the Romans had the honor of giving full names only to men; with women the situation was different. For full understanding The division of these traditions should be studied in more detail.

Roman names, male and priestly names, consisted of three parts. This system is a little reminiscent of our modern one: the first name is praenomen (personal name), the second denotes belonging to a certain clan - nomen (something like a surname) and, finally, the third name is cognomen, a person received it thanks to some characteristics in his appearance. Let's study each of them in more detail.

Origin of male names

There were only a few personal male names: there are no more than 20 of them. The thing is that the Romans had a tradition of naming their eldest sons in honor of their father. It turns out that all the firstborns of the same family bore the same names. Prenomen is a personal name that boys received on the ninth day after birth. By decree of the Senate - the main body of power in Ancient Rome, in the period 200 BC. e. It was decided to name all the eldest sons as father's name. That is why many emperors bore the names of their great-grandfathers, grandfathers and fathers. Their children also continued the glorious tradition and were given unchangeable names in honor of their ancestors. But Roman names (female) were given to daughters with some changes in endings to indicate that it belongs to a woman.

Family names

The history of the origin of the second name is very interesting. Nomen is a generic name that denotes a person’s belonging to a certain clan. The total number of generic names exceeds one thousand, according to the Roman encyclopedist and writer Marcus Varro. Nomen, unlike prenomen, were never abbreviated in writing, with the exception of only the most famous generic names. For example, the nomen Antonius could be written as Ant. or Anton.

Perhaps the most mysterious element is the cognomen (third Roman names) - masculine ones, which were considered optional. That is, they could be absent in some men. The essence of the Roman name in this case is that the Roman received the nickname for some personal qualities in character or appearance. Later, new branches began to arise in the family clan, receiving their names in honor of the cognomen of their ancestor. The most famous are the genera Probus (translated as honest, a nickname received for the truthfulness and integrity of a person), Rufus (red-haired, obviously received for external qualities), Severus (merciless) and Lucro (glutton).

Beautiful names: Roman and Greek

It is not surprising that the Roman population was heterogeneous in composition, because people of different classes came to the capital of the empire from all territories. Over the centuries, residents mixed with each other: Romans married with Greeks, as a result, new names appeared, which over time became firmly entrenched in Roman society. Greek and Roman names have many similarities, because their culture is based on a common belief in the existence of ancient gods and similar mythology. However, despite these facts, greek names very different from the Roman ones. For example, the Greeks gave their children exceptionally good names that had a certain meaning. They believed that then the child also received the protection of the gods. It is almost impossible to trace the history of each of them, so it is believed that many ancient Greek names may also be of Roman origin. Here are the most beautiful and famous Greco-Roman names: Alexandros - defender of the homeland; Andreas - warlike, brave; Archimedes - thinking, wise; Vasilis - of royal blood; Gregorios - vigilant; Giorgios - economical; Doraseos - gift of the gods; Ioannis - kind; Konstantios - strong, unshakable; Nikias, Nikon - victorious.

Female Roman names: origin and features

In principle, the social system of the Romans can be considered patriarchal with elements of some amendments in favor of women. The fact is that the position of a resident of Rome was determined social status her father. If a girl was from a noble and wealthy family, then those around her treated her with respect. Such a person had relative freedom: she could appear in society, had the right to physical integrity, that is, even her husband could not force her to love.

And even despite this, for some reason women were deprived of a personal name. They were called only by the generic names of their fathers, although the ending was slightly changed to produce other Roman names (feminine forms were formed using the ending -ia). For example, the favorite of the daughters of Gaius Julius Caesar was named Julia, and the eldest daughter of Publius Cornelia Scipio was named Cornelia. That is why all women of the same family had the same names, which differed only in prenomen.

According to tradition, when other daughters were born into the family, a prenomen was added to their family name - nomen, which was determined depending on her age. The sisters were called by personal name in order of birth, for example, Major was the eldest, Secunda was the second, Tertila was the third, and Minor was the name of the youngest sister.

Names of married women

When a girl got married, her husband's cognomen (nickname) was added to her name. Everyone addressed the married woman, calling her full name. For example, Julia (father's name is Julius), who married Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, received the name Julia, daughter Julia, (wife) Gracchus.

The writing also included the woman's full name. The most famous inscription "Caeciliae, Q(uinti) Cretici f(iliae), Metellae, Crassi (uxori)" is carved on the tomb of the wife of the triumvirate Marcus Licinius Crassus.

Women from very noble families who married an influential man had the right to inherit not only the family name, but also the cognomen of their fathers. For example, the full name of the wife of the commander Crassus was Caecilia Metella, received from her father, whose name was Lucius Caecilius Metellus Dalmatica. He was a military leader who defeated the Dalmatians, for which he subsequently received his fourth name from the Senate - agnomen.

Archaic form of slave names

The system of names for slaves was formed as a result of the widespread spread of slavery: it was necessary to include all the names of slaves in official documents, which were constant attributes of the political structure of Ancient Rome.

Slaves usually had names of Greek origin, such as Antigonus, Philonicus, Deadumenes or Eros. Slaves were considered property, therefore legally they were not subjects, but objects, this explains their complete lack of rights and dependence on their masters. Many of them received Roman names consisting of the praenomen lord, the nomen or cognomen of the fathers and the additional word puer (son, boy).

In the Roman Empire, the fate of slaves was very difficult, but this did not affect their names in any way: on the contrary, many received nicknames that sounded positive, for example, Felix - happy, joyful.

Modern names

Over time, names changed due to change historical eras. Most of the ancient Greek names have survived to this day. True, many of them have a slightly different shape, which differs only in the endings. The root of modern European names and ancient Greek ones is the same.

Many Roman names are still used in transformed form in some European countries. It is believed that Latin, the language in which the Romans wrote, has become extinct. However, this is not entirely true, because almost all European languages are successors of Latin. Here full list Roman names (male and female), which are still relevant today:

Alexander and Alexandra;
Augustine and Augustine;
Aurelius and Albina;
Benedict and Bella (Belus);
Hector and Gella;
Gasper and Hermione;
Gommer and Gaia;
Dimitri and Daphne;
Hippolytus and Irena;
Castor and Cassandra;
Leo and Laida;
Maya, Melissa and Melanie;
Nestor and Nika;
Penelope;
Rhea and Selena;
Timofey, Tikhon and Tia;
Theodore, Philip, Frida and Florence (Flora).

These Roman names have almost lost their original meaning; now people name their children this way, guided mainly by aesthetic whims. After all, these names sound very beautiful and have interesting story origin.