Names that mean emperor. Interesting facts about ancient Roman female names

The name is a guess.

(Roman saying)

Thorough, striving to put everything and everywhere on a legal basis, the Romans attached much more importance than the Greeks to "surnames" - generic names that pass from generation to generation. This was primarily due to the social and political differences that initially existed in Rome between full-fledged patrician families and plebeian families, who still had to achieve political full rights in the city. Initially, the Roman got by with two names: personal (prenomen) and generic (nomen gentile). In the era of the republic and later, they began to call him by three names: a family nickname (cognomen) was added, and sometimes a person received another nickname - an individual one. There is no need to look far for examples: let us recall at least Mark Tullius Cicero, Gaius Julius Caesar, Publius Ovid Nason, Quintus Horace Flaccus, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus the Elder.

There were few personal names in Rome:

The paucity of these names made it possible in documents, inscriptions, literary works denote them by generally accepted abbreviations - one or more of the first letters of the name. The most common names were Mark, Publius, Lucius, Quintus, Guy, Gnaeus, Titus; the rest are less common. Some personal names are formed simply from numerals: Quintus (fifth), Sextus (sixth), Decimus (tenth), which, perhaps, speaks of the poor imagination of the Romans in this area, especially if we recall the beautiful, diverse, eloquent names of the Greeks.

Gaius Julius Caesar. Mark Tullius Cicero

There were much more generic names: Claudius, Julius, Licinius, Tullius, Valery, Emilius and many others. Each clan included several large families: for example, the families of Scipios, Rufins, Lentuls, Cetegovs belonged to the Cornelius clan, and members of the Pavlov and Lepid families wore the “nomen gentile” Emilius.

Some personal names were the exclusive property of certain families: for example, the name Appius is found only in the Claudian family, and the Mamercus prenomen was monopolized by representatives of the Aemilia family. If someone stained his family with some shameful deed, then his name was no longer used in this family. So, in the Claudian family we will not find the name Lucius, but in the Manliev family from 383 BC. e. there was a ban for the name Mark, after the patrician Mark Manlius, the winner of the Equi in 392 BC. e. and the defender of the Capitol during the invasion of the Gauls on Rome, resolutely spoke out for the rights of the plebeians, thus causing the furious hatred of the Roman patricians, including their own relatives. He was recognized as a "traitor to his kind" ( Livy. From the founding of the city, VI, 20), and from now on, members of the Manli family were forbidden to name their children after him.

When the genus grew and separate families stood out within it, there was a need for cognomens. The first family nicknames arose among the patricians and were associated with the main occupations of the Romans at that time - agriculture and cattle breeding. The nickname Pilumn goes back to the word "pilum" - pestle; Pizon - from the verb "pizo" or "pinzo" - to crush, grind. From the names of cultivated plants come the family nicknames Cicero ("tsitser" - peas), Lentulov ("lens" - lentils). In the genus Juniev, the nickname Bubulk is found - booshez, since the first representatives of this genus were known for raising oxen. Other cognomen reflect some feature person: Cato - dexterous, cunning; Brutus - inert, blunt; Cincinnatus - curly.

Already in the era of the republic, some prominent citizens had, as mentioned above, not three, but four names. The fourth was an additional nickname (agnomen), which was assigned for outstanding feats or for the exemplary and memorable performance of certain official duties by people. Publius Cornelius Scipio, the winner of Hannibal at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC e., received the honorary nickname African. Mark Porcius Cato, who became famous for his activities as a censor, remained in history as Cato the Censor. Such nicknames could even be inherited by the eldest son of the hero, but over time this custom was abandoned.

Initially, when a young Roman was entered into the lists of citizens or other official documents, only his personal name and the full three-part name of his father in the genitive case were recorded. Subsequently, the practice changed and began to indicate all three names of the new citizen, along with the name of his father. In the inscriptions, one can also find references to the name of the grandfather or even great-grandfather: “son of Mark”, “grandson of Publius”, etc. Caesar, wanting to bring more order to the administrative affairs of the state, decided in his municipal law of 49 BC. e., so that in the acts not only all three names of the citizen, but also the name of his father are given, and in addition, it is noted to which urban tribe the person belongs. (Rome has long been subdivided into 35 tribes.) Therefore, in official documents, a citizen was called like this: “Mark Tullius, son of Mark, grandson of Mark, great-grandson of Mark, from the tribe of Cornelius, Cicero” or “Mark Metilius, son of Gaius, from the Pomptine tribe, Marcellinus".

Daughters were called the generic name of the father in the female form: the daughter of the same Mark Tullius Cicero was called Tullia, the daughter of Terence was Terentia, etc. Sometimes a prenomen was added, which came mainly from numerals: Tertia (third), Quintilla (fifth). Married woman retained her name - "nomen gentile", but her husband's family nickname in the genitive case was added to it. In official documents, it looked like this: "Terence, daughter of Terence (wife) of Cicero" or "Livia Augusta", that is, the wife of Augustus. In the era of the empire, women often had double names, for example: Aemilia Lepida.

A Roman could become a member of a foreign clan by adoption (“adoptio”), while he took the full three-term name of the adopter, and kept his own generic name as a second cognomen with the addition of a suffix - an (us). So, Paul Aemilius, after he was adopted by Publius Cornelius Scipio, began to be called: Publius Cornelius Scipio Emilian, and Titus Pomponius Atticus, a friend of Cicero, adopted by his uncle Quintus Caecilius, left himself and his family nickname, turning into Quintus Caecilius Pomponianus Atticus . Sometimes not only the family nickname, but also the generic name of the adopted person remained unchanged as cognomens: when Gaius Pliny Secundus adopted his nephew Publius Caecilius Secundus, they began to call him Gaius Pliny Caecilius Secundus. It also happened that the son received a nickname from the mother's family name; this was intended to emphasize the close union of the two families: for example, Servius Cornelius Dolabella Petronius bore the family name and cognomen of his father, Cornelius Dolabella, while he inherited the second nickname from his mother, whose name was Petronia. So, we see that there was no strictly defined order in the Roman anthroponymic nomenclature and, say, the origin of the second family nickname was very different in different cases.

Christianity, trying to break away from the pagan tradition of names, resolutely introduced into the nomenclature unusual, artificially created and sometimes quite bizarre constructions, dating back to Christian ritual formulas and prayers. It is enough to give a few examples: Adeodata - "given by God", Deogracias - "thanks to God" and even Kvodvultdeus - "what God wants".

As in Greece, slaves in Rome could keep the names given to them at birth. More often, however, in houses and estates, slaves were distinguished by their origin, and then the ethnicon replaced the personal name: Sir, Gall, etc. Slaves were also called “puer” - a boy, - combining this designation with the name of the master in the genitive case. Thus, the slave of Mark (Martsi Puer) became Marzipor, and the slave of Publius (Publii Puer) became Publipor.

A slave set free, a freedman, took the generic, and sometimes personal name of his master, who granted him freedom, but kept his own name as a cognomen. Andronicus, a Greek from Tarentum, one of the founders of Roman literature (3rd century BC), received freedom from Livy Salinator, and with it the traditional Roman three-term name: Lucius Livius Andronicus. Tyro, an educated slave and secretary of Cicero, having gained freedom, began to be called Mark Tullius Tyro. It happened otherwise. A Roman who let his slave go free could give him not his own generic name, but the “nomen gentile” of another person with whom he maintained friendly and family ties. One of Cicero's slaves, Dionysius, having become a freedman, received the name Mark Pomponius Dionysius: Cicero gave him his personal name, and borrowed the generic name from his friend Atticus, who highly valued the educated Dionysius.

The slave, who was set free by a woman, took the personal and family name of her father, and in addition, official acts indicated to whom he owed his freedom: for example, Mark Livius, a freedman of Augusta, Ismar.

Let us add, finally, that quite a few foreigners sought to impersonate Roman citizens at any cost and, perhaps, therefore, they willingly accepted Roman names, especially generic ones. Only the emperor Claudius strictly forbade people of foreign origin to assign themselves Roman generic names, and for an attempt to fraudulently impersonate a Roman citizen, the guilty person was subject to the death penalty ( Suetonius. Divine Claudius, 25).

Names of Roman citizens

Male names

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

Praenomenon

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 the inscriptions, personal names were almost always written in abbreviated form (1-3 letters).

Other 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, Status, Servius, Tertius, Tirrus, Trebius, Tullus, Turus, Volero, Volusus, Vopiscus. 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 to give a personal name only to the four eldest sons, and ordinal numbers could serve as a personal name for the rest: Quintus(fifth), Sextus(sixth), Septimus (seventh), Octavius ​​(eighth), and Decimus (tenth). Over time, these names became common (i.e., turned into personal ones), 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 of Gnaeus Pompey the Great, for a long time struggling with.

Often the eldest son received the father's prenomen. This tradition was enshrined in a decree, so that the personal name of the father began, as a rule, to pass to the eldest son. For example, the emperor bore, like his great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather and father, the name Guy.

In some genera, a limited number of personal names were used. For example, the Cornelii had only Gnaeus, Lucius and Publius, the Claudii Neroes had only Tiberius and Decimus, the Domitii Ahenobarbs had only Gnaeus and Lucius.

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

Nomen

The generic name was the name of the genus and corresponded, approximately, 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 genus Julius); in republican time there are also endings -is, -i. Generic names of non-Roman origin had different endings from those named.

In inscriptions, generic names are usually written in full; in imperial times, only the names of very famous families 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.

The total number of generic names, according to, reached a thousand. Most generic names are of such ancient origin that their meaning has been forgotten. Only a few have certain 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, the persons who seized the supreme power began to justify their rights to power by descent from ancient kings and heroes. Julius Caesar, for example, pointed out that his paternal line goes back to the gods: Jupiter - Venus - Aeneas - Yul - the Julius family, and on the mother to the kings: Marcia Rex descended from Anka Marcius (lat. rex- tsar).

cognomen

An individual nickname once given to one of the representatives of the genus often passed on to descendants and became the name of the family or a separate branch of the genus: cicero- Cicero, Caesar- Caesar. For example, the families of Scipio, Rufinus, Lentulus, etc. belonged to the Cornelian clan. The presence of a cognomen is not necessary, and in some plebeian clans (among the Marius, Antonius, Octavius, Sertorii, etc.), personal nicknames, as a rule, were absent. However, the absence of a cognomen was an exception to the rule, since many of the genera of Rome were of such ancient origin that each of them consisted of several branches.

Since the personal name of the father passed 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 the First, Quintus Emilius the Second; in one inscription, the grandfather, son, and grandson are called Quintus Fulvius Rusticus, Quintus Fulvius Attian, and Quintus Fulvius Carisianus.

Cognomens 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 Fufis moved to Rome from the Campanian town of Cales and therefore had a cognomen Calenus), about memorable events (a cognomen appeared in the plebeian family of Muciev Scaevola(left-handed) after in 508 BC. e. during the war with the Etruscans, Gaius Mucius burned his hand on the fire of the brazier, which caused the enemies and their king Porsenna to tremble), about appearance ( Crassus- thick, Laetus- fat, Macer- thin, Celsus- high, Paullus- low, Rufus- ginger, Strabo- cross-eyed, Nasica- sharp-nosed, etc.), about the character ( Severus- cruel, Probus- honest, Lucro- glutton, 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 the same family. For example, at famous speaker Mark Tullius Cicero father and son were also Mark Tullius Cicero.

Agnomen was most often a personal nickname in the event that the cognomen was hereditary. Sometimes a Roman received an agnomen for some special merit. in honor of the victory he won over in, became solemnly called African (lat. Africanus, cf. nicknames of Russian commanders - Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Suvorov Rymniksky, Potemkin Tauride). Lucius Aemilius Paullus got a nickname Macedonicus for the victory over the Macedonian king Perseus in the Dictator Sulla himself added the agnomen to his name Felix(lucky) so his full name became Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix. Agnomen Felix from a personal nickname turned into a hereditary one (consul Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix).

As a rule, members of ancient and noble families had agnomen, numbering many branches and cognomens. In such genera, the cognomen sometimes almost merged with the generic name and was used inseparably with it for the name of the genus. The well-known plebeian family of Caecilians ( Caecilii) had an ancient cognomen Metellus, whose value is forgotten. This cognomen, as it were, merged with the name of the genus, which became known as Caecilia Metella. Naturally, almost all members of this genus had an agnomen.

The patrician family of Cornelius had many branches. One of the members of this genus received the nickname Scipio(rod, stick), because he was the guide of his blind father and served him, as it were, instead of a staff. cognomen Scipio entrenched in his descendants, over time, Cornelia Scipio took a prominent place in their family and received agnomens. In 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 to his son Publius ( Publius Cornelius Scipio Asina). Another representative of the Korneliev Scipio received the nickname Nasica(sharp-nosed), which passed to his descendants and began to serve as the name of a branch of the genus, so that in the genus Cornelius, the Scipio Naziki stood out from the branch of the Scipios. Naturally, the Scipio Nazica received the third cognomen as an individual nickname, so that the full name could already consist of five names: Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio, consul; nickname Serapio(from the Egyptian god) he was given by the popular tribune Curiatius for his resemblance to a dealer in sacrificial animals.

Some people had two generic names, it turned out as a 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 kept his family name in a modified form with the suffix -an-, which took the place of the agnomen. Gaius Octavius, the future emperor Augustus, after his adoption by Gaius Julius Caesar received the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus- Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian.

Women's 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 clan, for example, daughter), Julia- Julia (from the Yuliev clan, for example, daughter), Cornelia- Cornelia (from the Cornelian family, for example, daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio). Since all women in the same 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(older); other sisters were called Secunda(second), Tertia(third), Quintilla(fifth), etc.; praenomen Minor was with the youngest.

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

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

In the inscriptions with the names of women, the prenomen 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)- Caecilia Metella, daughter of Quintus Kretik, (wife) Crassus. From the inscription it follows that this woman was the daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Kretikos and the wife of Crassus. The inscription was made on a large round mausoleum near Rome on the Appian Way, in which Caecilia Metella, daughter of the consul, wife of Crassus, presumably the eldest son of the triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus, is buried.

Slave names

IN ancient times slaves did not have individual names. Legally, slaves were considered children of the master and were just as deprived of rights as all members of the family. This is how archaic slave names were formed, made up 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- archaic form of personal name Aulus).

With the growth of slavery, there was a need 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 Greek origin: Alexander, Antigonus, Hippocrates, Diadumen, Museum, Felodespot, Philokal, Philonik, Eros, etc. Greek names were sometimes given to barbarian slaves.

The name of a slave could indicate his origin or place of birth: Dacus- Dacian, corinthus- Corinthian, Sir (native), Gallus (native), Frix (from); are found in the inscriptions slaves with the name Peregrinus- a foreigner.

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

It is known that the slave share in Rome was very difficult, but this did not affect the names of the slaves, who do not have mocking nicknames. On the contrary, slaves have names Felix And Faustus(happy). Obviously, these nicknames, which became the name, were received only by those slaves whose life was relatively successful. The inscriptions mention: Faust, the baker of Tiberius Germanicus, and Faust, the head of the perfume shop of his master Popilius, Felix, who was in charge of the jewelry of Gaius Caesar, another Felix, the manager of the possessions of Tiberius Caesar, and another Felix, the overseer in the wool-weaving workshops of Messalina; the daughters of a slave from the house of the Caesars were called Fortunata and Felicia.

Slaves often have a name Ingenus or Ingenuus(freeborn). Slaves born into slavery have names Vitalio And Vitalis(living).

There were no firm rules regarding the names of slaves. Therefore, when buying a slave in an official document, his name was accompanied by a clause "or whatever other name he was called" (lat. 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 is the word servus(slave) always abbreviated ser, very rarely s, it can also stand between two cognomens of the master; there is no strict word order. The word "slave" is often absent altogether; as a rule, slaves do not have it, owned by women. For example, Euticus, Aug(usti) ser(vus), pictor- Euthycus, slave of Augustus (imperial slave), painter, Eros, cocus Posidippi, ser(vus)- Eros, cook, Posidipp's slave, Idaeus, Valeriae Messalin(ae) supra argentum- Ideas, treasurer of Valeria Messalina.

The sold slave retained the generic name or cognomen of his former master in an altered form with the suffix -an-: Philargyrus librarius Catullianus- Philargir, a scribe bought from Catullus.

Freedmen's names

A freedman (that is, a slave who received freedom) acquired the personal and generic names of the former master, who became his patron, and retained his former name as a cognomen. So, the secretary of Cicero Tyro, freed from slavery, was called: M. tullius M. libertus Tiro- Mark Thulius, a freedman of Mark Tiron. A slave named Apella, set free by Mark Manney Primus, became known as Mark Manney Apella. The slave Bassa, released by Lucius Hostilius Pamphilus, received the name Hostilius Bassa (women did not have premen). Lucius Cornelius Sulla set free ten thousand slaves belonging to persons who died during proscriptions; they all became Lucius Cornelii (the famous "army" of ten thousand Cornelii).

The inscriptions often contain the names of imperial freedmen: the baker Gaius Julius Eros, the tailor theatrical costumes Tiberius Claudius Dipter, in charge of the triumphal white clothes of the emperor Marcus Cocceus Ambrosius, in charge of the hunting clothes of the emperor Mark Ulpiy Euphrosynus, in charge of the reception of the emperor's friends Marcus Aurelius Succession, 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), a tribe is very rarely indicated: Q(uintus) Serto, Q(uinti) l(ibertus), Antiochus, colonus pauper- Quintus Sertorius Antiochus, freedman of Quintus, poor colonel. In rare cases, instead of the personal name of the former master, there is his cognomen: L(ucius) Nerfinius, Potiti l(ibertus), Primus, lardarius- Lucius Nerfinius Primus, freedman of Potitas, sausage maker. Freedmen of the imperial house are abbreviated in the inscriptions Avg l (Avg lib), i.e. Augusti libertus(after a generic name or after a 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, a freedman of Publius, general practitioner, surgeon, ophthalmologist.

Freedmen of women in inscriptions are indicated by the abbreviation Ɔ L(the inverted C is a remnant of an archaic female personal name Gaia): L(ucius) Crassicius, Ɔ (= mulieris) l(ibertus), Hermia, medicus veterinarius- Lucius Crassicius Hermia, woman's freedman, veterinarian.

The freedmen of the cities received the name Publicius(from publicus- public) or city name: Aulus Publicius Germanus, Lucius Saepinius Oriens et Lucius Saepinius Orestus- vacationers of the city of Sepina 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 Asklepiad, did not always belong to the doctor: in one inscription there is Asclepiades, Caesar's slave, a marble worker.

Freedmen of corporations retained their names in their names: Freedmen of the Corporation of Patchwork and Tailors ( fabric centonarii) were called Fabricii And Centoni.

For fourteen centuries, the Romans and other peoples of Italy used a system of names that differed from those used by other cultures of Europe and the Mediterranean, consisting of a combination of personal and generic names. The traditional Roman system of three names (lat. tria nomina) combines prenomen (lat. Praenomen), nomen (lat. Nomen) and cognomen (lat. Cognomen), which have come to be regarded as the main elements of the Roman name. In fact, the system of Roman names 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 impact on the development of European naming practice, and many of them continue to live 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 a person through the use of individual personal names. Consisting 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 joined 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, an ancestral surname that identified a person as a member of a particular genus. This was preceded praenomen, or Name, a personal name that served to distinguish between different members of the genus. The origin of this binary system is lost in prehistoric times, but the system appears to have been created in Lazio 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. By the end of the Roman Republic, this was accompanied by the name of the electoral tribe (lat. tribe) of the citizen. 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 view the combination of prenomen, nomen, and cognomen as the defining feature of Roman citizenship, known as tria nomina. But although all three elements of a Roman name existed throughout most of Roman history, the concept tria nomina can be misleading because not all of these names were needed or used throughout Roman history. During the period of the Roman Republic, the prenomen and nomen represented the basic elements of the 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 wore a 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 prenomen 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, the binomial system of male names was used for Roman women; but over time the prenomen became less useful as a distinguishing element, and female prenomens 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 the praenomen. Most women were referred to by their nomen alone or by a combination of nomen and cognomen. Praenomen were still given when needed, and as with the male prenomen the practice survived well into imperial times, but the proliferation of personal cognomens eventually made the use of feminine prenomens obsolete.

In the later empire, members of the Roman aristocracy used several different patterns of application and succession to the nomen and cognomen, both to indicate their rank and indicate their family and social ties. 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 referred to 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 a 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 deficient in written records in the 4th century, and by the 5th 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 population of Italy and Western Europe returned to individual 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 the prenomen, the nomen, and the 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 hallmark of Roman culture that distinguished citizens from foreigners.

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

Names of Roman citizens

Male names

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

— prenomena - personal name

— nomena - family name

— cognomen (cognomen) - an individual nickname or genus name.

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

Praenomenon

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

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

The boy received a personal name on the eighth or ninth day after birth. There was a tradition to give a personal name only to the four eldest sons, and the rest of the personal name could be ordinal numbers: Quintus (fifth) Sextus (sixth), Septimus (seventh), Octavius ​​(eighth), and Decimus (tenth). Over time, these names became common (that is, they became personal), and as a result, a person bearing the name Sextus does not have to be the sixth son in the family. An example is the commander Sexta Pompey , second son of a member of the first triumvirate Gnaeus Pompey the Great .

Often the eldest son received the father's prenomen. In 230 BC. e. this tradition was enshrined by a decree of the senate, so the personal name of the father began, as a rule, to pass to the eldest son. For example, the emperor Octavian Augusta was, like his great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather and father, the name Guy .

Common Roman Personal Names

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

Agrippa - "born feet first".

Aruns (Aruns), Vel (Vel), Lar (Lar), - Etruscan origin.

Vopisk (Vopiscus), Druz (Drusus) - were used only in the patrician family Claudius .

Decius (Decius) - associated with the patrician family Minucia .

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

Marius (Marius) - possibly comes from the Roman god Mars (Mars).

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

Mettius ("Mettius") - from the Etruscan Metie.

Non (Nonus) - "ninth", Octavian (Octavianus) - "eighth", Primus (Primus) - "first", Secundus - "second", Septimus (Septimus) - "seventh", Tertius (Tertius) - "third",

Opiter (Opiter) - associated with the patrician family Verginiev .

Postumus - "born after the death of his father."

Faustus - "happy", archaic prenomen, revived by the dictator Sulla for his twin children and used by his descendants. An uncommon prefix.

Flavius ​​(Flavius) - from flavus (gold), imperial prenomen after the III century. Reached the 8th century. n. e.

Celius (Caelus) - from the Etruscan Caele.

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

Amulius (Amulius), Ankh (Ancus), Annius (Annius), Atta (Atta), Vibius (Vibius), Voleron (Volero), Volus (Volusus), Denter (Denter), Eppius (Eppius), Koss (Cossus), Messiah (Mesius), Minatius (Minatius), Minius (Minius), Nero (Nero), Novy (Novius), Numa (Numa), Oviy (Ovius), Opia (Opiavus), Ospolis (Hospolis), Ost (Hostus), Pavel (Paullus), Pacvius (Pacvius, Paquius), Pescenius or Percenius (Pescennius, Percennius), Peter (Petro), Plank (Plancus), Plautus (Plautus), Pomp (Pompo), Popidius (Popidius), Potitus (Potitus) , Prok (y) l (Proc (u) lus), Ret (Retus), Salvius (Salvius), Servius (Servius), Sertor (Sertor), Sisenna (Sisenna), Statius (Statius), Tire (Tirrus), Trebius (Trebius), Tullius (Tullus), Tur (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, Claudius Neronov - only Tiberius and Decimus, Domitsiev Ahenobarbov - only Gnaeus and Lucius.

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

Nomen

The family name was the name of the genus 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 genus Yuliev ); in republican time there are also endings -is, -i. Generic names of non-Roman origin had different endings from those indicated.

Origins and suffixes of generic names:

In inscriptions, generic 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.

The total number of generic names, by Varro reached a thousand. Most generic names are of such ancient origin that their meaning has been forgotten. Only a few have definite 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, the persons who seized the supreme power began to justify their rights to power by descent from ancient kings and heroes. Julius Caesar, for example, pointed out that his paternal family goes back to the gods: Jupiter - Venus - Aeneas - Yul - genus Yuliev , and by mother to kings: from Anka Marcia happened Marcia Rex (lat. rex - king).

cognomen

An individual nickname once given to one of the representatives of the genus often passed on to descendants and became the name of the family or a separate branch of the genus: Cicero - Cicero, Caesar - Caesar. For example, to the genus Korneliev family owned Scipio , 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 genera of Rome were of such ancient origin that each of them consisted of several branches.

Since the personal name of the father passed 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 grandfather, son and grandson are named Quintus Fulvius Rusticus , Quintus Fulvius Attian And Quintus Fulvius Carisianus .

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

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

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

- about the appearance or special signs of their first owners (Paullus - short, Rufus - red, Strabo - cross-eyed, Habitus - plump, Ahenobarbus - red-bearded, Crassus - fat, Rutilus - red, Massa - lump, Crispus - curly, Arvina - fat, Pilosus - hairy, Laetus - obese, Calvus - bald, Macer - thin, Ravilla - yellow-eyed, Celsus - tall, Paetus - slyly looking, Luscus - one-eyed, Longus - long; Strabo - cross-eyed, Capito - big-headed, Nasica - sharp-nosed, Dentatus - toothy, Naso - nosy, Flaccus - lop-eared, Silus - snub-nosed, Balbus - stutterer, Blaesus - lisping, Pansa - with wide feet, Scaurus - clubfoot, 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 (Latin 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 the same family. For example, the famous orator Mark Tullius Cicero had the same name for his father and son.

Agnomen was most often a personal nickname in the event that the cognomen was hereditary. Sometimes a Roman received an agnomen for some special merit. Publius Cornelius Scipio in honor of his victory over Hannibal in Africa in 202 BC. e., began to be called solemnly African (lat. Africanus). Lucius Aemilius Paul 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 (lat. Felix - happy) to his name, so that his full name became Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix . Agnomen Felix from a personal nickname 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 had agnomen, numbering many branches and cognomens. In such genera, the cognomen sometimes almost merged with the generic name and was used inseparably with it for the name of the genus. Known plebeian family Caecilians (Caecilii) had the ancient cognomen Metellus, the meaning of which is forgotten (liberated mercenary). This cognomen, as it were, merged with the name of the genus, which began to be called Caecilia Metella . Naturally, almost all members of this genus had an agnomen.

Many branches had a patrician family Korneliev . One of the members of this family was nicknamed Scipio (lat. scipio - rod, stick), because he was the guide of his blind father and served him, as it were, instead of a staff. The cognomen Scipio stuck to his descendants, over time Cornelia Scipio occupied a prominent place in their family and received agnomens. In the III century BC. e. Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio received the agnomen Asina (donkey) for bringing a donkey loaded with gold as a pledge to the Forum. The nickname Asina passed to his son. Publius (Publius Cornelius Scipio Asina). Another representative Korneliev Scipionov received the nickname Nasica (sharp-nosed), which passed to his descendants and began to serve as the name of a branch of the genus, so that in the genus Korneliev from the branch of the Scipios stood out Scipio Naziki . It is natural that Scipio Naziki as an individual nickname, they received the third cognomen, so that the full name could already consist of five names: Publius Cornelius Scipio Nazica Serapion (Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio), consul 138 BC e.; the nickname Serapio (from the Egyptian god Serapis) was given to him by the people's tribune Curiatius for his resemblance to a dealer in sacrificial animals.

Some people had two generic names, it turned out as a 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 kept his family name in a modified form with the suffix -an-, which took the place of the agnomen. Gaius Octavius , future emperor August after adopting him Gaius Julius Caesar got a name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian (Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus).

Women's names

In late republican and imperial times, women did not have personal names, the female name was the female form of the generic name: Tullia - Tullia (from the genus Tulliev e.g. daughter Mark of Tullius Cicero ), Julia - Julia (from the genus Yuliev e.g. daughter Gaius Julius Caesar ), Cornelia - Cornelia (from the genus Korneliev e.g. daughter Publius Cornelius Scipio ). Since all women in the same 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 (older); other sisters were called Secunda (second), Tertia (third), Quinta (fifth), etc.; the prenomen Minor was in the youngest.

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

Noble women could wear, in addition to the generic name, the cognomen of their father; e.g. wife Sulla was the daughter Lucius Caecilia Metella Dalmatica and was called Caecilia Metella , the emperor's wife august was the daughter Brand of Livius Drusus Claudian and was called Livia Drusilla .

In the inscriptions with the names of women, the prenomen 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 Metelle, daughter of Quintus Creticus, (wife) Crassus. From the inscription it follows that this woman was the daughter Quinta Caecilius Metella Cretica and wife Crassus . The inscription was made on a large round mausoleum near Rome on the Appian Way, in which Caecilia Metella , daughter of the consul 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 master's thing and were just as deprived of rights as all members of the family. This is how archaic slave names were formed, made up 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 - an archaic form of the personal name Aulus ).

With the development of slavery, the need arose for personal names for slaves. Most often, slaves kept the name they wore when they still lived as free people. Very often, Roman slaves had names of Greek origin: Alexander, Antigonus, Hippocrates, Diadumen, Museum, Felodespot, Philokal, Philonik, Eros, and others. Greek names were sometimes given to barbarian slaves.

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

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

It is known that the slave share in Rome was very difficult, but this did not affect the names of the slaves, who do not have mocking nicknames. On the contrary, the names Felix and Faustus (happy) occur among slaves. Obviously, these nicknames, which became the name, were received only by those slaves whose life was relatively successful. The inscriptions mention: Faust, the baker Tiberius Germanicus , and Faust, head of his master's perfume shop Popilius , Felix, who was in charge of jewelry Gaius Caesar , another Felix, steward of the domain Tiberius Caesar , and another Felix, an overseer in the wool weaving workshops Messalina ; the daughters of a slave from the house of the Caesars were called Fortunata and Felicia.

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 firm rules regarding the names of slaves. Therefore, when buying a slave in an official document, his name was accompanied by a clause “or whatever name he may be called” (lat. 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 is the word servus (slave) is always abbreviated ser, very rarely s, it can also stand between two cognomens of the master; there is no strict word order. The word "slave" is often absent altogether; as a rule, slaves belonging to women do not have it. For example, Euticus, Aug (usti) ser (vus), pictor - Euticus, slave august (imperial slave), painter; Eros, cocus Posidippi, ser (vus) - Eros, cook Posidipp , slave; Idaeus, Valeriae Messalin (ae) supra argentum - Ideas, treasurer Valeria Messalina .

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

Freedmen's names

A freedman (that is, a slave who received freedom) acquired the personal and generic names of the former master, who became his patron, and retained his former name as a cognomen. Yes, secretary. Cicero Tiron, freed from slavery, was called: M. Tullius M. libertus Tiro - Mark Thulius, the scapegoat of Mark Tiron. A slave named Apella set free Mark Manney Prim , became known as Mark Manney Apella. Slave Bassa released Lucius Hostilius Pamphilus , received the name Hostilia Bassa (women did not have premen). Lucius Cornelius Sulla set free ten thousand slaves belonging to persons who died during proscriptions; they all became Lucius Cornelii (the famous "army" of ten thousand "Cornelii").

The inscriptions often contain the names of imperial freedmen: a baker Gaius Julius Eros , theater costume tailor Tiberius Claudius Dipter in charge of the emperor's triumphal white robes Mark Koktsei Ambrosius in charge of the emperor's hunting clothes Mark Ulpius Euphrosynus in charge of receiving the emperor's friends Marcus Aurelius Succession 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 , Quintus' freedman, poor colonel. In rare cases, instead of the personal name of the former master, there is his cognomen: L (ucius) Nerfinius, Potiti l (ibertus), Primus, lardarius - Lucius Nerfinius Primus, the freedman of Potitas, the sausage maker. The freedmen of the imperial house are abbreviated in the inscriptions as Avg l (Avg lib), i.e. Augusti libertus (after the generic 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.

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

Freedmen of women in the inscriptions are abbreviated? L (inverted C is a remnant of the archaic female personal name Gaia): L (ucius) Crassicius, ? (= mulieris) l (ibertus), Hermia, medicus veterinarius - Lucius Crassicius Hermia, woman's freedman, veterinarian.

The freedmen of the cities received the name Publicius (from publicus - public) or the name of the city as a generic 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 Asklepiad, did not always belong to the doctor: in one inscription there is Asclepiades, Caesar's slave, a marble worker.

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

Provincial names

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

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

Full name example :

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

praenomen: Mark

nomen: Aurelius (belongs to the genus Aurelius )

father's name: son brand

grandfather's name: grandson Quint

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

cognomen: Antonin (family Antoninov )

agnomen: Pius (probably due to its mildness 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 Ver, son of Gaius, from the Pomptin tribe, originally from Dertona ...

In daily communication, a combination of nomen and prenomen, or often just cognomen, was usually used. So, Mark Livius Drusus could just be Druze or Mark Livius. Julia Marciana could just be Julia.

The Romans usually had three names - the given name, patronymic and surname. 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 with one, two or three letters. Such abbreviations were very common, and therefore one must be able to open them; here are the most common: Appius, Gaius, Gnaeus, Decimus, Lucius, Manius, Mark, Publius, Quintus, Servius, Sextus, Tiberius, Titus, Vopisk.

The second name - nomen (nomen) - was the name of the genus and corresponded, approximately, to our surname.

The third name - cognomen (cognomen) - was a nickname that was assigned to everyone according to some signs: red - Ruf, dodger - Cato, nosy - Nason.

A family or a separate branch of a given genus was distinguished by a cognomen. For example, the Scipio, Rufin, and Lentul families belonged to the Cornelius family.

Sometimes, for some special merit, the Roman received a fourth name or a second nickname - agnomen (agnomen). Publius Cornelius Scipio, in honor of the victory he won over Hannibal in Africa in 202 BC, became solemnly known as African (Africanus, cf. the names of Russian commanders - Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Suvorov Rymniksky, Potemkin Tauride).

Women's names

Women were called the generic Roman name of their father in the form female. The daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio was called Cornelia, the daughter of Mark Tullius Cicero was Tullia, Gaius Julius Caesar had a daughter, Julia. When another daughter appeared in the family, a prenomen was added to the name of both: Elder (Major) and Younger (Minor), other sisters were called the Third (Tertia), Fifth (Quintilla). A married woman retained her name, but her husband's cognomen was added to it: Cornelia, daughter of Cornelius, (wife) Gracchus (Cornelia, filia Cornelii, Gracchi).

In later republican and imperial times, women did not have personal names, but were called generic names. Since all women in the same clan had a single name, within the clan they differed in age. For example, Iulia Maior (oldest), Iulia Secunda (second), Iulia Tertia (third) and so on until the youngest (Iulia-Minor).

Noble women could bear, in addition to the generic name, the cognomen of their father; for example, Sulla's wife was the daughter of Lucius Caecilius Metellus Dalmatica and was called Caecilia Metella, the wife of Emperor Augustus was the daughter of Mark Livius Drusus Claudian 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 genitive case:

Caeciliae, Q(uinti) Cretici f(iliae), Metellae, Crassi (uxori). "Caecilia Metella, daughter of Quintus Creticus, (wife) Crassus."

From the inscription it follows that this woman was the daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Kretikos and the wife of Crassus. The inscription was made on a large round mausoleum near Rome on the Appian Way, in which Caecilia Metella, daughter of the consul of 69 BC, wife of Crassus, presumably the eldest son of the triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus, is buried.

Slave names

Slaves were named according to their origin: Sir (born in Syria), Gallus (born in Gaul), Frix (from Phrygia); by the names of mythical heroes: Achilles, Hector; by the names of plants or stones: Adamant, Sardonic. Sometimes slaves, often called "boy" (puer), were assigned the owner's name in the genitive case: Marzipor (from Marcipuer), that is, Mark's slave.

In ancient times, slaves did not have individual names. Legally, slaves were considered children of the master and were just as deprived of rights as all members of the family. This is how archaic slave names were formed, made up of the praenomen 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 an archaic form of praenomen Aulus).

With the growth of slavery, there was a need 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, Philokal, Philonik, Eros, and others. Greek names were sometimes given to barbarian slaves.

The name of the slave could indicate his origin or place of birth: Dacus - Dacian, Corinthus - Corinthian; found in the inscriptions slaves with the name Peregrinus - a foreigner.

Instead of a name, a slave could have the nickname "First", "Second", "Third".

It is known that the slave share in Rome was very difficult, but this did not affect the names of the slaves, who do not have mocking nicknames. On the contrary, the names Felix and Faustus (happy) occur among slaves. Obviously, these nicknames, which became the name, were received only by those slaves whose life was relatively successful. The inscriptions mention: Faust, the baker of Tiberius Germanicus, and Faust, the head of the perfume shop of his master Popilius, Felix, who was in charge of the jewelry of Gaius Caesar, another Felix, the manager of the possessions of Tiberius Caesar, and another Felix, the overseer in the wool-weaving workshops of Messalina; the daughters of a slave from the house of the Caesars were called Fortunata and Felicia.

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 firm rules regarding the names of slaves. Therefore, when buying a slave in an official document, his name was accompanied by the clause “or whatever name he may be called” (sive is quo alio nomine est). For example: “Maxim, the son of Baton, bought a girl named Passia, or whatever other name she was called, about six years old, having received over the contract, he bought ...”.

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 is the word servus (slave), always abbreviated SER, very rarely S. The word "slave" is often completely absent; as a rule, slaves belonging to women do not have it. SER can stand between two lord's cognomina; there is no strict word order.

Freedmen (namely, slaves who received freedom) acquired the generic and personal name of the former master, their own name was placed in third place as a cognomen. So, the secretary of Cicero Tyrone, freed from slavery, was called: Mark Thulius, the scapegoat of Mark Tyrone - M Tullius M libertus Tiro). Podosinov A.V., Shchaveleva N.I. Lingua Latina: An introduction to the Latin language and ancient culture.

The Romans usually had three names, as we have - the first name, patronymic and surname.

First name - prenomen (praenomen)- was personal, like Peter or Mary. There were few such names, there are only eighteen of them. In writing, they were abbreviated with one, two or three letters. Such abbreviations were very common, and therefore one must be able to open them; here are the most common: Appius, Gaius, Gnaeus, Decimus, Lucius, Manius, Mark, Publius, Quintus, Servius, Sextus, Tiberius, Titus, Vopisk.

Second name - nomen (nomen)- was the name of the genus and corresponded, approximately, to our surname.

Third name - cognomen (cognomen)- was a nickname that was assigned to everyone according to some signs: red - Ruf, dodger - Cato, nosy - Nason. A family or a separate branch of a given genus was distinguished by a cognomen. For example, the families of Scipio, Rufinus, Lentulus, etc. belonged to the Cornelius family.

Sometimes, for some special merit, the Roman received a fourth name or a second nickname - agnomen (agnomen). Publius Cornelius Scipio, in honor of the victory he won over Hannibal in Africa in 202 BC, became solemnly known as African (Africanus, cf. the names of Russian commanders - Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Suvorov Rymniksky, Potemkin Tauride). Women were called the generic name of the father in the feminine form. The daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio was called Cornelia, the daughter of Mark Tullius Cicero was Tullia, Gaius Julius Caesar had a daughter, Julia. When another daughter appeared in the family, a prenomen was added to the name of both: Elder (Major) and Younger (Minor), other sisters were called Third (Tertia), Fifth (Quintilla), etc.

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

Slaves were named after their origin: Sir (born in Syria), Gallus (born in Gaul), Frix (from Phrygia); by the names of mythical heroes: Achilles, Hector; by the names of plants or stones: Adamant, Sardonic, etc. Sometimes slaves, often called "boy" (puer), were assigned the name of the owner in the genitive case: Marzipor (from Marcipuer), that is, Mark's slave.

Freedmen (that is, slaves who received freedom) acquired the generic and personal name of the former master, their own name was placed in third place as a cognomen. So, the secretary of Cicero Tyrone, freed from slavery, was called: Mark Thulius, the scapegoat of Mark Tyrone - M Tullius M libertus Tiro).

And how many hours are now devoted to history ancient world? Probably a tiny amount. So the ancient Romans remain in the memory of their descendants in the form of eyeless statues and drum rolls of names. Mark Tullius Cicero! Gaius Julius Caesar! Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian!

By the way, it is worth talking about Roman names especially, because they were built according to a rather intricate, but logical principle.

In contrast, which actually had only a personal name, the ancient Romans attached great importance to the genus from which a person originated. Therefore, in the name of a decent Roman, apart from personal name (praenomen) necessarily included family name (nomen). In the end, the tradition of naming a person by his personal name and surname became common European from the Roman one. In addition, the Roman name often had a third part, cognomen. It was an individual nickname or the name of a branch of the genus.

The number of names currently in use in any of European countries, numbering in the hundreds. Some of them are popular, some are less common. Americans generally form new names by abbreviating or truncating names, so to speak, canonical. Bob is, it turns out, Robert, and Dick is Richard. You won't realize right away!

Among the ancient Romans, 12 personal names were most often used. Among them are Guy (Gaius), Mark (Marcus), Publius (Publius), Tiberius (Tiberius), Titus (Titus). Personal names were so ancient that no one knew their meaning. Just words... Personal names were usually abbreviated in inscriptions. Since there were few names, anyone could guess what such an abbreviation means.

Remember how the hero of Gogol's "Overcoat" turned out to be a failure already at baptism? All some awkward names fell out to him from the calendar, so he had to take the name of his father, which is also not very harmonious for the Russian ear. So he became Akaky Akakievich. It was a long tradition in Rome to give the father's personal name to the eldest son. The grandfather and father of Mark Tullius Cicero, the eldest in the family, were also Mark Tullius.

The number of personal names, already small, was further limited in some families. The personal name of a person who committed a crime became forbidden in his family, and more boys were not called by this name.

The family name in Latin was called simply the name (nomen). This shows that for the Romans, the clan, the family were more important than the person himself, who belonged to this family. The Roman family was much larger than the modern family and was built differently. In addition to parents and children, this family could include distant relatives and even slaves or freedmen. Adoption rules were very liberal, and consanguinity was not considered a decisive factor.

So, Gaius Julius Caesar adopted his great-nephew Gaius Octavius ​​Furinus, who, after the assassination of Caesar, became his heir, and later the first Roman emperor under the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian. The personal name of both Caesar and his heir coincided. Both were named Guy. But one of them belonged to the Julius family, and the other to the Octavia family.

By the way, Spartacus, a slave, a Thracian by origin, is known to posterity only by his own name. He had no family name, of course.

Thus, the ancient Roman family, the surname, was a rather large association, headed by the father of the family, the patron. He played the role of commander of this small army and had unlimited rights in the family. In principle, the Roman Senate could even forgive him for the murder of one of his family members. Parricide was considered the most serious crime, and there was no justification for it.

Let's move on to the third component of Roman surnames. As already mentioned, both the grandfather and father of the famous Roman orator were also Mark Tullius. But the nickname "Cicero" ("cicero") was only with him. “Cicer” is the Latin name for the chickpea, a leguminous plant that today we call “Turkish nut”. From this plant in the Middle East they make tasty and no less tasty dish falafel. Mark Tullius Sr. received such a nickname because of the shape of the nose, wide and flattened. The outstanding Roman poet Publius Ovid Nason also had a nickname associated with the nose. "Naso" is Latin for "nosed".

At the most, perhaps, famous in our time ancient roman the cognomen was "Caesar", which meant "hairy" (from the Latin word "caesaries" - "hair"). His heir, Octavian, adopted as a family not only the name "Julius", but also the nickname "Caesar". He is known to have been the founder of the Roman Empire. Following him, many emperors added the name "Caesar" to their names. Thus, this word has become a symbol of a mighty and absolute ruler. It subsequently formed Russian word"tsar".

Sometimes a Roman could have several nicknames. Yes, commander. Publius Cornelius Scipio (235 BC - 183 BC) for the victory over Hannibal he received an additional cognomen and became known as Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. His first nickname, "scipio", meant "rod". He belonged to the Cornelian family, and his personal name was Publius. By the way, his descendants, Cornelius Scipio, gave men only three personal names: Gnaeus, Lucius and Publius.

One of Caesar's assassins was Marcus Junius Brutus Caepio (85 BC - 42 BC). His nickname "Brutus" means "rough". The word "brutal" also came from this Latin word in Russian. The second nickname for Brutus appeared after he was adopted by his mother's brother, Quintus Servilius Caepio. After the adoption, Brutus also became Caepio.

Daughters in Roman families were not given a name, they wore female form generic name: Julia, Valeria, Cornelia, Flavia. If there were several daughters, they were called “eldest” (Major) and “younger” (Minor), or they were given a “serial number”: “second” (Secunda), “third” (Tertia) and so on. When marrying, a woman received an additional generic name of her husband. So, Julius Caesar's wife was called Cornelia Julia (daughter of Cornelia, wife of Julius)

Slaves, as already mentioned, were also members of a large Roman family-surname. Therefore, the family name of the owner was attached to their name. Because it was not common for slaves to be given Roman personal names, their names were more varied than those of free Romans. Often a barbarian slave was given a Greek name and his profession (cook, librarian, doctor) was also added to the name.

A slave who received freedom, that is, a freedman, received the personal and family name of his former owner and often remained under his patronage (in Latin it was called "client"). Thus, the famous Jewish writer and historian Josephus Flavius ​​(37−100) at birth, he was named Yosef ben Matityahu (that is, Joseph Matveyevich). During the Jewish War, he was captured by the commander Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian, to whom he predicted the imperial future. When Vespasian became emperor, he gave Joseph his freedom. At the same time, Joseph began to be called the family name of his former master - Flavius.