Who in the modern world is called Roman names. Roman names

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-haired - 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 - archaic form 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: Introduction to 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 owner's name 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).

a. Praenomen

The Romans used a small number of personal names; as a rule, they were of such ancient origin that in classical era most of them have been forgotten. Personal names were almost always abbreviated in inscriptions. The most common praenomina:

Less commonly used praenomina:

The remaining rare praenomina were usually written in full: Agripra, 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, Percennius (Pescennius), Petro, Plancus, Plautus, Pompo, Popidius, Postumus, Primus, Proculus, Retus, Salvius, Secundus, Sertor, Statius, Servius, Tertius, Tirrus , Trebius, Tullus, Turus, Volero, Volusus, Vopiscus.

Often the eldest son received the father's praenomen. In 230 BC. e. this tradition was enshrined by a decree of the senate, so that the praenomen of the father began, as a rule, to pass to the eldest son.

In some genera, a limited number of personal names were used. For example, the Cornelius Scipios 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 Manliev family. By decree of the Senate, the name Mark was permanently excluded from the Antonian clan after the fall of the triumvir Mark Antony.

b. nomen

All persons belonging to the same genus had a common generic name, which in the classical era ended in -ius (Caecilius); in republican time there are also endings -is, -i (Caecilis, Caecili).

Generic names of non-Roman origin have the following suffixes and endings:

In inscriptions, generic names are usually written in full; only the names of very famous genera were abbreviated:

Most generic names have such ancient origin that their meaning is forgotten.

From the 1st century BC e., when the preconditions for the transition from a republican form of government to autocracy appeared in Rome, the persons who seized the supreme power more and more began to show a tendency to justify their rights to power by descent from ancient kings and heroes. Julius Caesar, trying to find some legal and moral justification for his ambitious aspirations, while still a young man, uttered the following words at the funeral of his aunt Julia and his wife Cornelia: from Ancus Marcius come the Marcia Rexes (= kings), whose name her mother bore, and from the goddess Venus, the Julius clan, to which our family belongs (Jupiter - Venus - Aeneas - Yul - the Julius clan). That is why our clan is clothed with immunity, like kings, who are more powerful than all people, and with reverence, like gods, to whom even the kings themselves are subject" ().

V. cognomen

The third name, cognomen, was an individual nickname, which often passed on to descendants and turned into the name of a branch of the genus.

The presence of cognomen is not required. In some plebeian clans (among the Marius, Antonii, Octavii, Sertorii, and others), cognomina, as a rule, were absent.

Since the praenomen of the father passed to the eldest son, in order to distinguish the son from the father, a third name had to be used. In the inscriptions there are Lucius Sergius the First, Quintus Emilius the Second; in one inscription, grandfather, son and grandson are called Quintus Fulvius Rusticus, Quintus Fulvius Attian and Quintus Fulvius Carisian ().

Cognomina arose much later than personal and generic names, so their meaning is clear in most cases.

Cognomina can talk about the origin of the clan (the Fufis 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 family of Mucii after in 508 BC during the war with the Etruscans, Guy Mucius burned his hand on the fire of the brazier, which made the enemies and their king Porsenna tremble), about appearance (Crassus - fat, Laetus - obese, Macer - thin, Celsus - tall, Paullus - short, Rufus - red , Strabo - cross-eyed, Nasica - pointed-nosed, etc.), about the character (Severus - cruel, Probus - honest, Lucro - glutton, etc.).

There were cases when one person had two cognomina, the second cognomen was called agnomen.

The appearance of the second cognomen 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, the father and son, were also Mark Tullius Cicero.

Agnomen was most often a personal nickname if the cognomen was hereditary. For example, 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).

As a rule, members of ancient and noble families, which had many branches and cognomina, had agnomina. In such genera, the cognomen sometimes almost merged with the nomen and was used inseparably with it for the name of the genus. The well-known plebeian gens Caecilii had an ancient cognomen Metellus, the significance of which has been 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 agnomen.

The patrician family of Cornelius had many branches. One of the members of this family was nicknamed Scipio (rod, stick), because he was the guide of his blind father and served him, as it were, instead of a staff (). Cognomen Scipio stuck to his descendants, with time Cornelia Scipio took a prominent place in his family and received agnomina. In the III century. BC. Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio received an agnomen Asina (donkey) for bringing an ass laden with gold as a pledge to the Forum. The nickname Asina passed to his son Publius (Publius Cornelius Scipio Asina). Another representative of the Cornelian Scipios 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 Scipio branch. Naturally, the Scipio Nazica as individual nickname received a third cognomen, so that the full name could already consist of five names: Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio, consul 138 BC; the nickname Serapio (from the Egyptian god Serapis) was given to him 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 child took the praenomen, nomen and cognomen of the one who adopted him, and kept his generic name in a modified form with the suffix -an-, which took the place of the second cognomen.

Guy Octavius, future emperor Augustus, after his adoption by Gaius Julius Caesar, received the name Gaius Iulius Caesar Octavianus.

d. Full name of a Roman citizen in inscriptions

In inscriptions, as a rule, after the personal and family name, the personal name of the father is indicated, less often - the grandfather and great-grandfather, with the addition of the following words, written in abbreviated form:

For example, the name of the consul of 42 BC. e. the caption looks like this:
L(ucius) Munatius, L(ucii) f(ilius), L(ucii) n(epos), L(ucii) pron(epos), Plancus. .

"Lucius Munacius Plancus, son of Lucius, grandson of Lucius, great-grandson of Lucius..."

In rare cases, the praenomen of the father comes after the cognomen or is absent altogether.

With the full name of a Roman citizen, the tribe (region of Rome and adjacent lands) to which he is assigned can be indicated:
L(ucius) Caecilius, L(ucii) f(ilius), Pap(iria tribu), Optatus. .

The names of the tribes have the following abbreviations in the inscriptions (urban tribes are marked with an asterisk, all others are rural):

Rarely is the city where the person mentioned in the inscription comes from:

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 ..." (Dertona - modern Tortona - a city of Ligures in Northern Italy).

B. Women's names

In late 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 (= older), 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.

The inscriptions with the names of women sometimes indicate the praenomen and cognomen of the father, as well as the cognomen of the husband in the genitive case: Caeciliae, Q(uinti) Cretici f(iliae), Metellae, Crassi (uxori). "Caecilia Metelle, daughter of Quintus Kretikos, (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 in 69 BC, wife of Crassus, presumably the eldest son of the triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus, is buried.

2. Names of slaves

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 a clause "or whatever name he may be called" (sive is quo alio nomine est). For example: "Maxim, the son of Baton, a girl named Passia, or whatever other name she was called, about six years old, having received over the contract, 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.

Euticus, Aug(usti) ser(vus), pictorr. .
"Eutik, slave of Augustus (= imperial slave), painter".
Eros, cocus Posidippi, ser(vus). .
"Eros, cook, slave of Posidippus."
Idaeus, Valeriae Messalin(ae) supra argentum. .
"Ideus, Treasurer of Valeria Messalina".

The sold slave retained the nomen or cognomen of his former master in an altered form with the suffix -an-:

Philargyrus librarius Catullianus. .
Philargir, the scribe bought from Catullus.

3. Freedmen's names

A freed slave received the praenomen and nomen of his master, who became his patron, and retained his former name in the form of cognomen. For example, a slave named Apella, set free by Mark Manney Prim, became known as Mark Manney Apella (). The slave Bassa, released by Lucius Hostilius Pamphilus, received the name Hostilius Bassa (women did not have praenomina) (). 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 of theatrical costumes Tiberius Claudius Dipterus, Marcus Cocceus Ambrosius, who was in charge of the emperor’s triumphal white clothes, Marcus Ulpius Euphrosinus, who was in charge of the emperor’s hunting clothes, Marcus Aurelius Succession, who was in charge of receiving the emperor’s friends, etc.

In the inscriptions between the nomen and the cognomen of the freedman, the praenomen of the master is abbreviated and stands for L or LIB (= libertus), very rarely the tribe is 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 praenomen 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 inscriptions as AVG L (LIB) = Augusti libertus (after nomen or after cognomen):

L(ucio) Aurelio, Aug(usti) lib(erto), Pyladi, pantomimo temporis sui primo. .
"Lucius Aurelius Pylades, imperial freedman, the first pantomime of his day."

Rarely found freedmen with two cognomina:

P(ublius) Decimius, P(ublii) l(ibertus), Eros Merula, medicus clinicus, chirurgus, ocularius. .
"Publius Decimius Eros Merula, freedman of Publius, general practitioner, surgeon, ophthalmologist."

Freedmen of women in the inscriptions are abbreviated). L (inverted C represents a remnant of the archaic feminine praenomen Gaia):

L(ucius) Crassicius, (= mulieris) l(ibertus), Hermia, medicus veterinarius. .
"Lucius Crassicius Hermia, woman's freedman, veterinarian".

Freedmen of cities as a generic name received the name Publicius (from publicus public) or the name of the city: 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 Asclepiad 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 Asklepiad, 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.

4. Names of provincials

Persons of non-Roman origin, along with obtaining the right of Roman citizenship, received praenomen and nomen of the emperor, and retained their former name in the form of cognomen.

For example, the free-born Parthian Migdonius, taken prisoner by the Romans, received the right of Roman citizenship and became known as Gaius Julius Migdonius ().

The inhabitants of the colonies founded by the Romans bore the name of the founder of the colony. Tacitus mentions Aedui Julius Sacrovir and the Trevirs Julius Flor and Julius Indus, whose ancestors received the right of Roman citizenship under Julius Caesar (). In one inscription from Moesia, the craftsman Julius Herculan, his wife Julia Vivenia, their children: Julius Martian, Julius Marcellinus, Julia Marcia, Julia Eraclia and granddaughter Julia Marcellina () are found.

In African inscriptions, Gaius Julius Pelops Salaput, master of Carthage (), Marcus Aurelius Ammonion and Aurelius Alet, residents of the Egyptian city of Hermopolis Greater, come across. In one Spanish inscription, the oil pourer Mark Julius Hermesian, his son Mark Julius Hermes Frontinian and his grandson also Mark Julius Hermesian () are mentioned.

A similar phenomenon took place in the Northern Black Sea region, in particular in Chersonese. Agepolis, one of the prominent inhabitants of the city, received Roman citizenship under the emperor Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian and became known as Titus Flavius ​​Agepolis. Other Chersonesos inscriptions mention Ulpii, who received civil rights under Emperor Mark Ulpia Trajan ().

5. Names in late republican and imperial times. Names of emperors and their family members

From the beginning of the empire, some shifts are outlined in Roman anthroponymy, which develop in two opposite directions: from three traditional names (praenomen, nomen, cognomen) to a reduction or increase in the number of official names.

The prerequisites for this were already laid in the very nature of the Roman name, when the eldest son (or adopted) received all three names of his father; in such cases there was a need for additional names.

The full tripartite name was rarely used in practice; obviously it seemed cumbersome. Full names were used only in important documents (names of magistrates, owners, witnesses, etc.). From the writings of Roman historians it can be seen that usually this or that person was called abbreviated, mainly by nomen or cognomen. Guy Marius went down in history as Marius, and his opponent Lucius Cornelius Sulla as Sulla; this happened, obviously, because the Cornelius family was very extensive, while no one else was famous in the Mariev family.

The first step towards the reduction of official names was made by the founder of the Roman Empire, who went down in history under the name of Octavian Augustus, although he was never called that during his lifetime. His name was Gaius Octavius. After his adoption by Gaius Julius Caesar, he should have been called Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian, but in inscriptions (from 40 BC) he is referred to only as Emperor Caesar. Thus, he actually excluded the generic names Julius and Octavian from his name, and, as it were, turned the word "emperor" into a personal name. He did this, obviously, because, in terms of nobility, the plebeian family of Octavius ​​could not be compared with the patrician family of Julius.

In 27 BC the heir of Julius Caesar added to his official name the title of Augustus granted to him by the Senate (from augeo - increase: giver of blessings, benefactor of the state or exalted by the gods).

Augustus' daughter Julia was married to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a major commander and friend of Augustus. The Vipsani family was not distinguished by nobility, and in the inscriptions the son-in-law of Augustus is referred to only as Mark Agrippa (without a generic name). Moreover, the family name Vipsanias was not officially transferred to any of the five children of Agrippa and Julia. Eldest daughter instead of Vipsania the Elder, she was called the generic name of her mother - Julia, the youngest daughter - Agrippina, according to her father's cognomen. Vipsania Agrippina was only Agrippa's daughter from her first marriage.

Having no heirs, Augustus adopted two sons, Agrippa and Julia, who, according to Roman tradition, should have retained the father's family name in the form of cognomen Vipsanian. However, this did not happen; in the inscriptions the adopted are called Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar. After them early death Augustus adopted two more in 4: the eldest son of his wife Livia Drusilla from his first marriage and the third son of Agrippa and Julia.

In her first marriage, Livia Drusilla was married to Tiberius Claudius Nero, by whom she had two sons. The elder inherited all three names of his father, and the younger, according to Suetonius, was first called Decimus, and then Nero (). Therefore, at first he was Decimus Claudius Nero, and then became Nero Claudius Drusus (cognomen Drusus belonged to the father of Livia Drusilla, whose name was Mark Livius Drusus Claudian). The names of the children of Livia Drusilla were abbreviated: Tiberius (future emperor) and Drusus (father of the future emperor Claudius).

The full name of the third son of Agrippa, who was born after the death of his father, should have been Mark Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus. However, Suetonius calls him Agrippa () and Mark Agrippa (), and Tacitus - Agrippa Postum ().

After adoption, they became officially known as Tiberius Julius Caesar and Agrippa Julius Caesar. Unlike the first pair of adopted children, they received the generic name Julius, as personal names they retained the names that they were usually called, and Agrippa passed from cognomen to praenomen.

At the same time, at the request of Augustus, Tiberius adopted his nephew (his son younger brother Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus the Elder); adopted became known as Germanicus Julius Caesar (he went down in history under the name Germanicus). Praenomen Germanicus was formed from cognomen.

native son Tiberius began to be called Drusus Julius Caesar (in history he is known as Drusus the Younger), his praenomen Drusus was formed from the cognomen of his uncle Nero Claudius Drusus.

Thus, two trends can be noted: the transition of cognomen to praenomen (Nero, Drusus, Agrippa) () and the rejection of the use of nomen and cognomen, in which the former nomen is preserved (Julius, Octavian, Vipsanian, Claudian).

Obviously, Augustus was ashamed of his Octavia ancestors and Vipsani relatives, but did not want to be reproached for this, and he crossed out the family names altogether from himself and from the first couple of adopted children. By the time of the adoption of the second couple, the power of Augustus had probably grown so strong that he, as it were, remembered the existence of generic names and gave the second couple the nomen Julius, but without the cognomen Claudian and Vipsanian (the shabby Vipsanii could not stand next to the famous ancient Claudii).

The main thing is that August actually gave impetus to an arbitrary name change.

From the time of Augustus, the omission of the generic name among the Julii became, as it were, a tradition, and although those adopted in 4 received a nomen, Germanicus is sometimes simply referred to in the inscriptions as Germanicus Caesar, and the son of Tiberius Drusus the Younger is Drusus Caesar.

Tiberius, becoming emperor, was called only without nomen: TI CAESAR.

The generic name of the grandson of Tiberius (son of Drusus the Younger) was omitted: TI CAESAR.

The sons of Germanicus were officially called NERO IVLIVS CAESAR (or NERO CAESAR) and DRVSVS CAESAR; the younger son of Germanicus, Emperor Caligula, was called C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS (very rarely IMP C CAESAR).

With the murder of Caligula, the Julio dynasty ended, and power passed to the Claudius. It is characteristic that all the Claudians retain the nomen, apparently in order to distinguish them from the Julii, since the praenomina and cognomina of the Julii and Claudii were the same.

The first emperor in the Claudian family was the grandson of Livia Drusilla, the wife of Augustus, the youngest son of Drusus the Elder, who was called Tiberius Claudius Drusus Germanicus. Having become emperor, he took the name Tiberius Claudius Augustus Germanicus (he went down in history under the name of Claudius).

Claudius married (for the fourth time) his niece Agrippina the Younger (daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, Augustus' own granddaughter) and adopted her son from her first marriage, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who received the family name Claudius, but did not retain his family name in the form of Domitian; he received the name Tiberius Claudius Drusus Germanicus Caesar and cognomen Nero, which became his personal name, under which he went down in history. Upon becoming emperor, he took the name NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVGVSTVS GERMANICVS.

Women were called differently Juliev and Claudius. Although all the women of the Julius clan had nomen, in fact only the daughter and granddaughter of Augustus were called Julia. All three daughters of Germanicus were also Julia, but they were called not according to the tradition "Elder", "Second", "Third", but according to cognomen: Julia Agrippina (according to the cognomen of her mother Agrippina the Elder), Julia Drusilla (according to the cognomen of her great-grandmother Livia Drusilla ) and Julia Livilla (according to the nomen of her great-grandmother Livia Drusilla), in fact, the daughters of Germanicus were called Agrippina, Drusilla and Livilla.

The granddaughter of Germanicus, daughter of Emperor Caligula, was Julia Drusilla (). She was named Drusilla, apparently because Drusilla was Caligula's favorite sister.

The women of the Claudian family, on the contrary, were distinguished not by cognomen, but by their family name. The daughters of Emperor Claudius were named Claudia, Antonia (after the nomen of her grandmother Antonia the Younger) and Octavia (after the nomen of her great-grandfather Augustus). Since the official name of Octavia (Nero's wife) is CLAVDIA OCTAVIA, then, probably, the second daughter was also called Claudia Antonia. This is the first time that a woman has two generic names.

The wife of Augustus, Livia Drusilla, after his death, was officially adopted into the Julio clan and received the title of Augusta, so she became known as Julia Augusta ().

Augustus was the first person to turn the title "emperor" into an official praenomen. In republican times, this title was forced on the commander by the senate or soldiers for a major victory and was retained by him until his return to Rome, where he gave him the right to celebrate a triumph. Sulla held this title for life. Julius Caesar adopted it as praenomen (). However, with Caesar, he did not yet serve as a symbol of supreme power, but only indicated the connection between the commander and the soldiers, and did not enter the official title of Caesar (there is no title "emperor" in his coins) ().

Augustus, according to Tacitus, received this title 21 times () and officially made it his praenomen - IMP CAESAR, while among the generals of the era of the republic this title followed the name (M. Tullius imperator). Augustus gave the title of emperor as praenomen to his stepsons Tiberius and Drusus (), since at that time this word was not yet synonymous with the supreme ruler.

Emperor Tiberius excluded the word emperor from his official name (TI CAESAR AVG), but gave it to his adopted nephew Germanicus for the victory over the Germans (). Tacitus calls Agrippina the Younger the daughter of the emperor, although her father Germanicus was never the head of state (). The word emperor finally lost its former meaning during the reign of Tiberius, about which Tacitus writes the following: “Tiberius, considering the war over, provided Blaise with the fact that the legions would welcome him as emperor: this was an old honor for generals who, after the successful end of the war, among the joy and enthusiasm of the victorious army resounded with a general cry. last time" ().

Subsequent monarchs take this title as praenomen, but still hesitantly. Only in rare cases, Caligula, Claudius and Nero are called IMP C CAESAR, IMP TI CLAVDIVS, IMP NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS, more often praenomen IMP is absent in their titles. The names of Galba and Vitellius were written with and without praenomen IMP. Only starting from Otho, all monarchs have praenomen IMP, which becomes a formal sign of the person with the highest power in the state. Vespasian, whose full name was originally Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian, takes the official name IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG (or IMP VESPASIANVS CAESAR AVG).

Recently, Roman names have become increasingly popular. The fact is that parents are trying to choose the most unusual and original name for their child.

Some of the names that came from the Roman Empire are so ancient that even the most experienced and professional historians cannot decipher them.

Male ancient Roman names

Few people know that the original male Roman name consisted of three parts: personal, generic and individual. There were few variants of personal names: less than a hundred in total and about twenty in common use. The second part of the name was associated with surnames in modern world. The third could sound like a nickname of a person or, if there was none, like the name of a generic branch.

Prenomen, or personal part

Roman names are of such ancient origin that in the modern world they have practically fallen into disuse and have lost their value. On the letter, abbreviated names were used, as a rule, the first three letters:

• Appius, Lucius, Manius, Numerius, Pablius, Servius, Spurius, Tiberius;
• Aulus, Guy, Mark Quint, Titus;
• Decim, Quezon, Mamerk, Sextus.

An interesting fact is that personal names were assigned only to the first four sons. For the younger ones, numbers from five onwards served as names. The name Sextus (meaning sixth) is a prime example. Over time, the number of children born in the family decreased, but the names remained. So, the second boy could be called Octavius, which should have corresponded to the number eight. But this is after many, many years.

Nomen, or generic part

The title corresponding to the surname was written in the form of an adjective in masculine and was not subject to reduction. The names differed in peculiar endings. In total, there were about a thousand unspoken surnames:

• Tullius, Julius, Ulius, Antonius, Claudius, Flavius, Pompeius, Valerius, Ulpius, Varenus, Alfenus;
• Aquillia, Aternia, Atilia, Verginia, Baloyanni, Veturia, Horace, Genutia, Cassia, Curtia, Marcia, Minucia, Nautia, Rumilia, Servilia, Sergius, Fabia;
• Mafenas, Asprenas, Fulginas;
• Mastarna, Perperna, Sisenna, Tapsenna, Spurinna.

The meaning of some nomens is so old that their meaning has already been lost. But to our time, some surnames have still been preserved, the meaning of which is possible to explain. For example, Azinus is a donkey, Culius is blind, Caninus is a dog, Fabius is a bean, Ovidius is a sheep, Porcius is a pig.

It is noteworthy that closer to our era, the holders of the ranks of supreme power began to take "divine" surnames for themselves, translated into Russian as Venus, Jupiter, Aeneas. Thus, the rulers tried to justify their right to the throne and rank themselves among the relatives of the celestials of Olympus.

Cognomen, or individual nickname

The custom to include a nickname in the full name also appeared later than the tradition of taking notes on the first two parts was born. Therefore, the translations and meanings of cognomens are more or less clear modern reader: Agricola (preacher), Crassus (fat), Lautus (fat), Lentulus (lentil), Maker (thin), Celsus (tall), Paullus (short), Rufus (redhead), Strabo (cross-eyed), Nasika (pointy-nosed) , Severus (cruel), Probus (honest), Lucro (glutton), Taurus (bull).

Sometimes the Romans resorted to naming an additional fourth component of the name - agnomena. This was due to the fact that often several family members had the same names, and in order to more clearly understand who they were talking about, additional characters were used. More often, this was required by representatives of ancient and noble families with a large number of branches.

Female names of ancient Rome

During the era of the reign of emperors, Roman women did not have the right to assign personal names. They were addressed by the title of the tribal tribe, used in the feminine gender. Julia, that is, the daughter of that same Julius; Claudia means her father Claudius; Cornelia, respectively, descended from the Cornelian family.

Distinguished girls by prenomen. If the whole family has two sisters, then the eldest received the middle name Major, and the youngest - Minor. In large families, quantitative prenomens were used: Secunda (second), Tertia (third), Quinta (fifth) and so on. The last daughter retained the title of Minor.

A married woman kept her name, but the husband's cognomen was added to it. A noble ladies from the imperial dynasties and the daughters of generals had the exclusive right to wear their father's cognomen.

Special names for slaves

Is it worth talking about the fact that in ancient times slaves were not considered people, had no rights and were equated with the property of the owner. Since a prudent person would not come up with names for a sofa, a table, a dress, the slaves did not need names either. They were addressed by the name of the slave owner with the attached suffix "pur", which means "boy" in Roman. For example, Lutsipur, Matsipur, Publipur, Kvintipur.

Over time, the development of slave ownership began to gain momentum, the number of involuntary grew inexorably. I had to agree that the naming of people deprived of their liberty became a necessary measure. Oddly enough, but the rulers refused offensive nicknames for your subordinates. Slaves were given beautiful names stones, plants, names of mythical heroes (Sardonicus, Adamant, Hector). Sometimes the owners referred to the professional skills of the unfortunate person or the place of his birth. Corinthus (Corfinian), Dacus (Dacian), Piktor (painter). Often, instead of names, just numerals were used.

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 from total 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, cf. old Russian. Pyatak), Sextus(sixth, compare Old Russian Shestak), Septimus (seventh, compare Old Russian Semak), Octavius ​​(eighth, compare Old Russian Osmak), and Decimus (tenth). Over time, these names became common (that is, 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 fought with Julius Caesar.

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

In some genera, a limited number of personal names were used. For example, the Cornelius Scipios 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 patrician family of the Claudians, and the name Mark was used in the patrician family of the Manlievs. By decree of the Senate, the name Mark was permanently excluded from the Antonian clan 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 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 Varro, 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).

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, 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 belonging to women do not have it. For example, Euticus, Aug(usti) ser(vus), pictor- Euticus, slave of Augustus (imperial slave), painter; Eros, cocus Posidippi, ser(vus)- Eros, cook Posidipp, 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 of theatrical costumes Tiberius Claudius Dipterus, Marcus Cocceus Ambrosius, who was in charge of the emperor’s triumphal white clothes, Marcus Ulpius Euphrosinus, who was in charge of the emperor’s hunting clothes, Marcus Aurelius Succession, who was in charge of receiving the emperor’s friends, 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 colon. 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 Avgl (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.

see also

Literature

• Kajanto I. The Latin Cognomina. 1985
• Schulze W. Zur Geschichte lateinischer Eigennamen. 1933

Notes

Links

IN Ancient Rome the attitude to names was more than serious. There was even a saying: "Names are not subject to disclosure." Therefore, the Roman priests avoided pronouncing the names of the patron gods of Rome - the enemies will recognize these names and lure the gods to themselves. And the slaves did not have the right to call the name of their master to a stranger.

Roman male names.

Complex origin of roman names developed over the centuries and had a clear structure. The full male name consisted of three components - a personal name (prenomen), a generic name (nomen) and an individual nickname or name of a branch of the genus (cognomen). personal Roman names there were few, and their ancient meaning forgotten in the classical era. The eldest son, as a rule, received the name of the father. Some genera had a limited number of such names. For example, the Cornelius Scipios had only Gnaeus, Lucius and Publius, while the Claudii Neroes had only Tiberius and Decimus. If any member of the family broke the law, then his name was forever excluded from the family memory. For this reason, the name Lucius was not found in the Claudian family, and in the Manleian family, boys were not called by the name Mark.

All members of the same genus had one common generic name. The interpretation of these names has long been forgotten, only a few have come down to us. Roman generic names With famous meaning - Octavius ​​(eighth), Ovidius (sheep), Fabius (bean), Asinius (donkey).

Third individual name(cognomen) was optional for plebeian families. It was the nickname of the founder of a branch of the family, which was passed on to his descendants. Cognomens spoke about the origin of the genus, significant events. But most often they called distinctive features its first carrier - Krasus (fat), Paullus (short), Rufus (red), Probus (honest).

Women's names.

Interestingly, personal names in ancient rome were assigned only to men, women were only given nicknames or a changed generic name. A girl born in the Yuliev family was named Yulia, in the Korneliev family - Cornelia. Naturally, in the same genus, female names were repeated. To avoid confusion, representatives of the same family differed in age - Yulia Mayor (senior), Yulia Sekunda (second), Yulia Minor (younger). Patricians added to their name the name of their father or husband - Cecilia Metella (daughter of Metella).

Slave names.

Roman slaves bore the names they had when they were free people. Most often these were Greek names - Alexander, Antigonus, Museum, Philokal, Eros. Greek names were also given to barbarian slaves. Sometimes the name of a slave meant the place of his birth - Dacus (Dacian), Corinthus (Corinthian). It happened that instead of a name, slaves were simply assigned serial number- First second. However, Roman slaves did not have derogatory nicknames. On the contrary, there were such names as Faustus (happy), Fortune (good luck). Released to freedom, the slave received the name of his master. For example, the freedman Apella, the slave of Mr. Mark Manney Primus, began to be called Mark Manney Apella.