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a. Praenomen

The Romans used a small number of personal names; usually they were ancient origin that in the classical era the significance of most of them was 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 generic name common to all, 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 are of such ancient origin that their meaning has been 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 Scipios of 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 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.

Gaius Octavius, the 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 Greek origin: Alexander, Antigonus, Hippocrates, Diadumen, Museum, Felodespot, Philokal, Philonik, Eros, etc. 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 Ulpia, who received civil rights under the 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. The eldest daughter, instead of Vipsania the Elder, 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 (the son of his younger brother Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus the Elder); the 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; younger son 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. There were several emperors at one time, but no one was higher than the others. And Augustus allowed this title for some people, and now Tiberius for Blaise, but for the 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 originally masculine Roman name consisted of three parts: personal, tribal 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 the 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 junior names served as numbers from five onwards. 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 the masculine gender 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 the cognomens are more or less clear to the modern reader: Agricola (preacher), Crassus (fat), Lautus (fat), Lentulus (lentil), Maker (thin), Celsus (tall), Paullus (short), Rufus (red ), Strabo (cross-eyed), Nasika (sharp-nosed), Severus (cruel), Probus (honest), Lukro (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 abandoned offensive nicknames for their subordinates. Slaves were given beautiful names of 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.

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

1. classical name Roman citizen consisted of three parts:

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

The name of the genus, "nomen" - something like our surnames. Belonging to an old noble family meant a lot.

An individual nickname, "cognomen" - was often given to a person for some merit (not necessarily good), or was inherited.

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

2. In general, the inheritance by the eldest son of all the names of his father was a tradition. Thus, he also took over the status and titles of the parent, continuing his work. The rest of the sons, as a rule, were given other prenomens, so as not to confuse the children. As a rule, they were called the same as their father's brothers.

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

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

3. Society ancient rome clearly divided into plebeians and patricians. And although there were occasional cases of distinguished plebeian families achieving aristocratic status, a much more common method of social growth was adoption into a noble family.

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

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

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

In the era of the late Republic, people often chose obsolete prenomens as cognomens. For example, at the dawn of the Roman state there was a popular prenomen "Agrippa". As the centuries passed, its popularity waned, but the name was revived as a cognomen among some influential families of the late Republican period.

A successful cognomen was fixed for many generations, creating a new branch in the family - this was the case with Caesar in the Julius family. Also, each family had its own traditions on the topic of which congnomens were appropriated by its members.

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

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

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

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

7. When a foreigner acquired Roman citizenship - usually at the end of his military service - he would generally take the name of his patron, or, if he was a freed slave, the name of his former master.

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

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

8. Imperial names are generally something special. They than lived longer and the emperor ruled, the more names he typed. Basically, these were cognomens and their late variety, gnomenes.

For example, the full name of Emperor Claudius was Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus.

Over time, "Caesar Augustus" has already become not so much a name as a title - it was accepted by those who sought imperial power.

9. Beginning with the early empire, the prenomen began to fall out of favor, and were largely replaced by the cognomen. This was partly due to the fact that there were few prenomens in everyday life (see paragraph 2), and family traditions more and more often they dictated the name of all sons by the prenomen of the father. Thus, from generation to generation, prenomen and nomen remained the same, gradually turning into a complex "surname".

At the same time, it was possible to roam on the congnomen, and after the 1st - 2nd centuries of our era, it was they who became real names in our understanding.

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

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

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

In ancient Rome, names and their meanings were taken very seriously. The Romans believed that the fate of man lies in them. They believed that if the ill-wisher knew the name, he could take away the life of a person with the help of magic. That is why slaves were forbidden to pronounce the name of their master.

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

Structure of ancient Roman names

The history of the emergence of Roman names was quite confusing, because it evolved over many centuries. Finally, the system of names and their assignments, which were entrenched in ancient Rome for a long time, were formed around the 2nd century AD. e. - at the peak of the mighty Roman Empire.

In those days, Roman names had a clear structure by which it was possible to determine to which genus a person belongs. Moreover, the Romans were honored to give full names only to men, the situation is different with women. For a full understanding of these traditions, the division must be studied in more detail.

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

Origin of male names

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

generic names

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

Perhaps the most mysterious element is the cognomen (third Roman names) - male, which were considered optional. That is, they could be absent in some men. The essence of the Roman name in this case is that the Roman received a nickname for some personal qualities in character or appearance. Later, new branches began to appear in the family genus, which received their names in honor of the cognomen of their progenitor. The most famous are the genera Probus (in translation - honest, a nickname received for the truthfulness and purity of a person), Rufus (red, it is obvious that it was received for external qualities), Severus (merciless) and Lucro (glutton).

Beautiful names: Roman and Greek

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

Female Roman names: origin and features

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

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

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

Names of married women

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

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

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

Archaic form of slave names

The system of names for slaves was formed as a result of the extensive spread of slave ownership: in official documents, which were invariable attributes of the political structure of Ancient Rome, it was necessary to enter all the names of slaves.

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

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

Modern names

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

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

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

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

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 to denote them in documents, inscriptions, and literary works 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 genus included several large families: so, the families of Scipios, Rufins, Lentuls, Cetegovs belonged to the Cornelius family, and members of the families of Pavlovs and Lepids 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 cognomens reflect some characteristic feature of a 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, Hannibal's vanquisher 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 Terence, etc. Sometimes a prenomen was added, which came mainly from numerals: Tertia (third), Quintilla (fifth). A 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 wore double names, for example: Emilia 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 Emilianus, 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 pagan tradition names, decisively 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).