Women's names in ancient Rome. Roman names

11.03.2019
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For fourteen centuries, the Romans and other peoples of Italy used a system of names that differed from those used by other cultures of Europe and the Mediterranean, consisting of a combination of personal and generic names. The traditional Roman system of three names (lat. tria nomina) combines prenomen (lat. Praenomen), nomen (lat. Nomen) and cognomen (lat. Cognomen), which have come to be regarded as the main elements of the Roman name. In fact, the system of Roman names has been a continuous process of development since at least the 7th century BC. e. until the end of the 7th century AD. Names, developing within this system, became a defining characteristic of Roman civilization, and although the system itself disappeared during the early Middle Ages, the names of this system had a huge impact on the development of European naming practice, and many of them continue to live in modern languages.

Roman names

lat. Romani nomina

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

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

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

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

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

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

For a number of reasons, the Roman naming system collapsed some time after the collapse of imperial power in the west. The praenomen had already become deficient in written records in the 4th century, and by the 5th century it was retained only by the most conservative sections of the old Roman aristocracy. As during the sixth century Roman institutions and social structures gradually disappeared, the need to distinguish between nomens and cognomens also disappeared. By the end of the seventh century, the populations of Italy and Western Europe had returned to separate names. But many of the names that originated within tria nomina have been adapted for use and have survived into modern times.

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

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

Names of Roman citizens

Male names

AT classical period A full Roman male name usually consisted of three components:

prenomena - personal name

nomena - family name

cognomen (cognomen) - individual nickname or genus name.

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

Praenomenon

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

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

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

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

Common Roman Personal Names

Praenomenon Reduction Note
Appius app.

Appius; according to legend, this name comes from the Sabine Atta and was brought to Rome by the Claudian family

Aulus A. or Avl.

Avl; in common parlance there was an archaized form Olus, so this name can also be abbreviated O.

Decimus D. or Dec.

Decim; archaic Decumos; from the ordinal number "tenth"

Gaius C.

Guy; often written as Caius, therefore it is abbreviated as C., and very rarely as G ... It comes from the time when C and G did not differ in writing. The name comes from the Etruscan Cae or Cai, the meaning is unknown.

Gnaeus Cn.

Gnaeus; archaic form Gnaivos; very rarely abbreviated as Gn.; meet forms Naevus, Naeus, Cnaeus.

Kaeso TO.

quezon; another spelling - Caeso. Means "carved from the womb". Uncommon prenomen, used only in the Fabi family.

Lucius L. Lucius; archaic Loucios- from lux (light).
Mamercus Mom.

Mamerk; name of Oscan origin, used only in the Aemilia family

Manius M`.

Manius; the comma in the upper right corner is a remnant of the five-line outline of the letter M.

Marcus M. Mark; there is a spelling Marqus. Derived from the Etruscan Marce, the value is unknown. It was very common.
Numerius N. Numerius; Oscan origin. Associated with genus Fabiev .
Publius P.

Publius; archaic Poblios, abbreviated as Po. Comes from lat. publius- "folk", and this, in turn, from the Etruscan Puplie.

Quintus Q.

Quint; colloquially Cuntus, meet Quinctus, Quintulus; from the ordinal number "fifth". It was very common.

Servius Ser. Servius- from servo(protect, protect). Less common.
Sextus sex. Sextus; from ordinal number "sixth"
Spurius S. or sp.

Spurius; can also be used not as a prenomen, but in its original meaning "illegitimate"

Titus T. Titus- from Etruscan Tite, the value is unknown.
Tiberius Ti. or Tib.

Tiberius- from Etruscan Thefarie which probably means "river". It was very common.

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

Agrippa - "born feet first".

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Celius (Caelus) - from the Etruscan Caele.

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

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

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

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

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

Nomen

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

Origins and suffixes of generic names:

Origin

The ending

Examples

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

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

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

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

cognomen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Agnomen

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

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

As a rule, members of ancient and noble families had agnomen, numbering many branches and cognomens. In such genera, the cognomen sometimes almost merged with the generic name and was used inseparably with it for the name of the genus. Known plebeian family Caecilians (Caecilii) had the ancient cognomen Metellus, the meaning of which is forgotten (liberated mercenary). This cognomen, as it were, merged with the name of the genus, which began to be called Caecilia Metella . Naturally, almost all members of this genus had an agnomen.

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

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

Women's names

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

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

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

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

Slave names

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Freedmen's names

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

The inscriptions often contain the names of imperial freedmen: a baker Gaius Julius Eros , tailor theatrical costumes Tiberius Claudius Dipter in charge of the emperor's triumphal white robes Mark Koktsei Ambrosius in charge of the emperor's hunting clothes Mark Ulpius Euphrosynus in charge of receiving the emperor's friends Marcus Aurelius Succession and etc.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Provincial names

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

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

Full name example :

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

praenomen: Mark

nomen: Aurelius (belongs to the genus Aurelius )

father's name: son brand

grandfather's name: grandson Quint

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

cognomen: Antonin (family Antoninov )

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

city: Caesaraugusta (now Zaragoza in Spain)

Another example of a full name:

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

Gaius Cornelius Ver, son of Gaius, of the Pomptin tribe, originally from Dertona...

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

The name of a free citizen of Ancient Rome traditionally consisted of three parts: a personal name or pronomen, a family name or nomen, a nickname or cognomen. There were few personal ancient Roman names. Of the 72 that have survived to our time, only 18 were most often used. Personal names were indicated in the letter, since they did not carry much information about the origin and life of a person. by the most popular names were: Aulus, Appius, Gaius, Gnaeus, Decimus, Caeson, Lucius, Mark, Manius, Mamercus, Numerius, Publius, Quintus, Sextus, Servius, Spurius, Titus, Tiberius. The genus name and nickname were written in full. Generic names had numerous variations. Historians number about a thousand Roman nomens. Some of them had a specific meaning, for example: Portia - "pig", Fabius - "bean", Caecilius - "blind", etc.

Generic nicknames testified to the high origin of the Roman. Citizens from the plebeian, lower strata of society, such as the military, did not have it. In the ancient patrician families, there were a large number of branches. Each of them was given a nickname. The choice of a cognomen was often based on the characteristics of a person's appearance or character. For example, Cicero got his nickname from one of his ancestors, whose nose was like a pea (cicero).

How were names given in ancient Rome?

According to the established tradition, personal names were assigned to the four eldest sons, with the first of them receiving the name of the father. If there were many sons in the family, then everyone, starting from the fifth, received names denoting ordinal numbers: Quintus (“Fifth”), Sextus (“Sixth”), etc. Also, the boy was given the name and nickname of the family, if only he came from a noble family.

If a child was born from a mistress or after the death of his father, then he was given the name Spurius, "illegitimate, controversial." The name was abbreviated with the letter S. Such children did not legally have a father and were considered members of the civilian community in which their mother was a member.

Girls were called by their father's generic name in the form female. For example, Gaius Julius Caesar's daughter was called Julia, and Mark Tullius Cicero's was Tullia. If there were several daughters in the family, then a prenomen was added to the girl’s personal name: Major (“older”), Minor (“younger”), and further down the account Tertia (“third”), Quintilla (“fifth”), etc. When marrying, a woman, in addition to her personal name, received her husband's nickname, for example: Cornelia filia Cornelli Gracchi, which means "Cornelia, daughter of Cornelia, wife of Gracchus."

A slave was given a name according to the area from which he was born (“Sir, from Syria”), according to the names of the heroes of ancient Roman myths (“Achilles”), or according to the name of plants or precious stones (“Adamant”). Slaves who did not have personal names were often named according to their owner, for example: Marcipuer, which means "Mark's slave". If a slave was granted freedom, he received a personal and family name former owner, and the personal name became a nickname. For example, when Cicero freed his secretary Tiron from slavery, he became known as M Tullius M libertus Tiro, which means "Mark Tulius former slave Mark Tyrone.

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Roman (Latin) names

Roman male and female names and their meaning

Male names

Women's names

August

Augustine

Amadeus

Amadeus

Anton

Anufry (Onufry)

Boniface

Benedict

Valery

Valentine

Benedict

Vivian

Vincent

Victor

Vitaly

Hermann

Dementy

Dominic

Donat

Ignat (Ignatius)

Innocent

Hypatius

Kapiton

Kasyan (Kassian)

Claudius

Klim (Clement)

concordia

Konstantin

Constantius

Cornil

Cornelius

Roots

laurel

Lawrence

Leonty

Luke

Lucian

Maksim

Maximillian

Mark

Martin (Martin)

Mercury

Modest

Ovid

Paul

Patrick

Prov

Novel

Severin

Sergey

Silantius

Sylvan

Sylvester

Terenty

Theodore

Ustin

Felix

Flavian (Flavius)

floor

Florence

Fortunat

Felix

Caesar

Erast

Emil

Juvenaly

Julian

Julius

justin

Januarius

august

Agnia

Agnes

Akulina

Alevtina

Alina

Albina

Antonina

Aurelia

Aster

Beatrice

Bella

Benedict

Valentine

Valeria

Venus

Vesta

Vida

Victoria

Vitalina

Virginia

Virineya

Dahlia

Gloria

Hydrangea

Gemma

Julia

Diana

Dominica

Blast furnace

Iolanta

Kaleria

Karina

Capitolina

Claudia

Clara

Clarice

Clementine

Concordia

Constance

Laura

Lillian

Lily

Lola

Love

Lucien

Lucia (Lucia)

margarita

Marina

marceline

Matron

Natalia (Natalia)

Nonna

Paul

Peacock (Paulina)

Rimma

Regina

Renata

Rose

Sabina

Silvia

Stella

Severina

Ulyana

Ustina

Faustina

Flora

Felicity

Felice

Cecilia

Emilia

Juliana

Julia

Juno

justinia

The meaning of Roman (Romano-Byzantine) names

Roman male names and their meaning

Men's: August (sacred), Anton (Roman generic name, in Greek - entering the battle), Valentine (big man), Valery (strong man), Benedict (blessed), Vincent (victorious), Victor (winner), Vitaly (life), Dementius (dedicated to the goddess Damia), Donatus (gift), Ignatus (unknown), Innocent (innocent), Hypatius (high consul), Kapiton (tadpole), Claudius (lame-footed), Clement (indulgent), Constantine (permanent), Kornil ( horned), Laurel (tree), Lawrence (crowned with a laurel wreath), Leonid (lion cub), Leonty (lion), Maxim (largest), Mark (sluggish), Martin (born in March), Modest (modest), Mokey (mockingbird ), Paul (finger), Prov (test), Prokofy (successful), Roman (Roman), Sergei (Roman generic name), Sylvester (forest), Felix (lucky), Frol (blooming), Caesar (royal), Juvenal (youthful), Julius (fidgety, curly), Januarius (gatekeeper).

Roman female names and their meaning

Women's: Aglaya (shine), Agnes (sheep), Akulina (eagle), Alevtina (strong woman), Alina (non-native), Albina (white), Beatrice (lucky), Valentina (strong, healthy), Victoria (goddess of victory), Virginia ( virgin), Diana (goddess of the hunt), Kaleria (alluring), Capitolina (named after one of the seven hills of Rome), Claudia (lamefoot), Clementine (indulgent), Margarita (pearl), Marina (sea), Natalia (née), Regina (queen), Renata (renewed), Ruth (red), Silva (forest).

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Names of Roman citizens

Male names

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

Praenomenon

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

Common Roman Personal Names
Praenomenon Reduction Note
Appius app. Appius; according to legend, this name comes from the Sabine Atta and was brought to Rome by birth
Aulus A. or Avl. Avl; existed in the vernacular Olus, so this name can also be abbreviated O.
Decimus D. or Dec. Decim; archaic Decumos
Gaius C. Guy; very rarely abbreviated as G.
Gnaeus Cn. Gney; archaic form Gnaivos; very rarely abbreviated as Gn.; meet forms Naevus, Naeus
Kaeso TO. quezon
Lucius L. Lucius; archaic Loucios
Mamercus Mam. Mamerk; name of origin, used only in the genus Aemilia
Manius M`. Manius; the comma in the upper right corner is a remnant of the five-line outline of the letter M
Marcus M. Mark; there is a spelling Marqus
Numerius N. Numerius; osk origin
Publius P. Publius; archaic Poblios, abbreviated as Po.
Quintus Q. Quint; colloquially Cuntus, meet Quinctus, Quintulus; from the ordinal number "fifth"
Servius Ser. Servius
Sextus sex. Sextus; from ordinal number "sixth"
Spurius S. or sp. Spurius; can also be used not as a prenomen, but in its original meaning "illegitimate"
Titus T. Titus
Tiberius Ti. or Tib. Tiberius

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

The boy received a personal name on the eighth or ninth day after birth. There was a tradition to give a personal name only to the four eldest sons, and ordinal numbers could serve as a personal name for the rest: Quintus(fifth), Sextus(sixth), Septimus (seventh), Octavius ​​(eighth), and Decimus (tenth). Over time, these names became common (i.e. became personal), 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, who fought for a long time.

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

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

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

Nomen

Origin and suffixes of generic names
Origin The ending Examples
Roman -ius Tullius, Julius
-is Caecilis
-i Caecili
sabine- -enus Alfenus, Varenus
umber -as Maenas
-anas Mafenas
-enas Asprenas, Maecenas
-inas carrinas, Fulginas
-arna Mastarna
-erna Perperna, Calesterna
-enna Sisenna, Tapsenna
-ina Caecina, Prastina
-inna Spurinna

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

From the 1st century BC e., when the prerequisites for the transition from a republican form of government to autocracy appeared in Rome, the persons who seized the supreme power began to justify their rights to power by descent from ancient kings and heroes. Julius Caesar, for example, pointed out that his paternal line goes back to the gods: Jupiter - Venus - Aeneas - Yul - the Julius family, and on the mother to the kings: Marcia Rex descended from Anka Marcius (lat. rex- tsar).

cognomen

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

Since the personal name of the father passed to the eldest son, in order to distinguish the son from the father, it was necessary to use a third name. In the inscriptions there are Lucius Sergius the First, Quintus Emilius the Second; in one inscription, the grandfather, son, and grandson are called Quintus Fulvius Rusticus, Quintus Fulvius Attian, and Quintus Fulvius Carisianus.

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

Agnomen

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

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

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

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

Some people had two generic names, it turned out as a result of adoption. According to Roman customs, the adopted person took the personal name, family name and cognomen of the one who adopted him, and kept his family name in a modified form with the suffix -an-, which took the place of the agnomen. Gaius Octavius, the future emperor Augustus, after his adoption by Gaius Julius Caesar received the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus- Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian.

Women's names

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

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

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

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

Slave names

In ancient times, slaves did not have individual names. Legally, slaves were considered children of the master and were just as deprived of rights as all members of the family. This is how archaic slave names were formed, made up of the personal name of the master, the father of the surname, and the word puer(boy, son): Gaipor, Lucipor, Marcipor, Publipor, Quintipor, Naepor (Gnaeus = Naeos + puer), Olipor (Olos- archaic form of personal name Aulus).

With the growth of slavery, there was a need for personal names for slaves. Most often, slaves retained the name they bore when they still lived as free people. Very often, Roman slaves had names 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 a slave could indicate his origin or place of birth: Dacus- Dacian, corinthus- Corinthian, Sir (native), Gallus (native), Frix (from); are found in the inscriptions slaves with the name Peregrinus- a foreigner.

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

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

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

There were no firm rules regarding the names of slaves. Therefore, when buying a slave in an official document, his name was accompanied by a clause "or whatever other name he was called" (lat. sive is quo alio nomine est).

In the inscriptions after the name of the slave, the name of the master in the genitive case and the nature of the slave's occupation are indicated. After the name of the master is the word servus(slave) always abbreviated ser, very rarely s, it can also stand between two cognomens of the master; there is no strict word order. The word "slave" is often absent altogether; as a rule, slaves belonging to women do not have it. For example, Euticus, Aug(usti) ser(vus), pictor- Euthycus, slave of Augustus (imperial slave), painter, Eros, cocus Posidippi, ser(vus)- Eros, cook, Posidipp's slave, Idaeus, Valeriae Messalin(ae) supra argentum- Ideas, treasurer of Valeria Messalina.

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

Freedmen's names

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

The inscriptions often contain the names of imperial freedmen: the baker Gaius Julius Eros, the tailor of theatrical costumes Tiberius Claudius Dipter, in charge of the triumphal white clothes of the emperor Marcus Cocceus Ambrosius, in charge of the hunting clothes of the emperor Mark Ulpius Euphrosynus, in charge of receiving the emperor’s friends Marcus Aurelius Succession, etc.

In the inscriptions between the nomen and the cognomen of the freedman, the personal name of the master is abbreviated and stands l or lib (= libertus), a tribe is very rarely indicated: Q(uintus) Serto, Q(uinti) l(ibertus), Antiochus, colonus pauper- Quintus Sertorius Antiochus, freedman of Quintus, poor colonel. In rare cases, instead of the personal name of the former master, there is his cognomen: L(ucius) Nerfinius, Potiti l(ibertus), Primus, lardarius- Lucius Nerfinius Primus, freedman of Potitas, sausage maker. Freedmen of the imperial house are abbreviated in the inscriptions 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 name: Freedmen of the Corporation of Patchwork and Tailors ( fabric centonarii) were called Fabricii and Centoni.

What would you be called in ancient Rome?

The naming system is needed to identify people in any society, and even in our free times it is subject to certain rules. it was easier for people to decide on the names of their children - the rules and traditions greatly narrowed the room for maneuver in this area.

If there was no male heir in the family, the Romans often adopted one of their relatives, who, entering into the inheritance, took on the personal name, family name and cognomen of the adopter, and kept his native surname as an agnomen with the suffix "-an". For example, the destroyer of Carthage was born as Publius Aemilius Paulus, but was adopted by his cousin, Publius Cornelius Scipio, whose son and heir died. So Publius Aemilius Paulus became Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, and after he had destroyed Carthage, he received the agnomen Africanus the Younger to distinguish himself from his grandfather Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. Then, after the war in modern Spain, he received another agnomen - Numantian. Gaius Octavius, being adopted by his grandmother's brother Gaius Julius Caesar and having entered into the inheritance, became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian, and later received the agnomen Augustus.

Slave names

The unequal status of slaves was emphasized by the fact that they were addressed by their personal name. If formality was necessary, after the personal name of the slave, as a rule, the family name of his master was indicated in the genitive case and with the abbreviation ser or s (from the word serv, i.e. slave) and / or occupation. When selling a slave the nomen or cognomen of its former owner was retained by him with the suffix "-an".

If a slave was set free, then he received as a pronomen and a nomen - respectively, the names of the person who released him, and as a cognomen - his personal name or profession. For example, in the process against Roscius the Younger, his intercessor Mark Tullius Cicero, in fact, accused the freedman of Sulla - Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus. Between the nomen and the cognomen of freedmen, the abbreviations l or lib from the word libertine (freedman, freed) were written.



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