Names and Naming Practices of Regal and Republican Rome

copyright 2005 by Meradudd Cethin

No culture has had a greater impact upon Western Europe than that of Rome. In an attempt to gain a better understanding of the society which affected every part of the cultures it touched and which followed it, this monograph will delve briefly into the naming practices of the Romans up to the late Republican period (circa 31 BCE). I have decided to examine no further forward, for as the Republic wanes and turns into the Imperial period, the naming patterns, which were rather strict under the Republican period (509 -31 BCE), undergo a dynamic shift during the Imperial period (31 BCE-395 AD). (note, I have chosen the date of the first joint emperors of the Empire as the end of the Imperial period, rather than the sacking of Rome (410 AD) or the retreat of Belesarius (563 AD) because it is the establishment of the Byzantine empire and, thus, the beginning of Byzantine names).

All in the Family
No discussion of Roman naming practices would be a fair treatment of the subject without a small segue into the familial structure of the Roman people. Indeed, Preston states "The first step toward making real to ourselves the life of the great Roman people must be to get a clear idea of the constitution of the family, and the relation and obligations of its members to one another"(1). The family unit was the center of Roman life and the center of that family was the head of the household, the pater familias, who was the senior male in the family. All legal right and control of family affairs (known as patria potestas), including the purchasing and treatment of slaves, the marriage of the daughters and even the power of life or death over newborn infants, all rested in the hands of the pater familias. This 'family' included wives and unmarried daughters, sons (both natural and adopted) and, if married, their wives and progeny, slaves (along with their wives and progeny) etc. The family line was patriarchal in nature, with wives leaving their parents family upon marriage and entering into the family of her husband(2).

Each of these families traced their lineage back (at least theoretically) to one of the founding families of the knights (equites) and first class who formed the voting senate under the reforms of Servius Tullius(3). These 35 gens, or tribes, were broken down further into branches called stirps (singular, stirp).

The Family Guy
In the early regal period of Rome, it appears that people were at first referred to by only a single name, later known as a prænomen(4). As Rome grew and occupied more land and governed more people, the use of a second, family name came into practice, later known as a nomen(5). By the earliest days of the Republic, every member of the household would have at least two names, their given name (prænomen) and the genitive form of the pater familias, which was a fixed and inherited nomen. Thus, Marcus Marci and Cæcilia Metelli (Marcus, son of Marcus and Cæcilia, daughter of Metellus). This is significant in several ways. In the first because it was genuinely unique among Indo-European languages of that era to have advanced to a point where binomial nomenclature was needed. Secondly it is of interest because the defining element of the name was NOT the given name (or prænomen, as it is called), but rather the inherited gens name, the nomen(6) . This is probably attestable to the miniscule number of prænomen that were used. Benet notes that there were only 17 prænomen used by 99 percent of Romans during the regal and republican period(7). Only in certain circumstances where the prænomen could not be confused with another individual was it used as a single appellation(8).

Later in the Republican period, a further refinement was added as the importance of the gens grew and the size of each voting tribe was such that differentiation within the gens became of important. The most common naming system used by the patricians (the nobility of the day), known as the Tria Nomina, consisted of three parts: The prænomen, the nomen and the cognomen (9).

The Prænomen roughly equates to the given, or Christian, name of today. It was a personal appellation given to an infant on their day of lustration. The list of Prænomen is tiny compared with most any other culture, with thirty-some being the most in use and, by the time of the late republic, only 18 or so prænomen were given out. To make things even more curious, it was commonplace for the pater familia to name the infant after himself, either in masculine or feminine form. Thus, the father Lucius would name his son Lucius and his daughter Lucia. Finally, there were some gens which would only use a few prænomen of the already shallow pool of names to draw from(10).

The Nomen (or nomen gentilicium, as it was sometimes referred), was the name of the gens to which the person belonged. Originally, there were 35 or so voting tribes in Rome, and those houses formed the core around which the 150 or so gens which are listed below.

The Cognomen was commonly formed as the stirps of the gens to which the person was a part of. Originally, the cognomen was a sobriquet of one type or another, describing a physical feature (Naso, the long-nosed), attribute (Severus, the severe) or place of origin (Gallus, of Gaul)(11).

Putting this together, we find the fine Roman name Publius Cornelius Scipio, where the individual Publius is of the gens Cornelius and the stirps Scipio.

Benet notes that, although the Tria Nomina system of naming can be shown to date back as early as the latter half of the fifth century BCE, it was especially slow to take root, with the Tria Nomina not appearing in official documents until the late second century BCE and are not commonplace until the time of Sulla, right before the Imperial period. The pattern was even more slowly adopted by the non-patrician families, with the first examples of cognomina for the plebians dating to c. 125 BCE and not becoming popular for another century(12).

But Wait, There's More
On occasion, additional names were added to the Tria Nomina. Historians collectively refer to these names as agnomina and they come in four basic varieties.

1. A further sub-division of the stirps into familia. Thus, when the Scipio stirps had become suitably large, the Nasica familia gave rise to the name Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica(13).

2. When a man was adopted into another family (an occurrence which happened with some frequency), he would take the Tria Nomina of his pater familia and add the nomen of his birth gens, declinated with the suffix -anus. Thus, when Lucius Æmilius Paulus was adopted by Publius Cornelius Scipio, he took the name Publius Cornelius Scipio Æmilianus(14).

3. When a man had performed some outstanding exploit, such as a particularly successful military campaign, they were sometimes given an additional name, a cognomen ex virtute, to commemorate this fact. After Publius Cornelius Scipio defeated Hannibal, he was given the name 'Africanus' and thus became Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus(15).

4. Just as when a cognomen sometimes derived from a sobriquet, so too some agnomens derive from particular characteristics of the person. The consul Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica was given the agnomen Serapio by a certain tribune because of the likeness to a particular dealer in sacrificial victims of that name(16).

These agnomen were not exclusive from one another, and a person could have multiples. After the destruction of Carthage, Publius Cornelius Scipio Æmilianus was given the cognomen ex virtute Africanus and became Publius Cornelius Scipio Æmilianus Africanus. Similarly, when Gaius Iulius Cæsar Octavianus was given the title 'Augustus' by the Senate, he became Gaius Iulius Cæsar Octavianus Augustus(17).

Finally, when an individual wished to be especially formal, they would spell out their lineage in much more detail than the Tria Nomina does. As an example, Marcus Tullius Cicero, the famous author, orator and politician would have had inscribed on his tomb the name M. Tullius M. f. M. n. M. pr. Corn. Cicero which would read...Marcus Tullius Cicero, son of (filius) Marcus, grandson of (nepo) Marcus, great-grandson of (pronepos) Marcus of the tribe Cornelius(18).

What About the Women?
In a society as rigidly patriarchal as the Romans, names of women are difficult to find. In general, an unmarried woman of the early to mid-Republic would have the feminine form of her pater familia's nomen and the possessive form of the cognomen. Thus, Cornelia Scipio would be the daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio(19). Note that she does NOT assume the cognomen of her pater familia. It wasn't until the Imperial period that women were seen to commonly follow the Tria Nomina.

When there were multiple daughters, an adjectival cognomen was normally added to delineate which daughter it was (major, minor, secundus, etc.). When a woman married, she was taken into her husband's family and, if married by the ancient rites, would take his nomen as her own (in its genitive form). If not, she would retain her unmarried name. The frequency of the name change declines the closer to the Imperial period the person lived(20).

You Ain't From 'Round Here, Are Ye?
As the Republic grew in size, people of foreign birth were assimilated into Roman culture and, as citizens of Rome, took Roman names. The foreigner would choose a prænomen to their liking, the nomen of their patron (the person to whom they owed their citizenship to), and the cognomen would be their old, non-roman, personal name, appropriately latinized. As an example, when the Greek poet Archias became a roman citizen, he became Aulus Licinius Archias. He took as his nomen that of his distinguished patron Lucius Licinius Lucullus(21).

Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio...but we call him Bob
Just as the Roman naming structure is rich and complex, so too is the method by which a person was called in everyday usage. A Roman would, in the course of the day, be referred to by their nomen alone or by their nomen and cognomen by those who know the individual casually or professionally ("Ave, Cornelius" or "Ave, Cornelius Scipio"). Those who are especially close to the person would refer to them by their prænomen ("Ave, Publius")(22).

Putting it all together: Roman Names in the Context of the SCA
For the purposes of this introductory article, we shall ignore certain historical peculiarities that would cause excessive grief (such as the fact that certain gens used only used certain prænomen and cognomen). If the submitter wishes to achieve that level of authenticity, then they are free to consult the resources cited in the bibliography. Be forewarned, however, that there is a significant risk in choosing a name by such a strict standard. The name chosen may very well conflict with a historical figure famous enough to warrant protection. Further, for those who are interested only in the highest levels of authenticity, be reminded that the formal method of writing a Roman citizens name in the time of the Republic included the three preceding generations of prænomen (see example above) and the College of Arms does not permit scribal abbreviations.

All of that said, a Roman name constructed in the binomial or Tria Nomina manner, with or without a documented agnomen, is a perfectly plausible and reasonable way of creating a Republican Roman name which meets the authenticity standards of the SCA.

Included below are lists of various prænomen, nomen and cognomen that are documented to the Republic. This list was compiled from Livy's History of Rome and is a list of the consuls of Rome from 509 - 31 BCE, when the roman Consulate was replaced by the Emperor as the seat of power.

1. Preston, Harriet W. And Louise Dodge,The Private Life of the Romans. p. 1

2. ibid. p. 2

3. Livy, The Early History of Rome. 1.43 p. 82

4. The grammarian Julius Paris noted that Varro believed that in the earliest days of the regal period, only single names were used because most of the notable historical figures of that time only used a single name (Romulus, Remus, Faustulus, etc.). Julius Paris De Praenominibus 1:1

5. Livy, 1:7-1:10, pp. 41-43. It is of note that before the conquering of the Sabines and other tribes, Livy mentions at least two major families ( the Pinarii and the Potitii), but does not use the nomen when referring to people. It is only after the domination of these other peoples does he start to use the prænomen/nomen nomeclature. Benet (Benet, What's in a Name: A Survey of Onomastic Practice from 700BC to 700AC p. 126) dates the usage of the binomial nomenclature to the seventh century BCE.

6. Benet, p. 125

7. ibid. p. 125

8. As seen in Livy, Appius Claudius is referred to as Appius, (II:24-27)

9. Preston, p. 3 and Johnston, The Private Life of the Romans 2:39-40

10. Johnston, 2:41-43

11. ibid. 2:48-49, Preston, p. 5

12. Benet, p 127

13. Johnston, 2:52

14. Preston, p. 5

15. Johnston, 2:54

16. Encyclopedia Brittanica, 1911 ed. SN: Scipio (http://82.1911encyclopedia.org/S/SC/SCIPIO.htm)

17. ibid. SN: Scipio, and Johnston, 2:54

18. Johnston, 2:39

19. Encyclopedia Brittanica, SN: Name (http://73.1911encyclopedia.org/N/NA/NAME.htm)

20. Johnston, 2:58 and McManus B. F. (http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/roman_names.html)

21. Johnston, 2:61

22. McManus (http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/roman_names.html)