Roman Naming Conventions The Partial Historians

It's here! We delve into the wonderful world of Roman names. How do we understand who’s who? How did the Romans understand who was who? We’re here to consider the complexities of Roman naming conventions.















Special Episode - Roman Naming Conventions







We look into some of the key elements of the Roman naming conventions of the Republic and the Early Imperial period. This includes the praenomen (the first name), the nomen (a reference to the clan or gens that the person came from), the cognomen (this name could have a variety of meanings!), and the agnomen (nickname).







This is by no means the extent of types of names that Romans deployed over the course of their history, but it's a good start on some of the tricky bits including why Roman loved repeating themselves.







We look at some very interesting examples included:









* Romulus







* Numa Pompilius







* Livia's dad







* Augustus







* And a certain Spartacus may also get a mention

















Is that Augustus with a bunch of fancy titles? Oh yeah. This comes from a statue base in Rome.







[I]mp(eratori) Caesari / divi f(ilio) Augusto / pont(i)f(ici) maxim(o) / trib(unicia) potest(ate) XXXVII / co(n)s(uli) XIII p(atri) p(atriae) sacrum







This is sacred to Imperator Caesar Augustus, son of Divine, pontifex maximus, holding tribunician power for the 37th time, consul for the 13th time, father of fatherland.







More details on this inscription here.







Roman names and the social hierarchy







Naming conventions differed depending on who you were, the family you were born into, and what happened to you during the course of your life. Elite families had specific naming conventions, while different rules applied to enslaved people and those who were manumitted.







Got famous for all the wrong reasons? You probably had one or more unflattering nicknames.







Got famous for all the right reasons (according to Romans)? You likely had a name to recognise your superlative achievements.







Interested in our favourite Roman name so far? It's none other than Spurius Furius! There's been a few gentlemen with this name, but for a real blast from the past, check out Episode 91 - The Furious Romans.







Sources









* Brill's New Pauly entries on the Praenomen, Gens, Cognomen, Agnomen, and Personal Names: Rome







* Salway, B. 1994. ‘What’s in a Name? A Survey of Roman Onomastic Practice from c. 700 B.C. to A.D. 700’ The Journal of Roman Studies 84: 124-145.







* The longest attested Roman name is recorded on an inscription (ILS 1104). ILS stands for Inscriptiones Latin Selectae also known as CIL 14.03609







* Wilson, S. 1998. The Means of Naming : a Social and Cultural History of Personal Naming in Western Europe (UCL, London)









Sound Credits