This book is about cognomina, more specifically the cognomina used by Roman women. Chronologically speaking, the cognomen was the latest component of the Roman onomastic system. Eventually, it was also the last component that survived in the nomenclature of most Romans. The use of individual cognomina started to spread throughout the Roman society in the late Republican period and, during the early Imperial period, the cognomen became the primary individual name of Roman men and women. For women, this development was of particular significance. Throughout the Republican period, most of them seem to have borne only one name, i.e. the feminine form of their father’s nomen gentilicium. In a sense, women in this period were, from an onomastic point of view, seen as members of their patrilineal family or gens rather than as real individuals. This apparent lack of women’s individual names has often baffled scholars, even if it is, by now, clear that women sometimes did have praenomina, i.e. first names of more personal nature. The use of female praenomina, however, was never a universal practice. It was only through the advent of the cognomen that all Roman women, for the first time, received a name that gave them a true individual identity in the public eye.
C. de la Escosura Balbás, A. Kurilić, G.E. Rallo (eds.), Name and Identity: Selected Studies on Ancient Anthroponymy through the Mediterranean. BAR Publishing, 2024
C. Krötzl, K. Mustakallio and M. Tamminen (eds.), Negotiation, Collaboration and Conflict in Ancient and Medieval Communities, Routledge, 2022
The chapter examines the names and identities of Greek elites with Roman citizenship, namely, the... more The chapter examines the names and identities of Greek elites with Roman citizenship, namely, the possibilities that names and naming could provide for the expression of cultural (and other) identity in such context. Greek elite families under Roman rule often maintained their local importance. They sometimes acquired Roman citizenship and, consequently, gained access to Roman magistracies. Roman citizenship entailed adopting a Roman name, but the Greek elites could incorporate their own traditions into their Roman nomenclature and could thus express their (sometimes multiple) identities, especially through the choice of cognomina and patronymics. The chapter investigates these practices from the emergence of Greek elites with Roman citizenship in the first-century BCE to their occasional rise to the Roman senate and even the highest offices in the imperial period.
F. Beutler, Th. Pantzer (ed.), Sprachen – Schriftkulturen – Identitäten der Antike. Beiträge des XV. Internationalen Kongresses für Griechische und Lateinische Epigraphik, Wien 28. August bis 1. September 2017: Einzelvorträge, Wiener Beiträge zur Alten Geschichte online (WBAGon), Wien, 2019
The paper is based on a talk delivered at the International Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy... more The paper is based on a talk delivered at the International Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy in Vienna, August 2017.
M. Nowak, A Łajtar, J. Urbanik (eds.), Tell Me Who You Are: Labelling Status in the Graeco-Roman World (U SCHYŁKU STAROZYTNOSCI STUDIA ZRÓDŁOZNAWCZE, 16), Warsaw, 2017
This paper investigates the use of maternal names in the Roman world, in particular cases where t... more This paper investigates the use of maternal names in the Roman world, in particular cases where the maternal nomenclature was deliberately preferred over the paternal one. In the typical scenario Roman children, as a rule, would automatically receive their father’s nomen. Sometimes, however, one encounters cases where they bear the maternal name instead. The reason was often of legal nature, as illegitimate children, for instance, would take their status — and subsequently their name — after their mother. Adoption, manumission, and other such legal reasons could also dictate the choice of the name. In some cases, however, it seems that children born of a legal union were voluntarily named after the maternal branch of the family — sometimes with no traces of the paternal nomenclature apart from the filiation. Such cases are mainly found in the senatorial class, where social and political prestige played an important role in this respect. Furthermore, the phenomenon of completely abandoning the paternal nomenclature in favour of the maternal seems to have primarily pertained to women. The first part of the survey briefly tackles the legal reasons, in other words cases where there was no other choice than the using of the maternal nomen. After this, the discussion proceeds to the voluntary favouring of the maternal nomenclature. Here several illustrative samples from the senatorial ordo are presented and discussed in detail. The final part of the survey explores the possibility of such onomastic practices outside the senatorial class. Here some possible, yet sporadic evidence representing provincial elite is discussed.
This book is about cognomina, more specifically the cognomina used by Roman women. Chronologically speaking, the cognomen was the latest component of the Roman onomastic system. Eventually, it was also the last component that survived in the nomenclature of most Romans. The use of individual cognomina started to spread throughout the Roman society in the late Republican period and, during the early Imperial period, the cognomen became the primary individual name of Roman men and women. For women, this development was of particular significance. Throughout the Republican period, most of them seem to have borne only one name, i.e. the feminine form of their father’s nomen gentilicium. In a sense, women in this period were, from an onomastic point of view, seen as members of their patrilineal family or gens rather than as real individuals. This apparent lack of women’s individual names has often baffled scholars, even if it is, by now, clear that women sometimes did have praenomina, i.e. first names of more personal nature. The use of female praenomina, however, was never a universal practice. It was only through the advent of the cognomen that all Roman women, for the first time, received a name that gave them a true individual identity in the public eye.
C. de la Escosura Balbás, A. Kurilić, G.E. Rallo (eds.), Name and Identity: Selected Studies on Ancient Anthroponymy through the Mediterranean. BAR Publishing, 2024
C. Krötzl, K. Mustakallio and M. Tamminen (eds.), Negotiation, Collaboration and Conflict in Ancient and Medieval Communities, Routledge, 2022
The chapter examines the names and identities of Greek elites with Roman citizenship, namely, the... more The chapter examines the names and identities of Greek elites with Roman citizenship, namely, the possibilities that names and naming could provide for the expression of cultural (and other) identity in such context. Greek elite families under Roman rule often maintained their local importance. They sometimes acquired Roman citizenship and, consequently, gained access to Roman magistracies. Roman citizenship entailed adopting a Roman name, but the Greek elites could incorporate their own traditions into their Roman nomenclature and could thus express their (sometimes multiple) identities, especially through the choice of cognomina and patronymics. The chapter investigates these practices from the emergence of Greek elites with Roman citizenship in the first-century BCE to their occasional rise to the Roman senate and even the highest offices in the imperial period.
F. Beutler, Th. Pantzer (ed.), Sprachen – Schriftkulturen – Identitäten der Antike. Beiträge des XV. Internationalen Kongresses für Griechische und Lateinische Epigraphik, Wien 28. August bis 1. September 2017: Einzelvorträge, Wiener Beiträge zur Alten Geschichte online (WBAGon), Wien, 2019
The paper is based on a talk delivered at the International Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy... more The paper is based on a talk delivered at the International Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy in Vienna, August 2017.
M. Nowak, A Łajtar, J. Urbanik (eds.), Tell Me Who You Are: Labelling Status in the Graeco-Roman World (U SCHYŁKU STAROZYTNOSCI STUDIA ZRÓDŁOZNAWCZE, 16), Warsaw, 2017
This paper investigates the use of maternal names in the Roman world, in particular cases where t... more This paper investigates the use of maternal names in the Roman world, in particular cases where the maternal nomenclature was deliberately preferred over the paternal one. In the typical scenario Roman children, as a rule, would automatically receive their father’s nomen. Sometimes, however, one encounters cases where they bear the maternal name instead. The reason was often of legal nature, as illegitimate children, for instance, would take their status — and subsequently their name — after their mother. Adoption, manumission, and other such legal reasons could also dictate the choice of the name. In some cases, however, it seems that children born of a legal union were voluntarily named after the maternal branch of the family — sometimes with no traces of the paternal nomenclature apart from the filiation. Such cases are mainly found in the senatorial class, where social and political prestige played an important role in this respect. Furthermore, the phenomenon of completely abandoning the paternal nomenclature in favour of the maternal seems to have primarily pertained to women. The first part of the survey briefly tackles the legal reasons, in other words cases where there was no other choice than the using of the maternal nomen. After this, the discussion proceeds to the voluntary favouring of the maternal nomenclature. Here several illustrative samples from the senatorial ordo are presented and discussed in detail. The final part of the survey explores the possibility of such onomastic practices outside the senatorial class. Here some possible, yet sporadic evidence representing provincial elite is discussed.
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This book is about cognomina, more specifically the cognomina used by Roman women. Chronologically speaking, the cognomen was the latest component of the Roman onomastic system. Eventually, it was also the last component that survived in the nomenclature of most Romans. The use of individual cognomina started to spread throughout the Roman society in the late Republican period and, during the early Imperial period, the cognomen became the primary individual name of Roman men and women. For women, this development was of particular significance. Throughout the Republican period, most of them seem to have borne only one name, i.e. the feminine form of their father’s nomen gentilicium. In a sense, women in this period were, from an onomastic point of view, seen as members of their patrilineal family or gens rather than as real individuals. This apparent lack of women’s individual names has often baffled scholars, even if it is, by now, clear that women sometimes did have praenomina, i.e. first names of more personal nature. The use of female praenomina, however, was never a universal practice. It was only through the advent of the cognomen that all Roman women, for the first time, received a name that gave them a true individual identity in the public eye.
This book is about cognomina, more specifically the cognomina used by Roman women. Chronologically speaking, the cognomen was the latest component of the Roman onomastic system. Eventually, it was also the last component that survived in the nomenclature of most Romans. The use of individual cognomina started to spread throughout the Roman society in the late Republican period and, during the early Imperial period, the cognomen became the primary individual name of Roman men and women. For women, this development was of particular significance. Throughout the Republican period, most of them seem to have borne only one name, i.e. the feminine form of their father’s nomen gentilicium. In a sense, women in this period were, from an onomastic point of view, seen as members of their patrilineal family or gens rather than as real individuals. This apparent lack of women’s individual names has often baffled scholars, even if it is, by now, clear that women sometimes did have praenomina, i.e. first names of more personal nature. The use of female praenomina, however, was never a universal practice. It was only through the advent of the cognomen that all Roman women, for the first time, received a name that gave them a true individual identity in the public eye.