01-13-2011, 10:36 PM
SPQR Blues is a lot of fun. And it is a very long comic book. If the writer wanted to, she could sell it as a book. People would buy it. I'd order a copy. There are some visual errors in it, but it is a comic book, not a historical treatise, and there are so few of them that anything is a welcome addition.
But in answer to your question, Your Assyrian auxiliary soldier would probably be known by his native name, whatever that was, or maybe he would change it to something more Roman. I don't think there would be a requirement that he did so. When he received citizenship at the end of this 25 or 26 year enlistment, I suppose it would be appropriate to adopt a Latin name as part of his wanting to "fit into society", but again, I don't know if this would be required. Desired, maybe, but not a law. I could be wrong, though. Someone kindly correct me.
Your name Gregory Francis Howard would mean that your family name was Howard, and your father's name was Gregory. The name that people would call you is Francis. Example: Gaius Julius Caesar. He would be called Julius. If you've researched it, you've found that there are only a very few first names (Marcus, Gaius, etc). So few that the first name was usually indicated by the first letter only, such as M. Demetrius. Marcus. But people would call me Demetrius.
Make sense?
Good luck on your story. I'm glad to see more historical fiction being written. We need some.
But in answer to your question, Your Assyrian auxiliary soldier would probably be known by his native name, whatever that was, or maybe he would change it to something more Roman. I don't think there would be a requirement that he did so. When he received citizenship at the end of this 25 or 26 year enlistment, I suppose it would be appropriate to adopt a Latin name as part of his wanting to "fit into society", but again, I don't know if this would be required. Desired, maybe, but not a law. I could be wrong, though. Someone kindly correct me.
Your name Gregory Francis Howard would mean that your family name was Howard, and your father's name was Gregory. The name that people would call you is Francis. Example: Gaius Julius Caesar. He would be called Julius. If you've researched it, you've found that there are only a very few first names (Marcus, Gaius, etc). So few that the first name was usually indicated by the first letter only, such as M. Demetrius. Marcus. But people would call me Demetrius.
Make sense?
Good luck on your story. I'm glad to see more historical fiction being written. We need some.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
