03-23-2016, 03:31 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-23-2016, 03:43 PM by Nathan Ross.)
'Dominus' (which is usually translated as 'My Lord') was used pretty widely for various social and official interactions. You could probably use the word in the original latin - the meaning is quite clear, I think.
In the later empire, imperial terms of address became very formalised and highly inflated; fawning, even. Late Roman emperors were exalted and semi-divine beings, after all! Duncan's suggestion of using the panegyrics is a good one. Several of these are addressed to emperors of the tetrarchic era and later (sometimes in absentia), and preserve the wording quite accurately.
The orators often address the emperor by name ('Diocletian Augustus' or 'Invincible Maximian'), or simply 'Emperor' (Imperator). Otherwise, the most common phrase appears to be 'Your Majesty' (Maiestatis tuae). 'Most Sacred Emperor' (Sacratissime imperator) also appears a few times, as Duncan says.
'Most Blessed Emperor' appears to be a Christian version. Ambrose addresses Valentinian as 'Most Blessed Prince and Most Christian Emperor' (Beatissimo principi et christianissimo imperatori), and elsewhere Theodosius as 'Most Clement Prince and Most Christian Emperor' (Clementissimo principi ac beatissimo imperatori).
In other sources there are references to later emperors being addressed as personifications of virtues: 'Your Clemency', 'Your Divinity', or even 'Your Tranquillity'. Whether there was some system to these hyperbolic terms, or whether courtiers were trying to outdo one another in flattery, we don't know - although the Theodosian Code does have rescripts in which the emperor refers to himself (usually in the plural) by these and similar titles!
Lesser beings might be addressed by their rank, or by their position in the hierarchy of honours: senators were clarissimus, various equestrian roles held the title perfectissimus, and the praetorian prefects were (before they became clarissimi too) eminentissimus... Later the 'clarissimate' gained additional layers of inflated honour: illustris and spectabilis. The holders of these titles might be addressed as (for example) perfectissimus vir ('most perfect (or 'excellent') man' - or just 'your excellency', perhaps!).
Women would be addressed as Domina ('lady'), sometimes with added status qualification: a daughter of the senatorial order would be clarissima domina, for example. Constantine's wife Fausta was titled nobilissima femina ('most noble woman') until her promotion to Augusta in c.AD325.
In the later empire, imperial terms of address became very formalised and highly inflated; fawning, even. Late Roman emperors were exalted and semi-divine beings, after all! Duncan's suggestion of using the panegyrics is a good one. Several of these are addressed to emperors of the tetrarchic era and later (sometimes in absentia), and preserve the wording quite accurately.
The orators often address the emperor by name ('Diocletian Augustus' or 'Invincible Maximian'), or simply 'Emperor' (Imperator). Otherwise, the most common phrase appears to be 'Your Majesty' (Maiestatis tuae). 'Most Sacred Emperor' (Sacratissime imperator) also appears a few times, as Duncan says.
'Most Blessed Emperor' appears to be a Christian version. Ambrose addresses Valentinian as 'Most Blessed Prince and Most Christian Emperor' (Beatissimo principi et christianissimo imperatori), and elsewhere Theodosius as 'Most Clement Prince and Most Christian Emperor' (Clementissimo principi ac beatissimo imperatori).
In other sources there are references to later emperors being addressed as personifications of virtues: 'Your Clemency', 'Your Divinity', or even 'Your Tranquillity'. Whether there was some system to these hyperbolic terms, or whether courtiers were trying to outdo one another in flattery, we don't know - although the Theodosian Code does have rescripts in which the emperor refers to himself (usually in the plural) by these and similar titles!
Lesser beings might be addressed by their rank, or by their position in the hierarchy of honours: senators were clarissimus, various equestrian roles held the title perfectissimus, and the praetorian prefects were (before they became clarissimi too) eminentissimus... Later the 'clarissimate' gained additional layers of inflated honour: illustris and spectabilis. The holders of these titles might be addressed as (for example) perfectissimus vir ('most perfect (or 'excellent') man' - or just 'your excellency', perhaps!).
Women would be addressed as Domina ('lady'), sometimes with added status qualification: a daughter of the senatorial order would be clarissima domina, for example. Constantine's wife Fausta was titled nobilissima femina ('most noble woman') until her promotion to Augusta in c.AD325.
Nathan Ross
