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Quote:I guess my third century name would then be 'Gaius Aurelius Fortunatus'.
Could well be. Although you'd probably lose the 'Gaius' pretty early in the century! It's not an uncommon name - a Marcus Aurelius Fortunatus was Prefect of III Augusta under Aurelian, and plain Aurelius Fortunatus was governor (praeses) of Isauria under Licinius (c.320). Both men could well have risen through the ranks of the army to their relative high status (the first was vir egregius and the second vir perfectissimus!)
While Aurelius was by far the commonest name in the third century, by the fourth Flavius (perhaps also Valerius and Claudius) had crept up as an 'imperial' nomen/praenomen. By then, of course, it had become far more common to use only the single name - Ammianus Marcellinus refers to most of his personae by cognomen alone.
It did linger on though - the Aurelius Ursicinus who left his name all over the Hoxne hoard was probably a late 4th/early 5th century Romano-British landowner. And there's the tyrant Aurelius Caninus in Gildas. By then, it would have been much more common for these men to be called merely Ursicinus or Caninus...
Nathan Ross
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Thanks to all for the help. I'm beginning to get the hang of it.
Jim K
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Quote:I guess my third century name would then be 'Gaius Aurelius Fortunatus'.
Mý 4th c. name is a simple 'Flavius Valerius'. I'm after all the son of a Chamavian volunteer. No need for fancy names. Well maybe when I become a guard to the archbishop. :wink:
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Quote:In the late period, you finally arrive at bizarre names like Georgius Florentius Gregorius (Gregory of Tours). And have you seen Narses' real name?!  hock:
So tell us!
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Quote:I guess my third century name would then be 'Gaius Aurelius Fortunatus'.
What right has anyone to argue with a man's name? :wink:
It's probably worth emphasizing Nathan's point, that the whole "Gaius" business had died off long before (unless you're "one of the toffs").
For us ordinary folks, the papyri of Egypt and (especially for the army) Dura-Europos give a better idea of third century names. A list of soldiers from AD 219 shows that their "praenomen" (for want of a better word) was Aurelius. They then each had two names, sometimes the old nomen and cognomen, but not always:
Quote:Aurel(ius) Bassus Tiberini | Aurel(ius) Iulius Marinus | Aurel(ius) Iulius Marinus alter | Aurel(ius) Male Matthana | Aurel(ius) Flavius Euclides | Aurel(ius) Iehaeus Themarsa
It looks as if some men had already possessed th tria nomina of a citizen (e.g. Gaius Julius Marinus) but had exchanged their praenomen for "Aurelius", following Commodus' universal grant (thus, Gaius becomes Aurelius Julius Marinus). Others clearly only had their own name (e.g. Bassus) followed by their patronym (Tiberini, "son of Tiberinus").
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Quote:So tell us!
It's in your PLRE, Robert!
Actually, I got my Narses mixed up! :oops: I was thinking "General of Justinian" when really it was "Praetorian Prefect 554/568". Still, it's a pretty interesting name:
Fl(avius) Marianus Micahelius Gabrihelius Petrus Iohannis Narses Aurelianus Limenius Stefanus Aurelianus.
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Quote:Fl(avius) Marianus Micahelius Gabrihelius Petrus Iohannis Narses Aurelianus Limenius Stefanus Aurelianus.
Probably Catholic. :wink:
One wonders though why he used 'Aurelianus' twice. Perhaps we're dealing with more than one person after all?
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Quote:Perhaps we're dealing with more than one person after all?
There's another fellow, very similar but with even more names:
Fl. Marianus Michaelius Gabrielius Sergius Bacchus Narses Conon Anastasius Domninus Theodorus Callinicus
Same, or different? It at least demonstrates that the late Romans were just as capable as senators of the principiate of coming up with some pretty silly long names...
Quote:It looks as if some men had already possessed th tria nomina of a citizen (e.g. Gaius Julius Marinus) but had exchanged their praenomen for "Aurelius", following Commodus' universal grant
Interesting! I had assumed that those with pre-Caracalla citizenship would be eager to maintain their old names, as a mark of prestige. Perhaps not - maybe the 'Aurelius' name conferred a special sense of dignity and Romanism?
Looking through some of the names in the 'morning reports' from Dura (Coh XX Palmyrenorum), there are plenty of Aurelii listed (Aurelius Marianus, Aurelius Licinnius, Aurelius Demetrius, Aurelius Romanus, Aurelius Rufus etc), also a few others with 'imperial' nomen (Aelius Heliodorus, Iulius Zabdibolus, Ulpius Marianus, Claudius Iulius Menander), but also some without Roman names (Iarhaboles son of Odeatus, Malchus son of Zebidas, Themes son of Mocimus): these are recognisably Palmyrene or Syrian names, so why no 'Roman' name? I don't know how far the 212 citizenship grant extended, but surely the old Palmyrene kingdom was included in the empire at the time?
Nathan Ross
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Quote:I had assumed that those with pre-Caracalla citizenship would be eager to maintain their old names, as a mark of prestige.
Certainly, the "upper classes" did. Soldiers were perhaps more eager to show solidarity with their emperor. Particularly, as "Aurelius" seems to have become something like a title.
Quote:... but also some without Roman names (Iarhaboles son of Odeatus, Malchus son of Zebidas, Themes son of Mocimus): these are recognisably Palmyrene or Syrian names, so why no 'Roman' name?
Probably, like Bassus son of Tiberinus (Aurelius Bassus Tiberini), they'd adopt a Romanized version of their name for official purposes.
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Quote:... but also some without Roman names (Iarhaboles son of Odeatus, Malchus son of Zebidas, Themes son of Mocimus): these are recognisably Palmyrene or Syrian names, so why no 'Roman' name?
Quote:Probably, like Bassus son of Tiberinus (Aurelius Bassus Tiberini), they'd adopt a Romanized version of their name for official purposes.
Yes, I think that was common in the East. I just read that recently, if my memory is correct, but I can't remember where. Possibly Whitmarsh's Local knowledge and microidentities in the Imperial Greek world. Conceivably, it could get complicated. One person might set up a monument about a petition to the Emperor, using his Roman name, but set up another monument to a regional goddess when a child recovers from an illness, using his Greek name.
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Alright everyone, I have decided that I would like to be called Aetius. Now I need to find a suitable name to go with it.
I'm shooting for the 5th century, but Flavius Aetius is out ( I can't use a historic character.) Would Flavius also be rendered as flavianus ?
Would Valerius Aetius be a possibility ?
Jim K
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Quote:I'm shooting for the 5th century, but Flavius Aetius is out ( I can't use a historic character.) Would Flavius also be rendered as flavianus ?
Would Valerius Aetius be a possibility ?
I'm afraid that you're stuck with Flavius as a name. If you want to be named differently, it comes to what's after Flavius (I'm Flavius Valerius btw, happy to make your acquaintance).
If you follow this link to Google Books you'll find a list of people named Flavius.
Aetius' father was Flavius Gaudentius, and it appears that there was another general (in the East) also named Aetius.
Scroll up to page 20 to find more on other people named Aetius.
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