ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3270 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3270 ************************************ 5 Mar 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know when the Roman praenomen was used, and if the tria nomina was the dominant naming pattern of the time. Here is what we have found. The praenomen , which was pronounced \KYE-so\ with the first syllable rhyming with , was especially associated with the Fabii, but even among that family it was rare. There are a handful of Roman consuls and tribunes from this family with the praenomen , including: [1,4] Kaeso Fabius Vibulanus 484, 481, 479 BC (three terms) Kaeso Fabius Ambustus 404 BC Kaeso (or Gaius) Duillius 336 BC Gaius (or Kaeso) Quinctius Claudus 271 BC We were able to find no member of the Fabius family after 310 BC. The only other patrician family to use the praenomen was the Quinctii. There is one who was put on trial in 461 BC, another who was consul in 271 BC, and a third who held minor office in 217. [2,6] It's likely that the consul derived his praenomen from a Fabian connection, even though the praenomen was no longer in use by the Fabii. [3] The praenomen was also used among the plebeian families Duillii and Acilii [7] including ~500 BC and his son ~446-445 BC. Another was consul in 336 BC. [5] One was the grandfather of a man who was consul in 150 BC. A Greek record from 191-31 BC of a (where the / represent acute accents over the previous letters, and represents the Greek letter omega) refers to a Roman . [8] Lastly, we found one inscription from the second half of the 2nd C BC which mentions an , that is, 'Lucius Latrius son of Kaeso'. [9] The gentilicium Latrius appears to be very rare. 0n conclusion, the praenomen seems to have been in very limited use from the 5th through the 2nd century BC; we do not recommend its use outside this period. At the beginning of this period the tria nomina was rare: only a few patrician families used cognomina. By the end of it, however, the tria nomina was common among the patricians and was spreading to the plebeians. [10] Thus, both the tria nomina and the simple binomial type with just praenomen and nomen (e.g., ) are possible. It was also very common to add a patronymic element immediately after the nomen, before the cognomen (if any). [11] This patronymic element consisted of the father's praenomen in the genitive case followed by the word 'son'; two examples that appear above are 'son of Kaeso' and 'son of Lucius'. It was virtually always abbreviated to the standard one-letter abbreviation of the father's praenomen and the letter for ; our two examples, for instance, would have been written and , respectively. Because the use of was largely limited to the patrician Fabii and Quinctii and the plebeian Duillii and Acilii, the best historical re-creation would be to combine it with one of the nomina , , (or : both forms are found), and . All of the following formats are possible: Kaeso Acilius Kaeso Acilius Marci filius ('son of Marcus') Kaeso Acilius Lepidus ('charming, agreeable') Kaeso Acilius Marci filius Lepidus They would normally have been written in abbreviated form as follows: K. Acilius K. Acilius M. f. K. Acilius Lepidus K. Acilius M. f. Lepidus We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further question. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 05 March 2007 -- References: [1] "List of Republican Roman Consuls" (WWW: Wikipedia.org, 16 February 2007) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Republican_Roman_Consuls [2] Badian, E., 'Kaeso and the Carthaginian', _The Classical Review_ New Ser., Vol. 14, No. 2 (Jun., 1964), pp. 139-140. [3] Badian, E., 'The Family and Early Career of T. Quinctius Flamininus', _The Journal of Roman Studies_, Vol. 61 (1971), pp. 105. [4] "Consuls" (WWW: Hostkingdom.net, no date) http://www.hostkingdom.net/consuls.html [5] "Genealogy of the Duilii (Longus)" (WWW: University of Virginia, no date) http://www.virginia.edu/history/courses/meyer/gen/lople/Duillius-s1.pdf [6] Wiseman, T.P., 'The God of the Lupercal', _The Journal of Roman Studies_, Vol. 85 (1995), pp. 13. [7] ibid., note 106. [8] Daux, Georges, 'La Formule Onomastique Dans le Domaine Grec Sous L'empire Romain', _The American Journal of Philology_, Vol. 100, No. 1, Tekmhpion. A Special Issue in Honor of James Henry Oliver (Spring, 1979), p. 13, note 1. [9] Keuleers, Wouter, _Latijnse Epigrafische Poe"zie uit de Republiek: Repertorium, vertaling en studie_, Ph.D. dissertation, Free University of Brussels, 2002-2003. (WWW: Ethesis.net, no date). http://www.ethesis.net/epigrafie/epigrafie_volledig.doc [10] Salway, Benet, '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_, Vol. 84. (1994), pp. 124-145, p. 127. [11] Birley, Anthony, _The People of Roman Britain_ (London: B T Batsford, Ltd, 1979), pp. 14-15.