Nephele

The cousin's classmate who has decided to become a monk is the bit that gave me pause. Are monks still supposed to give up sex these days? It seems (to me) somewhat depressing: attending a wedding reception where you're likely to meet attractive people, drink with them, dance with them... While all the time knowing that you're not allowed to do anything else with them. Anyway, cheers to the monk-to-be, if he joins UNRV! -- Nephele

Ditto on the praise for this review. GPM, I'm taking your recommendation and adding this book to my library's collection! -- Nephele

Welcome aboard, Scip! -- Nephele

This I have a hard time swallowing. Brutus (LJ) was one of the first consuls. How could he become a consul if he was not a patrician prior to the eventual outcome of the conflict of the orders? Lucius Junius Brutus, consul of 509 BCE who (according to tradition) led in the expulsion of the Tarquin kings, was a patrician. T.R.S. Broughton states: "The other Iunii prominent in the Roman Republic appeared late in the record and were all plebeian, even though they claimed descent from the Liberator [L. Junius Brutus]." Tradition also holds that L. Junius Brutus had slain his own sons, and thereby ended his direct family line. -- Nephele

DDickey, even though in your haste to defend the necessity of fighting WWII you jumped to the conclusion that it was WWII rather than WWI being discussed, I want to thank you for that YouTube link of Victor Davis Hanson and Christopher Hitchens refuting Pat Buchanan's book Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War. -- Nephele

It seems inevitable that a topic titled "100 most influential people in history" will lead to separate -- sometimes impassioned -- discussions regarding individual choices for inclusion on such a list. The off-topic discussion on Gallipoli nonetheless was related to history, was interesting, and warranted its own thread. So I've split the topic for those who wish to continue that discussion. Now, back on topic here, 'k? -- Nephele

Hello, Stormer. The praenomina Gaius and Caius are the same name (as so are Gnaeus and Cnaeus). For a discussion on how Caius and Cnaeus became Gaius and Gnaeus, click here: http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showto...amp;#entry61598 As to the meaning of these praenomina... Many very old Roman names were of Etruscan origin, and their meanings were lost to history. "Gaius", one of the oldest and most common of the praenomina, is said to have been one of these such names. However, it has been suggested by classicist George Davis Chase that the root of this praenomen is gau, meaning "rejoice", possibly expressing the wish that a child so named would be a joy to his people. The praenomen "Gnaeus" has been suggested as being an older form of the Latin word naevus, meaning "birthmark" or "a mole on the body". But the choice of praenomina for Roman boys had very little to do with the actual meaning of the name, and more to do with the traditional use of certain praenomina within certain families. Thus we find many a Roman named "Quintus" who was not the fifth-born son to his parents. -- Nephele

If you have Internet access while in Greece, I hope you'll have some time to give us reports on your work there! I'd really love to hear all about it! -- Nephele

Funny you should mention this game -- I think I saw this game in NYC's Compleat Strategist last weekend, and was considering buying it! Maybe when I'm in the area again on Saturday, I'll see if it was the same game and perhaps will buy it. -- Nephele

You were one of three chosen for this course? That's outstanding! When do you leave for Greece? How exciting! -- Nephele

Salve, Dommeke! Your scramble is a bit long for a feminine Roman name. Would you please remove your middle name from the scramble? Thank you! -- Nephele

I think Ingsoc has answered that well. While (as you already know) M. Vipsanius Agrippa was honored by his friend, Herod the Great, who named his grandson after him, that didn't necessarily mean that those Jews who adopted Roman names for themselves did so out of honoring their Roman occupiers -- or even that they might have had Roman patrons. The Jewish people had also been adopting Greek names for themselves for a very long time, as well as names belonging to other Middle Eastern peoples. Esther of the Bible is a Persian name, and her original Hebrew name was Hadassah. Her cousin in the story, Mordecai, has a name which is derived from the name of the Babylonian sky god, Marduk. The reason for the use of gentile names by the Jewish people had much to do with Jewish assimilation into various cultures. Hellenized and Romanized names made business transactions with the gentile neighbors much easier. After awhile, the popular use of these gentile names took over any Hebrew names still retained by their owners, and that's why there are a number of scholars named in the Talmud with gentile names. Although the names of the gods Apollo and Castor were of Greek origin, the Romans recognized these gods in the Roman pantheon without a change in name, and Roman citizens had been using these theophoric names as cognomina for a long time. You'll probably recall that the son of the emperor Tiberius went by the nickname of "Castor". This is why these are also considered "Roman" names. As for your question regarding Latin names for Jewish women... Although examples can be found of Jewish women who were known by gentile names, because women were generally excluded from business and politics there was really not much need for them to adopt gentile names. Although, of course, there were exceptions, and the Greek name Berenice was in use by Judean royalty. Then there was Dorcas of the New Testament (also known by her Aramaic name of Tabitha, meaning "gazelle" and which translated into her Greek name of the same meaning: "Dorcas"). For Latin examples, there was the married pair of Jewish-Roman tentmakers from the New Testament, Aquila and Priscilla. -- Nephele

I'm currently reading A Dictionary of Jewish Names and Their History, by Benzion C. Kaganoff, and came upon a passage that I thought might be of interest to some here, regarding the Roman influence on Jewish names: Following the Roman conquest of Palestine, a strong Latin influence made itself felt, though it was never so extensive as the Greek. In the Mishnaic and Talmudic literatures (especially the Palestinian Talmud), we encounter many rabbis with Latin names: Drusus, Marinus, Valens, Romanus, Justus, and, mirabile dictu, in several places in the Palestinian Talmud mention is made of a Rabbi Titus! There were Jews who even bore the names of the pagan Roman gods, Apollo, Bacchus, and Castor, and other Latin names such as Agrippa, Marcus, Julius, Justinus, Rufus, Tiberinus, Tiberius, Crispus, Dulcius, Julianus. Kaganoff also mentioned in his book a modern-day surname -- Adolescenti (meaning "youths") -- which belongs to a Jewish-Italian family which supposedly traced its descent from the captive Jewish youths brought to Rome by Titus after the fall of Jerusalem. -- Nephele

Wow, you covered a lot of ground in just those few days! Glad to read that the rain on Saturday didn't slow you down. We had a deluge in NYC that day, too! But the rain tapered off by the afternoon -- and it didn't deter the Naked Cowboy at all (as you can see from the pic I snapped for you on Saturday and included in my latest blog entry). Glad you and your mom and brother had a wonderful time! -- Nephele

Yes, I think that would have been the reason for the lead coffin -- to better preserve the body from decay. I know that many Jews of antiquity used lead coffins, as great care was taken in regard to corpses and "pollution". Cremation was not sanctioned in the Jewish community. So, if cremation was common in the Hellenic cultures, I wonder whether the woman entombed in this lead coffin might have been a Hellenic Jew? -- Nephele

Meaning you did do that one? You seem rather cock sure about these photos... -- Nephele

stormer, you are a member of the Alfia gens, a plebeian gens which never produced any consuls, but did produce a Tribune during the late Republic. You honor your family by serving in the Roman army, with the possibility of advancing through the ranks. Your cognomen/nickname is "Ater", meaning "dark, black", for your fellow soldiers named you thus due to your darkly dangerous attitude and black moods. You are a relentless terror to Rome's enemies. Your praenomen is "Marcus", traditionally abbreviated as "M." Your full Roman name is: M. Alfius Ater = AfamrHetalk -ahk +ius Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

Severita, you are a young Greek slave employed in the household of a wealthy, upper class Roman matron as a nursemaid to her young daughters. Your Greek slave name is "Nike", as you were named for the lovely, winged Greek goddess who is the personification of victory. Your Roman mistress gave you the additional Latin nickname of "Materna" (meaning "maternal") because you are so good with her children (even though you're not much older, yourself, than the children you supervise). Someday soon, you will be rewarded with your freedom. But even if you were to be granted your freedom now, you have grown so fond of your mistress's little daughters, that you could not bear to abandon them. Your full Graeco-Roman name is: Nike Materna knretmbaian -b +e Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

Acrinimiril, you are a member of the Horatia gens -- an ancient patrician family whose most notable member was probably that legendary Horatius who bravely held a bridge against an onslaught of attacking enemies. Your cognomen of "Acer" (literally meaning "sharp; cutting") suggests that either you or an ancestor of yours was noted for having a violent, passionate nature. Your praenomen is "Marcus", traditionally abbreviated as "M." Your full Roman name is: M. Horatius Acer = nohj aratrmuch -nhj +ois Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

Thanks for the link to the clips, Caroline! I finished watching the DVD of the first season episodes, and enjoyed them immensely. There was an especially nice scene in which we catch a glimpse of the Colosseum still under construction, in keeping with the proper timeframe of the earlier Roman Mysteries stories. It'll be interesting to see the second season episodes, and the newly constructed Colosseum. Even though the BBC had to cheap out and do the scaled-down version of the opening games, folks can always read your books -- and Martial! -- Nephele

Typical teevee news reporter, missing out on a great opportunity to educate television viewers on the meaning of a wonderful, wonderful, useful word: pareidolia. -- Nephele

Profili has been given special powers for one year so he can bypass the Italian bureaucracy and speedily bolster security and stop the disintegration... Government red tape is blamed for some of the inefficiencies at Pompeii. This has got to be one of the smartest things that the Italian government has ever done. When the municipal government of New York City turned the deteriorating, dangerous park behind NYC's Public Library over to a private, incorporated group, the improvements were outstanding. When I was a child, Bryant Park was not the sort of place I was allowed to walk past, let alone venture into. Nowadays, Bryant Park is a safe, attractive, city showplace, where people meet freely for cultural events. At a speech held in Bryant Park a few years ago, I was only mildly surprised to hear the park director identify himself as a libertarian. Cheers to retired lawman Renato Profili for undertaking the task of saving Pompeii. And cheers to the Italian government, for stepping aside and letting the job get done. -- Nephele

The Mighty Queendom of Nephele was interested only in CONQUERING all those pacifist nation states. And farming their precious national animals as food for Nephele's dogs of war. (Well, okay, Nephele's miniature pinschers of war...) -- Nephele

I'm pretty sure I was able to access AncientLibrary.com up until just a few days ago. It seems to periodically go down, as several months ago it was down for quite awhile. I hope you get a reply to your email, PP, as AncientLibrary.com is the easiest site I've found for accessing Smith's Dictionary. -- Nephele

Hi, Severita! Your scramble is a bit long to work with. Would you mind giving it to me minus your middle name? Thanks! -- Nephele