Nephele

Johannes Landi Gravis, your lady wife is a patrician, a member of the Sergia gens. Her feminine cognomen which identifies her from her sisters is "Sardica", given to her by her father because she was born in Sardinia when the family was visiting one of their many estates. Sergia Sardica = eisgrsedrhcpi -ehp +aaa Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

That's correct, Spittle: #116 Patrick and #442 Patricia: derived from the cognomen Patricius, meaning "patrician, noble". The irony of it is that I don't know of any actual patrician families of ancient Rome who ever used the cognomen of Patricius (or its diminutive, Patriciolus). The actual nobility was noted for having some rather pejorative cognomina, such as Flaccus ("flop-ears") of the Valerii, Gurges ("glutton") of the Fabii, and Lentulus ("tardy") of the Cornelii. EDIT: Having just written that, Smith's Dictionary notes a patrician Patricius -- "the second son of the patrician Aspar, so powerful in the reign of the emperor Leo I, who owed his elevation to Aspar's influence." So I should amend what I previously wrote by stating that there were no patrician families of the Republic who used the name Patricius, the use of this name being a later development in Roman history -- around the 5th century, which is also the same time period that the Catholic saint Patrick of Ireland made this name popular. -- Nephele

Johannes Landi Gravis, you are a member of the Herennia gens, a plebeian family of rank that was originally Samnite "and by the Samnite invasion became established in Campania." Your cognomen of "Oriens" literally means "rising," and figuratively refers to the morning sun and the east. Your praenomen is "Decimus", customarily abbreviated as "D." Your full Roman name is: D. Herennius Oriens = hnajdorirenesens -ja +iu Can you give me a shorter version of your lady's name? Perhaps minus the middle name? -- Nephele

I was originally going to post this to the topic Where do you see Latin today?, but it got kind of involved so I decided to start a new topic here on names that we see today that recall the days of ancient Rome. The U.S. Social Security Administration lists on their website the top names given to babies born in the U.S., and the U.K. Statistics Authority also list on their website the top names for boys and girls born in England and Wales. My own list below consists of names taken from the U.S. and U.K. top 100 names lists for both boys and girls born in the year 2007. I have, though the information I've given below, linked these modern-day names to those Roman names which preceded them. Here are the descendants of the proud Romans of yesteryear. Top names from England and Wales are in blue. Enjoy! #1 Emily and #77 Amelia: derived from the nomen gentilicium of Aemilius. Emily and Amelia also placed #4 and #10 on the top girls names list for England and Wales. #2 Ruby: derived from the cognomina and Latin words Ruber and Rubidus, meaning "red, reddish" (from whence comes the name of the ruby gemstone). #7 Anthony and #96 Antonio: derived from the nomen gentilicium of Antonius. #11 Lucy: derived from the praenomen Lucius, and the cognomina Lucianus, Lucilus, Lucinus, Luciolus, Luciosus, Lucullus, etc., meaning "light". #17 Natalie: derived from the cognomina Natalis, Natalianus, Natalicus, Natalinus, Natalio, Natalius, etc., relating to birth. This name had special significance among Rome's early Christians, who applied the meaning to the birth of Jesus. #20 Grace and #96 Gracie: derived from the feminine cognomen and Latin word Gratia, meaning "grace". Grace and Gracie placed #1 and #68 on the top girls names list for England and Wales. #28 Lauren: derived from the cognomina Laurens and Laurentius, meaning "from Laurentum", a town in Latium near Ostia. Lauren placed #47 on the top girls names list for England and Wales. #29 Victoria: derived from the feminine cognomen and Latin word Victoria, meaning "victory, conquest". Victoria placed #97 on the top girls names list for England and Wales. #30 Max: derived from the cognomina Maximus, Maxantius, Maxellius, Maxentius, Maximanus, Maximianus, Maximillus, Maximio, Maximius, Maximo, etc., meaning "great, distinguished". #41 Destiny: derived from the cognomen and Latin word Destinatus, meaning "fixed, determined". #44 Justin: derived from the cognomen Iustinus, which in turn was derived from the cognomen Iustus, meaning "just, equitable, fair". #47 Leo and #75 Leon: derived from the cognomina Leo, Leonianus, Leonicus, Leoninus, Leonius, meaning "lion, of a lion, leonine". #48 Austin: derived from the cognomen Augustinus, which in turn was derived from Augustus, the honorary cognomen given to Emperor Octavian, meaning "majestic, diginified". #61 Adrian: derived from the cognomen Adrianus and Hadrianus, meaning "from Hadria", the name of two ancient towns -- one in Picenum and one in Venetia. #61 Rosie and #95 Rose: derived from the cognomina Rosa, Rosarius, Rosatus, Rosatianus, meaning "a rose, garland of roses, made of roses". #66 Claire: derived from the cognomina Clarus, Claranus, Clarentius, Clarianus, Claricus, Clarinus, Clario, Clarissimus, Clarosus, meaning "bright, famous, illustrious." #66 Julian: derived from Iulianus, an adoptive cognomen formed from the nomen gentilicium of Iulius. #85 Dominic: derived from the cognomen Dominicus, an early Roman Christian theophoric name meaning "of the Lord". Dominic also placed #97 on the top boys names list for England and Wales. #89 Julia: derived from the nomen gentilicium of Iulius. #91 Autumn: derived from Autumna, Autumnina, feminine cognomina relating to the season of autumn. #98 Valeria: derived from the nomen gentilicium of Valerius. If there's interest in this here, I may expand this to include names of Roman origin taken from the top 1,000 modern-day boys and girls names lists. -- Nephele

Much better, Fulvia -- thanks! You are a freedwoman of Rome, formerly a Greek slave in the household of Lucius Anthestius Germanus, a wealthy equestrian in the palm and olive business. You used to work for your master pressing olives into oil (a skill you had learned in your homeland of Greece). Upon obtaining your freedom, you took your former master's nomen gentilicium (in the feminine form) as was customary, thus giving you the Roman name of "Anthestia". You kept your original Greek name of "Thespeia" (meaning "inspired by the gods") as your cognomen (also, as was customary). Your full Roman name is: Anthestia Thespeia = shewapiethtnetams -wm +ia Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

Alphaeus of Gadara, you are a member of the Maelia gens, "the richest plebeian gens of the equestrian order." Your cognomen of "Alendus" (meaning "worthy of nourishment"), suggests that the mother of an ancestor of your branch of the Maelii had died in childbirth, and the child was deemed too worthy to let die. Your praenomen is "Publius," customarily abbreviated as "P." Your full Roman name is: P. Maelius Alendus = adulelnamsapied -ad +us Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

RomaSupremum, since you didn't say whether you were male or female, I'll just presume that you're male and give you a masculine name. If I'm wrong, you'll have to let me know. You are a member of the Arrenii, a gens which produced two Tribunes of the Plebs (the brothers Caius and Lucius) in the same year of 210 BCE. They were noted for having opposed the election of Q. Fulvius Flaccus to the consulship of 209 (see Livy, 27.6). Your cognomen of "Barano" is a derivative of "Baro" (meaning "rather blunt"). Your praenomen is "Titus", customarily abbreviated as "T." Your full Roman name is: T. Arrenius Barano = RtjnoabROaernao -joo +ius Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

Yep, that's a little long, Fulvia. Could you please remove the middle names (I'm guessing you've included more than one middle name in there). Ancient Roman ladies didn't have quite such elaborate names, so less is more. And, I'm presuming you're female -- right? You didn't say. -- Nephele

That's the problem Cecil, it does seem apparent that the Romans did use dogs in battle but when and at what length we don't know. I've searched around and not really come up with anything apart from the quote from Pliny's natural histories but that concerns other nations, not Romans. I'm sure they'll be something out there but as of yet I've still to find it. Haha, GPM, I had already beat you to that Pliny quote. Check out the second posting in this thread. Perhaps there's something else out there but, like you, I've been unable to find it. And I think we must also bear in mind that Pliny's account of the foreign armies using "dog soldiers" was most likely something he'd heard second-hand, and I doubt that the account is reliable. Don't forget, Pliny also wrote about folks in the near east breeding dogs with tigers (!) to produce an especially fearsome breed. And, of course, we know that dogs and tigers cannot interbreed. -- Nephele

You don't need that. We have descriptions of dog use in modern warfare and the difference should be small. They could chase amercian natives or slaves but coud not be used on a battlefield. Which was the point I was making, thank you. Dogs aren't soldiers and, not being such, would be useless as "dog troops" -- because a loose and frenzied pack urged to attack people on a battlefield would be just as likely to turn on the handler's comrades, as on the enemy soldiers. Dogs can't tell the difference between army uniforms. And that's beside the fact that (as I stated previously) dogs quite often don't get along with each other -- particularly the "fighting" breeds -- to operate as a predictable pack at their owner's behest. -- Nephele

I know I would! But there's no knowing that the "dozen snarling rottweilers" would optimally behave that way, regardless of training. Even dogs in modern-day miltary and police work don't always get along with each other and, in my years of dog rescue work, I've firsthand witnessed pack dynamics to know that dogs do not always behave as a pack at their owner's behest. I would still want to read some account by an ancient writer who had actually "been there, done that, seen that," before I'd be willing to accept that dogs were regularly used in the Roman army. -- Nephele

Yes, Roman naming customs changed over time. But regarding that first letter at your link, from a second century CE recruit named "Apollinarius to Taesis, his mother and lady..." The recruit was in all likelihood referring to himself by his cognomen -- which, if he were a freedman, may even have been a Latinized form of his original, given name, before assuming Roman citizenship and a Roman patron's nomen gentilicium of his own. As also in the case of the second letter by "Apion" (a Graeco-Egyptian soldier serving in the Roman navy) who calls himself "Antonius Maximus", writing to his father, Epimachus. A Roman citizen named "Antonius Maximus" was in all likelihood the patron of Apion, who gave his Roman name to Apion. Or, it may have been that Apion's Roman military commander had bestowed the more Roman-sounding name upon him. -- Nephele

Never mind, DoL. We'll put your language teaching skills to work instead, and give you this job as our resort's fitness instructor. -- Nephele

Hahahahaha! Thanks for fixing it, GPM! I'm blaming your "sniffing around" pun for getting me all distracted! -- Nephele

GPM, MAJOR apologies to you! I totally messed up my response to you and lost your last posting about the Cane Corso! Please forgive me. What a dolt I am! -- Nephele

Excitable Micromanagers Quite. I suspect the actual ancient Romans would have been astounded by it all. -- Nephele

GPM, that's a direct quote from the website that you posted -- and the author does not provide ancient sources for his statement that "The Roman Army had whole companies composed entirely of dogs." I'm sorry, but it sounds kind of absurd. And the Gratius Falsius who is cited on that website actually wrote of exhibitions of dog-fighting in the Roman arena -- not of actual use of dogs on the battlefield. EDIT: I just saw this in your second posting: Yep, who knows? Doesn't seem likely, though. Animals are unpredictable, and there's no telling whether a pack of frenzied, battle-stressed dogs, having been let off their leads, might turn and attack each other rather than the targeted enemy. -- Nephele

Micronations. -- Nephele

Pretty outrageous outfits -- and almost as provocative as what they wear in Coney Island's annual Mermaid Parade. -- Nephele

A nifty site on Roman nomenclature. However, I suspect that the "Apollonius" which appears on Nova Roma's accepted "List of Nomina" is a contrivance to accommodate members of their micronation (the so-called "modern Apollonii") who had chosen that nomen gentilicium for themselves before the Nova Roma folks decided to limit these choices to actual nomina gentilicia. "Apollonius" makes a far more credible cognomen than it does a nomen gentilicium, and Iiro Kajanto, in his The Latin Cognomina, notes several similar cognomina: Apollonios, Apollinaris, Apollinarius, Apollinius, and Apollodoros. (I'd also be interested to know where they got the "Moravius" from.) -- Nephele

RomaSupremum, male or female? -- Nephele

Don't let it bother you, Caroline -- there were only two people who objected, and I have to admit that it *is* funny to see the difference in attitudes between Americans and Brits. And, yes, sadly, those two negative reviewers did miss the point of the story regarding the learning of a valuable life-lesson. I've posted my own little review of Sirens to the American Amazon site. (I also posted to the UK site, but haven't seen my review show up yet.) It should boost the book another star in the ratings, at the very least. I urge others here to do the same! -- Nephele Nephele, Your review is now on Amazon UK where the book is currently on 4.5 stars with the high scoring reviews generally being well received, while the US site is now up to 3 stars. Yay! Thanks for the news, Melvadius! Hey, Ursus -- how about putting your review up on Amazon, too? If it's too long for Amazon, you can abridge it. Just wanted to add that one of the stupidest comments by a reviewer that I've ever seen was from this negative reviewer who wrote: "In general, if your child has already been exposed to the concept of adultery and/or sex between unmarried partners, then this book would probably be fine." How many people's children have had personal exposure to gladiatorial combat, as well? Why, for that matter, is the concept of adultery more disquieting to the reviewer than the concept of slavery? For crapsake, the book is about people living in an ancient society DIFFERENT from ours. Yes, "adultery" occurred in all historical periods, but you can't judge the ancients by modern-day standards. I think many children grasp that concept better than some adults do. To top it off, I just had to laugh at the reviewer's final, smug statement: "Fortunately, my kids haven't had to deal with either of those topics yet." Makes me wonder what topics of ancient Roman society the reviewer's kids are dealing with. -- Nephele

Congratulations on the new job, CS! Building a new resort on a tropical island? Wow, that's neat! Remember to take pictures! Heyyyy... Maybe you can get us all summer jobs there when the place opens? Like in High School Musical 2! (We'll have "a hoop out back, two free meals a day, and we only have to wear these stupid outfits on duty!") GO can be in charge of handing out the towels in the steamroom (that's a promotion from bathroom attendant); dianamt54 can be hotel desk receptionist; LW, DoL and I can be lifeguards at the pool; Moonlapse can be in charge of the kitchen staff with Faustus as his sous-chef de cuisine (I learned that fancy phrase from watching Ratatoille); GPM can be in charge of sports activities for the guests -- and he gets to drive the funny little golf cart. (We'll have to think up more resort jobs for the rest of the UNRV crew.) Seriously, I'm going to miss you terribly -- we all are -- for those three months you'll be gone. And I can just imagine how hard it'll be on you not to see your kids for those three months (if they don't let you off the island for visits). Have a very, very, very, very, cool weekend with the kids. Will be thinking of you the whole time you're gone, and looking forward to your return. -- Nephele

Except... Zoe Williams truly thought she was funny: "The remarks, at the beginning of the article, about Johnson's hair and cycling were meant to be funny Williams told me." From Siobhain Butterworth's editorial response to the Williams piece: A decade or so ago the Guardian ran an advertising campaign with the slogan "freethinkers welcome" - for some people, the appearance, on May 1, of three uncomplimentary, articles about Boris Johnson represented a crude attempt, on election day, to interfere with their thinking about who should be London's mayor. "Hmm, after five pages of hysteria I almost feel like voting for him," said one reader... The 25 readers who complained didn't hold back either: "vitriolic in the extreme", "vicious", "outrageously partisan", "propaganda", "irresponsible" and "character assassination" were some of the things they said [regarding Zoe Williams's comments]. Several were unhappy about the personal nature of Williams's attack: "That floppy hair ... that sodding bicycle," she wrote. Johnson, she said, was a "moneyed creep" and a "snob". "I'm not a reporter," Williams points out. "I write comment. I tell people what to do all the time. I don't expect them to take me seriously." If Zoe Williams doesn't expect people to take her seriously, then that silly woman is the last person I'd go to for "assessing the future of one of the largest financial centres of the world." -- Nephele

Caroline does a lot of signings at various bookstores in England. Maybe you could combine picking up one of her books with actually meeting her. -- Nephele