Nephele

Lovely. I'm letting it play as background music while I do stuff on the 'puter. -- Nephele

Hi, Chris! I get to ask a question? Okay... Do you have friends at school who are also into ancient Rome, or do you find yourself isolated in your interests? And, welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

I found where Castell'Arquato would have been on my ancient map of the Roman tribes. It's to the south of Florentia (modern-day Fiorenzuola d'Arda) and to the west of Fidentia (modern-day Fidenza) in the Arda Valley. The tribe that appears on the map encompassing this area is the Galeria Tribe. So, now you know that your relatives would have been of the Galerii, if they'd lived in that area back in ancient Roman days. -- Nephele

Nonsense. During most of republican history (i.e., with the exception of the very early republic), consuls were elected by the Comitia Centuriata, not by the senate. Thats perfectly fine with me. Please take it up with the author concerned. Were you quoting from a role-playing book? This is the only Imperial Rome by a C.J. Carella that I've managed to find. -- Nephele

Thanks, Faustus. Here's something more Latin/Roman out of your scramble: A. Annius Regnator = snaaretonpnogar -op +iu A. for "Aulus," member of the Annia gens, cognomen "Regnator" meaning "ruler; king". -- Nephele

Faustus, here's your "barbarian of an unwelcome nature": Tyrannos Paragon = snaaretonpnogar -e +y "A paragon of tyranny." -- Nephele

You're welcome, Salotis. If you'd like to tell me precisely where in northwestern Italy your cousins reside, I'll check the maps from my book, Voting Districts of the Roman Republic, and see if I can figure out what tribe your cousins might have belonged to had they lived back in the time of ancient Rome. ******************************************* Faustus, didn't I give you the name of T. Thoranius Dignatus awhile back? Time for a new Roman alias for you then, eh? I'll get to work on it and get back to you. -- Nephele

Great news item, GPM -- John Clayton certainly deserves more recognition! Here's a bit of trivia that wasn't mentioned in that article: John Clayton appears as a Roman centurion in a painting by William Scott Bell, who painted him thus to honor his efforts to preserve Hadrian's Wall. This painting hangs in Wallington, a country house owned by the National Trust, west of Morpeth in Northumberland, England. -- Nephele

It didn't always work that way, although I believe that those with mothers from connected families might be more likely to receive maternal cognomina (which were really more to honor the maternal grandfather than the child's mother). But the practice wasn't exclusive to these cases. And, in the case of Vespasian (mentioned earlier), the maternal cognomen was given to the second-born son each time. Sometimes an additional maternal cognomen might be used to distinguish two sons with the same father and different mothers. As in the case of Marcus Porcius Cato Salonianus, half-brother to Marcus Porcius Cato Licinianus. Both men had the same father -- Cato the Elder -- but Salonianus was the son of Cato's second wife, Salonia, while Licinianus was the son of Cato's first wife, Licinia. Salonia was by no means from an illustrious familiy, having been Cato's freedwoman. But her name was conferred upon the son she had by Cato, to distinguish this son from Cato's other son by Licinia, both sons having the same praenomen, nomen gentilicium, and cognomen (all inherited from their illustrious father). -- Nephele

Salotis, you are a member of the Antonia gens. According to the triumvir, Marc Antony, the ancestor of your gens was a son of Hercules. Your cognomen is "Tito," which is a derivative of the praenomen "Titus," a name of Sabine origin. Your praenomen is "Lucius," traditionally abbreviated as "L." Your full Roman name is: L. Antonius Tito = otlisontnyaat -ya +iu Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

Dr. Benet Salway, senior lecturer on later Roman history at University College London, put together a survey of Roman onomastic practice spanning over a thousand years of Roman history. In his article he indicated that the "fossilization" (his term) of the praenomen was indeed pervasive in Roman society. While some traditionalist families held out, Salway maintains that the significance of the praenomen was in "rapid decline" from the middle of the second century CE onwards. Prior to this (around the end of the first century BCE), some noble families attempted to revive the use of the praenomen by making use of rare and archaic praenomina, or by using cognomina for the purpose of the forename. But, as Salway states, this had little to no impact on popular practice, as the praenomen continued to fall into disuse. The use of maternal cognomina depended mostly on the mother's wealth and ancestry -- particularly if the family wished to make apparent their connection to the Imperial family. It wasn't so much a matter of the liberation of Roman women being indicated by the use of women's names for their sons, as it was the interest of the family in establishing aristocratic credentials. So it would appear that perhaps the members of the upper crust were most likely to make use of maternal cognomina. -- Nephele

You're right, Roman women never became "liberated" in the modern sense, although they did achieve greater social recognition as time progressed -- particularly among the upper classes, and it was the imperial family which often set the trends of their day. But a more likely reason for Roman men to receive a cognomen fashioned from their maternal line (especially if their maternal line presented advantageous status) was due to the fact that the praenomen was going into disuse and being replaced by the cognomen as the distinguishing name. In fact, both Vespasian and his elder brother, Sabinus, had been given the same praenomen of "Titus" -- and Vespasian in turn named both of his own sons "Titus" -- showing that the praenomen was not the distinguishing name for sons within this family. While Vespasian's elder brother Titus received their father's cognomen of "Sabinus," Vespasian (the younger Titus) was called "Vespasianus" (after their mother, Vespasia). Then, when Vespasian had sons of his own, his own elder Titus received the father's cognomen, but the younger Titus (Domitian) was named for their mother (Vespasian's wife, Domitilla). -- Nephele

Certainly sounds right! As you said, Roman naming conventions had become quite flexible by that time, as evidenced by the fact that Roman women were acquiring names of more variety, adopting their own distinctive, feminine cognomina. -- Nephele

I found an article titled "The Descendants of Asinius Pollio" by James H. Oliver for The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 68, No. 2 (1947). If you (or anyone else) would like a PDF file of it, just PM me your e-mail address and I'll send it. I haven't had a chance to read it yet myself, but I'll be doing that tonight. -- Nephele

Maty, I think I had read somewhere that Caracalla had passed on the name of "Aurelius" to his many newly created Roman citizens. Am I remembering this wrong? Or perhaps Caracalla passed on both of these names -- the adopted "Aurelius" and the maternal "Julius" -- from his family line? It was my understanding that this is why the name of "Aurelius" became common among Rome's Jewish citizenry, as evidenced by the many Aurelii to be found in Jewish inscriptions. NYC's Jewish Museum, in fact, has an ancient Jewish burial plaque from Rome naming an Aurelia Progenia and an Aurelia Quintilla. -- Nephele

Absolutely. Though I have but one Grant in my personal collection (The Jews in the Roman World), I've made certain that my public library is well-stocked in Grants. -- Nephele

Have you checked out the DeviantART site? I have a few artist friends who have their work up there. Does that count as "publishing"? There's no payment involved, and I'm not certain how/if the site copyrights work placed on it. Your work does get a lot of exposure, though. When you join the community, though, there are fellow artists there who can give you advice, I imagine. -- Nephele

Broughton mentions quite a number of Julii who held magisterial positions during the Republic. And then there was Proculus Julius, mentioned by Livy (1.16) as having had a divine and inspiring vision following the disappearance/death of Rome's king and founding father, Romulus: For Proculus Julius, whilst the state was still troubled with regret for the king, and felt incensed against the senators, a person of weight, as we are told, in any matter however important, comes forward to the assembly, "Romans," he says, "Romulus, the father of this city, suddenly descending from heaven, appeared to me this day at day-break. While I stood covered with awe, and filled with a religious dread, beseeching him to allow me to see him face to face, he said, Go tell the Romans, that the gods so will, that my Rome should become the capitol of the world. Therefore let them cultivate the art of war, and let them know and hand down to posterity, that no human power shall be able to withstand the Roman arms. Having said this, he ascended up to heaven." Old Proculus Julius must've been kind of like Moses, serving as a conduit for god(s) and convincing the Romans of their destiny. -- Nephele

I'm paying $130 per month for a package which includes digital cable TV, telephone, and Internet. I don't get DVR but I don't record a lot of stuff off the teevee anyway, so I don't care about that. One extra feature I get with my service is free movie tickets on Tuesdays, and half-price movie tickets for any other day of the week (only applies to Clearview Cinemas, but they get all the movies anyway). I don't know if my area's Cablevision is better than U-verse, but I'm really pleased with it. Before this package, I was paying a ridiculous amount in telephone bills to Verizon (who absolutely suck goatass). Not to mention the fact that I don't know how much of my private records were turned over to the government by Verizon. (see linked Verizon article under "Controversies"). -- Nephele

Tying in with the title of this topic -- "The Importance of Ancestry" -- wouldn't it be intriguing if there were some way to determine whether Asinius Pollio was one of your own ancestors? Imagine having some of that Asinius Pollio DNA in your own make-up. I don't know if you have the chronology of Pollio's military and political career (I'm guessing you already do), but here's what Broughton gives for him: 49: With Caesar at the Rubicon, and later an officer under Curio in Sicily and in Africa. 48: Served under Caesar at Pharsalus. 47: Tribune of the Plebs. 46: Served under Caesar in Africa. 45: Served with Caesar in Spain; and also that year was a Praetor. 44-43: Governor, probably Proconsul, of Farther Spain. 41: Triumvir agris dividendis, assigned in the confiscation of land and the settlement of veterans in the Transpadane region. 40: Consul, aided in reconciling Antony and Octavian at Brundisium. After he abdicated the consulship, Antony appointed him Proconsul in Macedonia that year. 39: Proconsul of Macedonia. On October 25th of that year he celebrated a triumph over the Illyrian Parthini, whose revolt he had subdued. -- Nephele

It looks like Amazon is temporarily out of stock of Phang's book, The Marriage of Roman Soldiers, and a private bookseller listed at Amazon is selling the book for nearly double the price -- $219.79. Yikes. I did find a bookseller at AbeBooks who is selling a used copy in "very good" condition for $95. I had the opportunity to have a look at the book at the New York Public Library yesterday. It's a reference book, so they'll be holding it for me next Saturday as well, when I'm back again. While I didn't have much time to sit in the library and read the book yesterday, I did photocopy Chapter Five, which concentrates on the form and scope of the marriage ban for soldiers and Augustus' laws. Phang appears to be of the belief that the marriage of soldiers prior to the Augustan laws was somewhat permitted, or at least tolerated. She states that, in the Republic, Roman soldiers left behind their wives at home. However, she doesn't appear to address specifically your question, Maty, as to what happened to those soldiers who were already married at the time that Augustus passed his decree. At least, from what I've been able to read thus far in the book. (Wish I could've brought this book home with me!) Phang does state that the marriage ban was not so much a law as it was a mandata that had to be renewed by each successive emperor (presumably Augustus through Severus), and that its enforcement was up to the governors. One point that Phang brings up is her certainty that Augustus' marriage ban for soldiers didn't apply to those of the equestrian and senatorial ranks. Because, if it had, then the members of those ranks would have used enlistment into military service as a loophole for getting around Augustus' legislation promoting marriage of the upper orders. Anyway, thought you might like to know a bit of what's in the book before you receive it (if you've already ordered it). -- Nephele

NN, it's always a treat to get a glimpse of one of your latest model projects -- many thanks! I think I like your Roman houses best of all. As to the lawn in your peristyle... I did some checking and I don't think you need to do any really radical changes to your model, but perhaps you might want to poke a few ornamental shrubs, and perhaps even a miniature fruit tree, in that green section of your peristylium, rather than have it consist of just lawn? The Romans called that area of the peristylium the viridarium. One of my favorite authors on ancient Roman life and times, William Stearns Davis, takes us on a vividly descriptive tour of the Roman townhouse. Here is his description of the peristylium: "The heavy curtains have been swept aside from the broad passageways (fauces) which lead into the second court -- the peristylium. Here the atrium is duplicated -- but on a much more elaborate scale. There is another column-girdled court; but the pillars are taller and of an exquisite blue-veined marble. A huge curtain swings on its cords ready for expansion as the sun grows hot. Beneath the light-opening, there is not merely a second fountain, but a real plat of greensward, a viridarium, with a bright bed of rare flowers and even a few tropical plants. There is another phalanx of statues. Under the long quadrangular colonnades around the court are spread out deeply upholstered couches, easy chairs, small tables, and other appurtenances for luxurious existence. The ceilings of the colonnades and of the rooms leading thence are covered with metallic fretwork gilded in a soft sheen, while the intense light filters down gratefully between the columns and sinks to a pleasant twilight in the niches and nooks in the walls of the peristylium." -- Nephele

An interesting topic! But... Did the Romans even have lawns? I've always thought of lawns as being more of a modern fad -- or at least something that came into vogue within the past few centuries. I could be wrong, but I tend to think of the Romans as having been more inclined towards maintaining both ornamental and produce gardens, than expanses of land producing nothing but grass (unless that grass was to feed livestock). -- Nephele

I think he must've been inspired by your avatar. Is that the Hulk? If so, then I like "Hulkus Pulkus" for you. -- Nephele