Nephele

dianamt54, I think your maiden name that you PM'ed me worked much better, for the sort of gentler name/persona you wanted. Here you go! You are the daughter of the famous jurisconsult, Aterius, and so you bear his nomen gentilicium in the feminine form. You were born in the month of December, during the holiday of the Saturnalia. And so your father, being in a merry mood, decided to call you "Decembrina," his lovely December daughter. This became your cognomen, and the name by which others know you. Your full Roman name is: Ateria Decembrina = nadaiaiemretherb -h +a -- Nephele

The Fabia gens was fourth in producing the greatest number of magistrates for the Roman Republic, following the Cornelia gens (first), the Claudia gens (second), and the Valeria gens (third). I have attempted here to list and define the various surnames used by the Fabii of the Republic, particularly those who served in magisterial positions during the time of the Republic as noted in Broughton's Magistrates of the Roman Republic. For the purpose of this list, I have included cognomina, adoptive cognomina, and agnomina under the collective term of "surnames." ...read the full article of the Surnames of the Fabii

dianamt54, you are a ! Your arena name is "Eudoxia" -- which is Greek, meaning "good glory." And the glory of victory is precisely what you crave and give your admiring fans. Your cognomen is "Andabata," which describes your style of fighting -- and that is while wearing a helmet without eyeholes for seeing! But you are such a ferocious warrior woman, that fighting blind is no problem for you. Your keen sense of hearing, your balance, and swiftness more than compensate, and your opponents are easily dispatched by you. Your full Roman name is: Eudoxia Andabata = dintaadeiahubox -hi +aa Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

No, the patrician and plebes titles that you see below people's screen names on this board have to do with UNRV membership levels. But in this topic, when I say that someone's Hidden Roman Name means that person is a "patrician" or a "plebeian," I'm referring to the ancient Roman gens which makes up their anagrammed or blanagrammed name, and whether that particular gens was patrician or plebeian. I'll be back later with your Hidden Roman Name, dianamt54! -- Nephele

I believe you're objecting to the inclusion of Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu for the wrong reasons. "Influential" does not necessarily equal "benign." Note that Hitler, Stalin, Ghengis Khan, etc. are also on the list. -- Nephele

Falconius, you are a member of the Cloelia gens, and therefore a patrician. Your cognomen of "Genialis" describes your pleasant, genial nature. Your praenomen is "Publius," traditionally abbreviated as "P." Your full Roman name is: P. Cloelius Genialis = oeiehlpgniiallcss -h +u Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

dianamt54, your scramble is a bit too long to work with. Could you remove your middle name from it? Thanks. Falconius, same with yours. Could you remove your middle name from the scramble? Thanks. -- Nephele

It's arguable if christianity is incompatible with eugenics per se; for one, that wasn't the case for the Spanish Inquisition. Your pedigree was checked for no less than five generations in the search of muslim and/or hebrew ascendence when you were employed by the state. The Christian Spaniards of the 15th century had a term -- limpieza de sangre -- which referred to "purity of blood," and which extended beyond denial of government employment to people of Jewish descent. It included certain prohibitions of intermarriage between converted Jews and Christians. The Spanish government maintained carefully compiled lists of the conversos or "New Christians" (Jews who converted to Christianity, most of whom having little choice but to convert). While many of these practices against people of Jewish descent continued right up into the 19th century, they have since been discontinued. It wasn't "god" who suddenly told these people that what they were doing was wrong. They decided for themselves that this was wrong. Because people change as times change. Which reveals the irony in some Christians' aversion to theories of evolution, as Christianity itself is evolving. -- Nephele

Funny story. "Tree rat," heheh. That reminds me of my mom who, upon seeing a city squirrel, would wave her hand in dismissal and say: "It's just a rat with a fancy tail." -- Nephele

Birthday hails to you, LW! -- Nephele

Well, Livia passed by adoption into the Livian family as the result of her father (originally a member of the patrician Claudii Pulchri) having been adopted by a plebeian Livius Drusus. Broughton's Magistrates of the Roman Republic includes a "M. (Livius) Drusus (Claudianus)" who was either a Praetor or Iudex in the year 50 BCE. If this is the same Livius Drusus Claudianus who was Livia's father, around the time of his adoption into the Livii, then Livia would have been a very young child when her father was adopted. -- Nephele

Mmmm... yeasty. Just polling for opinions here... Do you think the name "Lysia Tyger" is a great name for a teevee character who is a seductively beautiful (and somewhat dangerous) woman of intrigue? It anagrams into "Yeasty Girl." -- Nephele

I'm glad you got the help you needed. Hang in there. -- Nephele

George Long (19th century Late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge), in his article "Adoptio" for Smith's Dictionary, wrote that "The Lex Julia et Papia Poppaea gave certain privileges to those who had children, among which privileges was a preference in being appointed to the praetorship and such offices. This led to an abuse of the practice of adoption; for childless persons adopted children in order to qualify themselves for such offices, and then emancipated their adopted children." So, presumably, if males were not readily available for adoption, females might make do as far as taking advantage of these legal loopholes. Additionally, the adoption of a female would be less expensive than the adoption of a male, because the adoptive father (of the senatorial rank) obviously would not have the expense of sponsoring a daughter through the cursus honorum, as he might be obliged to do with a son. Otherwise, an adoption of a female apparently could serve pretty much in the same way as the adoption of a male in further cementing (beyond marriage) the bond between two illustrious families, as Augustus did in his will, which adopted Livia into the Julii. But this is an interesting topic that I don't think has been covered here before, and I'm looking forward to other members' input. -- Nephele

You guys share a day? Have a double birthday hail! And a very cool day. -- Nephele

Holy shit. How do they make that stuff? Did they get Rosie O'Donnell to sit in a bucket of tomato juice? -- Nephele

Colleen McCullough wrote that Catulus had been adopted from the Julii? Hmm... I wonder what source she used? I did a quick search for reviews of McCullough's book to see whether anyone else might have picked up on this, and came across this June 26, 2003 posting at the Ancient Worlds discussion board: An Error in McCullough I haven't read McCullough's novel, but if she does refer to the consul of 102 BCE as "Q. Lutatius Catulus Caesar" then I can at least add here that nowhere in my copy of Broughton's Magistrates of the Roman Republic does the name of Q. Lutatius Catulus appear in that form. -- Nephele

No, Quintus Lutatius Catulus was not adopted from the Julii. Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology doesn't make any mention of Catulus the consul of 102 BCE having been adopted from the Julii. Smith's does, however, cite Cicero as a source for mentioning that Catulus had a half-brother who was of the Julii, as their mother, Popillia, had married for a second time to Lucius Julius Caesar. Additionally, M

Clear skies tonight over Long Island. I was just watching it. Beautiful. -- Nephele

"Many of the names on this list we have not come across before. So it gives us a lot of clues about that half of that century." I do hope they publish what they've been able to get off the fragments. -- Nephele

Reading Quo Vadis? is an excellent suggestion from MPC. For a short story that depicts how Rome's early Christians concealed their faith, you could try Caroline Lawrence's "Bread and Circuses," which was published in the anthology: The Mammoth Book of Roman Whodunnits (edited by Mike Ashley with an introduction by Steven Saylor). Caroline Lawrence has also written an entertaining series of ancient Roman mystery novels for children (although adults and young adult readers can find these enjoyable, too), and one of her characters in fact is a Jewish boy whose family are members of the new Christian cult. -- Nephele

The ending of "-inus" could indicate an adoptive cognomen, no different from one ending in "-ianus," or it could be a derivation from the father's nomen gentilicium (as in Corvus/Corvinus and Lactuca/Lactucinus of the Valerii). As it was, the Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus who was consul in 148 BCE had been adopted from the Caesonia gens, and "Caesoninus" became a hereditary, second cognomen of the Republican Calpurnii Pisones Caesonini. -- Nephele

Flavius, you are a descendent of that Calventius whose mother was a Gaul and who was viewed as a bit of a social upstart. You worked hard to win acceptance in Roman society, and eventually found that acceptance. To celebrate, you adopted the cognomen of "Renatanus," signifying a re-birth, of sorts. Your praenomen is "Marcus," traditionally abbreviated as "M." Your full Roman name is: M. Calventius Renatanus = aiaacrmnnsvklstenyte -ky +uu Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele