Nephele

Nicely weird, cryptozoological label on that bottle there. I'd buy it for that label alone. -- Nephele

That explains everything. What branch? Plebeian or patrician? Suetonius wrote that the Livii (the adoptive gens of Livia's father) were plebeian, but that the Claudian branch of Livia's father's birth family (the Claudii Pulchri) was patrician. -- Nephele

Wow. It actually makes so much sense now, that I happened to have been born on the most depressing day of the year. Talk about being born under a bad sign. DDickey, you sound almost goth, there. So, as a birthday gift to you, I'm going to anagram you a goth name. ('Gramming goth names is actually a specialty of mine, which I do on a number of goth/fetish message boards). Using the name scramble you'd given me awhile back for your Hidden Roman Name, I hereby dub you... Launcelot Deadlykin = diadcenoleutkanlly Happy Beastday! -- Nephele

Wow! I've found someone else who enjoys the Don Camillo stories! My absolute favorite (and I can't remember the title, it was so long ago) was the one about the hunting dog that was absolutely useless at hunting. And Peppone the mayor was going to have his henchman kill the dog. But Don Camillo saved the dog. (This was actually a very funny story, despite the way it sounds.) I've got to dig out those stories again and read them, now that you've reminded me of them. Wonderful, wonderful stories of humanity. And, while I'm at it... Damon Runyon rules. -- Nephele

Public library administration is what I do for a living. Many of my personal passions can be found out by accessing my UNRV Member Profile. Some of my personal passions, however, are too private to disclose. -- Nephele

Thanks for the information, Maty! So, the Asina story from Macrobius is apocryphal, then? And there were no Cornelii before the consul of 221 BCE to bear that surname? I'll have to amend my list, then. Considering that my Macrobius reference is from the 4th century CE and so far removed from the time of the original events, I can believe it may have been a bubbe meiseh. Do you have an ancient source to which I can refer? Also, what is your opinion on the thought that there may not have been a Potitia gens at all, but that the potitii were actually some sort of class of priesthood, possibly even public slaves to begin with? This I read in a footnote to F.X. Ryan's article "Some Observations on the Censorship of Claudius and Vitellius, A.D. 47-48" (The American Journal of Philology, 1993). In his footnote, Ryan quoted from recently deceased classics professor Robert E.A. Palmer's earlier article: "Palmer, 'Censors of 312 B.C.' 293-308, argued that the potitii were never members of a Roman clan, but public slaves like their successors; the urban praetor probably began his supervision of the cult in 312, replacing the Pinarii. Though the removal of the potitii could have resulted from the censorial power to let out contracts for the purchase of slaves, Claudius with his teacher might have believed that the republican censorship exercised a supervision over the state religion. But Claudius perhaps understood the censorship better: he asked for a decree of the Senate when undertaking the sole religious reform of his censorship." Palmer's original article appeared in a 1965 issue of Historia, which I'm trying to track down. Again, many thanks for your additions/corrections! -- Nephele

I believe Primus Pilus covered that when he gave the Roman mile of 5,000 feet. Our modern-day mile is equal to 5,280 feet. -- Nephele

A British psychologist has calculated that January 24th is the "most depressing day" of the year, so I figure we all need to celebrate a birthday today and PARTY! Thanks for supplying us with your day, DDickey. And, definitely, have a cool day today -- not a depressing one! -- Nephele

"Roman Life was both a great joy and highly informative to read. The book itself is a worthy tome, but the addition of the CD elevates it to truly great horizons. Read in conjunction with Clarke's "Roman Sex" I think one would have a true appreciation of the Roman soul." I purchased Clarke's Roman Sex based on your review and recommendation and found it a totally engrossing read. I'll definitely be adding Clarke's Roman Life to my personal collection. Many thanks for another fine review, Ursus! -- Nephele

Geekitude is something I can definitely relate to -- and the families of ancient Rome have my all-consuming interest, too. Thanks again for your kind words, CS. I'm freakin' blushing. -- Nephele

Thank you, Cornelius Sulla! Do you have a personal interest in the Roman families, or are you inquiring about them in conjunction with school/university course work? I'm glad to have been of help. -- Nephele

Thank you, MPC. Yes, it would seem logical that "Asina" might describe a personality trait of donkey-like stubbornness, especially considering the great number of pejorative cognomina that were in existence. However, the fact that "Asina" literally translates into "she-ass" suggests another meaning behind the name, else why should the she-ass be considered more stubborn than the he-ass? (Comparisons to women vs. men will not be appreciated here! ) But Macrobius tells the story of the Cornelian Asinae in his Saturnalia -- an English translation of which I found difficult to come by and had to research at the New York Public Library. As for the disappearance of the Potitii... I didn't go into them in depth because they weren't related to the Claudii, being an entirely different gens. They are not mentioned at all in Broughton's Magistrates as having held any magisterial positions during the Republic which, yes, does seem odd, considering that they were an ancient family. But Livy gives a brief accounting of the legendary disappearance of the Potitii in Book IX, Chapter 29 of his History (translated by D. Spillan and Cyrus Edmonds): "A circumstance is recorded, wonderful to be told, and one which should make people scrupulous of disturbing the established modes of religious solemnities: for though there were, at that time, twelve branches of the Potitian family, all grown-up persons, to the number of thirty, yet they were every one, together with their offspring, cut off within the year; so that the name of the Potitii became extinct, while the censor Appius also was, by the unrelenting wrath of the gods, some years after, deprived of sight." Smith's Dictionary also gives an accounting of the disappearance of the Potitii, adding (from other ancient sources) that Appius Claudius had originally induced the Potitii to forego their sacred duties in favor of public slaves performing them, for the sum of 50,000 pounds of copper. In the same article, Niebuhr is cited as having been skeptical of the tale of the avenging god, and having attributed the disappearance of the Potitii to a plague which occurred roughly fifteen or twenty years after the event with the priesthood of Hercules. Niebuhr also gives the reason why Appius Claudius had initiated all of this, it being that the worship of Hercules as conducted by the Potitii (and also by the Pinarii) had little to do with the State Religion, and so this is why Appius Claudius wanted public slaves to take over what had previously been a "family business." I suppose this might be kind of analogous to our modern-day phenomenon of government taking over private enterprise. Maty, in his Chronicle of the Roman Republic, also tells the story of Appius Claudius and the Potitii. Perhaps we can induce Maty to shed some more light on this event? -- Nephele

An interesting fellow. But, as you will see in my introduction, I was sticking mainly to those surnames found during the period of the Republic, belonging to those who held magisterial positions during that time. By the time of the Empire, there were many, many different surnames attached to the various gentes, and this was due to the many freedmen who assumed the nomina gentilicia of their former masters. But, anyway... Albinus is a surname meaning "white-haired" or "having a pale complexion." -- Nephele

The Claudia gens was second to the Cornelia gens in producing the greatest number of magistrates for the Roman Republic. "Clodius" was an alternate spelling of the name "Claudius" and, even though some members of the Claudii eventually chose to use the form of "Clodius" all the time while other Claudii alternated between spellings, both the Claudii and the Clodii were of the same original gens... ...read the full article about Surnames of the Claudii

Sorry! I seem to get the term "avatar" confused. Glad to see Klingan helped you out. And, yes, that's a cool cat. -- Nephele

Thanks for the props, Dol. cornelius_sulla, I think you may mean 100 individuals who were chosen to advise the king during the time of Rome's monarchy -- and not 100 families. Although these men were, of course, selected from Rome's leading patrician families of the time. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, in Book II, Chapter 12 of his history of Rome, wrote about the selection of these 100: "As soon as Romulus had regulated these matters he determined to appoint senators to assist him in administering the public business, and to this end he chose a hundred men from among the patricians, selecting them in the following manner. He himself appointed one, the best out of their whole number, to whom he thought fit to entrust the government of the city whenever he himself should lead the army beyond the borders. He next ordered each of the tribes to choose three men who were then at the age of greatest prudence and were distinguished by their birth. After these nine were chosen he ordered each curia likewise to name three patricians who were the most worthy. Then adding to the first nine, who had been named by the tribes, the ninety who were chosen by the curiae, and appointing as their head the man he himself had first selected, he completed the number of a hundred senators." The Julii and Fabii, being two of the most ancient patrician families of Rome, would have been represented in the earliest senate during the time of the monarchy. An old patrician family such as the Claudii, however, would not, as the Claudii came to Rome about six years after the last king had been expelled. For help with your question on patrician cognomina, I've already compiled a list of the Surnames of the Cornelii and the Surnames of the Claudii. I hope to cover eventually the surnames of all the Republican era patrician and prominent plebeian families. -- Nephele

Hey, I know that getting published is an important step in your career. I never had a formal paper published, but when I had my first article published in School Library Journal (on a new library program I'd conceived and designed for children) it gave me a boost. I've no doubt that your paper will not only be "worth much," but will also be worthy. -- Nephele

When your paper gets published (note: I said "when" -- not "if") can I get a signed copy? -- Nephele

I couldn't get through the first three chapters of that. Boring is right. I just have to chime in here and say that Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" was one of my all-time favorite stories as a kid. I fell in love with that character -- his obdurate contrariness with his employer ("I would prefer not to.") just cracked me up. The character appealed to me so that, in fact, I cried at the end of that story, experiencing a genuine sense of loss. Bartleby, in my opinion, is one of the quirkiest, most original characters in fiction. Forget Moby Dick -- it's Bartleby who was Melville's shining achievement. Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity! -- Nephele

Granny was most likely saying "moloik" as an abbreviated form of the Italian malocchio, which means "evil eye." A lot of Italian words here in the U.S. have been changed or abbreviated -- particularly in Sicilian slang -- almost to the point where they are hardly recognizable in the original Italian, such as "goomah" from comare and "proshoot" from prosciutto. UNRV member docoflove can most likely shed some more information on this, as she is not only of Italian ancestry but she is also a specialist in Romance languages. -- Nephele

Welcome, Ryan! Best wishes on your plan to return to college, major in history, and someday write a book. You'll find this site a great online "home" of folks with shared interests. -- Nephele

Belisarius Ryan, you are a member of the Annaei, a family which produced many notable Romans, including the great rhetorician Seneca the Elder and the great poet Lucan Your cognomen is "Raptor" -- a word though nowadays recognized as describing the most terrifyingly predatory dinosaur from Jurassic Park, in ancient Roman times it indicated one who was a robber who seized and abruptly made off with his prize. Your branch of the Annaei obtained this cognomen due to their unapologetic reputation of getting what they want. Your praenomen is "Tiberius" (abbreviated as "Ti.") Your full Roman name is: Ti. Annaeus Raptor = onaaypsreaktrnt -yk +iu Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

Click onto "My Controls" (which you should see at the top of your screen when you are logged in). You will be taken to a page with a Menu down the left. Scroll down to "Change Personal Photo" and click on that. You will be taken to a page where you will see instructions to "Upload an image from your computer." When you click on "Browse" that will pull up your computer's files. Click on your computer file which contains the picture you want, then click on the link for that particular picture. The rest should be self-explanatory. -- Nephele

Tiberius Gracchus, you are a member of the Pedanii, a gens which gave to birth several notable Romans, two of whom were most noted for their bravery: Titus Pedanius, a centurion who was distinguished in the second Punic War, and a horse-soldier named Pedanius whose bravery was written of by Josephus at the capture of Jerusalem. Your cognomen of "Elva" indicates light-colored (reddish-yellow) hair in your ancestry. (Despite the -a ending, Elva/Helva is a masculine cognomen.) Your praenomen is "Decimus" (abbreviated as "D."). Your full Roman name is: D. Pedanius Elva = ulviedandakpe -k +s Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

The second century Roman author Aulus Gellius is a source for the requirements in the selection of a Vestal Virgin. Here is an online translation of Gellius for you, at LacusCurtius. This comes from Book 1, Chapter 12 of Gellius' Noctes Atticae: -- Nephele