Nephele

I hear you now. Sorry I haven't responded sooner. I've been working odd hours and I'm really wiped. Welcome "home", G.O. -- Nephele

The names Venus and Juno may appear masculine, but a Latin dictionary does give them both as being feminine words, despite the appearance of their endings. I can at least offer an explanation for the masculine-appearing ending of the name Venus, from Norman W. DeWitt, Professor of Latin Emeritus in Victoria College, the University of Toronto. In a couple of articles on Latin semantics for The Classical Journal in 1936 and 1940, Dr. DeWitt explained that the word Venus, -eris "ought to be neuter like genus, -eris." The word had been used to mean "fruit" and, as such, Venus was originally a goddess of gardens before the Romans began to associate her with the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. That, even though Venus was already a garden deity, "identification of Venus with Aphrodite may have quickened the semantic shift," thereby making Venus undeniably feminine. In a reverse direction, the Latin word cupido, -inis is feminine, yet the Roman Cupid became a masculine deity by equation with the masculine Greek deity of Eros. -- Nephele

My favorite old book on ancient Roman society, W.S. Davis' A Day in Old Rome, states that there was a ready supply of physicians willing to "put the patient out of his misery -- with results deliberately murderous." So... I wonder to what extent euthanasia might have been practiced on barely functional, mentally ill family members in those Roman households where the embarrassment of having such a family member exceeded the burden of caring for such a member? -- Nephele

WOW! An instrument that beautiful and costly should have a name. How about a meaningful anagram? Using your name scramble that you gave me awhile back, for "I am ______'s"... I am ymklejcntloi's = Emilyn LostMajick Or, do you have the title of a favorite musical piece for harp, that might be 'grammed into a name? -- Nephele

Dionysus, the "counter-culture god", eh? Now I know why I like that god so much. I especially enjoyed your description of Dionysus as "a god who obliterated boundaries; the boundaries between individual and group, between man and god, between man and woman, between life and death. There was no other cult in Greece quite like it; it seemed to be a mockery of the central Greek ideals of reason, sobriety, moderation and clearly defined boundaries." Dionysus seems to be an archetypal anti-authoritarian. I have one thing to discuss with you about Dionysus, but will PM you, as I don't want to go off on a tangent here. Intriguing essay! -- Nephele

Thank you, DecimusCaesar! I'm at work right now, but when I'm home later I'll have some time to put together my birthday pressie to you in the form on a "birthday suit" anagram alias that you can wear to my virtual party! EDIT: I'm back again. DecimusCaesar, you don't have a signature or a motto in your profile, so all I had to work with was your name. For my birthday present to you, I've anagrammed you into an Emperor Physician, named... Caesar Medicus = DecimusCaesar If your mother had dreams of you becoming a doctor, well, now you are! -- Nephele

Gaius Octavius, you've emerged from hibernation just to wish me a happy birthday? It's good to see you, o Pater Arcanae! For my birthday present to you, I shall anagram for you an alias out of your signature (which I recognize from Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Cask of Amontillado"): "Nemo Me Impune Lacesit" = I Am Me, Clementinus Poe ************************************************************** MPC, thanks for the birthday hail! My birthday present to you is an anagrammed alias from your signature. Although that quote is attributed to Seneca, nevertheless, one who uses it is a "Son of Cato". "Bonis nocet qui malis parcet" = Mister Pascquilino Ben-Cato -- Nephele

Manius Pontius, you are of the Trebonia gens which, while a plebian gens, "was of considerable antiquity, and gained distinction as early as B.C. 447." Your cognomen is "Celer", meaning "swift", which describes you as being both swift of foot and swift of thought. Your praenomen is "Gaius", which is more commonly abbreviated with a "C.", but because you are fond of innovation, you've taken to using that new letter "G." to abbreviate your praenomen. Your full Roman name is: G. Trebonius Celer = ciorlngrtykbeee -yk +us Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

Thank you for your kind words, Augusta. I've a special birthday gift for you, inspired by the quote in your profile: "Hemlock is the spice of life." (Love it!) You get an alias anagrammed from your alter ego... Livia, Lady Hemlock = Mikaila Lovechyld ************************************ Asclepiades, you found an asteroid named Nephele? You're always digging up interesting information -- you should have been a librarian. In fact, for my birthday gift to you, I'll anagram you an alias inspired by your princely, informational skills: Asclepiades, Librarian = Prince Alasdair Blaise -- Nephele

Is "Ni Phwll" a Welsh equivalent of "Nephele"? Thank you! -- Nephele

Yay! I'm bringing a virtual case of my favorite Riesling for all: Kung Fu Girl. Enjoy! -- Nephele

It certainly has. But then, the first year of one's life is always full of amazing discoveries. (I'm one year old!) For my birthday present to you, Moonlapse, I shall anagram for you a new identity which defines you as being our: Moonlapse, Techno Wizard = Zero Cool PhantasmWinde Zero Cool, as you may already know, is a character from the 1995 movie, Hackers. -- Nephele

Ah, a dark, arcane summoning of the Prince of Perplexities, himself! Glad to hear that ol' G.O. is still around, somewhere. Am sending much love and positive thoughts his way. -- Nephele

Aw...! Thanks, Flavia! But, gosh, I'm no Rome expert -- especially compared to you and most other folks around here. Although I will admit that names are my game -- including Roman nomenclature. And now for my birthday present to you, you get a choice of aliases to wear, revealing that your character is you: "Caroline est Flavia" = Laverna Felicitosa Vestilla Ferociana ***************************************************** DoL, I thought you'd like the Godiva alias -- and you are a great lady, so there! *Nephele happily receives the wine, ale, and nibblies provided by DoL, and passes them around to the guests as they arrive at the party.* -- Nephele

Thanks, Pertinax, for that gorgeous painting for my birthday! Hmm... Are you sure the lady in that painting isn't at NYC's Chelsea Piers, gazing out over the Hudson River? Now, as for my birthday present to you... I've swiped one of your sigs for anagramming your "birthday suit" -- wear it well! Cesar Potestio Poirot = "Spectato Repositorio!" You're "Cesar Potestio" (Caesar the Powerful) plus Poirot -- the famous, fictional gourmet detective. Although I doubt that Poirot knew half as much about fine dining, wines, and herbs as you do. ********************************************** Docoflove, I'm always ready to party -- and you throw the best virtual parties! They're legendary, in fact. For my birthday present to you, here's a choice of romance novel-inspired identities for you to try on (with bodices!): Godiva Moorcastle Octavia Somergold = Doc o' Love, Magistra -- Nephele

Faustus, thank you for that fascinating, personal, behind-the-scenes look into one of my all-time favorite movies, Breaking Away. I have the DVD, and now I'm going to print up what you wrote and keep it with my DVD of that movie. I don't remember if the origin of the term "Cutters" was explained in the movie as thoroughly as you did here. For some reason, I had gotten the impression that the non-college kids were called "cutters" because "cut" their high school classes. Your explanation gives a historical (and much better) perspective to the term. Thanks, again! Grazie! -- Nephele

Thank you, Primus Pilus, for your kind words. You know I think the world of UNRV and the people here, and I can think of no better place in which to be growing up (I'm 1 year old today!). And now, my birthday present for you. Since your RL name is no secret, and is in your sig (I'm raiding sigs today), I've anagrammed a "birthday suit" for you, too! Tse-Chin the Warrior = Chris Heaton, Writer The characters in the Pinyin Chinese name of "Tse-Chin" translate into "Standard-Industrious". You are a warrior for the preservation of history, and you set a standard for us all with your industrious commitment to this site. -- Nephele

Thank you, Ursus! And, since I'm naturally contrary, I shall be the one giving out birthday presents today. For you, Ursus, I'll give you a snappy, new identity suit to wear -- an anagram alias of your signature "Cacatne ursus in silvis?": Crassicius Valentinus = "Cacatne ursus in silvis?" Ooo, that looks spiffy on you! -- Nephele (1 year old today!)

Sometimes agnomina became hereditary, and then the sons (and daughters, too) might carry on the name. I previously mentioned Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Maior, and he was called "Maior" because one of his sons was known as Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Minor ("Minor" being somewhat like our "Junior"). In addition to at least one other son named Africanus, P. Scipio Africanus Maior also had a couple of daughters named Cornelia Scipionis Africana, although they would have been distinguished by either "Maior" and "Minor", or "Prima" and "Secunda" respectively. Actually, the Emperor Claudius did bear the additional agnomen of Britannicus, himself -- which was granted to him by Senate decree. VTC, nice list you found at Wikipedia. There are a few more praenomina I could add to that, including Novius, Statius, Sertor, Ovius, Iulus, etc. Many of these praenomina were in use among the rural peoples of Italy living outside the city of Rome itself. -- Nephele

Praebitorae, you are a freedwoman of Rome. Your former mistress was the notable woman orator, Hortensia: "Daughter of the orator Q. Hortensius. She partook of his eloquence, and spoke before the triumvirs in behalf of the wealthy matrons, when these were threatened with a special tax to defray the expenses of the war against Brutus and Cassius." You admired and served your mistress well. For your reward she, freed you. Your slave name was "Aesyle", meaning in Greek "elusive" -- which is also the name of one of the Hyades, the nymphs that were turned into stars that bring rain. As is customary in Rome, upon manumission you adopted the name of your mistress, adding your own name on as your cognomen. Your full Roman name is: Hortensia Aesyle = Elenaoise ab Rhys -b +t Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

I'll forward these translations to my Latin scholar friend as well, and let you know what I get back. Andrew Dalby doesn't appear to have been around lately, but if he sees this, I'm sure he'll have some input for you. And, hey -- bon voyage (bonum iter?) on your upcoming trip to Bulgaria! -- Nephele

Ah, yes, I see what you mean! -- Nephele

Actually, there were quite a few praenomina (compared to what most people commonly read about Roman names). At least 64 have been recorded. The reality is that there were few praenomina in common use. And, while former slaves did customarily take the praenomina and nomina gentilicia of their former masters, there wasn't much concern about confusion because the freedman would continue to use his original name as his new cognomen. As in the case of Tiro, the slave of Marcus Tullius Cicero. Upon manumission, Tiro became "Marcus Tullius Tiro." -- Nephele

Short and quick answer... The patrician families were the first to employ cognomina, to distinguish different families within the same gens. (Just as today, we hear of "The Boston Cabots" or "The New York Astors".) The plebians varied in their use of cognomina, although eventually many of them wound up copying the patricians in order to sport the tria nomina that became a distinctive sign of Roman citizenship. Not all did, however. And then, there were those notable Romans for whom three names just weren't enough, and so they added on agnomina to celebrate various honors given to them, as well as to distinguish themselves from an older (Maior) or younger (Minor) member of the family with the same name. As was the case with Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Maior. EDIT: Added note... Actually, Marcus Antonius (the triumvir) was of a plebian family. -- Nephele

Yes, but even in that old Star Trek episode (titled "Bread and Circuses") the Roman Empire was depicted as being on the verge of collapse. This is revealed only at the end of that episode, when the Enterprise is about to leave and Lt. Uhura informs the Star Trek crew that she has been picking up some interesting transmissions from the planet. That "the children of the sun" (the peaceniks whom Kirk & Co. had previously presumed to be a foreign cult to Rome, consisting of sun-worshippers) were actually saying all the time that they were "the children of the Son" -- referring to a Christ-figure who had emerged that would eventually change the culture of the planet. So, according to Star Trek, even on other, industrialized worlds the fall of Rome was inevitable. As for cultures tending to stagnate in times of peace... I'm not entirely convinced that this need be so. If a civilization's energies might be directed towards science, that civilization might then discover an entirely different "battlefield" in which to engage and satisfy an instinctual drive to conquer -- such as conquering disease, feeding populations, and engineering out of deserts and oceans new living environments for the world's growing population. Perhaps it's all a science fiction dream, like Star Trek. But the Romans were engineering masters, after all, and I wonder whether they put as much effort into their innovations -- and science -- as they might have. I don't think our present society is doing so. -- Nephele