Elin Gregory

 Nomen – also praenomen and cognomen

{click on the picture to get to the list of A to Zedders}

[yes, we pronounce Z as zed in the UK. There is a good reason for this but I’m not talking about that in this post]

This chap here is Marcus Junius Brutus – well known as one of the men who put paid to Julius Caesar’s ambitions to become King of Rome. Not bad looking, is he? I thought it would be nice to have a decent looking model for a little short lesson about Roman naming practices.

The most important part of the name was the nomen – the family name that indicated to which ‘tribe’ you belonged – and in a normal three word name that would take the middle position. Junius in Marcus Junius Brutus’s case.

The praenomen was similar to our given name and tended to be used just in the family home and amongst close friends. There were a limited number of given names and it was common to call sons after fathers or grandfathers so the cognomen, or nickname, was necessary to tell them apart.

Cognomens had been used for so many years that some had lost all meaning and others were bestowed in an ironic manner. Brutus, meaning slow, heavy or foolish, seems a strange nickname for a gifted man who was a clever politician, an accomplished strategist and generally considered to be nice man.

Other famous cognomens include:

Caesar – this was an old cognomen used in the Julian family, the first recorded incidence was 218 BC, and it means ‘hairy’. That it was applied to Gaius Julius Caesar who was prematurely bald may have been a coincidence but it was very appropriate.

Plautus – an ancient cognomen. The most famous user was Titus Maccius Plautus c. 254–184 BC, a writer of comedies of the broader sort. Plautus means “flat feet”.

Ahenobarbus – also the nomen of an aristocratic family, the name literally means ‘bronze beard’. One of the most famous users was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who after his adoption into the Claudian family, was known as Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, because the grander you wee the more cognomens you got.

Finally, my favourite – Caligula. When Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus [praenomen, nomen, cognomen, cognomen, cognomen] was a very small boy his father was commander of the Rhine frontier and the legions made Gaius their mascot, taking up a collection to have a tiny set of military uniform made, including caligae – hobnailed military boots – hence Caligula “Little boots”. Given such a military background and the love of the legions he could have become a great general, but instead he became a famous loony who married his sister, promoted his favourite horse to – um – let’s translate it as Chief Justice, and regularly used to demand that the members of his court provide their wives and daughters, and a few comely sons, to amuse him if he was bored. He was not a nice man and prohibited anyone from being taller than he was and banned goats [and all mention of goats] because he thought they were mocking him for being hairy.

So names – very important and it’s always worth looking up the definition even if the name sounds very pretty, as I bet Miss Cloaca Morris wishes her parents had done.