Roman Names

M. Caelius T. f. Lemonia Bononia

This is the official name of a centurion of Legio XIIX preserved on an inscription now in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn, Germany (CIL XIII 8648; AE 1952). His name embodies the elements of Roman naming practice. It translates as ‘Marcus Caelius, son of Titus, of the voting tribe of Lemonia, from Bononia’. Marcus is his forename (praenomen) by which his family and close friends called him. In inscriptions, public records and narrative texts it was abbreviated. The standard abbreviations for common praenomina were:

A.	Aulus
Ap.	Appius
C. or G.	Caius or Gaius
Cn. or Gn.	Cnaeus or Gnaeus Ser Servius
D.	Decimus
L.	Lucius
M.	Marcus
Mam.	Mamius
M’.	Manius
P	Publius
Q	Quintus Cn.
Sex	Sextus
Sp.	Spurius
T.	Titus
Ti.	Tiberius

Caelius is his clan or family name (nomen genticulum). Many of these clans, such as the Claudia and Cornelia, were famous old families of Rome with proud traditions. Then follows the filiation or patrymonic of the father’s praenomen, whose full name would have been Titus Caelius. As a Roman citizen, his family was associated with one of thirty-five voting tribes: in elections Caelius voted with the Lemonian tribe. The final element is the place of his birth (origo) or domicile (domus), which is in this case Bononia, modern Bologna in Italy. Together, these distinguished this particular Marcus Caelius from another bearing the same name. To clearly tell men apart with the same name, with their warped sense of humour, Romans often adopted a third nickname (cognomen) such as Rufus ‘red haired’, Paulus ‘shorty’ or Brutus ‘stupid’. Men who had achieved great victories in war might be granted use of a honorific title commemorating where they were won, such as Africanus meaning ‘the African’ (or ‘of Africa’) or Germanicus, ‘the German’ (or ‘of Germania’).

Let him who desires peace prepare for war.

Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.

P. Flavius Vegetius Renatus, On Military Matters 3 Introduction.