Decimus (praenomen)

Decimus (praenomen)
This page is about the Latin praenomen. For a list of prominent individuals with this name, see Decimus (disambiguation).

Decimus (pronounced /ˈdɛsɨməs/ or /ˈdɛkɨməs/) is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, usually abbreviated D. Although never especially common, Decimus was used throughout Roman history from the earliest times to the end of the Western Empire and beyond, surviving into modern times. The feminine form is Decima. The name also gave rise to the patronymic gens Decimia.[1][2]

Decimus was especially favored by the plebeian gens Junia, which may originally have been patrician. However, the name does not seem to have been used regularly by any other patrician family. It was widespread amongst the plebeians, and resisted the general trend of uncommon praenomina to become less frequent over time, instead becoming more popular towards the end of the Roman Republic and into Imperial times.[3]

Origin and Meaning of the Name

Decimus is the Latin word for tenth, and it falls into a class of similar praenomina including the masculine names Quintus, Sextus, Septimus, Octavius, and Nonus, as well as the feminine names Prima, Secunda, Tertia, Quarta, Quinta, Sexta, Septima, Octavia, and Nona. It is generally believed that the name was originally given to a tenth child, a tenth son, or a tenth daughter. However, it has also been argued that Decimus and the other praenomina of this type could refer to the month of the year in which a child was born. It may be that such names were given for both reasons.[4][5]

Whatever the original reason for the name, it is clear from the historical record that parents frequently chose these praenomina because they were family names, and not because of their meaning. Chase cites the example of a grandfather, father, and son in gens Junia, each of whom bore the name Decimus, and achieved the consulship, as well as a later case in which the grandfather and father were both consuls. It was inconceivable that each of these was a tenth son, or even a tenth child. A similar case could be made for the many generations of certain families, such as the Fabii, who made extensive use of the praenomen Quintus, or the Julii with respect to the praenomen Sextus.[6][7]

The Oscan praenomen Decius or Deciis is derived from the same root, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Decia.[8][9]

See also

Praenomen

Notes

  1. ^ Dictionary of Greek & Roman Biography & Mythology
  2. ^ Mika Kajava, Roman Female Praenomina: Studies in the Nomenclature of Roman Women (1994)
  3. ^ Dictionary of Greek & Roman Biography & Mythology
  4. ^ George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII (1897)
  5. ^ Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd Ed. (1996)
  6. ^ George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII (1897)
  7. ^ Dictionary of Greek & Roman Biography & Mythology
  8. ^ Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft
  9. ^ Dictionary of Greek & Roman Biography & Mythology

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • PRAENOMEN — Isidoro hinc vocitatum est, quod nomini praeponatur, ut Livius, Quintus, i. e. nominigentis; quam ob causam Nomini proprio apud nos respondet. Cum enim varia Romani nomina haberent, Praenomen eiusdem familiae distinguebat Fratres: Nomen signabat… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Praenomen — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda El praenomen de los romanos correspondia al nombre de pila en la actualidad, siendo el único nombre en que los padres tenían elección. Por regla general, sólo la familia inmediata llamaba a una persona por su… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Decimus — was a Roman praenomen. It means tenth , and was originally used as a name for tenth sons, but it was later used as a generic name. Among those named Decimus were: Decimus Clodius Albinus, would be emperor of the 2nd century AD Decimus Junius… …   Wikipedia

  • Decimus — war ein antiker römischer Vorname (praenomen). Er bedeutet im Lateinischen so viel wie „der Zehnte“ oder „der im zehnten Monat/December geborene“. Auf Inschriften wurde der Name mit einem D. abgekürzt. Bekannte Namensträger Decimus Iunius Brutus… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Decimus Turullius — Decimus (oder Publius[1]) Turullius (oder Turulius) (* vermutlich vor 74 v. Chr.; † 30 v. Chr. auf Kos) war ein römischer Politiker und Militär, der zum Kreis der Verschwörer gegen Gaius Iulius Caesar gehörte. Decimus Turullius wird als einer der …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Praenomen — See Praenomen (Ancient Egypt) for the pharaonic throne name. In Roman naming conventions, the praenomen (literally forename , plural praenomina ) was the only name in which parents had some choice, roughly equivalent to the given name of today.… …   Wikipedia

  • Praenomen — Der im alten Rom verwendete Vorname (lateinisch praenomen) war das erste Glied der tria nomina männlicher römischer Bürger. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Männliche Vornamen 2 Weiblicher Name 3 Literatur 4 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Octavius (praenomen) — This page is about the Latin praenomen. For a list of persons with this name, see Octavius (disambiguation). Octavius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name. It was never particularly common at Rome, but may have been used more frequently in the… …   Wikipedia

  • Nonus (praenomen) — Nonus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name. It was never particularly common at Rome, but may have been used more frequently in the countryside. Although not attested in surviving Latin inscriptions, the name must have been used occasionally,… …   Wikipedia

  • Claudia (gens) — Tiberius Claudius Nero, Second Roman Emperor The gens Claudia, sometimes written Clodia, was one of the most prominent patrician houses at Rome. The gens traced its origin to the earliest days of the Roman Republic. The first of the Claudii to… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”