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Roman Name Structure

Satisfactory Essays

In the section dedicated to the study of the onomastics, we have already explained that the structure of the Roman name was not static and changed during years. As a consequence, the presence of some type of names as those consisting of a praenomen and nomen which lack of a cognomen could indicate an early chronology in which this last part of the name was not yet included .
Nevertheless, although the name structure can be a complementary element for dating an inscription, it does not express any specific chronology by itself. The name structures represented in the epitaphs and religious inscription could not be a complete name as it was not an official document in which having to specify it. Also, the evolution of the name structure did not …show more content…

We will only present those which appear in the inscriptions of our area but there are others which were used in other regions that also suggest certain chronology .
Funerary
Dis Manibus: this formula is one of the most popular among the funerary inscriptions. In Italy it started to appear in Augustan Era, became popular by the time of Flavian dynasty and it was generalised by the 2nd century in the rest of the provinces . As a consequence, it is used as a valid postquem element for dating the inscriptions
Sit tibi terra leuis: this was other of the most frequent formula in the funerary inscriptions. Unfortunately, it was used during all the Imperial time and it not useful for determining the chronology of our inscriptions.
Hic situs est: as the previous one, it was a common formula during the Imperial time and it cannot be connect to unique period. It was used as an early chronology element by some scholars but its presence in inscriptions from later chronology is nowadays proved .
Monumentum: it was used in Hispania from the second half of the 2nd century onwards

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