Roman-Christian vandalism of Greek & Roman statues
in early 4th century AD, with emperor constantine's conversion to christianity, and the edict of milan (which gave freedom of religion to roman citizens, and legalised christianity) christianity had begun to overtake rome. under Constantine’s reign the suppression of paganism began, pagan places of worship lost funding, some were repurposed for christian use and some were destroyed. Constantine and his successors authorised and encouraged the burning of pagan books and the destruction and defacement of pagan temples, statues, sacred sites, art works, and anything else they believed was ‘challenging christianity’. By the late 4th century christianity had overtaken Rome, and polytheistic religion was a thing of the past.
1. defaced statue of unknown goddess, 2nd - 1st century BC, Archaeological Museum of Samos 2. bust of roman general, Germanicus, 14-20 CE, the British Museum 3. head of Aphrodite, 1st century AD, National Archaeological Museum of Athens 4. bust of Emperor Augustus, n.d, the Ephesus Museum
hi, i’m writing a romance book set in ancient rome, i’m trying to do as much research as possible, but ancient history is not my specialty, and i was wondering if you could help me with this: the main character is a rich, roman woman of high standing, i’m trying to figure out the naming system in ancient rome, and what an appropriate name would be for a woman of her standing etc, i read that roman women could have three names, is that true? anyway, thank you for any help you can give me!!
This is a complicated question, naming styles in Ancient Rome, especially for women differ depending on the period, and a few other factors...
In Ancient Rome, the naming conventions for women were a bit different to that of men’s, normally simpler.
In earlier periods, like the Republic, men usually had a tria nomina (praenom + nomen + cognomen), while women usually just had a nomen, which is the feminine form of a woman’s family name.
For example, if your character’s father is from the Cornelius family, he might be called Gaius (personal name) Cornelius (family name) Tacitus (family branch name)….
your character then, would most likely be called Cornelia.
And if Cornelia had sisters, they would most likely also be called Cornelia, which would cause confusion, so usually one would be Cornelia Major and the other Cornelia Minor or if there were three, one would be Cornelia Prima and one Cornelia Secunda and the last Cornelia Tertia… You get the picture.
If your book is set in Later Periods, such as the Late Republic, or Early Empire Cornelia could have a cognomen to indicate her family branch. So, then, following this example she would be called: Cornelia Tacita - the feminine form of the family name).
This would’ve been more common in wealthy or high-status families in this period.
By the Imperial Period, high-status women could have two cognomina, in addition to their nomen, usually showing their paternal and maternal lineages. This was usually to signify impressive connections and standings on both sides of family, also to distinguish from other high status women called Cornelia..
Once again, following my example, if Cornelia Tacita’s mother, Aemilia Crassa was from a very high-status senatorial family, her daughter might be called Cornelia Tacita Crassa, to signify both sides of her families lineage and connections.
I’m sure I’m missing some info about naming conventions in Ancient Rome, because it’s a very complicated topic… there are exceptions to these conventions, like Lucilla, Marcus Aurelius’s daughter who had four names including a personal cognomen. But she was an exceptional circumstance.
Suffice to say, this is a fairly short response to a very long and complicated question, if you have any other, more specific questions about Ancient Rome, or your book I’d be happy to answer :)
