It's very, very interesting that apparently the Talamasca have filed Armand NoLastName under 'Armand Maurius.'
So, we know that in the 1940s Armand's business card has just the single name 'Armand' ... so it's possible that the Talamasca has just assigned him a patronymic to make filing easier, and not clog up their search results with *every* Armand they've ever tracked.
However. I'm looking at that extra u. Because that's not how Marius spells his name.
And like, sure it's possible the Talamasca made a spelling mistake. But... it's also possible that they didn't, and 'Maurius' could be a surname Armand gave out when prompted, at least during part of his Paris career. The extra U might have been his attempt to make it seem more *french.* Possibly he was even thinking of the name 'Maurice' (appropriate I suppose, since that particular name does mean 'dark-skinned.') It is spelled without the U on the posters though
so either Armand used multiple spellings at different times (very normal considering how old he is, see all the various ways Shakespeare spelled his own name.) Or it's just a production error.
But quick side bar on Roman naming practices - 'Marius' is a nomen, so a family name. (Basically surname.) Marius' legal Roman name would have been like Gaius Marius or something, but the 'Gaius' (his praenomen) would have only been used by incredibly close family and friends. It is SUPER insulting for a social inferior to use your praenomen, and considering that from his point of view, everyone he associates with in 1500s Venice is a social inferior - makes sense that he'd just be 'Marius' across the board.
Rome also had a huge culture of slavery, and slaves had just the one name. It was only after they were freed that they got a roman-style multi-part name, and the formula went - Master's Nomen + original name + -us suffix.
So, if Amadeo was Marius' slave during the Roman empire (and that was ALSO a huge thing, just giving your slave a new name that you liked better) and Marius freed him, then Amadeo's legal name would be 'Marius Amadeus.'
There's no particular reason Armand would know this, but it's at least possible that Marius brought it up, possibly while dangling the idea of potentially freeing Amadeo at some point in the future. It could also be a general instinct on Armand's part, that the only surname he feels he has any claim to is Marius.' Either way, it's DEEPLY sad, and I'm very glad that he seems to have dropped the 'Ma(u)rius' by the time he meets Louis.
