COGNOMINA OF BOTH PLINIES: GAIUS PLINIUS SECUNDUS AND GAIUS PLINIUS CAECILIUS SECUNDUS

Abstract

This article provides information on the actual naming of two Roman writers and statesmen: Gaius Plinius Secundus, and Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus. Modern researchers make some mistakes in the names of both Plinies. The history of these names sheds light on legal relations in Ancient Rome (family law, especially the order of adoption, the right of Roman citizens on three names – ius trium nominum) and on the evidence of the folk laughter culture (sniper data cognomina of citizens). Medieval and modern traditions of a generic or family naming have their roots in the Roman law. The Roman name was closely related to social status, indicating the antiquity of the genus or personal privileges, for example, the senatorial class, which included the ancient patrician clans or plebeian nobility, as well as a freeborn citizen or a freedman, a slave or a foreigner–peregrine, etc. Geographic area, family relations, and personal excellence were also taken into account. I. Kajanto, as one would expect from a classifier as a pioneer, goes on formal grounds, referring cognomina, Felix and Faustus, to the category of “wish” or “praise”, and Secundus to the order of birth. Our method of studying in a sociocultural context reveals cognomen Secundus as “happy”.