Hostus is a Latin '' praenomen'', or personal name, which was used in pre-Roman times and during the early centuries of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

, but become obsolete by the 1st century BC. The feminine form was probably ''Hosta'' or ''Hostia''. The patronymic ''gentes

Hostia Sacramental bread, also called Communion bread, Eucharistic bread, the Lamb or simply the host ( la, hostia, lit=sacrificial victim), is the bread used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist. Along with sacramental wine, it is one of two elemen ...

'' and '' Hostilia'' were derived from Hostus. The name was not regularly abbreviated.George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII (1897) Hostus is best known from Hostus Hostilius, a companion of Romulus, the founder and first king of Rome. Hostus was a Roman champion who fell in battle against the Sabines under

Titus Tatius According to the Roman foundation myth, Titus Tatius was the king of the Sabines from Cures and joint-ruler of the Kingdom of Rome for several years. During the reign of Romulus, the first king of Rome, Tatius declared war on Rome in resp ...

in the earliest years of the city. His grandson was

Tullus Hostilius Tullus Hostilius (r. 672–640 BC) was the legendary third king of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius. Unlike his predecessor, Tullus was known as a warlike king who according to the Roman Historian Livy, bel ...

, the third king of Rome. Although rare, the name was still evidently in use more than three centuries later, when

Hostus Lucretius Tricipitinus Hostus Lucretius Tricipitinus was a consul of the Roman republic in 429 BC. Lucretius belonged to the ancient patrician Lucretia gens whose ancestors had been among the first consuls of the Republic. Lucretius was (presumably) the son of Luciu ...

was consul late in the 5th century BC. As with other praenomina, the name may have been more widely used by the plebeians and in the countryside; but writing in the 1st century BC,

Marcus Terentius Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

described it as an archaic praenomen, no longer in general use.

Origin and Meaning of the Name

The etymology of Hostus has long baffled scholars. Chase proposed that Hostus might be derived from ''hostis'', "stranger, foe", but this meaning seems difficult to explain. An alternative explanation is suggested by the Etruscan feminine praenomen ''Hasti'', which may originally have been a variant of ''Fasti'', in which the initial consonant has been "worn down". Fasti is believed to be the Etruscan cognate of the Latin name ''Fausta'', in which case it is conceivable that the same process resulted in the development of Hostus from the praenomen ''Faustus''.''Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft''

Notes

{{Praenomina Ancient Roman praenomina