Numerius ( , ) is a Latin

praenomen The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the bi ...

, or

personal name A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is known ...

, usually abbreviated N. The name was never especially common, but was used throughout the period 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 Kin ...

, and into imperial times. The feminine form is Numeria.Kajava, ''Roman Female Praenomina'', p. 49, 110 ''ff'', 119. The praenomen also gave rise to the patronymic gens Numeria.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, p. 1214 (" Numerius"). Although ''Numerius'' was occasionally used by patrician gentes, such as the

Furii The gens Furia, originally written Fusia, and sometimes found as Fouria on coins, was one of the most ancient and noble patrician houses at Rome. Its members held the highest offices of the state throughout the period of the Roman Republic. The ...

and the

Valerii The gens Valeria was a patrician family at ancient Rome, prominent from the very beginning of the Republic to the latest period of the Empire. Publius Valerius Poplicola was one of the consuls in 509 BC, the year that saw the overthrow of the ...

, the only patrician family to use the name regularly was the gens Fabia.

Festus Festus may refer to: People Ancient world *Porcius Festus, Roman governor of Judea from approximately 58 to 62 AD *Sextus Pompeius Festus (later 2nd century), Roman grammarian *Festus (died 305), martyr along with Proculus of Pozzuoli *Festus (h ...

relates the story of how ''Numerius'' was introduced to the family after a survivor of the

Battle of the Cremera A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

married a daughter of Numerius Otacilius of Maleventum.Chase, p. 138. The name was used more widely amongst the plebeians and in the countryside, and was relatively common in southern Italy. In

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...

, the name ''

Numerius Negidius ''Numerius Negidius'' is a name used in Roman law, Roman jurisprudence, based on a play on words: ''Numerius (praenomen), Numerius'' is a Roman praenomen, or forename, resembling the verb ''numero'', "I pay"; while ''Negidius'' has the form of a gen ...

'' was used to refer to a hypothetical defendant.

Origin and meaning

''Numerius'' was generally connected with Numeria, the goddess of childbirth, and according to

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 ...

was given to children who were born quickly and easily. Elsewhere, Varro states that the feminine ''Numeria'' was not used as a praenomen, but this is contradicted by the ''Liber de Praenominibus'', a short treatise on praenomina usually appended to

Valerius Maximus Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' ...

. As a praenomen, ''Numeria'' is attested in the funerary inscription of Numeria Atilia at

Praeneste Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pre ...

; other instances of the name in inscriptions probably represent gentilicia. Based in part on the story related by Festus, as well as various Oscan inscriptions and the popularity of the name in southern Italy, Chase describes ''Numerius'' as an Oscan praenomen. However, the name was widely used in Latium, and in the archaic form ''Numasios'' it is found in a number of Old Latin inscriptions, including the famous Praenestine fibula, and it may well be an example of a praenomen that was shared by both Oscan and Latin. Under the spelling ''Numesius'', it also appears in one of the earliest

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities **Etruscan ...

inscriptions, on a vase from Tarquinii dating to about 700 BC.Ogilvie & Drummond, ''Cambridge Ancient History'', vol. 7, part 2, p. 12 (fig. 1).

References

Bibliography

* Marcus Terentius Varro, ''De Lingua Latina'' (On the Latin Language), ''Fragmenta'' (Fragments). * ''Liber de Praenominibus'', a short treatise of uncertain authorship, traditionally appended to

' ''

Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' ("nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' or ''Facta et dicta memorabilia'') by Valerius Maximus (c. 20 BC – c. AD 50) was written arou ...

'' (Memorable Facts and Sayings). * Sextus Pompeius Festus, ''Epitome de M. Verrio Flacco de Verborum Significatu'' (Epitome of Marcus Verrius Flaccus' ''On the Meaning of Words''). * '' Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849). * Theodor Mommsen ''et alii'', ''

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw ...

'' (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated ''CIL''), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present). * George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''

Harvard Studies in Classical Philology ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'' (''HSCPh'') is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering topics in philology and classical studies, published annually. It was established in 1890 and is published by Harvard University Press Harv ...

'', vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897). * Robert Maxwell Ogilvie & Andrew Drummond, '' The Cambridge Ancient History'', vol. 7, part 2, Cambridge University Press (1989). * Mika Kajava, ''Roman Female Praenomina: Studies in the Nomenclature of Roman Women'', Acta Instituti Romani Finlandiae (1994). * O.F. Robinson, ''The Sources of Roman Law: Problems and Sources for Ancient Historians'', Routledge, London (1997). {{Praenomina Ancient Roman praenomina