Numerius ( , ), feminine Numeria, is a Latin

praenomen The praenomen (; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Ancient Rome, 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 ...

, or

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

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

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

, and into imperial times. The praenomen also gave rise to the patronymic gens Numeria. (" 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 (ancient Rome), patrician houses at ancient Rome, Rome. Its members held the highest offices of the state throughout ...

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 relates the story of how ''Numerius'' was introduced to the family after a survivor of the Battle of the Cremera married a daughter of Numerius Otacilius of Maleventum. 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 (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

, the name '' Numerius Negidius'' 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 BCE) 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 Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

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: ' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' or ''Facta et dicta memorabilia''). He worke ...

. As a praenomen, ''Numeria'' is attested in the funerary inscription of Numeria Atilia at Praeneste; other instances of the name in inscriptions probably represent gentilicia. Based in part on the story related by Festus, as well as various

Oscan Oscan is an extinct Indo-European language of southern Italy. The language is in the Osco-Umbrian or Sabellic branch of the Italic languages. Oscan is therefore a close relative of Umbrian and South Picene. Oscan was spoken by a number of t ...

inscriptions and the popularity of the name in southern Italy, Chase describes ''Numerius'' as an

praenomen. However, the name was widely used in

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whic ...

, and in the archaic form ''Numasios'' it is found in a number of

Old Latin Old Latin, also known as Early, Archaic or Priscan Latin (Classical ), was the Latin language in the period roughly before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. A member of the Italic languages, it descends from a common Proto-Italic ...

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 inscriptions, on a vase from Tarquinii dating to about 700 BC.

References

Bibliography

Marcus Terentius Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) 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 Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

, ''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'' (Memorable Facts and Sayings). *

Sextus Pompeius Festus Sextus Pompeius Festus, usually known simply as Festus, was a Ancient Rome, Roman Grammarian (Greco-Roman), grammarian who probably flourished in the later 2nd century AD, perhaps at Narbo (Narbonne) in Gaul. Work He made a 20-volume epitome of V ...

, ''Epitome de M. Verrio Flacco de Verborum Significatu'' (Epitome of Marcus Verrius Flaccus' ''On the Meaning of Words''). *

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...

''et al'', ''

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). * * * * * {{Praenomina Ancient Roman praenomina