A01.031.0.pdf

discoveries. Nor is it filled by the recent monumental
publication of the British Academy dedicated
to the Greek personal names, 10 which
does not systematically record Roman names,
except when the bearer has a Greek cognomen.
Obviously, an up-to-date and comprehensive
onomasticum romanum of the eastern
provinces is the precondition for the investigation
of the various elements that make up a
Roman name 11 , as also for the study of the
adaptation and development of Roman names
within Greek and Greek-speaking contexts. It
has been established that, despite the principles
and rules that govern Roman name-giving, actual
everyday practice follows a variety of subtle
but equally significant conventions. 12 The conclusion
we may draw from this practice is that
these conventions depend closely on the political
regime prevailing in a given city, as also on
local tradition and history, on general culture,
and even on fashions dictated by the ruling social
classes. 13 This fact helps to explain the differences
in the formation of Roman names in the
Péloponnèse that one observes between cities
with diverging political situations (e.g. Roman
colonies such as Corinth and Patrai or free cities
such as Sparta and Messene), or even between
social groups within the same city. In many
cases there coexist even within the same family
many different cultural traditions and influences,
which explains why in some instances the father
may have a Roman name, but his son carry a
Greek proper name. 14
Besides this typological and philological
approach, the wealth and diversity of the
Peloponnesian material can also provide the
basis for a variety of other onomastic and statistical
analyses, 15 and even for a synthetic
study of the region's social and cultural history.
The reason for this is that, in contrast to the
freer conventions of Greek name-giving, the
Roman state determines the individual ele­
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
39
ments and the rules by which names are
assigned, contributing in this way to the greater
meaning latent in a Roman as opposed to a
Greek name, and enabling the decipherment of
the political and in some cases also the social
status of the name-bearer. 16 For this reason
Roman personal names are often the best
source for the study of the integration of influential
peregrini into Roman provincial society
especially if their names reveal connections
with the imperial family or individuals belonging
to the higher social classes. 17
If the social origin of an isolated name is
difficult to detect in the case of an individual
belonging to the so-called lower classes, 18 collecting
all the names in one city (or even better
in one province) could facilitate the grouping
of families and the study of family networks,
together with the production of maps to illustrate
the geographical distribution of certain
nomina gentis. 19 Such maps could provide a
foundation also for the study of the spread of
Roman citizenship, which was only rarely
granted until the reign of Caracalla. 20 Such a
study might also contribute to our understanding
of movements from lower into higher social
classes 21 , as well as of the interesting career
patterns of provincial elites and the many different
bonds of kinship and self-interest that
developed both at the local level and that of the
province and the central government.
Finally, the catalogue of Roman names is
useful for reconstructing the cultural history of
a city, since a Roman name is in part the
expression or projection of romanitas.
Naturally, this approach need not be either
Romanocentric or Hellenocentric. The absence
or presence of Roman names on its own does
not provide a stable and absolute criterion for
the investigation of Romanisation or of cultural
resistance to Roman influences.