05-21-2010, 05:37 AM
Interesting question. I imagine that it could vary quite a bit, depending upon how familiar the person was with the Emperor, the Emperor’s personal tastes and the formality and context of the conversation (are they talking in the bath or in the Senate, for instance).
Anyway, I glanced through Fronto to see how he addressed various members of the Imperial family. Of course, this is in writing. Would they speak differently? I don’t know.
When Fronto first became the tutor of Marcus Aurelius, who was at that time Caesar, he says “my Lord.” This is the most popular address through the years, and lasts even after Marcus is Emperor.
Years later, when they become more intimate friends, he calls him simply “Caesar,” “my own Caesar,” “my Lord Caesar,” or “my Lord Marcus Caesar.”
To Domitia Lucilla, Marcus’ mother, Fronto calls her “mother of Caesar.”
Augusta is used for the wife of an Emperor.
To the Emperor he uses “Antoninus Pius Augustus.”
When Marcus first takes the purple, Fronto addresses him as “Lord Antoninus Augustus.” However, he also rarely uses the personal name “Marcus Aurelius” with no titles. Once, in the context of a treatise on love he says “My Dear Boy.” By this time, of course, they were very close friends.
Lucius Verus as Emperor gets “Lord Verus Augustus.”
Now the time frame that you are writing in, I would imagine that the address would be more formal. Under the Dominate titles and address seemed to become more fawning. Fronto uses dominus almost as a term of endearment, but after Diocletian it seems to have been more "Master" than "Lord."
Anyway, I glanced through Fronto to see how he addressed various members of the Imperial family. Of course, this is in writing. Would they speak differently? I don’t know.
When Fronto first became the tutor of Marcus Aurelius, who was at that time Caesar, he says “my Lord.” This is the most popular address through the years, and lasts even after Marcus is Emperor.
Years later, when they become more intimate friends, he calls him simply “Caesar,” “my own Caesar,” “my Lord Caesar,” or “my Lord Marcus Caesar.”
To Domitia Lucilla, Marcus’ mother, Fronto calls her “mother of Caesar.”
Augusta is used for the wife of an Emperor.
To the Emperor he uses “Antoninus Pius Augustus.”
When Marcus first takes the purple, Fronto addresses him as “Lord Antoninus Augustus.” However, he also rarely uses the personal name “Marcus Aurelius” with no titles. Once, in the context of a treatise on love he says “My Dear Boy.” By this time, of course, they were very close friends.
Lucius Verus as Emperor gets “Lord Verus Augustus.”
Now the time frame that you are writing in, I would imagine that the address would be more formal. Under the Dominate titles and address seemed to become more fawning. Fronto uses dominus almost as a term of endearment, but after Diocletian it seems to have been more "Master" than "Lord."
David J. Cord
www.davidcord.com
www.davidcord.com
