Roman Naming Practices.

[Doug Strong]

I was more interested in his desire to be on Hadrian's Wall, where most of the soldiers were auxiliaries, with the Legions being stationed further away, at least if you believe many of the current studies on that subject. Since Fortus and Fabricus are not documented originally as Roman citizen names, and usually assigned to people who started off as non-citizen families, I was actually trying to fit a background to a desired name sequence.

Many of the remarks made in the posts above are generalizations about Roman naming practices, and do not fit the reality of the records we have available. Some of the "Roman naming sites" on the internet are full of errors and made-up names, yet sometimes people actually quote them as proof that this or that name was used in antiquity.

For example: 'Fortus is a well-known cognomen', but how often is it actually used, and by whcih class of people? Is it used in conjunction with "Cornelia", or is it only used with certain gens, unless signifying a servile origin? When do you find it used with 'Fabricius' when it does not suggest an originally non-citizen connection.

It's all very well to randomly pick and mix and match some Roman names or Roman-sounding names, but I feel much thought and research should go into a Roman name, especially if you plan to use it to describe yourself.

Thanks, this is exactly the reason I asked the question. I guess I still need help. I am not married to hadiran's wall and I think a first century impression seems to fit with what most reeanctment groups in the states seem to do. That way if I ever get a kit built I may actually be able to do someting with it.