Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community, founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BCE. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, and centered at the city of Rome, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world.

In its centuries of existence, Roman civilization shifted from a monarchy to an oligarchic republic to an increasingly autocratic empire. It came to dominate South-Western Europe, South-Eastern Europe/Balkans and the Mediterranean region through conquest and assimilation.

Source: Wikipedia, Ancient Rome

There are many very well-documented genealogies from the late Republic and early Empire, but the connections to medieval Europe are largely conjectural.

Objective

The goal of this project is to resolve duplicates and ensure the quality of the profiles pertaining to the families of ancient Rome.

Notable Romans

(to be added)

Connections to Other Projects

• The emperors of Rome have their own project: Imperium Romanum
• The Romans had connection to Roman Britain
• The Romans had connections to Gallo-Roman Families, Roman Gaul
• There are sub-projects for prominent Roman families:
  • Gens Aurelia. The Roman Aurelius family.
  • Gens Iulia. The Roman Julius family.
  • Gens Octavia. The Roman Octavius family.
  • Gens Baebia, The Roman Baebius (Baebia) family.
  • Gens Saufeia, The Roman Saufeia family, see: Lucius Saufeius

Naming Conventions

See Naming Conventions.

Roman names can be confusing because they do not follow modern European and American naming customs. As a general rule of thumb, the Roman surname is the second of three names, not the third. Geni's name fields do not yet handle Roman names effectively. The most effective workaround is to place all names in the First Name field, leaving the Middle Name and Last Name fields blank.

For a simple introduction to Roman names, see Wikipedia, Roman Names.

The classic Roman name was the trianomina. That is, Roman men had three names. The first name (praenomen) was a given name. The second name (nomen) was the family name. The third name (cognomen) was originally a nickname, but became hereditary. This third name was the name by which men were known.

Using Gaius Julius Caesar as an example:

• Gaius was his given name
• Julius was his family name (surname)
• Caesar was the name by which he was known

Roman women were generally known only by one name, the feminine form of the family's nomen. For example, the daughter of Gaius Julius Caesar was Julia.

How to Participate

See Projects.

If you would like to contribute to this page, please contact the Project Manager or one of the Project Collaborators.

Sources

• Simple Roman names
• More on simple Roman names
• Roman names in inscriptions and literature
• Wikipedia, Roman Naming Conventions