A Roman by any other name
Our gathering last week seems to have planted a seed of interest in Nova Roma locally. A friend of mine is now applying to be a citizen. She hasn't chosen a cognomen yet, but I'll know her as Lucia Ambrosia. It will be interesting to learn about the new citizenship process as she works her way through it. I suspect we may have one or two others become citizens after Lucia passes the test and probationary period.
While she's doing that, I may look into the process of changing my own name. When I joined NR, I took the cognomen Germanicus thinking it to mean "the German" or "Germanic". Not an unreasonable assumption considering that the legions were comprised primarily of Germanic warriors by the end of the Imperium. But apparently the cognomen Germanicus implies that I've waged a victorious battle against a Germanic tribe. And that isn't descriptive of me at all. According to the NR website I could Latinize my regular name and use that as a cognomen. Which would make me (I think) Servius Ambrosius Alaricus. I rather like that. One thing I didn't care for when I became a citizen was discarding my name. My real, legal name is Alaric. My SCA name, Lord Alaric. My "majyckal" name, Alaric. I've never been a big fan of fake names. I understand the rationale for Latinizing my name, and that's okay. I'd be perfectly happy with Alaricus.
And I don't think the censors would object at all. They don't even allow the cognomen 'Germanicus' anymore, so I doubt very much they'd mind me giving it up. I guess what it will boil down to is how complicated the process is going to be. If it's just a matter of me submitting the name change request, then I'll probably do it. If I have to jump through hoops or take a test or go through a probationary period then I probably won't.
It's just a name, after all.
While she's doing that, I may look into the process of changing my own name. When I joined NR, I took the cognomen Germanicus thinking it to mean "the German" or "Germanic". Not an unreasonable assumption considering that the legions were comprised primarily of Germanic warriors by the end of the Imperium. But apparently the cognomen Germanicus implies that I've waged a victorious battle against a Germanic tribe. And that isn't descriptive of me at all. According to the NR website I could Latinize my regular name and use that as a cognomen. Which would make me (I think) Servius Ambrosius Alaricus. I rather like that. One thing I didn't care for when I became a citizen was discarding my name. My real, legal name is Alaric. My SCA name, Lord Alaric. My "majyckal" name, Alaric. I've never been a big fan of fake names. I understand the rationale for Latinizing my name, and that's okay. I'd be perfectly happy with Alaricus.
And I don't think the censors would object at all. They don't even allow the cognomen 'Germanicus' anymore, so I doubt very much they'd mind me giving it up. I guess what it will boil down to is how complicated the process is going to be. If it's just a matter of me submitting the name change request, then I'll probably do it. If I have to jump through hoops or take a test or go through a probationary period then I probably won't.
It's just a name, after all.