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Names at Lepcis Magna

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

A. R. Birley
A. R. Birley*
Affiliation:
Department of History, University of Manchester
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Abstract

This article analyses the occurrence of apparently Roman names at Lepcis Magna and seeks to identify the processes of cultural assimilation taking place between the Libyphoenician population and Rome. Three main categories of change in naming practice (proposed by Herzog in the 1890s) may be recognised and suggest a number of possible explanations, other than Italian settlers, for the appearance of particular names at Lepcis. First, Roman names may have been adopted from the ruling emperor, or a senatorial patron or other suitably eminent Italian family, most commonly on the acquisition of Roman citizenship. This practice will often totally have eradicated the individual's original Libyphoenician nomenclature. The Lepcitani notably favoured aristocratic cognomina. Second, Punic or Libyan names at Lepcis may have been replaced by similar sounding Latin ones, e.g. the adaptation of Himilis to Aemilius and Amilcar to Amicus. Third, the Latin name may sometimes be a literal translation of the Punic or Libyan one. While noting a number of interesting examples of the latter two cases, the analysis here concentrates on the first category. It is concluded that there is little clearcut evidence for Italian settler families at Lepcis. Most of the names can be explained in terms of the assimilation of the indigenous population into the Roman pattern of personal nomenclature and illustrates the interesting choices available to them. The evidence at a number of points adds further weight to the strong probability that the paternal ancestry of the Emperor Septimius Severus was African.

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Libyan Studies , Volume 19 , 1988, pp. 1 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 1988

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