Cicero’s use of the adjective repentinus at Brut. 242 (C. L. Caepasii fratres … ignoti homines et repentini) has a singularly negative and offensive meaning. Both Tertullian (Adu. Marc. 4.7.7) and Ammianus Marcellinus (14.6.13, 21.16.3) echo Cicero, employing the same adjective in conjunction with ignotus or with its synonym incognitus, albeit without the same negative and defaming nuance.