Roman naming conventions in the context of "Titulus pictus"

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname Caracalla (/ˌkærəˈkælə/; Latin: [karaˈkalːa]), was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then ruling alone after 211 AD. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor Septimius Severus and Empress Julia Domna. Severus proclaimed Caracalla co-ruler in 198, doing the same with his other son Geta in 209. The two brothers briefly shared power after their father's death in 211, but Caracalla soon had Geta murdered by the Praetorian Guard and became sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Julia Domna had a significant share in governance, since Caracalla found administration to be mundane. His reign featured domestic instability and external invasions by the Germanic peoples.

Caracalla issued the Antonine Constitution (Latin: Constitutio Antoniniana), also known as the Edict of Caracalla, which granted Roman citizenship to all free men throughout the Roman Empire. The edict gave all the enfranchised men Caracalla's adopted praenomen and nomen: "Marcus Aurelius". Other landmarks of his reign were the construction of the Baths of Caracalla, the second-largest bathing complex in the history of Rome, the introduction of a new Roman currency named the antoninianus, a sort of double denarius, and the massacres he ordered, both in Rome and elsewhere in the empire. In 216, Caracalla began a campaign against the Parthian Empire. He did not see this campaign through to completion due to his assassination by a disaffected soldier in 217. Macrinus succeeded him as emperor three days later.

The praenomen (Classical Latin: [prae̯ˈnoːmɛn]; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy. The praenomen would then be formally conferred a second time when girls married, or when boys assumed the toga virilis upon reaching manhood. Although it was the oldest of the tria nomina commonly used in Roman naming conventions, by the late republic, most praenomina were so common that most people were called by their praenomina only by family or close friends. For this reason, although they continued to be used, praenomina gradually disappeared from public records during imperial times. Although both men and women received praenomina, women's praenomina were frequently ignored, and they were gradually abandoned by many Roman families, though they continued to be used in some families and in the countryside.

A cognomen (Latin: [kɔŋˈnoːmɛn]; pl.: cognomina; from co- "together with" and (g)nomen "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name, the nomen gentilicium (the family name, or clan name), in order to identify a particular branch within a family or family within a clan. The term has also taken on other contemporary meanings.

Herod Agrippa I (Roman name: Marcus Julius Agrippa; c. 11 BC – c. AD 44), also simply known as Herod Agrippa, Agrippa I, (Hebrew: אגריפס) or Agrippa the Great, was the last king of Judea. He was a grandson of Herod the Great and the father of Herod Agrippa II, the last known king from the Herodian dynasty. He was an acquaintance or friend of Roman emperors and played crucial roles in internal Roman politics.

He spent his childhood and youth at the imperial court in Rome where he befriended the imperial princes Claudius and Drusus. He suffered a period of disgrace following the death of Drusus which forced him to return to live in Judea. Back in Rome around 35, Tiberius made him the guardian of his grandson Tiberius Gemellus, and Agrippa approached the other designated heir, Caligula. The advent of Caligula to the throne allowed Agrippa to become king of Batanea, Trachonitis, Gaulanitis, Auranitis, Paneas and Iturea in 37 by obtaining the old tetrarchies of Philip and Lysanias, then Galilee and Perea in 40 following the disgrace of his uncle, Herod Antipas.

Gaius (/ˈɡeɪəs/; fl. AD 130–180) was a Roman jurist. Little is known about his personal life, including his name (Gaius or Caius being merely his personal name or praenomen). It is also difficult to ascertain the span of his life, but it is assumed he lived from AD 130 to at least AD 179, as he wrote on legislation passed within that time.

From internal evidence in his works it may be gathered that he flourished in the reigns of the emperors Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. His works were thus composed between the years 130 and 180. After his death, however, his writings were recognized as of great authority, and the emperor Theodosius II named him in the Law of Citations, along with Papinian, Ulpian, Modestinus and Paulus, as one of the five jurists whose opinions were to be followed by judicial officers in deciding cases. The works of these jurists accordingly became most important sources of Roman law.

In ancient Rome, a gens (/ɡɛns/ or /dʒɛnz/, Latin: [gẽːs]; pl.: gentes [ˈgɛnteːs]) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same nomen gentilicium and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens, sometimes identified by a distinct cognomen, was called a stirps (pl.: stirpes). The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italia during the period of the Roman Republic. Much of individuals' social standing depended on the gens to which they belonged. Certain gentes were classified as patrician, others as plebeian; some had both patrician and plebeian branches. The importance of the gens as a social structure declined considerably in imperial times, although the gentilicium continued to define the origins and dynasties of the ancient Romans, including the emperors.

The gens Flavia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members are first mentioned during the last three centuries of the Republic. The first of the Flavii to achieve prominence was Marcus Flavius, tribune of the plebs in 327 and 323 BC; however, no Flavius attained the consulship until Gaius Flavius Fimbria in 104 BC. The gens became illustrious during the first century AD, when the family of the Flavii Sabini claimed the imperial dignity.

Under the Empire, the number of persons bearing this nomen becomes very large, perhaps due to the great number of freedmen under the Flavian dynasty of emperors. It was a common practice for freedmen to assume the nomina of their patrons, and so countless persons who obtained the Roman franchise under the Flavian emperors adopted the name Flavius, which was then handed down to their descendants. Freedmen under the Constantinian dynasty, whose members were also called Flavius, also adopted it, as did individuals who entered government service during their rule, often replacing their original nomina with the dynastic Flavius.

Gaius Julius Civilis (AD 25 – c. 1st century; erroneously also Claudius Civilis) was the leader of the Batavian rebellion against the Romans in 69 AD. His nomen shows that he (or one of his male ancestors) was made a Roman citizen (and thus, the tribe a Roman vassal) by either Augustus or Caligula.

Appia Annia Regilla, full name Appia Annia Regilla Atilia Caucidia Tertulla (Greek: Ἀππία Ἄννια Ἀτειλία Ῥήγιλλα Καυκιδία Τερτύλλα Ἀππίου Γάλλου θυγάτηρ, 125–160), was a wealthy, aristocratic and influential Roman woman, who was a distant relative of several Roman emperors and empresses. She was the wife of the prominent Greek Herodes Atticus.