Costoboci - Onomastics

Onomastics

An imperial-era funerary inscription in Rome was dedicated to Zia or Ziais the Dacian, the daughter of Tiatus and the wife of Pieporus, a king of the Costoboci. The monument was set up by Natoporus and Drilgisa, Zia's grandsons. The inscription was first published by the Italian scholar Mariangelus Accursius in the 16th century, but it is now lost.

• Drilgisa: a Thracian or Dacian name. It is considered a variant with the infix -l- of the name Drigis(s)a, the name of the Roman veteran Aurelius Drigisa from Moesia Inferior and of the legionary Titus Aurelius Drigissa from Moesia Superior. The final element -gis(s)a is frequent in Dacian onomastics.
• Natoporus: a Thracian or Dacian name. A soldier Natopor is known from several ostraca found at Mons Claudianus in eastern Egypt. A Roman military diploma was issued in 127 in Mauretania Caesariensis for a Dacian soldier and his two children, a son Nattoporis and a daughter Duccidava. It is a name ending in -por, a frequent Thracian and Dacian onomastic element. On a military diploma issued in 127 in Germania Inferior, a Dacian soldier's father is named Natusis, a name formed with the same first element nat- and a suffix -zi-/-si-.
• Pieporus: a Thracian or Dacian name. It is a name ending in -por, a frequent Thracian and Dacian onomastic element.
• Tiatus: a Thracian or Dacian name. Tiatus is maybe a name starting in thia-, typical for Dacians. A name Tiato is attested on a fragmentary dipinto found at Maximianon, a Roman fort in eastern Egypt.
• Zia or Ziais: a Thracian or Dacian name. Zia is a female name attested in Moesia Inferior.

The name of the tribe is attested in a variety of spellings in Latin: Costoboci, Costobocae, Castaboci, Castabocae, Coisstoboci and in Ancient Greek: Κοστωβῶκοι, Κοστουβῶκοι, Κοιστοβῶκοι. According to Ion I. Russu, this is a Thracian compound name meaning "the shining ones". The first element is the perfect passive participle Cos-to-, derived from the Proto-Indo-European root kʷek̂-, kʷōk̂- "to seem, see, show", and the second element is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root bhā-, bhō- "to shine", extended by the suffix -k-. Ivan Duridanov considered it a Dacian name with unclear etymology. Georgiev considers all etymologies based on IE root-words (so-called Wurzeletymologien) to be "devoid of scientific value": the root-words themselves are reconstructions, are necessarily incomplete and can have multiple descendants in several IE languages. In this case, the name Costoboci could mean "the shining ones" in languages other than Thracian (e.g. in Iranic languages) or it could have a different root(s) than the ones surmised by Russu.