Ancient Rome
In Rome, slaves often had a single name given at the discretion of their owner. A slave who was manumitted (freed) might keep his or her slave name and adopt his or her former owner's name as a praenomen and nomen. As an example, one historian says that "a man named Publius Larcius freed a male slave named Nicia, who was then called Publius Larcius Nicia."
Historian Harold Whetstone Johnston writes of instances in which a slave's former owner chose to ignore custom and simply chose a name for the freedman.
Read more about this topic: Slave Name
Famous quotes containing the words ancient and/or rome:
“He was the man who of all modern, and perhaps ancient poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul.... He needed not the spectacles of books to read Nature; he looked inwards, and found her there.”
—John Dryden (1631–1700)
“This very Rome that we behold deserves our love ...: the only common and universal city.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)