Notes to Familia Allidia Inscriptions

Allidius, -i, m.
Allidius was the nomen or family name of Symphorus' former master and Sextus was his praenomen; freedmen adopted the first two names of the master who freed them.
Symphorus, -i m.
Symphorus, a cognomen, once the slave name of this freedman, derived from the Greek adjective meaning suitable, useful, profitable.
fecit: the complete formula is fecit hoc monumentum, usually preceded by the name or relationhip of the deceased in the dative (here, sibi and the succeeding family members). The nominative subject of the verb is the person who commissioned the funerary monument. This commonly understood phrase was often omitted, as in the two following inscriptions.
se, sui reflexive pronoun
herself, himself, themselves; in the dative case, its antecedent is Symphorus, the dedicator and subject of the verb fecit.
Hymenaeus, -a, -um
Hymenaeus, derived from the Greek noun Hymen, the god of marriage or the wedding song; as an adjective it was the epithet of the god Bacchus. This cognomen, prefaced by the names of the family's former master, indicates that Hymenaeus was born into slavery while his parents were still slaves, and was freed individually by the Allidii.
filius, -i m.
son; in the dative case, in apposition to Sex[to] Allidio Hymenaeo.
Atticillae, -ae f.
Atticilla, a cognomen derived from the Greek adjective meaning little Attic woman. Attica was the region in Greece in which Athens is located; the name may indicate her place of birth.
soror, -oris f.
sister; in the dative case, in apposition to Allidiae Atticillae.
Hymnis, -idis f.
Hymnis, a cognomen derived from the Greek noun hymnos, meaning hymn, it was the title given to his comedy by the Roman dramatist Caecilius Statius (c. 219-c. 166 BCE).
uxor, -oris f.
wife; dative in apposition to Allidiae Hymnidi. The word indicates that the couple had legally married after they had been manumitted.
uxor, -oris f.
wife; the word indicates that the couple had legally married after their manumission.
Di Manes, m. pl.
the spirits of the dead, the shades of the underworld. The abbreviation D M or the full phrase in the dative is regularly found as a dedication at the head of funerary inscriptions from the end of the 1st century BCE to the end of the 2nd century CE.
Soter, -eris m.
Soter; a cognomen derived from the Greek noun meaning savior, deliverer, perhaps indicating the Greek speaking origin of this former slave.
Eutychia, -ae f.
Eutychia; a cognomen derived from the Greek noun meaning good luck, success, perhaps indicating the Greek speaking origin of this former slave.
cognatus, -i m.
a male relative, kinsman (related by blood).
,


Close this window after final use.