Christianisation and Local Names in Asia Minor: Fall and Rise in Late Antiquity

This article analyses processes in detail based on the evidence now provided by the relevant volumes of Prosopographie chr�tienne du Bas-Empire, Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Lexicon of Greek Personal Names and the rich cemetery at Korykos. It is argued that the onomastic patrimony of late antique Asia Minor underwent a twofold process of transformation and simplification but did not vanish. The complete hegemony that the Romans achieved in Asia Minor in the 1st century BC induced a Latinisation of the region that was only superficial. This development had two contrasting effects. Firstly, Hellenistic and Roman influences reduced ethnic and cultural diversity in Asia Minor to the point where indigenous languages were more or less extinct when Christianity arose. Secondly, Hellenisation and Romanisation allowed a general enrichment of the onomastic patrimony in Asia Minor. The study of names therefore provides a balanced response since Asia Minor possesses a rich, varied onomastic patrimony. It also relates to how the conversion of the Roman Empire in general, and of Asia Minor in particular, brought about an overall transformation of the names people bore, even though modifications occurred more rapidly within ecclesiastical and monastic milieus than among ordinary laymen.

Lycian, Persian, Greek, Roman: Chronological Layers and Structural Developments in the Onomastics of Lycia

Lycia in southwestern Asia Minor is a region which was particularly characterized by the mingling of diverse cultural traits. Persian, Greek, and Roman influences interacted with a strong Anatolian substratum and with each other in various constellations, resulting in complex hybridized phenomena. Such processes can be observed most clearly in Lycian onomastics, a field of research which was revolutionized when volume VB of the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names was published in 2013. This paper attempts to use this immensely useful tool to provide a broad overview of the development of Lycian onomastics from the archaic to the late Roman periods.

Name Changes of Individuals

The practice of changing the name of an individual is attested in ancient literature, papyri and inscriptions, which constitute the basis for the present analysis. These changes can be divided into different groups, among which the following are singled: name changes of slaves; name changes as a consequence of changes in status or of “Hellenisation” and “Romanisation”; name changes in cases of conversion from one religion to another, in particular by Christians. The aim of the paper is to examine some examples of each kind and to find out the possible reasons for the substitution of one name by a new one.

Greek or Minoan? Names and Naming Habits in the Aegean Bronze Age

The decipherment of Linear B in 1952 has added a completely new historical dimension to the study of Greek personal names. Due to the administrative nature of the texts, the Linear B documents provide ample evidence for personal names at the end of the Aegean Bronze Age. Much of the research has focussed on interpreting and etymologising individual names, a task made difficult, and to some extent uncontrollable, by the nature of the script that renders the Greek language less precisely than the later alphabetic script. The criteria to identify and therefore define a personal name in Linear B is examined and some common interpretations are questioned on this basis. Naming habits and name structures are also examined and compared to the situation in the first millennium, and the differences between the two periods are highlighted. This article argues that any overarching account of personal names in Mycenaean Greek needs to be sensitive to the different sites and find spots of Linear B documents, and therefore to the historical and social contexts reflected in the texts. The main aims of this article are both methodological and practical and can form the basis for future work in this area.

The Diffusion of Roman Names and Naming Practices in Greek Poleis (2nd c. BC–3rd c. AD)

A survey of the epigraphic material of Greece and Asia Minor shows that the adoption of Roman names by locals was a negligible feature of the onomastics of the Late Hellenistic poleis, whereas, from Caesar’s dictatorship onwards, the spread of Roman citizenship to provincials triggered an unprecedented diffusion of Roman names. This article aims at revealing the main differences in the way citizens of the poleis adopted Roman names and naming practices between these two periods. The question arises whether the onomastic situation of the Late Hellenistic period has to be interpreted as a sign of resistance towards Rome. With the Empire citizens of the poleis began to receive tria nomina upon the grant of Roman citizenship, and Roman names acquired a new socio-political value. It will be shown that this opened the door to wider Roman influence on local naming practices, so that by the beginning of the 2nd c. AD the onomastic landscape of many poleis had been profoundly transformed.

Onomastic Interactions: Greek and Thracian Names

This article treats certain evolutions in the system of personal naming in the north Balkan regions, many of them being the product of onomastic interactions between Greeks and Thracians, as reflected in the choice of names. Specific categories of names are discussed, particularly on the basis of their frequency in the region: Thracian names given Greek suffixes, hybrid (Greco-Thracian) names, ‘potamophoric’ names, and finally mythological names. We are dealing with processes of mutual adaptation, as several cultural contexts need to be taken into account. A detailed study of the personal name Hellen, rather rare in the Greek world but abundantly present at Odessos, allows the acculturation in this old Greek city of the native population to be observed, via epigraphic practices, iconographic preferences and onomastic choices.

Aigeai and Pella: A Tale of Two Cities in Macedonia

The recent publication of the second fascicle of the Greek and Latin Inscriptions of Lower Macedonia (Ἐπιγραφὲς Κάτω Μακεδονίας‎) now offers us the opportunity to compare the onomastic profile of the two “capitals” of the Macedonian kingdom, Aigeai and Pella, during the Classical and Hellenistic periods. The fact that both enjoyed royal patronage as seats of government until the middle of the second century B.C. and that both were devastated by the Romans at the same date makes the comparison of their respective onomastic material all the more pertinent. Whereas the names of the 98 citizens of Aigeai whose identity has been sufficiently preserved reveal the conservative leanings of their cultural environment, the more than twice that number (228) of citizens of Pella whose names have come down to us attest the cosmopolitan character of their city. This cultural divergence reflects the economic and social difference between a rural borough comprising several settlements and catering to the needs of the court and a great Mediterranean metropolis open to overseas commerce and rivalling Alexandria and Antioch.

Δημοκράτης‎ the Democrat?

This paper discusses the name Δημοκράτης‎ as an interesting case of a name whose connotation was fluid according to context and to changes over time in language and political culture. The earliest occurrence of the name at Athens, for the father of Lysis of the eponymous Platonic dialogue, is conventionally taken as very early evidence for the emergence of the language of ‘democracy’. Pointing out that, in ancient Greek, there is no word δημοκρατής‎, cognate with ‘democrat’ and its equivalents in English and other modern European languages, the paper argues that that the primary connotation of Δημοκράτης‎, a name which existed before the word ‘δημοκρατία‎’, was someone who ‘possessed power over or among the People’. It also argues, however, that, once the abstract term δημοκρατία‎ and its cognate verb δημοκρατέομαι‎ existed, ‘Δημοκράτης‎’ could not, to be sure, mean ‘democrat’, but, according to context, could connote democracy in a much looser way.

An Essay on Satyr Names

The skilful and imaginative vase paintings of satyrs make us forget that they originated in a real spectacle. In this essay, I propose to consider satyr names as the names of actual revellers and mummers, rather than as an invention by the painters or as names of daemons, viz. as fragments of an infinitely richer world. This perspective has wider ramifications than merely shedding light on the society in which these spectacles took place and on the technical language of the Bacchic parade. It can contribute to our understanding of, for example, why in the course of Greek history descriptive names were progressively relegated to nicknames. It highlights the role of metonymy in colloquial Greek and the influence of the parade of satyrs in naming practices. And it helps to explain the sense and meaning of several Greek words and names. Part I deals with some general questions on this phenomenon. Part II discusses the meanings of 40 difficult or remarkable satyr names and deals with more specific questions, such as the use of masks and soot, and coarse names.

Introduction

The long introduction presents a typology of different forms of name change and presents the individual papers against this background, while also referring to other relevant studies.