La tradizione dei cognomina ex virtute dalle origini repubblicane all'età augustea

The volume systematically analyses the tradition of cognomina ex virtute in its progressive development from the Republican origins to the Augustan age: the focus of the investigation is the so-called cognomina devictarum gentium, the appellations that, formulated on the name of the region or population under subjugation, were assumed by the general responsible for the military conquest to exalt its glory. Starting from the first attestations dating back to the 5th century B.C., the discussion follows chronologically the evolution that this onomastic element underwent between the 4th and 1st centuries, highlighting its most salient features: conceived in a private and familiar context, the cognomina ex virtute became over time an honorary instrument aimed at satisfying the identity needs of some of the most eminent gentes in the context of the heated competition that animated the Roman ruling class. A concluding look at the Augustan age, during which certain republican celebratory customs persisted alongside the emergence of new dynamics resulting from institutional change, allows us to arrive at a more complete understanding of the subject.