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A ''cognomen'' (, ; Latin plural ''cōgnōmina''; ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nōmen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but it lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary ''cognomina'' were used to augment the second name (the family name, or clan name) in order to identify a particular branch within a family or family within a clan. The term has also taken on other contemporary meanings. ==Roman names== Because of the limited nature of the Latin ''praenomen'', the ''cognomen'' developed to distinguish branches of the family from one another, and occasionally, to highlight an individual's achievement, typically in warfare. One example being Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, whose cognomen ''Magnus'' was earned after his military victories under Sulla's dictatorship. The ''cognomen'' was a form of distinguishing people who made important feats, and those who already bore a ''cognomen'' were awarded another exclusive name, the agnomen. For example, Publius Cornelius Scipio received the agnomen ''Africanus'' after his victory over the Carthaginian general Hannibal at Zama, Africa (''Africanus'' here means "of Africa" in the sense that his fame derives from Africa, rather than being born in Africa, which would have been ''Afer''); and the same procedure occurred in the names of Quintus Caecilius Metellus ''Numidicus'' (conqueror of Numidia) and Quintus Caecilius Metellus ''Macedonicus''. In contrast to the honorary ''cognomina'' adopted by successful generals, most ''cognomina'' were based on a physical or personality quirk; for example, ''Rufus'' meaning "red-haired" or ''Scaevola'' meaning "left-handed". Some cognomina were hereditary (such as Caesar among a branch of the Julii, Brutus and Silanus among the Junii, or Pilius and Metellus among the Caecilii): others tended to be individual. And some names appear to have been used both as ''praenomen'', ''agnomen'', or non-hereditary ''cognomen''. For instance, ''Vopiscus'' was used as both ''praenomen'' and ''cognomen'' in the Julii Caesares; likewise ''Nero'' among the early imperial Claudii, several of whom used the traditional hereditary Claudian cognomen as a praenomen. The upper-class usually used the ''cognomen'' to refer to one another.〔Powell, J. G. F. "A Note on the Use of the Praenomen" ''The Classical Quarterly, New Series'', Vol. 34, No. 1. (1984), pp. 238-239.〕 Today, we refer to many prominent ancient Romans by only their ''cognomen''; for example, Cicero (from ''cicer'' "chickpea") serves as a shorthand for Marcus Tullius Cicero, and Caesar for Gaius Julius Caesar. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「cognomen」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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