Roman Carthage – An Ethnic Conglomeration? A Study of the Anthroponymy of an African Metropolis

Abstract

This article discusses nearly 1,200 names of individuals appearing in inscriptions from Roman Carthage. The aim of the study is to answer the question whether there are indications in the anthroponymic tradition that may support the thesis of the multiculturalism of the city. The analyses focus primarily on the cognomen, which constitutes the most individualized element of the Roman naming system. Besides the unquestioned, dominating role of the nomenclature that was typical of the Roman cultural circle, local onomastics also revealed the relationships that existed between local traditions, which were mainly of Punic origins, as well as the influences of eastern migrations. An important point in the analysis of names with Punic and Greek provenance, and the Latin cognomina described as African, was to consider the abundance of their occurrence in each social group. Thus, names could be examined not only as a possible marker of ethnicity, but also as a marker of social affiliation, which is important especially in the context of cognomina graeca. In the last part of the article, the results are presented in a broader regional context, with the aim of presenting the specificity of the anthroponymy of Roman Carthage.