Slave Name - Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

In Rome, slaves often had a single name given at the discretion of their owner. A slave who was manumitted (freed) might keep his or her slave name and adopt his or her former owner's name as a praenomen and nomen. As an example, one historian says that "a man named Publius Larcius freed a male slave named Nicia, who was then called Publius Larcius Nicia."

Historian Harold Whetstone Johnston writes of instances in which a slave's former owner chose to ignore custom and simply chose a name for the freedman.