medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Thursday, March 10, 2005, at 8:50 am, John Briggs wrote:
> No, it was was pointed out that [Petronella] was a diminutive of the
Roman
> gens nomen
> "Petronius" (fem. Petronia). "Why?" is a good question, as
> diminutives seem
> to be usually formed from the cognomen, e.g. Drusilla and
> Agrippina.
There are, however, clear instances of diminutives in -illa being formed
from the nomen, e.g. Iulilla (apparently informal name for the younger
Julia), Claudilla (Gaius' first wife, Iulia Claudilla).
Perhaps more significantly, a diminutive in -illa can also be derived
from a cognomen derived from a nomen, e.g. Caracalla's wife Publia
Fulvia Plautilla, daughter of the praetorian prefect Gaius Fulvius
Plautianus. So possibly the martyr Petronella was the daughter of
someone named Petronianus. The original Domitilla of the imperial
Flavian house, Vespasian's wife Flavia Domitilla, may have been another
of these: I don't think it's known whether she was named after a
Domitius or a Domitianus.
Best again,
John Dillon
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