Mettius (praenomen)
Mettius /ˈmɛtiəs/ is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was used in pre-Roman times and perhaps during the early centuries of the Roman Republic, but which was obsolete by the 1st century BC. The feminine form is Mettia. The patronymic gens Mettia was derived from this praenomen. The name was rare in historical times, and not regularly abbreviated.[1][2][3]
The praenomen Mettius is known primarily from two individuals who lived during the earliest period of Roman history. Mettius Curtius was a
As with other rare praenomina, Mettius may once have been more widespread amongst the plebeians, and in the countryside. Other than the Curtii and Fufetii, the name is known to have been used by the obscure gens Scuilia, and must once have been used by the ancestors of gens Mettia.[5]
Origin and Meaning of the Name
Because one of the two historical figures named Mettius was Sabine, while the other was Latin, the praenomen may have been an ancient one common to both the Latin and Oscan languages. Its meaning remains obscure; it was not mentioned by either Varro or Festus, and Chase has nothing to say about the name.
Although known from only a handful of examples in Latin, the praenomen Mettius was borrowed by the Etruscans, in whose language it became Metie.[8][9]
References
- ^ Dictionary of Greek & Roman Biography & Mythology
- ^ Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft
- Ab Urbe Condita, book I
- Ab Urbe Condita, book I
- ^ Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft
- ^ Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft
- ^ Howard Hayes Scullard, A History of the Roman World, 753-146 B.C. (1935).
- ^ Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft
- ^ Jacques Heurgon, Daily Life of the Etruscans (1964)