Latin Forms of Address: From Plautus to ApuleiusHow did Romans address their children, their parents, their slaves, and their patrons? When one Roman called another 'dearest', 'master', 'brother', 'human being', 'executioner', or 'soft little cheese', what did these terms really mean and why? This book brings to bear on such questions a corpus of 15,441 addresses spanning four centuries, drawn from literary prose, poetry, letters, inscriptions, ostraca, and papyri and analysed during recent work in sociolinguistics. The results offer new insights into Roman culture and shed a fresh light on the interpretation of numerous passages in literature. A glossary of the 500 most common addresses and quick-reference tables explaining the rules of usage make this book a valuable resource for Latin teachers and all active users of the language, while the evidence for the investigations behind these conclusions will fascinate scholars and laymen alike. Original, jargon-free, and highly readable, this work will be enjoyed even by those with no prior knowledge of Latin. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Part I Addresses | 39 |
Part II Interactions | 231 |
Glossary | 305 |
Usage Tables | 366 |
Editions of Ancient Texts | 370 |
Abbreviations for Modern Works and Collections | 374 |
376 | |
393 | |
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Common terms and phrases
address usage addressed by name adjectives affectionate Apul Apuleius brother Caesar Calp Carm Catul Catullus Cicero classical cogno cognomen cognomina comedy common contexts Decl domine e.g. Pl emperors Ennius examples father form of address frater genitive gentilicium Greek High poetic High-mid high-register inscr kinship terms language Latin address system Latin literature letters lexical meaning literary Livy lovers low-register male Mart master nameless Neutral address normally addressed nouns occur Ovid pater patronymic periphrastic Petr Petronius Phaed Phaedrus Plautus Plin plural Poen poetry poets polite praenomen Prop prose puer Quint rare Rebuke reference referential usage Roman Silv singular slaves speaker speech Stat strong insult Subst Suet Suetonius superlative Tacitus Term of endearment Term of praise Theb trag type of address Verg Vindolanda tablets virgo vocative women words younger Seneca