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Anagnomen (Latin:[aŋˈnoːmɛn];pl.:agnomina), in theRoman naming convention, was anickname, just as thecognomen had been initially. However, thecognomina eventually became family names, and soagnomina were needed to distinguish between similarly-named persons. However, as theagnomen was an additional and optional component in a Roman name, not all Romans had anagnomen.
Pseudo-Probus uses the hero of the Punic Wars,Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, as an example:
Men's personal names are of four types,praenomen,nomen,cognomen andagnomen:praenomen for instance Publius,nomen Cornelius,cognomen Scipio andagnomen Africanus.
Marius Victorinus further elucidates:
Now theagnomen comes from outside, and in three styles, from personality or physique or achievements: From personality, such as Superbus ["Haughty"] and Pius [displaying the Roman syndrome of virtues including honesty, reverence to the gods, devotion to family and state,etc.], from physique, such as Crassus ["Fatty"] and Pulcher ["Handsome"], or from achievements, such as Africanus and Creticus [from their victories in Africa and on Crete].
Africanus, Creticus and the likes are also known asvictory titles. For example,Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus earned his from the capture ofCorioli.
Latinagnōmen (also spelledadnomen) comes fromad "to" andnōmen "name".[1][2]
As a minimum, a Romanagnomen is a name attached to an individual's full titulature after birth and formal naming by the family. True Roman nicknames, fully replacing the individual's name in usage, are rare. One such example in which the nickname fully replaced the individual's name in usage was the EmperorCaligula; that name was used in place of and not along with his full name, which was Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Caligula'spraenomen was Gaius, hisnomen Julius, hiscognomen Caesar. Someagnomina were inherited likecognomina and thus established a sub-family. Caligula'sagnomen came from thelittle boots that he wore as part of his miniature soldier's uniform while accompanying his father,Germanicus, on campaigns in northernGermania. In turn, Germanicus received his agnomen in 9 BC, when it was posthumously awarded to his fatherNero Claudius Drusus in honour of his Germanic victories. At birth, Germanicus had been known as either Nero Claudius Drusus, after his father, orTiberius Claudius Nero, after his uncle. As with Caligula, Germanicus is mostly referred to by his agnomen.
Anagnomen is not apseudonym but a real name and is an addition to, not a substitution for, an individual's full name. Parallel examples ofagnomina from later times areepithets likeThomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, who is, however, known more often by his agnomen than by his first name, or popular nicknames like"Iron" Mike Tyson orDwayne "The Rock" Johnson.