Caeso (), feminine Caesula (also spelled Cesula, Caesulla, Caesilla or Caesillia) is a Latin ''

praenomen The praenomen (; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Ancient Rome, Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the ...

'', or

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

. Although never a common name, Caeso was regularly used by a number of prominent families, both patrician and plebeian, during the period of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

. The name also gave rise to the patronymic gens Caesonia. The common abbreviation K. arose from an older spelling, Kaeso, dating from the period when the letter K was still frequently used before the vowel A in Latin, and before the letters C and G were differentiated.''Dictionary of Greek & Roman Biography & Mythology'' The praenomen Caeso was regularly used by the patrician gentes Fabia and Quinctia during the 1st centuries of the Republic, and also by the plebeian gentes Atilia and Duilia (both of which may originally have been patrician). It is also found in the gentes Acilia, Fabricia, and Latria, and must once have been used by the ancestors of the Caesonia gens. Its use gradually declined throughout Republican times, and seems to have fallen out of use around the first century AD.George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII (1897)

Origin and meaning

The most familiar etymology of this praenomen was given by

Gaius Plinius Secundus Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

, and followed by

Sextus Pompeius Festus Sextus Pompeius Festus, usually known simply as Festus, was a Ancient Rome, Roman Grammarian (Greco-Roman), grammarian who probably flourished in the later 2nd century AD, perhaps at Narbo (Narbonne) in Gaul. Work He made a 20-volume epitome of V ...

, who derived it from the verb ''caedere'', "to cut," and explained that it was originally given to a child who was cut from the mother's womb, in the operation that came to be known as the

Caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...

.Sextus Pompeius Festus, epitome by Paulus Diaconus This seems to be a reasonable etymology for the name of the operation, but it is probably an example of

false etymology A false etymology (fake etymology or pseudo-etymology) is a false theory about the origin or derivation of a specific word or phrase. When a false etymology becomes a popular belief in a cultural/linguistic community, it is a folk etymology (or po ...

with respect to the name Caeso, as well as the

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...

''Caesar'', which appears to derive from the same root. Marquardt and Mommsen, while still deriving the name from ''caedere'', speculated that Caeso was somehow connected with the lashings administered by the ''Luperci'', or "brotherhood of the wolf," a body of priests, during the festival of the ''

Lupercalia Lupercalia, also known as Lupercal, was a pastoral festival of Ancient Rome observed annually on February 15 to purify the city, promoting health and fertility. Lupercalia was also known as ''dies Februatus'', after the purification instruments ...

''. As the ''Luperci'' ran about the ancient city wall, dressed in animal skins and carrying leather thongs, girls and young women would gather along the route to receive lashes, which were believed to promote fertility. However, the likeliest explanation derives the name from ''caesius,'' "blue-grey," a word frequently used to describe the color of the eyes. This etymology was given by Festus with respect to the feminine form, ''Caesula''. It was also one of four different explanations given for the cognomen ''Caesar'', which

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

believed to have originated as a praenomen. This opinion is accepted by Chase, in his treatise, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina."

Marcus Terentius Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

, quoted in ''De Praenominibus'' (epitome by Julius Paris)

Notes

{{Praenomina Ancient Roman praenomina