Mamercus (), feminine Mamerca, 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 ...

, which was used in pre-Roman times and throughout 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 ...

, falling out of usage in imperial times. The patronymic ''gens Mamercia'' was derived from this name, as were the '' cognomina'' ''Mamercus'' and ''Mamercinus''. The name was usually abbreviated Mam. The praenomen Mamercus is best known from '' gens Aemilia'', one of the greatest of the patrician houses at Rome. The ''gens'' claimed descent from Mamercus, who was said to have been a son of

Numa Pompilius Numa Pompilius (; 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC) was the Roman mythology, legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political ins ...

, the second king of Rome. Several prominent members of this family bore the name during the Roman Republic. The Pinarii, another patrician family, was also believed to have used the praenomen Mamercus, although no examples from this ''gens'' have been preserved. According to one tradition, the Pinarii were descended from another son of Numa Pompilius. However, in his history of Rome, Titus Livius records that the ''gens'' was still more ancient, and predated the founding of the city. Both the Aemilii and the Pinarii used Mamercus and Mamercinus as cognomina. Other families which used these names as cognomina may have used the praenomen Mamercus at one time.

Origin and meaning of name

According to Festus, the praenomen Mamercus was derived from the name of the god ''Mamers'', who was worshipped throughout Italy in pre-Roman times, and was particularly associated with the Oscans. Since classical times, scholars have postulated that Mamers was the Oscan form of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

, although the names ''Marcus'' and ''Mamercus'' frequently existed side-by-side. Whatever the case, Mamercus is generally believed to have been an Oscan praenomen that was brought to Rome during the reign of Numa Pompilius, if not earlier. Although Mamercus was never widely used at Rome, it came to be regarded as a Latin praenomen. It was always included in lists of personal names, and even received its own regular abbreviation. The Etruscan form of the name, borrowed from either Latin or Oscan, is ''Mamarce''.''Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mamercus (Praenomen) Ancient Roman praenomina Theophoric names