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Valerius Maximus |
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What is in a name? Valerius Maximus, author of the Factorum et dictorum memorabilium libri novem (Memorable Deeds and Sayings, A.D. 31-32), possesses a name that provides no small proportion of what little is known about him. Although the praenomina (first names) Marcus and Publius found attached to various inferior manuscripts are discounted as later inventions, what remains of his name sounds the tones of an illustrious patrician ancestry stretching back to the beginnings of the Roman Republic. Whether or not, however, these echoes of the great, aristocratic gens Valeriana (related families of Valerii) record a legitimate son or an upstart shadow and fraud remains in dispute. During the early imperial period, it was after all in fashion to revive ancient and glorious names without necessarily having legitimate claim to them. Moreover, although the nomen (family name) Valerius was conspicuously borne by legitimately aristocratic exemplars in the day of the author Valerius, the optional cognomen (additional surname) Maximus had not been used for centuries.
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