La presenza di Iulii e Claudii nell'epigrafia di Karales

FLORIS, PIERGIORGIO

2008-01-01

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Abstract

In the paper it is examined the spreading of the imperial gentilicia Iulius and Claudius in the inscriptions of Karales (Sardinia) between the end of the republican age and the beginning of late antiquity. The analysis is carried out by evaluating onomastic data, family relationships, social status of the people involved and also the chronology of the evidences. Iulius (25 occurrences) with Valerius and Antonius is the most common gentilicium in the city inscriptions. Bearers of the nomen are well documented in the different social levels of Karales and they are linked by marriages with persons characterized by other gentile names. The reasons for the spread of the nomen in Karales must surely be sought in the opera carried out by Caesar and Octavian in the process of promotion to Roman status of the city, although should not be left out the possible impact of individual grants of Roman citizenship. The presence of Claudii in the city inscriptions (8 occurrences) is less common. Karalitan Claudii show the features of a group characterized by an uniformity which seems largely to find its origin in the social environment of former slaves. It therefore seems likely that they, in a way more or less close in time and more or less direct, were linked to the emperors of the gens Claudia to whose interests must surely be attributed the reasons for their presence in Karales.