4 ms·

The sculpture is of a man named Drusus Germanicus. What do you think "Germanicus" means?

by Turing_Machine 4y ago

jandrese 4y ago
It means he has an awfully Italian sounding name.
- Turing_Machine 4y ago
  And? My FIL has an "Italian sounding name", but he's never been within 3,000 miles of Italy. The Roman Empire covered a lot of territory.
- slim 4y ago
  it's Latin
robonerd 4y ago
If the statue is the Drusus Germanicus I think it is, he was a Roman general and politician who earned the agnomen Germanicus for leading successful military campaigns in Germania. See also: Scipio Africanus; he got that name for conquering Carthage.
- Turing_Machine 4y ago
  It didn't look like the famous one, at least to me. Romans were notorious for reusing names. Even if it were the famous one, he was, in fact, in Germany, yes?
  - robonerd 4y ago
    > It didn't look like the famous one, at least to me. You're not alone in thinking that. The article says the sculpture might actually be Pompey, not Drusus Germanicus. Evidently there's no name written on it, so it was probably catalogued as Drusus Germanicus because somebody thought it looked like the Drusus Germanicus, but they may well have been wrong. > Even if it were the famous one, he was, in fact, in Germany, yes? He certainly was. As far as I'm concerned, Germany is a perfectly fitting place for a sculpture of Drusus Germanicus. My main point here is you can't assume a Roman was from the place they were named after. They might have been, or might not have been. Generally speaking, it's not even a given that a person named Germanicus was ever in Germania nor had any ancestry from Germania. The son of Drusus Germanicus was the Germanicus, the most famous Germanicus. The Germanicus to whom you can refer with the name Germanicus alone. The Germanicus inherited that name from his father Drusus. Complicating the matter, the Germanicus then went on to lead numerous military campaigns in Germania as his father did before him, but he already had the name Germanicus as a child, inherited from his father Drusus. There are actually a whole slew of Romans with the name Germanicus and many of them likely never set foot in Germania. Emperor Claudius (brother of the Germanicus and son of Drusus Germanicus) had the name Germanicus as well, but he was probably never in Germania. Nero and Caligula were also named Germanicus. A ton of Romans were.
rasz 4y ago
His very great friend in Rome was called Biggus Dickus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrcbCW4y9Dw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrcbCW4y9Dw

The sculpture is of a man named Drusus Germanicus. What do you think "Germanicus" means?

jandrese 4y ago

It means he has an awfully Italian sounding name.

Turing_Machine 4y ago
And? My FIL has an "Italian sounding name", but he's never been within 3,000 miles of Italy. The Roman Empire covered a lot of territory.
slim 4y ago
it's Latin

robonerd 4y ago

If the statue is the Drusus Germanicus I think it is, he was a Roman general and politician who earned the agnomen Germanicus for leading successful military campaigns in Germania. See also: Scipio Africanus; he got that name for conquering Carthage.

Turing_Machine 4y ago
It didn't look like the famous one, at least to me. Romans were notorious for reusing names. Even if it were the famous one, he was, in fact, in Germany, yes?
- robonerd 4y ago
  > It didn't look like the famous one, at least to me. You're not alone in thinking that. The article says the sculpture might actually be Pompey, not Drusus Germanicus. Evidently there's no name written on it, so it was probably catalogued as Drusus Germanicus because somebody thought it looked like the Drusus Germanicus, but they may well have been wrong. > Even if it were the famous one, he was, in fact, in Germany, yes? He certainly was. As far as I'm concerned, Germany is a perfectly fitting place for a sculpture of Drusus Germanicus. My main point here is you can't assume a Roman was from the place they were named after. They might have been, or might not have been. Generally speaking, it's not even a given that a person named Germanicus was ever in Germania nor had any ancestry from Germania. The son of Drusus Germanicus was the Germanicus, the most famous Germanicus. The Germanicus to whom you can refer with the name Germanicus alone. The Germanicus inherited that name from his father Drusus. Complicating the matter, the Germanicus then went on to lead numerous military campaigns in Germania as his father did before him, but he already had the name Germanicus as a child, inherited from his father Drusus. There are actually a whole slew of Romans with the name Germanicus and many of them likely never set foot in Germania. Emperor Claudius (brother of the Germanicus and son of Drusus Germanicus) had the name Germanicus as well, but he was probably never in Germania. Nero and Caligula were also named Germanicus. A ton of Romans were.

rasz 4y ago

His very great friend in Rome was called Biggus Dickus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrcbCW4y9Dw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrcbCW4y9Dw