Thread 18102579

Why did the name FLAVIUS become more important than the name Caesar after the Romans converted to Christianity?

Not only did all Roman kings and emperors adopt it, such as Flavius Belisarius and Flavius Zeno, but also Germanic conquerors such as Flavius Odoacer and Flavius Theodoric adopted the name Flavius.

The first Frankish king, Clovis I, was Flavius Chlodovechus.


Why did the name Flavius become more important than the name Caesar after the Christianization of the empire?

>>18102579 (OP)
Flavius just means Golden Hair. It's like a nickname. But it was also common for these people to adopt long ass names. Caracalla's full name was something ridiculous like Lucius Septimius Bassianus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.

>>18102579 (OP)
>the name Caesar after the Romans converted to Christianity?
To honour Constantine the great?

>>18102579 (OP)
It probably doesn’t have much to do with Christianity. Given that the name essentially means blonde, it probably has to do with late Roman migration patterns. There was more of a near eastern genetic influence due to migration compared to Iron Age Rome, and soon after Germanic people began to migrate south in significant numbers, so blonde hair was likely seen as more unique because it would stand out.

>>18102579 (OP)
>FLAVIUS become more important than the name Caesar after the Romans converted to Christianity?
Because Caesar was not an acceptable name to adopt. Only the emperor got it. Caesar was far more important because Caesar was the emperor. You seem to just not understand Roman naming practices. Flavius is a patronage name, men working in the civil service or the army staff took up the name Flavius under the Constantinian dynasty because their family name was Flavius, and by adopting the name they are recognising the emperor as their patron, and unlike previous emperors they did not particularly bar men in service from doing it. The only other patron name that common was Marcus Aurelius because of Commodus granting mass citizenship.

The name Flavius doesn't have anything to do with Christianity. It is only about the Constantinian dynasty and because it had been tradition for nearly 80 years by the time Julian died, it became simply a tradition name take on the name Flavius if you entered Imperial service. Not to mention that the Constantinians were completely unrelated to the Flavians.