Sulla
Latin
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Uncertain. It likely referred originally to a personal physical characteristic, like many Latin cognomina: Quintilian (Institutio Oratoria 1.4.25.3) gives it as an example of a name with this kind of etymology (along with Burrus, Galba, Plautus, Pānsa, Scaurus). If the vowel was long, the form would be consistent with derivation from sūra (“calf of the leg”) + -la (diminutive suffix) (making it equivalent to *sūrula); compare Sūra (agnomen and cognomen). An alternative modern proposal is that it comes from suīlla [1] (carō) 'pork (meat)'.[2] Plutarch interprets Lucius Cornelius Sulla's cognomen as a reference to his facial complexion[3] (although it was already a traditional name in his family).
Proper noun
[edit]Sulla m (genitive Sullae); first declension
Declension
[edit]First-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Sulla | Sullae |
| Genitive | Sullae | Sullārum |
| Dative | Sullae | Sullīs |
| Accusative | Sullam | Sullās |
| Ablative | Sullā | Sullīs |
| Vocative | Sulla | Sullae |
Descendants
[edit]- → Ancient Greek: Σύλλᾱς (Súllās)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Fiona Mary Noble (2014) Sulla and the Gods: Religion, Politics, and Propaganda in the Autobiography of Lucius Cornelius Sulla (Thesis)[1], Newcastle University, page 52
- ^ Maria Gabriela Angeli Bertinelli (1997) Plutarco: Le vite di Lisandro e di Silla, Fondazione Lorenzo Valla, page 296
- ^ Plutarch (2nd century) Bernadotte Perrin, transl., The Parallel Lives, published 1916; republished as Bill Thayer, editor, Plutarch, The Parallel Lives: The Life of Sulla[2], web, 2018
Further reading
[edit]- “Sulla”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “Sulla”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- Sulla in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- George Davis Chase, "Origin of Roman Praenomina", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 8, 1897, pp. 109–110.