Can you guys help me out?

[Louis XXIV]

Hey, I'm supposed to write a short story based on English history for school. My thoughts right now is to write a story involving Boudica. I'm starting to get a good idea what's going to happen in my story, but I probably need to do some more research to get details (at the very least, I'm supposed to have 10 sources, so I need to add some). If anyone has any good sources that they know of, let me know

My main character will be a Roman (he'll sort of be a nice guy surrounded by a lot of bad Romans and he'll end up getting killed in Colchester at the end of the story). I have a slight problem, though. I'm usually bad at thinking of names for characters, and that's for English names. For Roman and Celtic names, I'm completely lost. If anyone has any ideas, it would be appreciated.

Thanks for any help you can give me

 

[Verbose]

I have a slight problem, though. I'm usually bad at thinking of names for characters, and that's for English names. For Roman and Celtic names, I'm completely lost. If anyone has any ideas, it would be appreciated.

This if from the French Wikipedia. It's a list of known words in ancient Gaulish.
It's what was spoken in Gaul on the continent, but according to the Roman sources the difference between Gaulish and British wasn't very great (Gaulish being closer to british than to other continental Celtic languages)

I have to apoligise to everyone for one veeery long list now... Sorry!

What follows it are some simple rules for how personal names were formed in this language.
Just don't end anybody but royalty's name with "-rix" as it literally means "king" (like the Latin "rex").

I'm afraid I'm leaving for you to get out a French-English dictionary and work out what the words mean in English. (A great learning experience! )

Known vocabulary:

ABALO "pomme"
ABANCOS "castor"
ABONA "rivière"
AEDOS "foyer"
ALAUDA "alouette"
ANDERA "génisse"
ARATRON "araire"
ARGENTON "argent"
ARTOS "ours"
BANATLOS "genêt"
BENA "femme"
BERROS "court"
BETUA "bouleau"
BITU "monde"
BIVOS "vivant"
BLATON "blé"
BORBETOS "bouilli"
BRATU "jugement"
BROGOS "pays"
CABALLOS "cheval"
CALETOS "dur"
CALIACOS "coq"
CARPENTON "char"
CARRUCA "charrette"
CASSANOS "chêne"
CASSICA "jument"
CASSOS¹ "frisé"
CASSOS² "fougueux"
CAVANNOS "chat-huant"
CETON "bois"
CINGETOS "guerrier"
CINTOS "premier"
CLADIOS "épée"
CLETA "claie"
COCOLOS "quenouille"
CONDATE "confluent"
CAVAROS "héros, géant"
COROS "nain"
COTTOS "vieux"
CRIXOS "bouclé"
CUMBA "val"
CURMI "bière"
DAGOS "bon"
DALLOS "aveugle"
DEGOS "brûlure"
DERCOS "vue"
DERVOS "chêne"
DIACUS "paresseux"
DRAGENOS "épine"
DRAUCA "ivraie"
DUBRON "eau"
DUBOS "noir"
DUMNON "monde"
DUNON "citadelle"
DURNOS "poing"
DURON "fort"
EBUROS "if"
ELARCA "cygne"
EPOS "cheval"
ESCA "rivière"
ESOX "saumon"
GABALOS "fourche"
GABROS "chèvre"
GARANOS "grue"
GIAMOS "hiver"
GLANNA "rive"
GNATOS "né"
GRAVA "gravier"
IANTOS "zèle"
IORCOS "chevreuil"
ISARNOS "fer"
ISAROS "sacré"
IUTTA "bouillie
IVOS "if'
IALOS "clairière"
IAROS "poule"
IOVINCOS "jeune"
LABAROS "parole"
LANOS "plein"
LAROS "plancher"
LAUTRON "bain"
LAVENOS "joyeux"
LEMOS "orme"
LESTRON "vaisseau"
LETOS "gris"
LISSOS "cour"
LITANOS "large"
LITOS "large"
LIVOS "couleur"
LOMBOS "nu"
LOSTOS "queue"
LOUERNOS "renard"
LUGERNOS "lumière"
LUSA "baie"
MANTALON "balance"
MAPOS "fils, garçon"
MARCOS "cheval"
MAROS "grand"
MARVOS "mort"
MATOS "bon"
MEDU "hydromel"
MELINOS "jaune"
MELISSOS "doux"
MELLOS "gonflé"
MESGA "petit lait"
METLOS "moissonneur"
MINNOS "petit"
MOCCOS "porc"
MOLTOS "mouton"
MORI "mer"
NANTOS "val"
NASCA "lien"
NAUDA "noue"
NEMETON "sanctuaire"
NEMOS "ciel"
NEPOS "aucun, quiconque"
NERTOS "force"
NOVIOS "nouveau"
OLCA "friche"
OLCOS "loup"
OMNOS "crainte"
ONNOS "frêne"
ORBOS "enfant"
ORCOS "porc"
ORDOS "marteau"
ORGETOS "tueur"
PAPOS "chaque"
PARIOS "chaudron"
PEMPOS "cinq"
PENNOS "tête"
PETTIA "pièce, morceau"
PAUTA "patte"
PICTOS "rusé"
PRINNOS "bois"
RANDA "partie"
RATON "rempart"
RECTOS "droit"
REDA "chariot"
RICA "sillon"
RIGOS "roi"
RITOS "gué"
RO- "très"
ROTA "roue"
ROUDOS "rouge"
RUNA "mystère"
RUSCA "écorce"
SACROS "hardi"
SANTEROS "moitié"
SAMARA "friche"
SALICOS "saule"
SAMOS "été"
SANTOS "désir"
SATOS "semence"
SEGOS "force"
SELGA "rate"
SELGOS "chasse"
SELVA "possession"
SEDOS "paix"
SERVOS "amer"
SENOS "vieux"
SENTOS "chemin"
SERRA "faucille"
SESCA "laîche"
SETOS "long"
SIROS "long"
SLUGOS "armée"
SMERA "mûre"
SOCCOS "soc"
SPANTION "source"
SPARNOS "épine"
SRONNOS "nez"
STREMON "rivière"
SU- "bon"
SUCCOS "truie"
SVELTOS "tourné"
TALOS "front"
TANNOS "chêne"
TARANOS "tonnerre"
TARATRON "tarière"
TARVOS "taureau"
TASGOS "blaireau"
TAVOS "silencieux"
TECTOS "marche"
TEUTA "nation"
TENEDON "feu"
TIGERNOS "maître"
TONNA "vague"
TOLLOS "trou"
TORCOS "torque, collier"
TRAGOS "pied"
TREBA "village"
TRI "trois-particule intensive"
TURCOS "verrat"
UXELLOS "haut"
VAGNA "marais"
VABEROS "rivière"
VARINA "troupe d'hommes"
VARROS "courbé"
VASSOS "serviteur"
VECTOS "combat"
VELLOS "meilleur"
VER- "sur"
VERGOS "colère"
VERNOS "aulne"
VICOS "combat"
VIDUS "arbre"
VINDOS "blanc"
VIROS "homme"
VIROS "vrai"
VLATON "pouvoir"
VO "sous"
VOCETON "sous-bois"
VOLCOS "faucon"


Gaulish names:

Prefixes:
NEMETO-DURON "holy-citadell" = Nanterre

Suffixes:
ARTO-BRIGA "bear-fortress". EBURO-BRIGA "boar-fortress". LITANO-BRIGA "large-fortress". NEMETO-BRIGA "holy-fortress".

Personal names:
CARNONOS "horned" from CARNU "horn". DIVONA "divine (female)" from DIVOS "god". EPONA "mare (female)" from EPOS "horse". MAPONOS "filial" from MAPOS "son". RIGATONA "royal (female)" from RIGOS "king".

I.e. -(o)na for female names; -(o)nos for males. And -(o)rix only for ryalty.

 

[Louis XXIV]

I'm afraid I'm leaving for you to get out a French-English dictionary and work out what the words mean in English. (A great learning experience! )

lmao Thanks for your help

Well, I wasn't planning on trying too hard, but I might give it a shot. There are probably only a couple of Galic characters (a few Iceni tribesmen) and maybe I'll narrow it down to one. I'm kind of lazy, so I don't need to add many characters (at least not with names).

 

[Xen]

I hope that the Britons get thier fair share of deamonization- after all, while the Romans might not have taken any flak from conqred locals, its a far cry from killing all the innocents of a town in the tame of a war god, as Boudicca was prone to do. The Romans may have been bad on occasion, but 9 out of 10 times they were better then the alternative, even when bad

Roman names- not that hard really, you might to consider using some of the classic "evil" names for your worse Roman chars, such as Nero, Caligula, Lefty Scaevola... For your good chaircter I might suggest the name Majorian myself, as hes been my most recent target of interest in late Roman history (if he hadnt been killed, he may well have turned the western Roman empire around, and put it back into good order) another might Numerius/Numerian. Otherwise just a fai rlook over a list of emperors shoudl give you plenty of fodder for names.

Celtic names are a problem, but you can more or less just type in any odd assortment of letters, and claim that you were typing in welsh

 

[Stefan Haertel]

How can the hero not be named "Biggus Dickus"?

 

[MadScot]

you can more or less just type in any odd assortment of letters, and claim that you were typing in welsh

I never knew you spoke welsh, xen

 

[Xen]

I never knew you spoke welsh, xen

I'm actually very fluent in it

 

[Louis XXIV]

I hope that the Britons get thier fair share of deamonization- after all, while the Romans might not have taken any flak from conqred locals, its a far cry from killing all the innocents of a town in the tame of a war god, as Boudicca was prone to do. The Romans may have been bad on occasion, but 9 out of 10 times they were better then the alternative, even when bad

IIRC, Tacitus says that Roman soldiers sought refuge in the Temple of Claudius before all getting killed. I'm thinking that's where my story will end, with the town being burned to the ground. Plenty of opportunity to show the negative light of what the Britons did.

Roman names- not that hard really, you might to consider using some of the classic "evil" names for your worse Roman chars, such as Nero, Caligula, Lefty Scaevola... For your good chaircter I might suggest the name Majorian myself, as hes been my most recent target of interest in late Roman history (if he hadnt been killed, he may well have turned the western Roman empire around, and put it back into good order) another might Numerius/Numerian. Otherwise just a fai rlook over a list of emperors shoudl give you plenty of fodder for names.

With the exception of a few real people (Catus Decianus, who was procurator of Britain, might be involved in some dialogue, Suetonius Paulinus probably will only get mentioned, same with Boudica herself). I'll probably just make something up that sounds like it will work. Its not like I have to convince anyone who knows what they are talking about that I know what I'm talking about

Celtic names are a problem, but you can more or less just type in any odd assortment of letters, and claim that you were typing in welsh

The only Celtic character who is of any significance probably only needs to be described, not named, since the Romans aren't going to really be friendly with him. I might end up avoiding celtic names all together.

Thanks for your help

 

[Takhisis]

there were some names of Gaulish Kings that ended in -ax, not in -ix. Examples: Daderax of the Mandubii, Relax (Asterix´s cousin), etc.

 

[PrinceOfLeigh]

I'm reading a fictional book by a fella called Simon Scarrow which is set at the time of the Roman Invasion of Britain. In it he refers to people like Vespasian who made his name in the Invasion. If you have time to research this and use the names of people who were actually in Britian at the time, I'm sure it would enhance your story.

 

[Takhisis]

You mean the definitive invasion of Britain in the 1st century, Prince?

 

[PrinceOfLeigh]

You mean the definitive invasion of Britain in the 1st century, Prince?

The Claudius Invasion