🔞wigga mortimer

it's june! happy pride month to all queer selfshippers and all queer f/os! you are all so very loved <3

I've been thinking about Legion naming conventions and I came to the conclusion that Legion naming conventions are none existent, and like everything that doesn't make sense in the Legion when compared to Ancient Rome, Mormonism is to blame. To further dive down into this, I believe that tribals are forced to change their tribal name in favour of a Legion name, but there's no rules when it comes to it. We have (I'll include some examples from Van Buren too):

Joshua Graham aka Malpais Legate: Malpais or "malpaís" just means "badlands" (of volcanic origin) in Spanish. It does sounds cool, "the general of the badlands" or "the general from the lava fields", but it's not very Latin—y.

Dead Sea: Another name that's not in Latin, and I'm sure that decanus can't even place the Dead Sea on a map.

Karl: The frumentarius trying to assimilate the Great Khans. This name is not even like Antony, an English version of a Latin name. Its origin is Germanic.

Cruz: A Legion soldier from Van Buren. Cruz just means "cross" in Spanish. Besides Cruz we also have Terrence and Ivory in Van Buren.

Lupa: This one doesn't even have a face because we don't see him in game, but he's who Picus (Curtis) contacts during I Put A Spell On You. Latin word, yes, but a female one.

Even the names in Latin, like the example of Lupa, don't follow Roman naming conventions. Only one Legion member follows the tria nomia, and that's Scribonius Libo Drusus, another legionary who only exists in mentions. In this case, he's the one who purchased Carla Boone. He's named after a man who conspired against Emperor Tiberius, and he's not the only one who takes his name from history. Ulysses doesn't need introduction (and my man took his name from Ulysses S. Grant, not the myth), but another NPC takes his name from history: Otho. Otho, the asshole in the arena, takes his name from the second Roman Emperor during the Year of the Four Emperors, which means Caesar doesn't care if his men take names that may be considered "imperial".

Now, why do I blame Mormonism for the lack of naming conventions in the Legion? For starters, I believe Joshua Graham was as much of an intellectual founder of the Legion as Caesar was, even if they both imply that it was only Edward (Joshua to dodge guilt and responsibility, Caesar to claim all the glory and further erase Joshua from his history), and that's seen on elements like alcohol being forbidden. You can't copy Roman culture and remove the importance of wine.

As a translator and interpreter, a lot of things were probably filtered, consciously or unconsciously, through Joshua's understanding of the world. Names were probably a part of that. Most people are familiar with the strange names Mormons give to their children, but I believe he was more influenced by the practice of secret/sacred name given in the Temple. A symbol of renewal and rebirth that in the Legion has the meaning of abandoning tribal identity. I don't think Joshua went around naming every single legionary, but legionaries are probably made to pick a new name as s symbol of loyalty to the Legion and Caesar.

Where do these names come from? Based on what Ulysses tells us, probably books. The legionaries who know how to read pick one from books approved in the Legion, while those who don't know would get the name picked for them, or get inspiration from oral stories and tradition.

Thank you all for listening once again to my ramblings.