Valens/Valentinus, Flora/Florinus and Marcus/Marcianus

[spin]

Ok but let's try to figure this out. The origin of the gens Marcius. There was some guy who had the praenomen Marcus and his descendants developed the nomen Marcius. Right so far? Marcus + ius = Marcius.

Some guy called Marcus Marcius: praenomen - Marcus; nomen - Marcius.

[Secret Alias]

What ending would you apply to those belonging to Marcus or things belonging to Marcus outside of the naming conventions? Marcus + inus? Marcinus?

[spin]

What ending would you apply to those belonging to Marcus or things belonging to Marcus outside of the naming conventions? Marcus + inus? Marcinus?

I dunno. Have you seen any praenomen receiving such a suffix in Roman times?

[Secret Alias]

I think it might have been Marcianus. It's hard to reconcile (a) the ubiquitous nature of Marcianus vs (b) the paucity of individuals named Marcius in the post-republican period.

[Secret Alias]

Again I wonder if the way Marcus was treated might have been influence by Mars.

[Secret Alias]

In Greek the k in Marcus is hard. What was the sound of the Latin c in the first and second centuries? I remember reading that Lucas was hard k originally.

[Secret Alias]

Marcius would be pronounced something like Martchus, Martsius, and Marshus and in other periods Markius. I just don't know when. It does seem vaguely similar at some points to Martius especially the way Martius would be pronounced in late Church Latin.

[spin]

I think it might have been Marcianus. It's hard to reconcile (a) the ubiquitous nature of Marcianus vs (b) the paucity of individuals named Marcius in the post-republican period.

You seem to be massaging the data. In what sense is "Marcianus" ubiquitous? In the Prosopography of the Roman Empire (Berlin 1897) there are 28+ exemplars of Marcius and 24 of Marcianus.

[spin]

Marcius would be pronounced something like Martchus, Martsius, and Marshus and in other periods Markius. I just don't know when. It does seem vaguely similar at some points to Martius especially the way Martius would be pronounced in late Church Latin.

Marcius may sometimes have been confused with the nomen Martius, of which there are six exemplars in the prosopography. This might be due to Arretine pronunciation: the prosopography gives a certain Martius Macer (apparently from an inscription) with an Arretine context, who Tacitus gives as Marcius Macer (H. 2.23). It may be that "ti-" and "ci-" were pronounced similarly in the Arretine form.

Late church Latin is of no use to you, nor is stuff like "Marshus" and "Martchus", which seem to be modern misadventures. I have no idea where "Martsius" comes into the story. But Marcius (Latin c = kappa) and Martius are similar enough to be confused in transmission.

[Secret Alias]

The same must have been true for martian and marcian? Can't Mars have influenced the way Marcus was treated in the adjectival form.

On the other discussion I know of no Marcius from the Imperial period at least no prominent person with the praenomen Marcius. https://la.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Marcius_Macer