This has however no etymological value and is only a retrofitting interpretation concernced with the earlier institution of the Vediovis-cult in Rome together with a statue of Iulus-Vediovis as a (possibly bearded) archer. Members of the Julian family like their chronicler Lucius Caesar later connected the name Iulus with ἰοβόλος ("the good archer") and ἴουλος ("the youth whose first beard is growing"). Therefore Alföldi (1975) is correct in rejecting this proposed etymological origin. Weinstock's argument however relies on a hypothetical intermediate form *Iovilus, and he stated himself that Iullus can't originally have been a theophoric name and could therefore only have become one at a secondary stage, after the Julians had established the identification of Iulus as their gentilician god Vediovis ( also: Veiovis), who was a "young Iuppiter" himself. juvenescent theophoric name of Iovis, which used to be one of the older names of the god Iuppiter. Weinstock (1971) made a case for Iullus being a diminutive, i.e. But since the vow was originally an archaic rural ceremony, the vernacular explanation by the Romans, who had always been farmers, will have been "woman of the Earth" and "man of the Earth", referring also to the agricultural property of the family. ("Where you, Gaius, likewise I, Gaia.") By the inclusion of Gaius and Gaia in the vow, the two names could of course be identified simply as "man" and "woman". The most promising explanation can however be found in the folk-etymological derivation from the Greek word γαῖα ( gaîa, "earth"), specifically γῆ ("gê") or γᾶ ("gâ"), which is supported by the Roman vow of marriage that the fiancée had to give: Ubi tu Caius et ego Caia. But no supporting evidence has been found to this day. Some have linked the name to an unknown Etruscan phrase, others to the gentilician name Gavius, which possibly might have lost the medial v in the course of time. This etymology is commonly seen as incorrect, and the origin of Gaius is often stated as still unknown. The only known original Roman etymology of Gaius is expressed as a gaudio parentum, meaning that the name Gaius stems from the Latin verb gaudere ("to rejoice", "to be glad"). The old spelling remained valid in later times and existed alongside Gaius, especially in the form of the abbreviation C. ![]() before the censorship of Appius Claudius Caecus in 312 BC, the name was only written as Caius. Before the introduction of the letter G into the Latin alphabet, i.e. Gaius is an archaic Latin name and one of the earliest Roman praenomina. Suetonius also speaks of the additional cognomen Pater Patriae, which would render Caesar's complete name as Imperator Gaius Iulius Caesar Pater Patriae Divus.
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