Anthony as Greek?

[X99Lynx at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/6/2001 7:56:06 PM, BMScott at stratos.net writes:
<< Roman (as distinct from medieval) <Antonius> and its derivatives rather
consistently appear with <t>, not the <th> that one would expect in a
borrowing of Gk <anth->.>>

But that may be a function of how early the name entered Latin.   Early names
that show Greek origins do not necessarily observe the later Roman respect
for Greek spellings, e.g., the volcanic <Aetna> from the Gr <aitho:n, aithe:>
'burning', but see the Latin <Aethon> for later imported names from Classical
Greek mythology.  Other examples might include Latin <antelii> a word for the
ancient custom of placing images near the doorway of homes, from the Gr
<anthe:lioi>; Latin <tus, ture>, incense, from the Gr <thuos>; and even
possibly a name for the Etruscans themselves, <Tusci> which is also attested
as <Thusci>.

One of the things it is easy to forget is that the Greeks were in contact
with both Rome and the Etruscans at an extremely early date.  A major Greek
colony near Naples, Pithekoussai, was founded about 750 BC.  And among the
earliest "Roman" burials on Esquiline hill, numbers of Corinthian "olpe" urns
have been found, including one that is inscribed with apparently the Greek
name "Ktektos" dating from about 725BC.  Such contact precedes by many
centuries the first appearance of the name Anthony.

Whether through the Etruscans or directly, there is clear evidence that the
Greeks were there not long after the iron age started and had a considerable
technical and cultural influence on the region before we have any evidence of
Latin literacy.

<Anthoun->, the present participle of <antheo:>, flourishing, blossoming,
bright, etc. (or perhaps just flower growering) could have entered Latin
early enough to have been adapted to the Latin sound preferences, and before
the Romans had become careful about their borrowings from Greek.  The absence
of a clear alternative origin might suggest that a Greek origin shouldn't be
dismissed too confidently on the basis of /t/ versus /th/ distinction that
early Romans did not always observe well themselves. (Cf., <Atys/Athys>)

<<And it seems to be borrowed into Greek with tau, not theta: according to
Morlet (Les noms de personne sur le territoire de l'ancienne Gaule du VIe au
XIIe siècle, I:20a), H. Dessau (Inscriptiones latinae selectae) cites two
Greek transcriptions of <Antoninus>, both with <'Anto:-> >>

Would it be expected that the Greeks would recovert a family name back to a
Greek pronunciation or written form once it became an established
centuries-old Roman name?  It would be like the French translating back an
English family name like Williams into its French original.  This would be
unusual in any circumstance, but especially in the case of imperial Romans
names.

Regards,
Steve Long