Name ideas for Alpha 4

[Aldandil]

For the next alpha, we welcome fan suggestions for words relating to the ancient world beginning with the letter D. We will prefer words related to the civilizations of ancient Iberia. Keep it original and within the 0 A.D. timeframe (appx. 500 BC - 1 BC).

So! You heard them, let's get started.

I know very little about ancient Iberia, so I unfortunately only have a few names I found on Wikipedia and Pantheon.org:

Deitanni: a tribe of people in southeast Spain, I'm guessing native. Awkwardly, there's much more to choose from starting with C and E than with D. Wikimedia map.

There are some divine theonyms starting with D, though they are probably all only attested from Roman times so they might not count, and the sources for this info are the Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons, and other books of that sort:

Daho, from the Pyrenees: pantheon.org

Dercetius, a Lusitanian mountain god: pantheon.org and wikipedia

Duberdicus, a Lusitanian lake or river god: wikipedia

Duillae, vegetation goddesses: pantheon

Durius/Durio, river god of Rio Duero: wikipedia

If Daho was comparable to Mars (according to ancient Romans or modern commentators? I don't know), then he could be a good choice, this being a game about warfare. I like Deitanni and Dercetius too.

Edited December 11, 2010 by Aldandil

[huwok]

I know it's not related to ancient Iberia but i still like it :

Damocles

[Aldandil]

How about Demetrios, since he's one of the Greek heroes in the game.

Or Devotio, one of the Iberian super units.

[SMST]

Or Devotio, one of the Iberian super units.

That sounds rather good. I don't know anything about the Iberians despite the fact that they inhabited Iberia and some stuff I read in the very history pages of the 0 A.D. webpage, so I cannot contribute any ideas this time, I'm afraid.

[oshron]

i think damocles would be a good name. good literary reference

[SMST]

i think damocles would be a good name. good literary reference

Well, I associate "Damocles" with some kind of pending doom. So, idk whether this is really fitting as a release name.

[Aldandil]

That sounds rather good. I don't know anything about the Iberians despite the fact that they inhabited Iberia and some stuff I read in the very history pages of the 0 A.D. webpage, so I cannot contribute any ideas this time, I'm afraid.

I really know nothing about them either, I just pulled those out of Wikipedia, Pantheon.org, and the trac wiki.

I looked for other super units and heroes whose names start with D, but didn't find any more for Greeks, Celts, or Iberians.

Here's a few Greek names:

Deimos, god or personification of fear or terror, son and attendant of the god of war, Ares

Drakon, so the next easter egg unit can be that dragon!

Dionysos and Demeter, the two major agricultural gods of Greek religion

Dodona, a great oracle of Zeus in Thesprotia

Edited December 14, 2010 by Aldandil

[Jeru]

I'm kind of tired of Greek names. We already did 3 in a row. If we're doing something non-Iberian I suggest to do something Celtic, especially since Celts and Iberians are not mutually exclusive.

[Aldandil]

Yeah, I agree the other factions should get releases named for them. I just don't know much about Celtic or Iberian cultures.

Edited December 14, 2010 by Aldandil

[aldur]

i would suggest

Dionysos: the god of wine, joy etc.

or, if celtic

Donar: which is the (old) german name for Thor

Edited December 16, 2010 by aldur

[SMST]

or, if celtic

Donar: which is the (old) german name for Thor

Celts are no Germanics, although their cultures mixed quite a bit. (like here in Bavaria)

Donar would be good for 0 A.D. II, which has Germanic people.

[Aldandil]

Yeah, Donar is, as you said, the mainland equivalent of Thor and therefore unrelated to any of the 6 factions.

There are some Irish gods, I think, with names starting with D: Dagda, Diancecht, Danu. I know absolutely nothing about them, though.

[Shield Bearer]

Whats wrong with Devotio? i kinda like it

[Thorfinn the Shallow Minded]

me too

[Aldandil]

Just brainstorming. I still like Daho, Dercetius, and Deitanni the best.

[edwardlongshank]

I have two suggestions

Dercetius is a Romano-Iberian mountain god.

Duillae are the goddesses of fertility and vegetation which were worshiped by the iberian.

Unfortuantly at the moment i dont have much information on either of them but ill search for some info when i get time. I did however find a perfect iberian candidate for E which is Endovelicus. Hewas associated with chthonic oracles and healing, and was probably the recipient of pig sacrifices.

After the Roman invasion, his cult spread to most of the Roman Empire, but was always most popular in the Roman provinces of Lusitania (covering part of what is now Portugal) and Betica (located in Southern Spain). Thus he is considered part of the Roman mythology and the related Lusitanian and Gallaecian mytology.

Rest of the info is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endovelicus.

Edited December 18, 2010 by edwardlongshank

[eggman]

I know it's still Greek, but Daedalus has to at least get a shout-out...

[dragonic2020]

Hmmm, Greek dieties starting with 'D'?

How about "Diana", goddess of hunting?

[SMST]

Hmmm, Greek dieties starting with 'D'?

How about "Diana", goddess of hunting?

Diana is Roman.

If you're going for Greek dieties with D, have a go on Demeter, Dionysos, some Dryades or Deimos.

[jd823592]

These are names i found (obviously no D...):

Ambon - An Iberian who fought the Romans (10)

Arganthonios - Ruler of the Tartessus (Guadalquivir) Valley. His name comes from "arganto", the Celtic word for "silver". (10)

Auaros, Avaros - Chieftain of Numantia, a Celtiberian hill-fort (10)

Caraunios - An Iberian who fought the Romans (10)

Caros - An Iberian who fought the Romans (10)

Leukon - An Iberian who fought the Romans (10)

Megaravicos - An Iberian who fought the Romans (10)

Rhetogenes - An Iberian who fought the Romans (10)

Viriathos (Lusitani) - An Iberian who fought the Romans (10)

This also does not look very promissing:

The following list includes some of the elements proposed as components of Iberian names: abaŕ, aibe, aile, ain, aitu, aiun, aker, albe, aloŕ, an, anaŕ, aŕbi, aŕki, aŕs, asai, aster, ata, atin, atun, aunin, auŕ, austin, baiser, balaŕ, balke, bartaś, baś, bastok, bekon, belauŕ, beleś, bels, bene, beŕ, beri, beŕon, betan, betin, bikir, bilos, bin, bir, bitu, biuŕ, bolai, boŕ, boś, boton, ekes, ekaŕ, eler, ena, esto, eten, eter, iar, iaun, ibeś, ibeis, ike, ikoŕ, iltiŕ, iltur, inte, iskeŕ, istan, iunstir, iur, kaisur, kakeŕ, kaltuŕ, kani, kaŕes, kaŕko, katu, keŕe, kibaś, kine, kitaŕ, kon, koŕo, koŕś, kuleś, kurtar, lako, lauŕ, leis, lor, lusban, nalbe, neitin, neŕse, nes, niś, nios, oŕtin, sakaŕ, sakin, saltu, śani, śar, seken, selki, sike, sili, sine, sir, situ, soket, sor, sosin, suise, taker, talsku, tan, tanek, taneś, taŕ, tarban, taŕtin, taś, tautin, teita, tekeŕ, tibaś, tikeŕ, tikirs, tikis, tileis, tolor, tuitui, tumar, tuŕś, turkir, tortin, ulti, unin, uŕke, ustain, ḿbaŕ, nḿkei.

The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources (among others, Hecataeus of Miletus, Avienus, Herodotus and Strabo) identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula at least from the 6th century BC. These included the Airenosi, Andosini, Ausetani, Bastetani, Bastuli, Bergistani, Castellani, Cessetani, Ceretani, Contestani, Edetani, Elisices, Iacetani, Ilercavones, Ilergetes, Indigetes, Lacetani, Laietani, Oretani, Sedetani, Sordones, Suessetani, and Turdetani (there are some doubts regarding the ethno-linguistic affiliation of some of these). The Roman and Greek sources often diverge about the precise location of each Iberian people and also about the list of Iberian peoples.

[Daedalus]

Cheeky suggestion here, especially for my first post, but Daedalus, the Latin word meaning 'skilfully made' could work. It's a bit tongue-in-cheek given this is still Alpha, but the game WILL be skilfully made. Daedalus also happens to be a mythical figure, being the bloke who made wings for that poor chap Icarus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daedalus

[Aldandil]

Daedalus isn't a Latin name at all. It's Greek and dates back to the Bronze Age Mykenaian form of Greek, though what it referred to (god or hero or what) back then is unknown. The translation and etymology is also unknown -- it could even have originated in the Minoan language.

Daidalos is the guy who was a great artificier/inventor, though, so it's still fitting. But they want to give non-Greek names a chance and I agree with that.

I was looking for Celtic-related names and found this map on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Gall...ribes_Towns.png

Here is a tribe name:

Dumnonii (sw England)

And some place names (don't know if they're contemporary):

Druentia River

Duranius River

Dubis River

Durocortorum (city/town?)

Also, is Devon (in Wales?) a fairly old place name? Maybe it's old enough to use.

Edited December 31, 2010 by Aldandil

[Mythos_Ruler]

You guys need to think more like marketers.

[Aldandil]

Aw give us a break, this is a hard letter! Especially if the team prefers a non-Greek name.

And if you think we have poor ideas now, just wait until F comes around.

Edited December 31, 2010 by Aldandil

[Nerva]

Dumnonii (sw England)

I second Dumnonii and would like to submit Dobunni as well - another Celtic tribe who lived in what is now South Western England.

Also, is Devon (in Wales?) a fairly old place name? Maybe it's old enough to use.

Devon is an English county - and it's name derives from Dumnonii!