Name Callers

Nomenclator: (from Latin for “name caller”).

In ancient Rome, a servant or dependent whose business it was to inform his master or patron of the names of persons, especially when engaged in canvassing for office; a steward or usher who assigned or indicated the places of guests at a banquet (OED).

“But if influencing people and keeping in the public eye/
Constitutes bliss, let’s buy us a slave to stand by/
And tell us their names, give us a dig in the ribs,/
And hustle us across the street to shake their hands:/
‘He has pull with the Fabians. This man’s a wheel with the Velines/
This fellow can make you a consul or judge, or break you,/
If he feels in the mood.’ When you reach out your hand for their vote,/
Say ‘brother’ or ‘father’—adopt your constituent, adapting/
Your words to his age.”

Horace, Epistle to Numicius, (1st Century B.C.)

Scale of 1 to 10: 6. As a memory expert, your worth is minted in inverse proportion to your patron’s forgetfulness.