Tizio, Caio e Sempronio
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Tizio, Caio and Sempronio are fictitious names that indicate, in common Italian usage, a set of indeterminate people. Today we also use the name tizio, in lowercase, to indicate an “everyman” or an ordinary or typical human being. This Italianized term in its complete form originates in 1867 and appeared for the first time in the Veronese newspaper L’Adige, while “Tizio e Sempronio” dates back to 1767. The expression of the trio can be traced back even further to the Late Middle Ages (11th – 12th century AD), when a jurist and glossator named Irnerio and who lived in Bologna (regarded as one of the founding schools of modern law), used the phrase for exemplifying purposes. At this time the “School of Bologna” was active, made up of scholars who analysed the Corpus iuris civilis (the collection of laws put together by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in the sixth century AD), explaining the concepts expressed by the law through ideal-typical examples, in which Titius et Gaius et Sempronius was often mentioned. The Latin formula has two differences from the Italian one: there is an extra conjunction and a slightly different name (The Latin Gaius becomes Caio in Italian). The link between the Latin and the Italian phrasing can be identified in a legal text of 1673, Il Dottore Vulgare by Giovanni Battista De Luca, in which the phrase Tizio, Caio and Sempronio first appears.
SOME ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE ORIGINS
The first traces the names back to the Gracchi family – well-known Roman politicians – and whose most famous members were the father Sempronio and his sons Caio and Tiberio, the latter transformed into Tizio, perhaps for simplification. The second assumption, however, thinks that Irnerio refers to Sempronius’ desire to be present in certain classical publications, such as in the Digest of Justinian, while Gaius referred to an important Roman jurisconsult (a statue of him is now present in the Tribunal Supremo of Madrid), which consequently was easy to remember for those who shared his profession. However, since the triad is a practical tool used by jurists, like a sort of shared code, the names that make it up were chosen because they were both common and evocative at the time. Alongside the Latin triad, the more popular adaptation of Filano, Calpurnio and Melvio was usually added.
AND IN THE WORLD?
For the English, for example, the equivalent is “Tom, Dick and Harry”, names that were widespread in the Elizabethan era: the triad appeared for the first time in 1657 in the writings of John Owen, an Oxford theologian. In France, the expression is “Pierre, Paul ou Jacques”, probably because of the three apostles. The Spanish have four amigos: Fulano, Mengano, Zutano y Perengano (who emigrated, in turn, to South America); the legacy (especially in Fulano, the name being derived from Fulàn) of the Arab domination on the Iberian Peninsula is evident. The German cousins are much more practical, and one will often hear talk of Hinz und Kunz; alternatively, Hans und Franz … there is no third party. In China, for gatherings of more than two, a progressive numbering system is adopted: Zhang San=Zhang Three, Li Si=Li Four, Wang Wu=Wang Five and so on. Rather than numbers, Russia offers a graceful decline in the form of Ivans, Ivanovichs and Ivanovs, while India respects gender equality with Ajay (male) and Priya (female). Our journey ends here, with examples that are always current because Tizio, Caio and Sempronio can be sure to accompany us throughout life.
Emanuele Piva
Max Fletcher
