(Latin: "Latin name")
In the Roman Republic, a term used to indicate Latin cities that had not been formally incorporated into the Roman state (for example, Praeneste or Tibur). The term was also applied to colonies founded from Latin cities.
Rome and the Latin cities were often in opposition to each other in the years of the Roman kings, and in the early Republican period. The conflicts were resolved, more or less, by the foedus Cassianum ("Cassius' treaty") of 493 BCE, which bound Rome and the Latin cities in a perpetual alliance. Periodic struggles with the more powerful Latin cities did not alter the fact that Rome had established a lasting dominance, which was to grow, in late Republican times, into an effective incorporation of the region.
The cities of the nomen Latinum were allies of Rome, but were considered separate from the other socii, and their citizens possessed particular privileges. Among these were:
Furthermore, citizens of the nomen Latinum could vote if personally present at Rome, and could become full Roman citizens by the simple expedient of migrating to Rome. However, in the latter case, they were required to leave a son behind to carry on the family in their original city.