Information: - Over the course of some fourteen centuries, the Romans and other peoples of Italy employed a system of nomenclature that differed from that used by other cultures of Europe and the Mediterranean, consisting of a combination of personal and family names. Although conventionally referred to as the "tria nomina," the combination of praenomen, nomen, and cognomen that have come to be regarded as the basic elements of the Roman name in fact represent a continuous process of development, from at least the seventh century BC to the end of the seventh century AD. The names developed as part of this system became a defining characteristic of Roman civilization, and although the system itself vanished during the early middle ages, the names themselves exerted a profound influence on the development of European naming practices, and many continue to survive in modern languages. - A cognomen (; Latin plural "cgnmina"; "con-" "together with" and "(g)nmen" "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but it lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary "cognomina" were used to augment the second name (the family name, or clan name) in order to identify a particular branch within a family or family within a clan. The term has also taken on other contemporary meanings. - Ancient Rome was an Italic civilization that began on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world with an estimated 50 to 90million inhabitants (roughly 20% of the world's population) and covering 5.0millionsquarekilometers at its height in AD 117. - A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place, or thing, for affection or ridicule. - Ahala was a cognomen used by a branch of the patrician gens Servilia . There were also several persons of this gens with the name of Structus Ahala , who may have formed a different family from the Ahalae ; but as the Ahalae and Structi Ahalae are frequently confounded , all known persons of these names are given here . Gaius Servilius Structus Ahala , consul in 478 BC , died in his year of office , as appears from the Fasti . Gaius Servilius Structus Ahala , legendary Roman hero of the 5th century BC Gaius Servilius Q. f. C. n. Structus Ahala , consul in 427 BC. Gaius Servilius P. f. Q. n. Structus Ahala , consular tribune in 408 BC , and magister equitum in the same year ; which latter dignity he obtained in consequence of supporting the senate against his colleagues , who did not wish a dictator to be appointed . For the same reason he was elected consular tribune a second time in the following year , 407 BC. He was consular tribune a third time in 402 BC , when he assisted the senate in compelling his colleagues who had been defeated by the enemy to resign . Gaius Servilius Ahala , magister equitum in 389 BC , when Camillus was appointed dictator for a third time . Ahala is spoken of as magister equitum in 385 BC , on occasion of the trial of Marcus Manlius Capitolinus . Manlius summoned him to bear witness in his favor , as one of those whose lives he had saved in battle ; but Ahala did not appear . Pliny , who mentions this circumstance , calls Ahala '' Publius Servilius '' . Quintus Servilius Q. f. Q. n. Ahala , consul in 365 BC , and again in 362 BC , in the latter of which years he appointed Appius Claudius dictator , after his plebeian colleague Lucius Genucius Aventinensis had been slain in battle . In 360 BC he was himself appointed dictator in consequence of a Gallic tumultus and defeated the Gauls near the Colline gate . He held the comitia as interrex in 355 BC. Quintus Servilius Q. f. Q. n. Ahala , magister equitum in 351 BC , when Marcus Fabius was appointed dictator to frustrate the Lex... After reading the paragraphs above, choose the best answer for the entity that related to 'ahala' with the relationship of 'instance of'. Choices: - ancient rome - branch - century - civilization - clan - cognomen - con - course - family name - italy - mediterranean sea - name - nickname - order - peninsula - person - praenomen - the city
family name