Judging Royalty

Over the weekend I read in Realm magazine an article about the upcoming Royal Wedding, and I was amused to learn that a commentator on royalty is named Dickie Arbiter. In Latin the noun arbiter, arbitrī m. judge can be found in a phrase which has also passed into English; arbiter bibendi is the judge of the drinking, i.e., the person who takes charge at a drinking party. Also an arbiter elegantiae is the judge of elegance, the person who determines acceptable or witty behavior among a group of people. In Roman history Petronius Arbiter is taken to be a member of the court of the Emperor Nero. Attributed to Petronius is a satirical work, an early Roman novel, called Satyricon. One of the sections of this work is called Cena Trimalchionis, and because of its portrait of a wealthy, self-made man, parts of this section are often included in school textbooks.

I do not know whether Dickie Arbiter was born with his name or he acquired it, but it is fun to know the Latin meaning of his name.