"romanitas" means, as a rough approximation, "roman-ness" in latin, although it has also been translated as "romanism, the roman way or manner". the term, not common in roman sources, was first coined by the 3rd century roman writer, tertullian, an early christian from north africa, in his work "de pallio". tertullian used the term pejoratively to refer to those in his native carthage who aped roman culture.