About the Name Pomerium
When I first started developing the idea for Pomerium, choosing the name wasn’t just an afterthought—it was a deliberate decision to align the company’s mission with a concept that’s both historically significant and deeply relevant to the challenges of modern cybersecurity.
After realizing that it wasn’t as obvious to others, I wanted to dedicate a post to the origins of our name, why it matters, and how it reflects the principles that guide everything we do.
A Brief History of the ‘Pomerium’
To understand the true meaning of “Pomerium,” we need to go back to ancient Rome. According to legend, when Romulus founded Rome around 750 BC, he dug a trench around the city’s foundations to mark its sacred boundary. This trench, called the pomerium, wasn’t a physical wall but rather an invisible line that separated the “safe” interior of the city from the potentially “dangerous” outside world.
The pomerium wasn’t merely symbolic. It represented a clear delineation between order and chaos, civilization and uncertainty. Roman generals, for example, were forbidden to cross the pomerium, and enter into Rome, with their armies without explicit permission, underscoring its role in maintaining security and governance within the city’s limits.
Fast-forward thousands of years, the idea of separating safe and unsafe zones remains as relevant as ever—especially in the context of network security.
The Name Pomerium
As someone who studied the Latin language in high school (though I wasn’t exactly the star student), the word “pomerium” always stuck with me because the connection wasn’t just linguistic or historical—it was conceptual.
In cybersecurity, we’ve traditionally relied on perimeter-based security models. These models were akin to digging a trench around your office and declaring everything inside as “safe” and everything outside as “unsafe.” But as businesses became more interconnected and the digital scene transformed, this approach started to break down. Attackers found ways to bypass these perimeters, exploiting vulnerabilities that perimeter security simply couldn’t address.
This evolution inspired the creation of Pomerium as a product—and why the name felt so fitting. Like the ancient pomerium, our platform establishes a nearly-invisible boundary that is not a physical wall or a rigid perimeter. It’s a dynamic, context-aware layer of protection that ensures secure access to resources no matter where users or applications reside.
Pomerium’s Connection to Zero Trust and Modern Security Challenges Today
The pomerium’s historical role as a boundary aligns closely with the principles of Zero Trust architecture, which is at the heart of our product. Zero Trust challenges the outdated notion of “trusted” internal networks and “untrusted” external networks. Instead, it treats every access request as untrusted until verified, ensuring that trust is earned through continuous validation.
In ancient Rome, crossing the pomerium without permission was unthinkable. Similarly, in a Zero Trust model, no user, device, or application gains access without explicit verification. This philosophy underpins our approach at Pomerium, where we prioritize secure, identity-driven access over static, perimeter-based defenses.
Just as the Romans eventually recognized that their city’s growth required rethinking the pomerium’s boundaries, today’s organizations face a similar challenge. The traditional network perimeter has dissolved, replaced by a sprawling ecosystem of cloud services, remote work, and distributed applications. Maintaining security in this landscape requires a flexible, scalable approach—one that aligns perfectly with the adaptable nature of the pomerium.
At Pomerium, we’ve embraced this challenge by building a platform that reflects the principles of Zero Trust while honoring the spirit of the pomerium. Our solution enables organizations to establish clear boundaries for access without the rigidity of traditional perimeters. Whether it’s verifying a user’s identity, assessing device posture, or enforcing least-privilege access policies, Pomerium ensures that security is never compromised, no matter where or how your resources are accessed.
In Conclusion
No discussion about our name would be complete without acknowledging the playful misconception of a certain fluffy dog breed. We’ve had our share of jokes about making a pomeranian our mascot.
But again, the name “Pomerium” is more than just a nod to history—it’s a statement of our mission. We’re here to redefine what it means to secure access in a world where traditional perimeters no longer apply. Drawing inspiration from the Romans’ innovative approach to defining boundaries, we’ve built a platform that enables modern organizations to protect their resources with clarity, precision, and adaptability.
