| Grammar in General |
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Tombs, coins, triumphal arches, and buildings all carry messages, even today. How often does one enter a building and see a dedication plaque or an inscription on the architrave of any modern courthouse? Whenever a coin passes one one hand to another, a message is being given. Few read it but we all know it is there. Have you ever visited a cemetary and read the inscriptions from the 18th century? They tell very interesting and, sometimes, very sad stories.
Reading Roman inscriptions is a bit more difficult than those in English, not because they are in Latin but because they use abbreviations. Space and time was an issue for inscribers, so common words and phrases were abbreviated such as putting only an F. to abbreviate son or daughter. There are no syntactical spaces or punctuation. Words are separated by a dot or a small triangle. Words are sometimes split (no hyphens used) from one line to another merely to fit into the entabulature.
The inscription on the Arch at Beneventum is in wonderful repair and an excellent place to begin. With the use of keys, some Latin inscriptions might be more readily deciphered, but you will always encounter some where constructive guessing is needed. Funerary inscriptions on sarcophagi or ash receptaclles are sometimes completely uknown due to the excessive amount of abrreviations. Letters are sometimes worn or missing, abbreviations do not follow normal structure etc.
Names are relatively easy to decipher. Some others take more time. This chart of common abbreviations is taken from Introduction to the Study of Latin Inscriptions by James Egbert published in 1923. Following this is a table of some of the abbreviations used by Emperors, taken from the same text.
ASGLE Abbreviation List - A much more extensive listed compiled by Tom Elliot of the American Society of Greek and Latin Epigraphy at the University of North Carolina.
The earliest inscriptions appear quite crude. On a pillar, marking a grave at Pisaurum, written between sometime after the formation of the republic:
| Inscription | Actual Text | Read As | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
IVNONERE | JUNONE REGINAE | from Juno, queens or to queen, or of queen |
| MATRONA | MATRONAE | to, of lady, ladies | |
| PISAURE(N)SE(S) | PISAURENSES | of the area of Pisaurum | |
| DONODEDROT | DONOM DEDERONT | donum, gift and dederunt, has given |
From a sepulcher at Praeneste at the end of the Royal Period or beginning of the Republic:
| Inscription | Actual Text | Read As | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
CALTIA.M.F | CALTIA, MARCI FILIA | Caltia, daughter of Marcus |
Images from Introduction to the Study of Latin Inscriptions, James Egbert, 1923
Arch at Beneventum
Let's look more closely at the inscription on the Inscription on the Arch at Beneventum. This triumphal arch celebrates the emperor, Trajan:
Expanded full text:
IMP[ERATORI] CAESARI DIVI NERVAE FILIO
NERVAE TRAIANO OPTIMO AUG[USTO]
GERMANICO DACICO PONTIF[ICI] MAX[IMO] TRIB[UNICIA]
POTEST[ATE] XVIII IMP[ERATORI] VII CO[N]S[ULI] VI P[ATRI] P[ATRIAE]
FORTISSIMO PRINCIPI SENATUS P[OPULUS]Q[UE
Here's each phrase translated. The Latin text is in (parentheses) after the English translation, and some words in the English translation have been supplied in [brackets], because such terms as conqueror were implied and not included in the inscription. Every word down to SENATUS P[OPULUS]Q[UE is in the dative case, except for DIVI NERVAE which is genitive modifying FILIO (Anyone referred to as "divine" in an inscription has already died, as divine status was was given postuhumously for emperors). The rest is in the dative as an indirect object with some form of do, dare implied, and the Senate and the Roman People being the subject.
To the most blessed emperor Caesar Nerva Trajan Augustus (IMP[ERATORI] CAESARI DIVI ... NERVAE TRAIANO OPTIMO AUG[USTO],
Son of the divine Nerva (DIVI NERVAE FILIO)
[Conquerer] in Germania and Dacia (GERMANICO DACICO),
High Priest (PONTIF[ICI] MAX[IMO]),
[Vested with] tribunician power seventeen times (TRIB[UNICIA] POTEST[ATE] XVIII),
[Declared] Imperator seven times (IMP[ERATORI] VII),
[Elected] consul six times (CO[N]S[ULI] VI),
Father of the fatherland (P[ATRI] P[ATRIAE]),
The strongest emperor (FORTISSIMO PRINCIPI),
The Senate and the Roman people [dedicate this arch] (SENATUS P[OPULUS]Q[UE] R[OMANUS]).
Virgo Aqua
Tiberius is named on a cippus (boundrary stone) on the Virgo aqueduct in Rome, now in the Vatican Museum. His named was inscribed here probably because he repaired we have this inscription:
VIRG.TI.CAESAR.AUG.PONTIF.MA.
TRIB.POT.XXXVIII.COS.V. IMP.VIII.III.P.CCXL
Expanded full text:
VIRG[GO] [AQUA] TI[BERIUS] CAESAR AUG[USTUS], PONTIF[EX] MAX[IMUS],
TRIB[UNICIA] POT[ESTATE] XXXVIII, CO[N]S[UL] V, IMP[ERATOR] VIII, [CIPPUS] III, P[EDES] CCXL
Translation:
The Virgo Aqeduct: Tiberius Caesar Augustus, high priest,
In tribunician power thirty-eight times, consul for the fifth time, imperator eight times,
third marker, 240 feet [to the next marker]
Tiberius's eight victories (IMP VIII declares him as a conquering general for the eigth time) place this cippus circa 36-37 AD. this is the third stone ([CIPPUS] III) from the place of the distribution of the water, and between the several stones the intervals are 240 feet in length.
The Pantheon
From the entabulature over the pronaos of the Pantheon:
M.AGRIPPA.L.F.COS.TERTIUM.FECIT
Expanded full text:
M[ARCUS] AGRIPPA, L[UCII] F[ILIUS], CO[N]S[UL] TERTIUM, FECIT
Translation:
Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, on his third consulship, built [this temple]
In 27 AD Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law to Augustus and a man responsible for many public works including improvements to the areas around Baiae, oversaw the construction of the Pantheon. The inscription is said to have been added by Hadrian who renovated the structure.
III. Coins
Coins are the best example of why inscriptions need to be truncated. Coins can often have simple inscriptions rather than a lenghty one with numerous abbreviations. Take this coin from reign of Cladius:
| Obverse (front) | Inscription | Expanded | Translation | Depiction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
TI.CLAUDIUS.CAESAR. AUG.P.M.TR.P.IMP. |
TI[BERIUS] CLAUDIUS CAESAR AUGUSTUS, PONTIFEX MAXIMUS, TR[IBUNICIA] P[OTESTATE], IMP[ERATOR] |
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus, high priest, [vested with] tribuncian power, emperor |
Profile portrait of Claudius |
| Reverse (back) | Inscription | Depiction |
|---|---|---|
 |
LIBERTAS AUGUSTA | Libertas draped, standing with head turned to the right holding a pilus in her right hand and her left hand extended with the inscription. On either side of the figure are letters S, C referring to senatus consultum- "by decree of the senate [was this coin minted]." |
The precision indicated that the sculptor made chalk marks or painted letters on stone prior to carving. Originally inscriptions were probably painted in minium on walls, or on wood pannels. Tools used to carve were chisel (scalprum) and hammer (malleus) A ruler (regula), compass (scircinus), square (norma), level and pulb line (libella et perpendiculum).
The cut was an inverted isosceles triangle, angular, not oblong nor curved. Studying the cut of an inscription helps the expert determine the authencity of a piece. Lines were probably sketched first with the use of a cord dipped in minium. This is conjecture since the markings have long since disappeared.
On coins, the inscriptions are made from molds into which the metal is poured. Two molds with depressions of either side were pressed together with the metal sandwiched in between.
Joan Jahnige February 1999 (revised 2005)
| Copyright © 2008, KET |