30
votes
Accepted
Abbreviations used by Romans in their inscriptions
This is a list of three names of freedmen (former slaves that were released by their master).
Roman male names for free citizens in classical time usually consisted of three parts (known as tria ...
- 28.1k
19
votes
Accepted
Are there any complete Latin inscriptions written in boustrophedon?
Since this is not exactly my area of expertise, I will quote Rex Wallace (Wallace 2011).
He argues that the earliest Latin inscriptions were written from right to left and from left to right (p. 22). ...
- 11.5k
16
votes
Marsupial blackletter difficulty
The word is reservaculum, "something used to keep things in", from reservo "keep (back)". I believe this word is used to describe the pouch of marsupials in similar texts from that period. Praesumably,...
- 19.3k
14
votes
Accepted
How do we know that Kalendae is the first day of a month?
In classical times the seven-day week was unknown; obviously, there could be no named days of the week to use as reference points. Months at least were of specified lengths, but the actual date was ...
- 17.8k
14
votes
Accepted
Saints: sanctus or divus?
Superb question!
Divus is a term used to refer to Roman deities or highly esteemed individuals (e.g. emperors). L&S give some classic Latin quotes, and you can also see books about Divus ...
- 12.2k
14
votes
Did the ancient Romans write on clay tablets?
Sort of. Bricks for building were often stamped with words indicating who made them and oversaw their production. But this probably isn't what you're looking for. They also sometimes wrote on shards ...
- 57.9k
13
votes
What is the name of the separator dots between the words?
It is called the interpunct.
Empty space to separate words as we do now is not a universal phenomenon.
Just as well the Romans might ask why we leave space between words instead of putting a dot in ...
- 108k
12
votes
Are there any complete Latin inscriptions written in boustrophedon?
We do in fact have a couple.
The best little collection of Old Latin inscriptions is found in Warmington's old Loeb, Remains of Old Latin IV: Archaic Inscriptions. It's a tiny bit out of date, but ...
cmw♦
- 46.6k
12
votes
Meaning of "SEVERA INDEOVI VAS" from 3rd Century slab
This inscription does not use spacing to separate words. (Word division was often not marked consistently, or not marked at all in Roman inscriptions.) The second and third lines actually say "IN DEO ...
- 24.3k
11
votes
Accepted
How to translate this plaque about John Duns Scotus?
Here is a literal translation:
John Duns Scotus, OFM, who in his Oxford lectures represented that famous line of David, "the Lord is my light," is commemorated by this stone placed by his brothers ...
- 37.8k
11
votes
Accepted
What is this letter?
I'd guess it's the symbol for 6, originally digamma, but later taking on an S-like shape. (It's a bit hard to make out, but I think the last two cells contain ΙΑ and ΙΒ, indicating a series of 1 to ...
- 4,598
9
votes
Accepted
What does 'ANGLORUM REGIS QUI COR LEONIS DICTUS' mean?
"Here is interred the heart of Richard, King of the English, called Lionheart. Died in the year 1199."
- 17.8k
9
votes
Accepted
Are there any instances of long oblique cases of Iuppiter?
Varro mentions the possibility:
De Lingua Latina 9.75.4ff.
obliquos non habere ut in hoc Diespiter Diespitri Diespitrem, Maspiter Maspitri Maspitrem. ad haec respondeo et priora habere nominandi ...
cmw♦
- 46.6k
9
votes
Accepted
Is filius necessarily a biological descendant?
Short answer: no. At least since Post-Classical Latin, and quite possibly from earlier.
One may or may not believe the quote attributed to Julius Caesar when he calls Brutus fili mi despite the fact ...
- 10.8k
9
votes
Accepted
What does D.D.P. mean in this inscription? (see image)
According to Sandys's Latin Epigraphy: An Introduction to the Study of Latin Inscriptions, "D.D.P." stands for:
decreto decurionum publice
The last "P" is sometimes replaced with "P.P." or "PEC ...
- 37.8k
9
votes
Meaning of "SEVERA INDEOVI VAS" from 3rd Century slab
Sumelic is right. I just want to add a few things. First, the expression in Deo vivas and related (e.g. vivatis in Christo, "may you live in Christ") seem to be of common use among Christians of the ...
- 12.2k
9
votes
Understanding the spelling deviation from the scripture in the title of a sundial nearby a Catholic church in Moscow
It's hard to tell for sure from the image, but couldn't that just be the stroke of an A, with the rest faded or somehow gone missing?
There is a word Umbri, but it has to do with the ancient people by ...
cmw♦
- 46.6k
8
votes
Accepted
Inscriptions in statues along Via dei Fori Imperiali
The Via dei Fori Imperiali was built at the initiative of Mussolini. At the time it caused some controversy about the care for archaeological and sacred Catholic sites, as well as the displacement of ...
- 10.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Understanding a reference to Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
I haven't completely figured out the book's layout, but it appears that it contains both volumes IX and X. In any case, the numbering starts over at index #160 (pg. 4), and the entry you're looking ...
- 10.6k
8
votes
Translation of Scottish 16th century church stained glass
The heraldry makes play on ACRE (plough and barley brew) and HACKER (with the bladed instrument above the plough and the halberd). Such visual puns are called Canting Heraldry as the Heraldry Society ...
- 8,535
8
votes
Accepted
What do "KAL." and "A.S." stand for in this inscription?
The source of the image states that the person died the 17th of September. The inscription says instead that he died the 15th of October. What is KAL. to do with it? Is some sort of calendar ...
- 108k
8
votes
Marsupial blackletter difficulty
I can answer the second part, at least. That's a tilde ĩ, not a macron ī, and it's one of the most common scribal abbreviations, representing a following N or M. So anĩal, tẽpore, oblatũ = animal, ...
- 57.9k
8
votes
What is the inscription on this statue and what is its translation into English?
I think the inscription says:
Tu Bethlehem parvulus es in millibus
It is an adaptation of Micah 5:2 and can be translated (by comparison to the original verse) as:
You Bethlehem are small among the ...
- 108k
8
votes
Accepted
Translation of building inscription regarding architect of Alcantara Bridge
I think your translation is spot on. The way I read it, I would parse the words like so:
"The famous Lacer (nobilis Lacer) with divine art (divina arte) made the bridge (fecit pontem) to last ...
- 3,818
7
votes
Are there any instances of long oblique cases of Iuppiter?
I have searched the entire Loeb Classical Library, Bibliotheca Teubneriana Latina and Keil's Corpus Grammaticorum Latinorum. Believe me, this is quite representative.
No, such forms are not attested ...
- 11.5k
7
votes
Accepted
(Greek) Stylized Alpha
It is just the way they write alpha. In the first one, for example:
αναπαυσον την ψυχην αυτου μετα των αγιων ....
- 16.7k
7
votes
Accepted
Abbreviation "D. O. M." on tombstones
A Google search gives results for both Domino and Deo Optimo Maximo. However the former offers results for both, suggesting it is a variation of the latter.
Deo Optimo Maximo,
in turn, has its own ...
- 10.8k
7
votes
Saints: sanctus or divus?
Based on preliminary research, it seems safe to say that divus - and not sanctus - was the preferred choice in Neo-Latin.
You are not the first person to come up with this observation - sorry to ...
- 11.5k
7
votes
Accepted
What dialect are the Antikythera Mechanism inscriptions in?
While Freeth's 2006 paper (with the good transcriptions) isn't freely available, his 2012 paper (analyzing the text in more detail) is!
From here:
The inscriptions are engraved in skilfully ...
- 57.9k
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