09-12-2005, 05:14 PM
When I see translations of many Roman inscriptions on coins, gravestones etc. I noticed that they often chop the end of the words off, sometimes leaving only the first letter. These would not seem to always be common abbreviations either.
Example
Look at the above example. How on earth would anyone, Roman or modern historian, know that PP meant Patri Pissimo? Would a passerby in ancient times be able to make sense of this inscription? Are there rules to these abbreviations that were common knowledge? It seems almost sloppy.
Example
Look at the above example. How on earth would anyone, Roman or modern historian, know that PP meant Patri Pissimo? Would a passerby in ancient times be able to make sense of this inscription? Are there rules to these abbreviations that were common knowledge? It seems almost sloppy.
Rich Marinaccio
