Used on Inscriptions in Britain (and Elsewhere)
Acronym / Abbreviation | Latin Expansion | English Translation |
---|---|---|
A N | Augustus noster | ‘our Emperor’ |
A S | a solo | ‘from the ground [upwards]’ |
AA NN | Augusti nostri | ‘our Emperors (2)’ |
AD | adiutrix | ‘assistant, helper (title of the Second Legion)’ |
AQ(V) | aqua | ‘water, aqueduct’ |
AQ(V) | aquarius | ‘water-bearer (a sign of the zodiac)’ |
AQ(V) | aquilifer | ‘bearer of the legionary eagle standard’ |
AVG | Augusta | ‘the wife/mother of the Emperor, the title of the Second and Eighth Legions’ |
AVG | Augustus | ‘the Augustus (i.e. the Emperor), sacred, venerable, majestic, the most distinguished, the August’ |
AVGG | augusti | ‘the emperors (2)’ |
AVGGG | augusti | ‘the emperors (3 or more)’ |
B F | beneficiarius | ‘a soldier exempt from normal duties, usually in order to serve in a specialised advisory or administrative position’ |
B (F) COS | beneficiarius consularis | ‘a beneficiarius attached to the staff of the consular governor’ |
B R P N | bono rei publicae natus | ‘for the good of the children of the Republic’ |
BB FF | beneficiarii | ‘plural of beneficiarius, above’ |
BR | Breuci | ‘the Breuci tribe of ?’ |
BR | Britannia | ‘Britain’ |
BR | Brittones | ‘the British people’ |
BRI(T) | Britannia | ‘Britannia (either the country or the patron goddess of the Islands)’ |
BRI(T) | Britannicus | ‘literally ‘of Britain’ (a Roman cognomen or military title)’ |
BVC | buccinator | ‘military bugle-player’ |
C A | curam agens | ‘administered through the agency of …, the responsibility fell upon …, managed by …’ |
C A | custos armorum | ‘the keeper of the armoury, armourer’ |
C F C | coniunx faciendum curavit | ‘his/her wife/husband was responsible for the making [of this memorial]’ |
C P, C P EST | cui praeest | ‘whose commander is, commanded by’ |
C V | clarissimus vir | ‘a man of distinction, ‘Right Honourable’, most distinguished man’ |
C(ON) K(AR) | coniunx carissimus | ‘the loveliest of spouses’ |
CL(AS) BR(IT) | classis Britannica | ‘the British fleet’ |
COH, CHO | cohors, cohortis | ‘cohort(s), military unit(s) of around 500 men’ |
COS | consule, consules, consularis | ‘consul(s), bearing consular power, consular, the two most senior magistrates of the Roman republic’ |
CV(RA) | cura | ‘attention, care, management, administration, responsibility’ |
CV(RA) | curator | ‘manager, superintendant, guardian’ |
CV(RA) | curavit | ‘he has managed or arranged’ |
D D | dedicavit | ‘he has dedicated’ |
D D | dii deae | ‘? to the goddess’ |
D D | domus divina | ‘the divine house’ |
D D | dono dedit | ‘donated an offering’ |
D M | deo Mercuris | ‘for/to the god Mercury’ |
D M | dis manibus | ‘to the shades of the departed’ / To the gods below |
D M S | dis manibus sacrum | ‘to the sacred spirits of the departed’ |
D N | dominus noster | ‘our lord’ |
DD NN | domini nostri | ‘our lords (2)’ |
DDD NNN | domini nostri | ‘our lords (3 or more)’ |
DEABVS | deabus | ‘for/to the goddesses’ |
DEAE | deae | ‘for/to the goddess’ |
DEO | deo | ‘for/to the god’ |
DEORVM | deorum | ‘for/to the gods’ |
DIS M | dis manibus (sacrum) | ‘to the shades of the departed’ |
EM | emeritus | ‘a veteran soldier on a military pension’ |
EQ | eques | ‘a knight, a horseman, trooper’ |
EQ | equitata | ‘(of a military unit) part-mounted’ |
EX T(EST) | ex testamento | ‘as testified (in a will)’ |
EX V(OTO) | ex voto | ‘as the result of a vow’ |
F(EC) | fecit | ‘he makes, he is making’ |
F(IL) | filius, filia | ‘the son, daughter [of]’ |
FAC | faciendum, faciebat | ‘the making, he was making’ |
F(AC) C(VR) | faciendum curavit | ‘the making [of which] he has arranged, he arranged [this] to be made’ |
FE | februarius | ‘February, the second month’ |
FID | fidelis | ‘faithful’ |
GEM | gemina, gemini | ‘twin (title of the Fourteenth Legion), twins (a sign of the zodiac)’ |
H D S P | heres de suo posuit | ‘his heirs themselves placed this’ |
H E T F | heres ex testamento fecit | ‘his heirs placed this as stipulated in his will’ |
H E T P | heres ex testamento posuit | ‘his heirs had this made as stipulated in his will’ |
H ET L | heredes et liberi | ‘[his] heirs and [his] freedmen’ |
H ET L | heres et libertus | ‘[his] freedman and heir’ |
H F C | heres faciendum curavit | ‘his heirs attended to/were responsible for the making [of this]’ |
H S E | hic situs est | ‘he lies here, here he lies’ |
HER | Hercules | ‘Hercules, the strongman of the demi-gods’ |
HER | heres, heredes | ‘heirs’ |
HIS(P) | Hispan(i)a | ‘of Spain, Spanish (title of the Ninth Legion)’ |
I O M (D) | Iovi Optimo Maximo (Dolicheno) | ‘to/for Jupiter Best and Greatest (of Doliche)’ |
IIIVIR | triumvir | ‘a member of the board of three’ |
IIVIR | duumvir | ‘a member of the board of two’ |
IMP | imperator | ‘Emperor, victorious general’ |
IOM | Iupitter Optimus Maximus | ‘Jupiter Best and Greatest’ |
K(AR) | carissima/carisimus | ‘the most caring, the dearest, the loveliest’ |
K | kalendis | ‘the first day of the month’ |
L(EG) A(VG) | legatus Augusti | ‘legate of the Emperor, governor’ |
L(EG) L(EG) | legatus legionis | ‘legionary legate, commander of a legion’ |
LEG | legatus | ‘legate (senior military rank)’ |
LEG | legio | ‘legion (military unit of about 5,000 citizen troops)’ |
LIB | libens | ‘freely, of one’s own volition’ |
LIB | libertus | ‘freedman’ |
LIB | librarius | ‘military book-keeper’ |
MAT | mater | ‘mother’ |
MATR | matres | ‘mothers, mother-goddesses’ |
MIL | miles | ‘a soldier’ |
MIL | milia | ‘a thousand’ |
MIL | militavit | ‘military service’ |
MIL | milliaria | ‘one-thousand strong (of a military unit)’ |
N(VM) A(VG) | numen Augusti | ‘the living spirit of the Emperor, the divine will of the Emperor’ |
NEP | nepos | ‘grandson’ |
NVM | numen | ‘holy spirit, divine will’ |
NVM | numerus | ‘number, a company of soldiers’ |
OP(T) | optimus | ‘the best’ |
OP(T) | optio | ‘military officer just beneath the rank of centurion’ |
ORD | ordinarius | ‘a regular soldier receiving normal pay’ |
ORD | ordo | ‘order, rank, class’ |
P F | pia fidelis | ‘loyal and faithful (title of the Sixth Legion)’ |
P S D N | pro salute dominus noster | ‘for the well-being of our lord (i.e. the Emperor)’ |
P S ET S | pro se et suis | ‘for himself and his own (i.e. his family)’ |
P(AT) P(AT) | pater patriae | ‘literally ‘father of the fatherland’, father of his country’ |
POS | posuit | ‘he has placed [this]’ |
PR PR | praefectus praetorio | ‘commander of the Praetorian Guard (at Rome)’ |
PR PR | praeses provincae | ‘governor of the province, provincial governor’ |
PR PR | princeps prior | ‘a senior centurion’ |
PR PR | pro-praetore | ‘propraetor, a magistrate with praetorian power’ |
PR | praefectus | ‘a prefect, senior officer’ |
PR | praetor | ‘praetor, the second most senior magistracy of the Roman republic’ |
PR | pridie | ‘before today’ |
PR | primus | ‘the first’ |
PR | princeps | ‘first among equals (another name for the emperor)’ |
PR | pro | ‘for, before, in front of’ |
PR | procurator | ‘manager, overseer, deputy’ |
PR | provincia | ‘the province’ |
PRA(EF) | praefectus | ‘prefect, senior officer’ |
Q C A | quorum curam agit | ‘the undertaking of which has been managed by …’ |
R C | reficiendum curavit | ‘reponsible for the restoration [of]’ |
REF | refecit | ‘the restoration’ |
T(ORQ) A(RMIL) P(HAL) | torquibus, armilis [et] phaleris | ‘[awarded with] neck-rings, arm-bands [and] military ornaments’ |
T(RIB) P(OT) | tribunicia potestas | ‘the powers of a tribune (of the people)’ |
TR(IB) | tribunus | ‘[military] tribune, tribune [of the plebs]’ |
TR(IB) | tribus | ‘tribe, nation’ |
V S L L M | votum solvit libens laetus merito | ‘willingly, gladly and deservedly fulfilled a vow’ |
V S L M | votum solvit libens merito | ‘willingly and deservedly in fulfillment of a vow’ |
V V | valeria victrix | ‘Valiant and Victorious (titles of the Twentieth Legion)’ |
VET | veteranus | ‘a veteran (soldier)’ |
VEX | vexillarius | ‘the bearer of the ‘vexillium’ or military standard’ |
VEX | vexillatio | ‘flag-section, a number of normally unrelated military units formed together under a single standard’ |
VI | vixit | ‘he has lived [for], his age is’ |
VIC | vicit | ‘he has lived [for], his age is’ |
VIC | victor, victrix | ‘victorious (male)’, ‘victorious (female; title of the Sixth, Fourteenth and Twentieth Legions)’ |
VIC | victoria | ‘victory, the goddess Victoria’ |
VIC | vicus, vicani | ‘village’, ‘villager’ |
VX | uxor | ‘wife, husband, spouse’ |
VX | vixit | ‘he lived [for]’ |
XVVIR | quindecimvir | ‘a member of the board of fifteen’ |
Commonly used names, words and phrases were often abbreviated.
L. | Lucius |
P. | Publius |
C. | Gaius |
M | Marcus |
Ti | Tiberius |
A. | Aulus |
M’ | Manius |
CN | Gnaeus |
D. | Decimus |
Q. | Decimus |
Common Titles were abbreviated as follows
PONT. MAX. | Pontifex Maximus, Chief pontiff |
TRIB. POT | tribunicia potestas, with tribunician power |
IMP. | Imperator |
COS. | consul, the highest political office |
P.P. | pater patriae, ‘Father of the country’ |