mail: Bill Thayer

Italiano

Help

Up

Home

A Two-Faced Latin Inscription

Front	Back
Certainly looks Roman, doesn't it?

Now let's do this in English:

The first inscription:

The second inscription:

The site is Roman.
Half of the inscription might just possibly be Roman, although I think not.
The carving is 16th‑century.

In my diary at the time, I patted myself on the back for spotting this just from the front: after a second of "gee, here's a Roman inscription", I had a gut reaction.

On analyzing it back in my office in Chicago, the tipoffs seem to have been:

• The lettering is wrong, just a bit too "spidery" to be Roman. (Other 16c inscriptions, if I ever get around to digging some up, would be useful examples, wouldn't they?)
• In retrospect, considering who Caesar was for the rulers of the Empire, the wording seems unlikely.
• Finally, that abbreviation AR in line 8 of the front is, so to speak, too little, too late: a dry scholar­ly amusement of the Renaissance, I think.

As usual, if I'm wrong and you have better information — drop me a line!

→ This inscription stands about ten meters away from an attractive Renaissance tempietto with a tail to tell.

Images with borders lead to more information. The thicker the border, the more information. (Details here.)
UP TO:	The Forum	Ariminum	Rimini	Italy	Europe	Home
SEE ALSO:	Diary	Latin Inscriptions			Roman Gazetteer	LacusCurtius
A page or image on this site is in the public domain ONLY if its URL has a total of one *asterisk. If the URL has two **asterisks, the item is copyright someone else, and used by permission or fair use. If the URL has none the item is © Bill Thayer. See my copyright page for details and contact information.