by Aldus Marius on Fri Mar 28, 2008 8:12 pm
Salve, mi Paulle!
Ita, with inscriptions there were certain conventions followed and abbreviations commonly used. While I'm no Latin expert (is anybody??), I do read a hell of a lot of inscriptions, mostly military, some not. Here's yours. >({|:-)
Ordinarily, the name of the deity comes first, so you'd start with
DEAE ISIDI M LVPIN PAVLVS... (To the Goddess Isis, M Lupinius Paullus [verb])
For formality's sake, you'd definitely want to use the V-as-U. Some inscriptions abbreviate the gens-name, some don't. Cognomen is almost always written out in full.
The verb that comes next really depends on how you're approaching the building or dedication of the temple. The differences mostly have to do with the dedicator's intent and frame of mind. Some possibilities:
...DAT (gives it to)
...DEDIT (gave it to)
...DESIGNATVS (designate/designated it/it is designated)
...FECIT (built it/did it)
...FAC (had it built/had it done)
...CVR (curavit [took care of it, made sure it got done])
...POSVIT (set it up)
...REST (restituit [restored it])
...V S L L M (votum solvit [fulfilled his vow] laetus, libens, merito [gladly, willingly, and deservedly]) ..any combination of the latter three
Except where noted, these are whole words. If none of them quite fits, I'll try to find something suitable!
In fide,
Aldus Marius Peregrinus.