Okay, so I’m a little proud of myself…
I’ve been taking a class via FutureLearn on the Archaeology of Portus (a major (man-made!) port on the west coast of Italy during the 1st-6th centuries AD). Yesterday, one of the lessons suggested we try to translate a Roman inscription from the Trajanic Period of the port.
[ ]
NE[ ]
TRA[ ]
DAC[ ]
I[ ]
FOSSAM [ ]
[ ]VA INVN[ ]
[ ]DSIDVE V[ ]
[ ] PERFN[ ]
Most experts fill in the blanks this way:
[Imp(erator) Caes(ar) divi]
NE[rvae f(ilius) Nerva]
TRA[ianus Aug(ustus) Germ(anicus)]
DAC[icus trib(unicia) pot(estate)]
I[mp(erator) co(n)s(ul) p(ater) p(atriae)]
FOSSAM [fecit/restitui iussit]
[q]VA INVN[dationes Tiberis]
[ad]SIDVE V[rbem vexantes]
[rivo p]EREN[ni instituto arcerentur]
— from the lecture
or like this:
[Imp(erator) Caes(ar) divi] / Ne[rvae f(ilius) Nerva] / Tra[ianus Aug(ustus) Germ(anicus)] / Dac[icus trib(unicia) pot(estate)] / i[mp(erator) — co(n)s(ul) — p(ater) p(atriae)] / fossam [restitui iussit] / [q]ua inun[dationes Tiberis] / [a]dsidue u[rbem vexantes] / [in] per<e>n[ne arcerentur] — from here
This was my translation:
The Divine Emperor Ceasar,
sinew of Nerva (adopted Trajan)
“Trajan’s full name” (lazy; didn’t write it out)
tribune of Dacic (Dacia?)
Consul General, Father of his Country
Made the river/canal to be restored
when the inundation (flooding?) of the Tiber
constantly denied the city its regular flow of trade
This was our teacher’s translation. Not exactly the same… but I think I was getting the idea through:
Imperator Caesar Nerva Traianus Augustus, son of the deified Nerva, Conquer of Germany and Dacia, Tribune, Consul, Father of the Nation made a canal by which the floods of the Tiber which continually troubled the City were kept away
Not bad, if I do say so myself. 😀
Of course, the rest of my personal progress is a bit less inspiring. Of my ROW80 goals, I’ve done very little. I’m even falling behind again on my critique group work. As much as I love FutureLearn, I’ve found I cannot take one of their classes without exploring the topics deeply, spending several more hours a week on each class than the anticipated timeframe.
I did get a small bit of writing done in the UnNamed Story. This means I have something to post for WIPpet Wednesday!
Following right on the heels of last week’s piece, here are eight sentences for the 8th of February
Ytramli shook his head, just barely avoiding, it seemed, to snarl at the implication that a priestess was somehow of a lesser calling than a priest, though among most Acarians it was the standard view. He shook his head. “It will hurt her—actually it will destroy her among our own people. To offer herself in this manner for Val’s defense is tantamount to offering herself as chattel. Slaves have been, and are sometimes, still used by some of the temples for ritual supplications when the priestess is too old for the physical acts or—.” The man stopped short and shrugged. “It doesn’t matter why they are used. The point is that doing this will destroy her among the Clans.”
Amused? Bemused? Want more? Head over to the WIPpet linky and visit some our other awesome members. Merci, merci, Emily Witt, for graciously hosting the WIPpet.
Thank you to the ROW80 community for just being there. 🙂