User talk:2604:2000:E082:DD00:A4EE:FE88:6FB4:B640

This is the original Latin inscription, in the usual abbreviated form found in such inscriptions: "Municipia provinciae Lusitaniae stip conlata quae opus pontis perfecerunt. Imp. Caesari divi Nervae f. Nervae. Traiano Aug. Germ. Dacico Ponti f. Max. Trib. potes VIII. imp. V. cos V. PP."

Following is what the article says is the Latin in its UN-abbreviated form- although it contains ENGLISH words, misspells words, leaves a large portion out, and is of the SAME length as the abbreviated one: "Caesar Imperator, son of divine Nerva, Nerva Traianus Germanicus Datius, Maximus Pontifex, Tribunitia Potestas for the 8th time, Imperium for the 5th time, Pater of the Patria" What happened to the part at the beginning that read: "Municipia provinciae Lusitaniae stip conlata quae opus pontis perfecerunt,"? (I do not speak Latin fluently but I study Roman history, Art, Architecture, and you pick up a lot over the course of a lifetime; my educated inference is that it says, in essence, "The municipalities of the Province of Lusitania together worked to construct this bridge, under the Emperor..." The entire remainder of the inscription is a list of the Emperor's titles which follow a conventional pattern seen EVERYWHERE an Emperor's name is inscribed in stone, bronze, lead piping, bricks, etc, etc. Here again is the inscription's abbreviated listing of the titles and honors of the Emperor Trajan, the full words completed by me in brackets: "Imp[erator] Caesari divi Nervae f[ilius] - Nerva Traian[us] Aug[ustus] Germ[anicus] Dacic[us] Pontif[ex] Max[imus] Trib[unicia] Potes[tas] VIII, Imp[erator] V, Co[n]s[ul] V, P[ater] P[atriae]" This part I can translate exactly: "Emperor - Caesar - Son of the Deified Nerva, Nerva Trajanus Augustus Germanicus Dacicus, Pontifex Maximus, Eight Times Awarded the Tribunician Power, Five Times Hailed Imperator by his Troops, Consul for the Fifth Time, Father of the Fatherland" ("Imperator" has, or had, two definitions- at first, and for a long time after the second, modern meaning emerged, it meant any successful field commander who was spontaneously hailed "Imperator!" by his troops following a successful engagement. At this time this was viewed as a significant indicator of the commander's possessing what the Romans called "auctoritas", a word meaning, essentially, the sum of all of the respectability, dignity, gravity, success, honor, experience, reputation one man amassed over his entire public career. It doesn't mean he was "given five times the government." At the beginning, the word "imperator" is used in its other, now only, sense as "Emperor, supreme monarch". Below the "English Translation" calls Trajan "the German" (?!) because of his honorary cognomen, "Germanicus", which just means he fought successful wars or battles there and was honored with the name by the Senate- think, "Scipio AFRICANUS", awarded the cognomen because he defeated Hannibal at  Zama (in Africa). "Dacicus" means the same thing in regard to Trajan's conquest of Dacia, but isn't mentioned at all. Pontifex Maximus, what is (approximately) translated as "Highest Priest" below, was a lifetime appointment from Rome's earliest days; During the Empire, ALL Emperors assumed it as a matter of course. He thus cannot have been "made three times" Pontifex Maximus. Yet, THIS is what the article says is the COMPLETE Latin inscription translated into English: "The Emperor Caesar, son of divine Nerva, the German, Trajan, who was made three times Highest Priest, given eight times the Tribune power, and given five times the government; Father of the country"

Assuming the original, abbreviated Latin text was correctly represented, (I've seen no photo of it, so there's at least some room for doubt) then the UN-abbreviated version is incorrect, and worse, the English translation of it is totally inaccurate. Ricardus Tertius Rex (talk) 18:53, 9 February 2018 (UTC)