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Message:: [QUOTE="Gavin Richardson, post: 3083794, member: 83956"]I never can figure out how the Latin works in these legends and epigraphy. It seems that IMPERATOR CAESAR is in the nominative case, while TRAIANO OPTIMO is in the dative case, and then AVGVSTVS GERMANICVS DACICVS PONTIFEX MAXIMUS and CONSVL VI are all nominative, and then TRIBUNICIA POTESTATE seems to be in the ablative, and then PATER PATRIAE is nominative and genitive. Your translation seems to be a pretty good idiomatic translation. The only problem might be that OPTIMO AVGVSTVS don't go together since they are in different cases. "To the best Augustus" would be "Optimo Augusto." "To the best [man] Trajan" would make better sense because TRAIANO OPTIMO are in the same case. Here's my stab--a very minor variant of yours: "To [the] best [man] Trajan, Emperor, Caesar, Augustus, [victor over the] Germans, [victor over the] Dacians, high priest [lit., bridge], and [with] Tribunician Power, Consul for the 6th time, Father of [his] Country." The ablative case often indicates an instrumental idea; e.g., "with" or "by means of" or "in possession of." I'd love to hear another Latinist's parsing. I remember going to Rome for the first time. I was a junior in college--a classics major, and I was so excited about the prospect of showing off my ability to read Latin inscriptions (a girl was involved). Anyway, when I got there I was dismayed to learn about epigraphy--the method by which Latin inscriptions are highly abbreviated. Some people spend their entire professional lives studying this art. I was humiliated that I could barely pick out a word here or there. Oh well. It worked out ok. The girl married me 25 years ago this June. Here she is in 1990. mea uxor carissima. You might recognize the background. [ATTACH=full]776979[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]

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