INDICATING VOWEL LENGTH IN LATIN. 91 



as we have seen, a long vowel before ns is seldom marked in the 

 M. A., and the same thing is true of final o. The absence of a mark 

 on militibus is perhaps more noteworthy. For some reason or other 

 that word, in spite of frequent occurrences, is never marked, although 

 militaria occurs. It is possibly not too fanciful, in the light of the 

 honorary use of the apex mentioned below, to connect this omission 

 with Augustus's attitude towards the soldiers.-^ In general, the 

 marking of the long vowels seems to be to a certain extent a habit, 

 which once begun is carried on for a time, dropped and resumed, a 

 view which receives confirmation from the usage in other inscriptions. 

 The apex seems to be used, as the I longa undoubtedly was, to 

 add dignity or majesty, or to emphasize certain words with that end 

 in view. Dm occurs twice in the M. A. and is frequent throughout 

 the period from Augustus to Commodus. lulius and lulia occur 

 seven times with one or two marks (the latter is possible only in the 

 oblique cases), and the latter once without a mark. We find tribu- 

 nicia and tribunicia of the emperor's tribunician power beside tribu- 

 (nic)iae and an indecisive (trib)unici8e. Consules is found only 

 twice out of twenty-nine occurrences of the word, but we have consu- 

 latum once, and consulatu four times, of the consulates of Augustus. 

 It may be fanciful to connect three occurrences of Capitolium without 

 marks with Augustus's minimizing of the importance of Jupiter and 

 the Capitol as compared with Apollo and the Palatine, but Capitolio 

 occurs in VI., 2027, B (perhaps of the year 37 A.D.) and 2080, 9 

 (120 A.D.). and Capitolio in VI., 2042, 6 and 59, 2059, 41, all in- 

 scriptions of the Arval Brethren. If we add the frequent occurrences 

 of D?s Manibus, we may seem to be justified in the conclusion that 

 this feature plays some part, although it did not extend, as did the 

 use of the tall I, to short vowels. It is rather striking in this con- 

 nection that in the inscriptions dedicated by lictors we find 1/ctor in 

 VI., 1871, 1881, 1892 and 1905; in the inscriptions of viatores, 

 viatori, VI., 192 1 ; cf. 1932, a. Other official titles which occur with 



23 Suet. Aug., 25, i, neque post bella civilia aut in contione aut per edictum 

 ul'los militum commilitones appellabat, sed milites, ac ne a filiiis quidem aut 

 privignis suis imperio prseditis aliter appellari passus est, ambitiosius id ex- 

 istimans quam aut ratio militaris aut temporum quies aut sua domusque suae 

 maiestas postularet. For the different attitude of Julius Caesar, see Suet, 

 Jul., 65 ff. 



