Roman square capitals

The Capitalis monumentalis is a Roman monumental writing from antiquity. It is also by primary writing material as lapidary (from Latin lapis "stone" ) and is a pure majuscule, which was initially developed in the design of inscriptions.

The proportions of the letters Capitalis monumentalis assume a square. The letters A, O, Q, and V correspond to exactly one square; the rest are derived in a given ratio thereof. The proportions correspond to those of the capitalis quadrata with the difference that the letters lines Capitalis have a different characteristic style.

In the palaeography and epigraphy of the two terms are distinguished only by their writing material: Capitalis quadrata (also Capitalis elegans) is in books - early on papyrus or parchment - used Capitalis monumentalis or Scriptura monumentalis on stone, metal, etc. The second variant of the Capitalis carries correspondingly different name: canonical capitalism ( Capitalis rustica) in books, Scriptura actuaria in inscriptions.

The Capitalis monumentalis knows only uppercase letters and no spaces between words or hyphenation.

Probably the best known surviving example of this script, which was perceived as particularly worthy of imitation during the Renaissance, is the inscription of Trajan's Column from the 2nd century dar. Carol Twombly was inspired by the Capitalis monumentalis to their Adobe font Trajan.