How were long vowels marked in some Latin inscriptions?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

In classical Latin inscriptions, long vowels were occasionally indicated using specific orthographic devices to distinguish them from short vowels:

  • Apex: An apex was a diacritical mark placed above a vowel to denote that it was long.1
  • I longa: A taller variety of the letter i, known as i longa, was sometimes used in writing to indicate a long i sound as opposed to a short one.2