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Why did Roman inscriptions often use abbreviations?

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Neo-Assyrian clay tablet from the 7th century BC inscribed with dense cuneiform writing, known as the Flood Tablet from the Epic of Gilgamesh, displayed in the British Museum. — epigraphy The Flood Tablet, 11th cuneiform tablet in a series relating the Gilgamesh epic, from Nineveh, 7th century bce; in the British Museum, London.

In Roman epigraphy, the extensive use of abbreviations served several practical purposes. Primarily, they were employed by lawyers and officials to avoid the repetitive writing of technical terms and standardized formulas. By utilizing initials and shortened forms, Romans could save time and material when inscribing texts onto stone, bronze, or other surfaces.12

This practice was so pervasive that it became a hallmark of Roman epigraphic style, often leading to a high degree of standardization in official records. While these abbreviations helped streamline the creation of documents, their excessive use in the historical record can today present significant challenges for comprehension, often requiring the use of specialized lists found in modern handbooks on Latin epigraphy to interpret them correctly.2