It is claimed that the above 5 Latin words of the ROTAS Square were found carved on the wall of a private house in Pompeii, though I've not seen it nor found it referenced in any of the books I have studied about the city. Many claim it to be an early symbol of Christianity. Others believe it to have originated in a pagan religion as a good luck charm, though the earliest known example is said to have been this one from Pompeii.
R O T A S
O P E R A
T E N E T
A R E P O
S A T O R
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Note that the words of the last 2 lines of the square above are the backward spelling of the words on the first 2 lines, and the words can be read vertically as well as horizontally.
A
P
A
T
E
R
A P A T E R N O S T E R O
O
S
T
E
R
O |
As you can see above, the "N" can remain in the center and the other 24 letters of the ROTAS Square can be rearranged into the words Pater Noster in the shape of a cross, with two sets of Alpha and Omega left over. Pater Noster is Latin for "Our Father." Alpha and Omega is Greek for "beginning" and "end" (or "first" and "last") and was used 4 times in Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, as a name for Jesus Christ.
These things may be purely coincidental and the ROTAS Square have nothing at all to do with Christianity.
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