Pontifex maximus pointed out that the term existed before there were any bridges in Rome and derived the word from Old Latin "pontis" (sic) meaning a powerful or absolute master, while others derived it from "potis facere" in the sense of "able to sacrifice". The last derivation is mentioned also by Varro, who rejected it, but it was the view of Pontifex Maximus Quintus Scaevola. Others have held that the word was originally "pompifex" (leader of public processions). The word "pons" originally meant "way" and "pontifex" would thus mean "maker of roads and bridges". Another opinion is that the word is a
Latin word order of the sentence than in Cicero's philosophy. The word order of poetry is even freer than prose, and examples of interleaved word order (double hyperbaton) are common. In terms of word order typology, Latin is classified by some scholars as basically an SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) language, with Preposition-Noun, Noun-Genitive, and Adjective-Noun (but also Noun-Adjective) order. Others, however, argue that the word order of Latin is so variable that it is impossible to establish one order as more basic than another. As will be seen in the examples below, the order of words in Latin is not random, but frequently indicates different