Chronogram
Such was the name given to a whimsical device of the later Romans, resuscitated during the renaissance period, by which a date is given by selecting certain letters amongst those which form an inscription, and printing them larger than the others. The principle will be understood from the following chronogram made from the name of George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham—
Georg IVs. DVX. bVCkIngaMIæ.
The date MDCXVVVIII (1628), is that of the year in which the Duke was murdered by Felton, at Portsmouth.