Lapis Niger
The Lapis niger (Latin for "Black Stone") is an underground complex that is covered with a black marble plate on Rome's Roman Forum. The oldest parts of the complex date from 600 BC. According to Roman mythology, this was the place where the founder of Rome, Romulus, was buried or even included among the gods as Quirinus. Description
The complex contains a tombstyle, an altar and a column. The gravestone or cippus is one of the oldest of our handed inscriptions in Latin. This speaks of a king (recei), a heraut (calator) and lamb (iouxmenta). It is written in the Boustrophedon script ("like an ox plows"): the rules go from left to right and then vice versa. It is probably a lex sacra, which described the actions that had to be performed on the altar. The "king" may not be an ordinary king, but the "sacrifice king" (rex sacrorum). Recent research indicates that it was probably an altar for the god of Vulcan.
From 45 BC Caesar and Emperor Augustus built new monuments on top of the Lapis Niger. It was not until 1899 that the cover plate and the underground space were discovered. Inscription Text written in Oudlatijn, with the right text in the modern alphabet.
The alphabet in which the inscription is written looks more like the Greek alphabet in Latin. Because only one half of the words are delivered per line, a precise translation is very difficult. The form of sakros from rule one is probably an ancient form of sacer and means holy. The exit -os also resembles the ancient Greek-exit. The inscription probably refers to the fact that the one who dares to open the grave of the king (regei) is cursed.
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