The Lapis Niger (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, "Black Stone") is an ancient shrine in the Roman Forum. Together with the associated

Vulcanal The Shrine of Vulcan ( it, Volcanale), or Vulcanal, or Volcanal, was an 8th-century BC sacred precinct on the future site of the Roman Forum in Rome, modern Italy. Dedicated to Vulcan (mythology), Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, it was tradition ...

(a sanctuary to

Vulcan Vulcan may refer to: Mythology * Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...

) it constitutes the only surviving remnants of the old

Comitium The Comitium ( it, Comizio) was the original open-air public meeting space of Ancient Rome, and had major religious and prophetic significance. The name comes from the Latin word for "assembly". The Comitium location at the northwest corner of th ...

, an early assembly area that preceded the Forum and is thought to derive from an archaic cult site of the 7th or 8th century BC. The black marble paving (1st century BC) and modern concrete enclosure (early 20th century) of the Lapis Niger overlie an ancient altar and a stone block with one of the earliest known

Old Latin Old Latin, also known as Early Latin or Archaic Latin (Classical la, prīsca Latīnitās, lit=ancient Latinity), was the Latin language in the period before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. It descends from a common Proto-Italic ...

inscriptions (c. 570–550 BC). The superstructure monument and shrine may have been built by

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

during his reorganization of the Forum and Comitium space. Alternatively, this may have been done a generation earlier by Sulla during one of his construction projects around the

Curia Hostilia The Curia Hostilia was one of the original senate houses or "curiae" of the Roman Republic. It was believed to have begun as a temple where the warring tribes laid down their arms during the reign of Romulus (r. c. 771–717 BC). During the early ...

. The site was rediscovered and excavated from 1899 to 1905 by Italian archaeologist Giacomo Boni. Mentioned in many ancient descriptions of the Forum dating back to the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

and the early days of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

, the significance of the Lapis Niger shrine was obscure and mysterious to later Romans, but it was always discussed as a place of great sacredness and significance. It is constructed on top of a sacred spot consisting of much older artifacts found about below the present ground level. The name "black stone" may have originally referred to the black stone block (one of the earliest known Latin inscriptions) or it may refer to the later black marble paving at the surface. Located in the Comitium in front of the Curia Julia, this structure survived for centuries due to a combination of reverential treatment and overbuilding during the era of the early Roman Empire.

History

The site is believed to date back to the Roman regal period. The inscription includes the word ''rex'', probably referring to either a king (''rex''), or to the ''rex sacrorum'', a high religious official. At some point, the Romans forgot the original significance of the shrine. This led to several conflicting stories of its origin. Romans believed the Lapis Niger marked either the grave of the first king of Rome, Romulus, or the spot where he was murdered by the Senate; the grave of Hostus Hostilius, grandfather of King

Tullus Hostilius Tullus Hostilius (r. 672–640 BC) was the legendary third king of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius. Unlike his predecessor, Tullus was known as a warlike king who according to the Roman Historian Livy, believ ...

; or the location where

Faustulus In Roman mythology, Faustulus was the shepherd who found the infant Romulus (the future founder of the city of Rome) and his twin brother Remus along the banks of the Tiber River as they were being suckled by the she-wolf, Lupa. According to lege ...

, foster father of Romulus, fell in battle. The earliest writings referring to this spot regard it as a ''suggestum'' where the early kings of Rome would speak to the crowds at the forum and to the Senate. The two altars are common at shrines throughout the early Roman or late Etruscan period. The Lapis Niger is mentioned in an uncertain and ambiguous way by several writers of the early Imperial period: Dionysius of Halicarnassus,

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

, and

Festus Festus may refer to: People Ancient world *Porcius Festus, Roman governor of Judea from approximately 58 to 62 AD *Sextus Pompeius Festus (later 2nd century), Roman grammarian *Festus (died 305), martyr along with Proculus of Pozzuoli *Festus (h ...

. They do not seem to know which old stories about the shrine should be believed. In November 2008 heavy rain damaged the concrete covering that has been protecting the Vulcanal and its monuments since the 1950s. This includes the inscribed stone block accorded the name of "The Black Stone" or Lapis Niger (the marble and cement covering is a mix of the original black marble said to have been used to cover the site by Sulla, and modern cement used to create the covering and keep the marble in place). An awning now protects the ancient relics until the covering is repaired, allowing the public to view the original ''suggestum'' for the first time in 50 years. Unfortunately, the nature of the coverings and ongoing repairs makes it impossible to see the Lapis Niger which is several meters underground.

Description

The shrine

The Lapis Niger went through several incarnations. The initial versions were destroyed by fire or the sacking of the city and buried under the slabs of black marble. It is believed this was done by Sulla; however, it has also been argued that Julius Caesar may have buried the site during his re-alignment of the Comitium. The original version of the site, first excavated in 1899, included a truncated cone of

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

(possibly a monument) and the lower portion of a square pillar (''

cippus A (plural: ''cippi''; "pointed pole") is a low, round or rectangular pedestal set up by the Ancient Romans for purposes such as a milestone or a boundary post. They were also used for somewhat differing purposes by the Etruscans and Carthaginians ...

'') which was inscribed with an

inscription, perhaps the oldest in existence if not the

Duenos inscription The Duenos inscription is one of the earliest known Old Latin texts, variously dated from the 7th to the 5th century BC. It is inscribed on the sides of a '' kernos'', in this case a trio of small globular vases adjoined by three clay struts. It ...

or the

Praeneste fibula , native_name_lang = la , image = Praeneste fibula.JPG , image_size = , alt = , image2 = , image2_size = , alt2 = , image_caption = , material = Gold , s ...

. A U-shaped altar of which only the base still survives, was added some time later. In front of the altar are two bases, which may also have been added separately from the main altar. The antiquarian

Verrius Flaccus Marcus Verrius Flaccus (c. 55 BCAD 20) was a Roman grammarian and teacher who flourished under Augustus and Tiberius. Life He was a freedman, and his manumitter has been identified with Verrius Flaccus, an authority on pontifical law; but for c ...

(whose work is preserved only in the epitome of Pompeius Festus), a contemporary of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

, described a statue of a resting lion placed on each base, "just as they may be seen today guarding graves". This is sometimes referred to as the Vulcanal. Also added at another period was an honorary column, possibly with a statue topping it. Archaeological excavations (1899–1905) revealed various dedicatory items from vase fragments, statues and pieces of animal sacrifices around at the site in a layer of deliberately placed gravel. All these artifacts date from very ancient Rome, between the 5th and 7th centuries BC. The second version, placed when the first version was demolished in the 1st century BC to make way for further development in the forum, is a far simpler shrine. A pavement of black marble was laid over the original site and was surrounded by a low white wall or parapet. The new shrine lay just beside the

Rostra The rostra ( it, Rostri, links=no) was a large platform built in the city of Rome that stood during the republican and imperial periods. Speakers would stand on the rostra and face the north side of the comitium towards the senate house and deli ...

, the senatorial speaking platform.

The inscription

The inscription on the stone block has various interesting features. The lettering is closer to

Greek letters The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the earliest known alphabetic script to have distinct letters for vowels as we ...

than any known Latin lettering, since it is chronologically closer to the original borrowing of the Greek alphabet by peoples of Italy from Italian Greek colonies, such as

Cumae Cumae ( grc, Κύμη, (Kumē) or or ; it, Cuma) was the first ancient Greek colony on the mainland of Italy, founded by settlers from Euboea in the 8th century BC and soon becoming one of the strongest colonies. It later became a rich Ro ...

. The inscription is written

boustrophedon Boustrophedon is a style of writing in which alternate lines of writing are reversed, with letters also written in reverse, mirror-style. This is in contrast to modern European languages, where lines always begin on the same side, usually the le ...

. Many of the oldest Latin inscriptions are written in this style. The meaning of the inscription is difficult to discern as the beginning and end are missing and only one third to one half of each line survives. It appears, however, to dedicate the shrine to a ''rex'' or king and to level grave curses at anyone who dares disturb it. Attempts have been made at interpreting the meaning of the surviving fragment by Johannes Stroux, Georges Dumézil and Robert E. A. Palmer. Here is the reading of the inscription as given by Dumézil (on the right the reading by Arthur E. Gordon): :I a 1 quoiho... :: b 2-3 ''s''akros: es/ed:sord... :II a 4-5 ...iaias/recei: ''lo''... :: b 6-7 ...euam/quos: r''e''... :III a 8-9 ...m: kalato/rem: ha.... ::b 10-11 ...od: io: uxmen/takapia: d''o''tau... :IV a 12 ...m: i: te: ''r'' ''p'' ''e'' ::b 13-14 ...m: quoiha/uelod: nequ... ::c 15 ...od: iouestod/ :V 16 loi''u''quiod''po'' :qvoiho .. (or qvoi ho''i''...) :sakros:es/ed:sord... :... . .s/recei: i''c'' (or i''o'') :...evam/qvos: re... :...m:kalato/rem: ha''b'' (or ha''l'') :...''t''od:iovxmen/ta: kapia:duo:tavr... :m: iter ... :...m:qvoiha/velod: neqv... :... d:iovestod/ :loivqviod''qo''... Textlapis

(Roman numbers represent the four faces of the ''cippus'' (pedestal) plus the edge. Fragments on each face are marked with letters (a, b, c). Arabic numbers denote lines. A sign (/) marks the end of a line). (The letters whose reading is uncertain or disputed are given in italics. The extension of the lacuna is uncertain: it may vary from to or even more. In Gordon's reading the ''v'' of ''duo'' in line 11 is read inscribed inside the ''o''.) Dumézil declined to interpret the first seven lines on the grounds that the inscription was too damaged, while acknowledging it was a prohibition under threat. Dumézil's attempt is based on the assumption of a parallelism of some points of the fragmentary text inscribed on the monument and a passage of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

's '' De Divinatione'' (II 36. 77). In that passage, Cicero, discussing the precautions taken by augurs to avoid embarrassing

auspices Augury is the practice from ancient Roman religion of interpreting omens from the observed behavior of birds. When the individual, known as the augur, interpreted these signs, it is referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" (Latin ''au ...

, states: "to this is similar what we augurs prescribe, in order to avoid the occurrence of the ''iuges auspicium'', that they order to free from the yoke the animals (which are yoked)". 'They' here denotes the'' calatores'', public slaves whom the augurs and other '' sacerdotes'' (priests) had at their service, and who, in the quoted passage, are to execute orders aimed at preventing profane people from spoiling and, by their inadvertent action thereby rendering void, the sacred operation. Even though impossible to connect meaningfully to the rest of the text, the mention of the ''rex'' in this context would be significant as at the time of the Roman Monarchy augury was considered as pertaining to the king: Cicero in the same treatise states: "Divination, as well as wisdom, was considered ''regal''". The ''iuges auspicium'' are defined thus by

Paul the Deacon Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, s ...

: "The iuges auspicium occur when an animal under the yoke makes its excrements".

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

in explaining the meaning of the name of the ''

Via Sacra The Via Sacra (, "''Sacred Street''") was the main street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill, through some of the most important religious sites of the Forum (where it is the widest street), to the Colosseum. The ro ...

'', states that the augurs, advancing along this street after leaving the

arx Arx, ARX, or ArX may refer to: *ARX (Algorithmic Research Ltd.), a digital security company *ARX (gene), Aristaless related homeobox *ARX (operating system), an operating system *ArX (revision control), revision control software *Arx (Roman), a Ro ...

used to

inaugurate In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaug ...

. While advancing along the ''Via Sacra'' they should avoid meeting a ''iuges auspicium''. As the ''Via Sacra'' begins on the

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

and stretches along the whole

Forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

, in the descent from the hill to the Forum the first crossing they met, i.e. the first place where the incident in question could happen, was named ''

Vicus Jugarius The ''Vicus Jugarius'' ( la, Vicus Iugarius), or the Street of the Yoke-Makers, was an ancient street leading into the Roman Forum. Claridge, Amanda (2nd edition, 2010), Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide', Oxford University Press, pg 84. The ...

'': Dumézil thinks its name should be understood according to the prescription on issue. In fact the

, where the ''cippus'' was found, is very close to the left side of this crossing. This fact would make it natural that the ''cippus'' were placed exactly there, as a warning to passers by of the possible occurrence of the order of the ''calatores''. In support of such an interpretation of the inscription, Dumézil emphasises the occurrence of the word ''recei'' (dative case of ''rex''). Lines 8-9 could be read as: (the augur or the rex) '…iubet suu'''m calatorem ha'' 'ec *calare'' lines 10-11 could be '…iug'''ō'' (or '…subiugi'''ō'' or '…iugari'''ō) iumenta capiat'', i.e.: "that he take the yoked animals from under the yoke" (with a separation prefix ''ex'' or ''de'' before the ablative as in Odyssea IX 416: "άπο μεν λίθον ειλε θυράων" = ''capere''). Line 12 could be accordingly interpreted as: '…uti augur/ rex ad…-'''m iter pe'' 'rficiat'' The remaining lines could also be interpreted similarly, in Dumézil's view: ''iustum'' and ''liquidum'' are technical terms used as qualifying auspices, meaning regular, correctly taken and favourable. Moreover, the original form of classic Latin ''aluus'', abdomen and also stools, as still attested in Cato Maior was *''aulos'', that Max Niedermann on the grounds of Lithuanian reconstructs as * ''au(e)los''. The ''h'' in ''quoihauelod'' could denote a hiatus as in ''ahēn(e)us'', ''huhuic'' (i.e. bisyllable ''huic''). Dumézil then proposes the following interpretation for lines 12–16: ''…ne, descensa tunc iunctorum iumentoru'']''m cui aluo, nequ'' 'eatur'' (religious operation under course in the passive infinitive) ''auspici'''o iusto liquido''. The hiatus marked by ''h'' in line 13 would require to read the antecedent word as ''quoii'', dative of ''quoi'': ''quoiei'' is the ancient dative of the accentuated relative pronoun, but one could suppose that in the enclitic indefinite pronoun the dative could have early been reduced to ''quoiī''. The ''e'' in ''auelod'' can be an irrational vowel as in ''numerus'' from *''nom-zo'': cf. Etruscan ''Avile''. As for ''loi(u)quod'' it may be an archaic form of a type of which one can cite other instances, as ''lucidus'' and ''Lucius'', ''fluuidus'' and ''flŭuius'', ''liuidus'' and ''Līuius''. Michael Grant, in his book ''Roman Forum'' writes: "The inscription found beneath the black marble… clearly represents a piece of ritual law… the opening words are translatable as a warning that a man who damages, defiles or violates the spot will be cursed. One reconstruction of the text interprets it as referring to the misfortune which could be caused if two yoked draught cattle should happen while passing by to drop excrement simultaneously. The coincidence would be a perilous omen". That the inscription may contain some laws of a very early period is also acknowledged by Allen C. Johnson.Allen Chester Johnson, Paul Robinson Coleman-Norton, Frank Card Bourne ''Ancient Roman Statutes''

University of Texas Press The University of Texas Press (or UT Press) is a university press that is part of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly books and journals in several areas, including Latin American studies, Texan ...

1961 p. 5. Palmer instead, on the basis of a detailed analysis of every recognisable word, gave the following interpretation of this inscription, which he too considers to be a law:

References

External links

Forum Romanum: Rostra, Curia, Decennalia Base and Lapis Niger

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060910070919/http://dlib.etc.ucla.edu:8080/projects/Forum/reconstructions/NigerLapis_1 Digital Roman Forum: Lapis Niger a 3D computer recreation of the second incarnation of the Lapis Niger
Plan showing location in the Forum Romanum

{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in the 6th century BC Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century BC Religious buildings and structures in Rome Ancient Roman religion Latin inscriptions Roman Forum Rome R. X Campitelli