Lapis Niger
Drawing of the excavated Lapis Niger, by Christian Hülsen, 1906
Lapis Niger
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Lapis Niger |
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Drawing of the excavated Lapis Niger, by Christian Hülsen, 1906 |
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| Location | Regione VIII Forum Romanum |
| Built in | 5th century BC |
| Built by/for | Tullus Hostilius |
| Type of structure | [[]] |
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Lapis Niger |
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The Lapis Niger (trans. Black Stone) is a series of ancient Roman shrines built consecutively around, and on top of, a sacred spot. The name originaly refered to a black stone stele with the earliest known Latin inscription. It was later covered over with slabs of black marble by either Sulla or Julius Caesar. Located in the Comitium in front of the Curia Julia in Rome, Italy, this structure survived for centuries due to a combination of overbuilding during the era of the Roman Empire and the chaos of Rome's fall.
Mentioned in many ancient descriptions of the Roman Forum dating from the Roman Republic and the early days of the Roman Empire, the significance of the site has changed over a period of time, but is always discussed as a spot of great meaning to the Romans. The Lapis Niger was rediscovered in the very late 19th century by Italian archaeologist Giacomo Boni. It is the site of the oldest known Latin inscription.
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The site dates back to either the Monarchy of Rome, as the inscription refers to a king (rex), or to the early Roman Republic, as the same inscription might be in reference to the rex sacrorum, an early Republic high religious official. At some point, the Romans forgot the original significance of the shrine. This led to several conflicting origin stories for the shrine. Romans believed the Lapis Niger marked the grave of the first king of Rome Romulus; the grave of Hostus Hostilius, father of King Tullus Hostilius; or the location where Faustulus, foster father of Romulus, fell in battle.
The Lapis Niger went through two incarnations. The first version was a traditional ancient style shrine, which was torn down and buried under plates of black marble in the first century, becoming the second incarnation of the site.
The original version of the site consisted of a black marble square stele (the eponymous black stone) inscribed with old Latin inscriptions dedicating the shrine to a rex or king, and leveling grave curses at anyone who dares disturb the shrine; and an altar, of which only the base still survives. In front of the altar are two bases. The antiquarian Verrius Flaccus (whose work is preserved only in the epitome of Pompeius Festus), a contemporary of Augustus, described a statue of a resting lion placed on each base, "just as they may be seen today guarding graves". This is sometimes refered to as the vulcanal.
The inscription on the stele has various interesting features. The lettering is the closest to Greek letters of any known Latin lettering, since it is closer to the original borrowing of the Greek alphabet by peoples of Italy from Greek colonies such as Cumae. Also, the inscription is written boustrophedon, meaning it is written alternating between right to left and left to right. Many of the oldest Latin inscriptions are written in this style.
Archaeological excavations show that various dedicatory items from vase fragments, statues and pieces of animal sacrifices, are found around at the site in a layer of deliberately placed gravel. All these artifacts date from very ancient Rome, between the fifth and seventh century BC.
The second version, placed when the first version was demolished in the first 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 short white wall. The new shrine lay just beside the Rostra, the senatorial speaking platform.
In November of 2008 heavy rain damaged the concrete covering that has been protecting the Vulcanal and it's monuments since the 1950s. This includes the stele accorded the name of "The Black Rock" 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 creat the covering and keeping the marble in place.
Professor Angelo Bottini, Superintendent of Archeology in Rome stated that an awning or tent covering is in place to protect the ancient relics until the covering is repaired giving tourist of this millinia a look at the original suggestum for the first time in 50 years.[1]