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Undergraduate
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| Name: |
Cippus
of Lapis Niger |
| Picture: |
 |
| Description: |
Rome.
H. 1.2m. Named for the black stone that overlaid and protected the
Cippus, this is a five-faced stele inscribed with a fragment of archaic
Latin law regarding the duties of the Roman king and the Comitium.
The inscription reads: Quoi honce/sakros es-/ed. Sordes/a has/recei
io/evam/quos re/m kalato-/rem hab/tod iouxmen-/ta kapia duo taur/am
iter pe/m quoi ha-/velod neq f/iod iovestod/louquiod qo. |
| Date: |
Late sixth
century B.C., probably around 509. |
| Discussion: |
The
oldest written Roman law, the Cippus concerns a function of the king,
a public appearance when a special herald, the kalator went ahead
of the king to clear a path through the commoners. Two sterile draft
animals were involved, and violation of the kalator's orders were
punishable by an animal sacrifice. The Comitium was originally a holy
grove set aside for the protection of assemblies; sacral miscreants
were judged there. The writing on the Cippus is of the boustrophedon
type, i.e. one lines turns into the next. The writing goes forwards,
backwards and even upside down, suggesting that lettering as an art-form
was not yet conceived of. See R. Palmer, "The King and the Comitium",
Historia 11 pamphlet 1969. |
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