Lapis Satricanus

The Lapis Satricanus, or " stone of Satricum ", is a yellow stone with inscription, 1977 from the ruins of ancient Satricum, today Le Ferriere, part of Latina ( 41 ° 31 ' N, 12 ° 45' O41.51305555555612.755 ) Conrad M. Stibbe was found. There he was re-used in the foundations of a temple of Mater Matuta. It is dated to the late 6th to early 5th century BC.

Its inscription reads:

This can be translated as: "(? ). The dedicated this as a companion of Publius Valerius, Mars "

With " Popliosio Valesiosios " is meant probably the Publius Valerius Publicola Roman senator.

The inscription is written in Latin early or a dialect resembling him. It is important for the indogermanistische philology, as it is the only evidence of the Latin genitive ending " osio " the thematic nominal inflection. The later Latin has " î " as an ending of this case. From the comparison with other ancient Italic languages ​​, with Greek and Sanskrit is apparent, however, that the original ending- osio was.