Praeneste fibula

The Manios clasp, also called fibula Praenestina, is a golden fibula, the ( ancient Praeneste ) was found in the central Italian city of Palestrina, and is dated to the 7th century BC. It is now in the Museo Preistorico Ethnographic Luigi Pigorini in Rome.

Named the clip is after the first word of the inscription contained therein, which is considered the oldest testimony of Latin.

The inscription

On the clasp, the probably oldest known Latin inscription is in early Latin language, even if the membership can be (actually fecit ) doubts to Latin because of there not occupied Reduplikationsperfekts for facit. The inscription is counter-clockwise and reads:

In classical Latin of the text would read:

It is striking that the f -sound was written with the letters " FH".

The authenticity question

The authenticity of the inscription (not the clip ) was controversial in recent research for over a century, since the exact find circumstances are not released. The clasp ( fibula ) was introduced in 1887 by the archaeologist Wolfgang Helbig first public without it then explained its origin or acquisition. The argument is valid since 2011 as a final decision in favor of authenticity, because of the thorough investigations by Edilberto Formigli and Daniela Ferro, who also provided a dating to the first half of the 7th century BC. So could Formigli who also restored the bronze figure A of Riace, in some gaps in the letters demonstrate crystal structures of gold, which are formed only after a very long time.