Lapis Niger inscription

The inscription, which refers to a cult law (lex sacra), is found on a broken column discovered in 1899 during excavations in the Roman Forum under the “Lapis Niger,” a sacred site made of black marble slabs. The text fragment is one of the rarest and oldest testaments of Early Latin.

Details of the Lapis Niger in the Roman Forum, black-and-white photograph, photographer unknown; source: Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lapis-niger.jpg, public domain.