 the duenos inscription is one of the earliest known old latin texts, variously dated from the 7th to the 5th century bc.osvaldo sacchi "il trivaso del quirinale" in rida 2001 p. 277 citing attilio degrassi inscriptiones latinae liberae rei publicae 1 1957, arthur gordon, "notes on the duenos-vase inscription in berlin", california studies in classical antiquity, vol. 8, 1975, pp.&nbsp;53â72, giovanni colonna "duenos " in studi etruschi 47 1979 pp. 163-172; brent vine - a note on the duenos inscription university of california at los angeles linguistica retrieved 2012-02-01 it is inscribed on the sides of a kernos, in this case a trio of small globular vases adjoined by three clay struts. it was found by heinrich dressel in 1880 on the quirinal hill in rome. the kernos belongs to the staatliche museen in berlin (inventory no. 30894,3). the inscription is written right to left in three units, without spaces to separate words. it is difficult to translate, as some letters are hard to distinguish, particularly since they cannot always be deduced by context. the absence of spaces causes additional difficulty in assigning the letters to the respective words. ==text and translations== there have been many proposed translations advanced by scholars since the discovery of the kernos; arthur e. gordon in 1983 estimated their number as "over fifty, no two in full agreement". due to the lack of a large body of archaic latin, and the method by which romans abbreviated their inscriptions, scholars have not been able to produce a singular translation that has been accepted by historians as accurate. however thanks to gordon's work the reading of the text can be now considered certain.arthur e. gordon "note on the duenos vase inscription in berlin" in california studies in classical antiquity 8, 1976, pp. 53 ff. below is the transcription and one of many possible interpretations: :a. the direct transcription :b. direct transcription with possible macrons and word breaks :c. a speculative interpretation and translation into classical latin :d. an english translation of that transcription, interpretation and translation. line 1: :a. iovesatdeivosqoimedmitatneitedendocosmisvircosied :b. iouesÄt deivos qoi mÄd mitÄt, nei tÄd endÅ cosmis vircÅ siÄd :c. iurat deos qui me mittit, ni in te (= erga te) comis virgo sit :d. the person who sends me prays to the gods, lest the girl be not kind towards thee line 2: :a. astednoisiopetoitesiaipakarivois :b. as(t) tÄd noisi o(p)petoit esiÄi pÄkÄ riuois :c. at te (...) paca rivis :d. without thee (...) calm with [these] rivers line 3: :a. dvenosmedfecede
6th-century_BC_works Antikensammlung_Berlin Earliest_known_manuscripts_by_language Latin_inscriptions Roman_archaeology