In the picture you can see the copy, that is preserved in the Epigraphic Museum of the Baths of Diocletian, of a stone named Lapis Niger (Black Stone). What is it? Well, it is a very good question... 

The Lapis Niger is a very mysterious funerary complex discovered by the archeologists Giacomo Boni at the 1899. It was found in the Roman Forum, very close to the Curia (the ancient Roman Senate) and in front of the triumphal arch of Septimius Severus. Digging the archaeologists have unearthed what appears to be a burial, or perhaps a shrine. The area, on the surface, was enclosed by a marble balustrade surrounding a black marble floor. Under the floor there was an altar formed by three distinct doors in the shape of a U. At the center of the doors there was a stone in the shape of a cone (maybe it was the base of a statue), and a stone pyramid, as you can see here, looking at the picture. This, at least, is what the archaeological are able to understand thanks to some written sources, and what has been found in the subsoil. Let's focus now on the stone with this left written, defined "bustrofedica" (that is readable from right to left). We read the words "those who violate this place, let him be accursed [...] to the king, the herald [...] take the cattle [...] right". From what we have, however, we can understand how already in ancient times the place had a reputation. It seems that even the emperors had a great respect, precisely because of this clear curse carved on the stone. What is it, then? Who was buried here? And at what time, dates all of this?

We don't know an answer for them. Studying the characters engraved on the stone there are several theories: there are those who date the inscription, with a reference to the kings, even to the sixth century b.C. thus, the text as the most ancient example of archaic Latin in the world. Not only that because it is possible to read, on the stone surface, the word RECIS. It is simply the real first written witness of the presence of the kings in Rome, a world that confirm how, at the origins of the Eternal City, there were kings who ruled the community. According to others, however, the membership would have the influences of the Greek, particularly from the colonies such as Cumae where, in the past, the people used to write in this unusual way (from the right to the left). This daterebbe the stone to the VII century b.C. Other historical sources coudl indicate that this small area of the Roman Forum could have some connections with the true origins of the Romans. Now, however, let's understand who could be buried here, if it is a real tomb. Why no mortal man could come here, with the penalty of the curse eternal?

To clarify it seems that in this small corner of the Roman Forum there was an underground temple dedicated to Volcano, the so-called Volcanale. The historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus speaks of a statue of Romulus, the first King of Rome, erected in this area. So it was the Tomb of Romulus, the founder of the Eternal City? According to other legends here there were the remains of Faustolo, the sheperd who found first the two twins, Romulus and Remus, which were firstly found by the she wolf. To indicate the destination of use of the place as a possible tomb, it contributes also to the presence of statues of two lions, which, according to Varro, were subsequently added. The two animals are the guardians, but for whom? There are those who advances the hypothesis that this burial was dedicated to Hercules, the mythical hero who would stay in Rome! As it often happens, however, when it comes to artifacts so ancient there are many doubts, few certainties.

The name itself, the Lapis Niger, it is strange considering that everything was made of marble, as well as the famous memorial. The cover of the shrine, in black marble, would have given the name to the whole complex? Starting from the assumption, moreover, that the shrine was buried only in the first century b.C., probably from Silla. Previously, and for centuries, the sacred area was discovered, as also reflected in the ex-voto and the ceramic objects found. Probably at the end of the Republic, in the first century b.C. in fact, you wanted to preserve even more of the shrine, covering it with this black marble in a sacred enclosure. We'll never know the truth? Who knows...