The Duenos inscription, as recorded by Heinrich Dressel.

The Duenos Inscription is one of the earliest known Old Latin texts, dating from the early 6th century BCE. 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 was held at the Staatliche Museen in Berlin (inventory no. 30894,3), prior to the reunification of Germany and the reorganization of the national museums in that city.

The inscription is written right to left in three phrases, without spaces to separate words. It is difficult to translate, as some letters are hard to distinguish, particularly since they are in Old Latin. The absence of spaces causes additional difficulty in assigning the letters to the respective words.

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 Latin literature, 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.

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. ioues?t deivos qoi m?d mit?t, nei t?d end? cosmis virc? si?d

c. Iurat deos qui me mittit, ni in te (= erga te) comis virgo sit

d. The person who sends you to me prays to the gods, if the girl is not kind towards you

Line 2:

a. ASTEDNOISIOPETOITESIAIPACARIVOIS

b. as(t) t?d noisi o(p)petoit esi?i p?c? riuois

c. at te (...) paca rivis

d. without you (...) calm with [these] rivers

Line 3:

a. DVENOSMEDFECEDEN MANOMEINOMDVENOINEMEDMALOSTATOD

b. duenos m?d f?ced en m?n?m einom duen?i n? m?d malo(s) stat?d

c. Bonus me fecit in manom einom bono, ne me malus (tollito, clepito)

d. A good man made me flow ?? for the purpose of good, evil shall not take me.

A coherent rendering

An interpretation set out by Warmington and Eichner, renders the complete translation as follows, though not with certainty:

1. It is sworn with the Gods, whence I'm issued:

If a maiden does not smile at you,

2. nor is strongly attracted to you,

then soothe her with this fragrance!

3. Someone good has filled me for someone good and well-mannered,

and not shall I be obtained by someone bad.^[1]

Notes

"Duenos" is an older form of Latin translating to bonus, "good", just as bellum (war) is from Old Latin, duellum. Some scholars posit Duenos as a proper name, instead of merely an adjective.

The Praenestine fibula was once thought to be the earliest surviving evidence of Latin and to date to the 7th century BCE, but is now believed by most scholars to have been a well-informed hoax.

References

• "Die DUENOS-Inschrift": transcription and interpretation of the Duenos inscription
• Larissa Bonfante, "Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies", Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1986
• Arthur E. Gordon, Illustrated Introduction to Latin Epigraphy. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.

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