Lapis Niger

The Lapis Niger is an archaic sacred site and black stone monument located in the Roman Forum in Rome. It is notable for an ancient Old Latin inscription carved on a stone slab and for its association with an early sacred precinct.

Visitors see a roped-off excavation area in the Forum that contains the black stone, fragments of paving and the inscribed slab; informational panels explain its significance for early Roman religion and epigraphy. The monument is compact in size but important for scholars of early Rome.

Archaeological study in the Roman Forum exposed the paved precinct, the black stone and the inscribed fragments; scholars date the inscription to the archaic period of Rome, commonly placed in the 6th or 5th century BC. The site has been regarded as a marked sacred spot since antiquity and was documented by Roman authors.

The Lapis Niger sits within the Roman Forum near the Curia and the Comitium in central Rome, adjacent to other major ancient civic structures.

• Dating: The inscription on the site is among the oldest extant Old Latin texts, generally dated to the 6th or 5th century BC.

What to See #

• Inscripted slab: An inscribed stone slab with one of the earliest known Old Latin inscriptions in Rome, dating to the archaic period; the text is fragmentary and important for early Latin epigraphy.
• Excavation area: The excavated sacred precinct in the Roman Forum where the black stone and associated archaic remains were found; partially enclosed and accessible alongside Forum routes.