Umbrian Inscriptions in Assisi
Berkeley Villa Architrave
Part
of an architrave from a gate in the ancient city walls was discovered in 1938
near the ex-Oratorio di San Lorenzo and is still preserved in the
garden of what became the Berkeley Villa. (Unfortunately, the garden is not open to the
public).
The architrave contains a fragmentary Umbrian inscription (late 3rd or early 2nd century BC) that uses an alphabet from Perusia (Perugia). It has been transcribed:
estac vera papa... mestiça vipies e... |
The
first line seems to confirm that the stone was part of a gate, while
the second seems to mean “under the meddix Vibius E…”. The word “meddix” described a magistrate in the Oscan-speaking communities to the south of modern Umbria.
Cippus
This cippus (ca. 2nd century BC) in the Museo Civico (Exhibit ???) may have been found outside Porta Moiano. It has a short inscription:
| toce stahu |
This seems to mean "I stand in a public place".
Cippus from Bastia
The cippus (late 2nd or early 1st century BC) was found in 1742 at Ospedalicchio, near Bastia (between Assisi and Perugia). It is now in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Perugia, and there is a plaster cast of it in the Museo Civico (Exhibit 6).
The inscription, which is one of the longest surviving inscriptions in the Umbrian language, uses the Latin alphabet:
| ager emps et |
The inscription describes land (ager) that was bought and delimited (emps et termnas) during the period of office of:
the two men who held the post of uhter in the year in question:
C(aius) Vestinius, son of V(ibius) and
Ner(o) Babrius, son of T(itus);
and two held the post of marone:
Vois(ienus) Propartius, son of Ner(o); and
T(itus) Voisienus, son of V(ibius).
The final words “sacre stahu”, which probably mean “I stand inviolable”.
Read more:
G. Bradley, "Ancient Umbria", Oxford (2000), particularly Appendix II
G. Rocca, "Iscrizioni Umbre Minori", Florence (1996)