The Tabula Bantina (
Latin for "Tablet from Bantia") is a bronze tablet and one of the major sources for ancient
Oscan
Oscan is an extinct Indo-European language of southern Italy. The language is in the Osco-Umbrian or Sabellic branch of the Italic languages. Oscan is therefore a close relative of Umbrian.
Oscan was spoken by a number of tribes, including t ...
, an extinct
Indo-European language closely related to Latin. It was discovered in 1793 near
Banzi
Banzi ( Lucano: ) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Potenza, Basilicata, southern Italy.
Called ''Bantia'' in antiquity, it was the site of the find of the bronze tablet known as the Tabula Bantina, which contains a fragment of the ...
(known as "Bantia" in antiquity), in the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional It ...
region of
Basilicata
it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman)
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...
. It now may be found in the
Naples Archaeological Museum.
[''The New International Encyclopædia'', Volume 18, 1910, p. 800, "Tabula Bantina][Tabula Bantina (Encyclopedia of Ancient History)]
by Carlos Sánchez-Moreno Ellart
Discovery
The tablet was found in 1790 on the hill Monte Montrone, in the territory of
Oppido Lucano
Oppido Lucano ( Oppidano: ; la, Oppidum; osc, Opinum, script=Latn) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is bounded by the comuni of Acerenza, Cancellara, Genzano di Lucania, I ...
(province of
Potenza
Potenza (, also , ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania).
Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and one ...
), among the finds from an ancient tomb. It consists of a sheet of bronze in three larger pieces and some smaller fragments. It likely dates between 150 and 100 BCE and is inscribed on both sides.
Contents
On one side of the tablet is inscribed a municipal law from the city of Bantia, written in Oscan with Latin characters and 33 lines long, as it is preserved. On the other side is written a Roman
plebiscite in Latin. The Latin text may have been the original one, and the tablet later re-used for the Oscan inscription.
The Oscan text probably dates from around 89 BC but whether it was written before or after the
Social War (War of the Allies) is disputed.
From the Text
First paragraph out of six paragraphs, lines 3-8 (the first couple lines are too damaged to be clearly legible):
In Latin:
In English:
Notes: Oscan ''carn-'' "part, piece" is related to Latin ''carn-'' "meat" (seen in English 'carnivore'), from an Indo-European root ''*ker-'' meaning 'cut'--apparently the Latin word originally meant 'piece (of meat).' Oscan ''tangin-'' "judgement, assent" is ultimately related to English 'think'.
Second paragraph = lines 8-11:
In Latin:
In English:
References
{{reflist
Osco-Umbrian languages
Inscriptions