Editing Old Latin (section)

==Corpus==
[[File:Praeneste fibula.JPG|thumb|300px|The [[Praeneste Fibula]], the earliest known specimen of the [[Latin]] language and dated to the first half of the seventh century BC.]]
[[Image:Forum inscription.jpg|thumb|200px|The Forum inscription (''[[Lapis Niger]]'', "black stone"), one of the oldest known Latin inscriptions, from the 6th century BC; it is written [[boustrophedon]], albeit irregularly; from a rubbing by [[Domenico Comparetti]].]]
[[File:Duenos.jpg|thumb|The [[Duenos Inscription]] on a trio of three globular ''[[kernos]]'' vases]]

Old Latin authored works began in the 3rd century BC. These are complete or nearly complete works under their own name surviving as manuscripts copied from other manuscripts in whatever script was current at the time. There are also fragments of works quoted in other authors.

Many texts placed by various methods (painting, engraving, embossing) on their original media survive just as they were except for the ravages of time. Some of these were copied from other inscriptions. No inscription can be older than the introduction of the Greek alphabet into Italy but none survive from that early date. The imprecision of archaeological dating makes it impossible to assign a year to any one inscription, but the earliest survivals are probably from the 6th century BC.  Some texts, however, that survive as fragments in the works of classical authors, had to have been composed earlier than the republic, in the time of the [[Roman Kingdom|monarchy]]. These are listed below. Some authors, especially in recent texts, refer to the oldest Latin documents (7th–5th c. BCE) as Very Old Latin (VOL).<ref>Weiss, M. (2020). Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Latin, 2nd ed. Beech Stave: Ann Arbor. p. 24.</ref>

===Fragments and inscriptions===
Notable Old Latin fragments with estimated dates include:

* The [[Carmen Saliare]] (chant put forward in classical times as having been sung by the [[Salii|Salian brotherhood]] formed by [[Numa Pompilius]], approximate date 700 BC)
* The [[Praeneste fibula]] (date from first half of the seventh century BC.)
* The [[Tita Vendia vase]] ({{circa|620}}–600 BC)
* The [[Lapis Niger#The inscription|Forum inscription]] (''see illustration'', {{circa|550 BC}} under the monarchy)
* The [[Duenos Inscription|Duenos inscription]]  ({{circa|500 BC}})
* The [[Castor-Pollux dedication]] ({{circa|500 BC}})
* The [[Garigliano Bowl]]  ({{circa|500 BC}})
* The [[Lapis Satricanus]] (early 5th century BC)
* The preserved fragments of the laws of the [[Twelve Tables]] (traditionally, 449 BC, attested much later)
* The [[Tibur pedestal]]  ({{circa|400 BC}})
* The [[Tomb of the Scipios#Sarcophagi and inscriptions|Scipionum Elogia]]
** [[Sarcophagus of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus#Epitaph on Sarcophagus|Epitaph of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus]] (consul 298 BC)
** [[Lucius Cornelius Scipio (consul 259 BC)#Epitaph|Epitaph of Lucius Cornelius Scipio (consul 259 BC)]]
** [[Publius Cornelius Scipio P.f. P.n. Africanus#Epitaph|Epitaph of Publius Cornelius Scipio P.f. P.n. Africanus]] (died about 170 BC)
* The {{lang|la|[[Lex Luci Spoletina]]}}<ref>Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum XI 4766</ref> (3rd century BC)
* The {{lang|la|[[Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus]]}} (186 BC)
* The [[Vase Inscription from Ardea]]
* The [[Corcolle Altar fragments]]
* The [[Carmen Arvale]]
* [[Si deus si dea#Altar to the Unknown Divinity|Altar to the Unknown Divinity]] (92 BC)

===Works of literature===
Authors:
* Lucius [[Livius Andronicus]] ({{circa|280/260 BC|200 BC}}), translator, founder of Roman drama
* [[Gnaeus Naevius]] ({{circa|264}}–201 BC), dramatist, epic poet
* Titus Maccius [[Plautus]] ({{circa|254}}–184 BC), dramatist, composer of comedies
* Quintus [[Ennius]] (239 – {{circa|169 BC}}), poet
* Marcus [[Pacuvius]] ({{circa|220}}–130 BC), tragic dramatist, poet
* [[Statius Caecilius]] (220 – 168/166 BC), comic dramatist
* [[Terence|Publius Terentius Afer]] (195/185 – 159 BC), comic dramatist
* [[Cato the Elder|Marcus Porcius Cato]] (234–149 BC), orator, historian, topical writer
* [[Lucius Accius]] (170 – {{circa|86 BC}}), tragic dramatist, philologist
* [[Gaius Lucilius]] ({{circa|160s}} – 103/102 BC), satirist
* [[Quintus Lutatius Catulus]] (2nd century BC), public officer, epigrammatist
* [[Aulus Furius Antias]] (2nd century BC), poet
* [[Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo Vopiscus]] (130–87 BC), public officer, tragic dramatist
* [[Lucius Pomponius]] Bononiensis (2nd century BC), comic dramatist, satirist
* [[Lucius Cassius Hemina]] (2nd century BC), historian
* [[Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi (consul 133 BC)|Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi]] (2nd century BC), historian
* [[Manius Manilius]] (2nd century BC), public officer, jurist
* [[Lucius Coelius Antipater]] (2nd century BC), jurist, historian
* Publius [[Sempronius Asellio]] (158 BC – after 91 BC), military officer, historian
* [[Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus (consul 129 BC)|Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus]] (2nd century BC), jurist
* [[Lucius Afranius (poet)|Lucius Afranius]] (2nd and 1st centuries BC), comic dramatist
* [[Titus Albucius]] (2nd and 1st centuries BC), orator
* [[Publius Rutilius Rufus]] (158 BC – after 78 BC), jurist
* [[Lucius Aelius Stilo Praeconinus]] (154–74 BC), philologist
* [[Quintus Claudius Quadrigarius]] (2nd and 1st centuries BC), historian
* [[Valerius Antias]] (2nd and 1st centuries BC), historian
* [[Lucius Cornelius Sisenna]] (121–67 BC), soldier, historian
* [[Quintus Cornificius]] (2nd and 1st centuries BC), rhetorician