This 11th-century fresco, today found under the Basilica of San Clemente in Rome, is a treasure for both historians and linguists.

This is because the rather rude text in the lower panel is said to be one of the oldest examples of Italian!

But why? What makes it Italian? 1/7

First, a quick précis of events:

The fresco depicts the story of Clement (pope and saint) and the powerful Sisinnius, who, angered by the conversion of his wife Theodora, orders his slaves to seize Clement.

But then, a miracle - the slaves capture a stone column instead! 2/7

The slaves, unaware, drag the column, while Sisinnius shouts:

'Fili de le pute traite!'
(Pull, you sons of whores!)

It seems that /h/ has been lost, turning Latin trahite into traite. Moreover, the plural ending is not -ae but just -e.

This is more like Italian than Latin! 3/7

In terms of grammar (yay!), the relationship between the sons and their mothers isn't expressed through a case ending (Latin would use the genitive), but with the preposition de 'of'.

We also see le (from illae) used here as a definite article, something very un-Latin-like. 4/7

One slave then cries:

"Falite dereto co lo palo!"
(Get him from behind with the pole!)

Here we see Italianesque words, like palo and dereto (modern: dietro). We may also analyse falite as:

fa-li-te
'do-him-you'

Li and te look like clitics fixed to the verb - very Italian! 5/7

Yet what's most interesting for me is the speech of Clement, offstage.

"Duritiam cordis v[est]ris, saxa traere meruistis"
([Because of] your heart's hardness, you have deserved to drag stones)

In contrast to the others, the saint speaks Latin! (Pretty poor Latin admittedly) 6/7

So, what have we learned?

- that colloquial speech in C11th Rome was a lot like modern Italian.

- that the perceived difference between Latin and the vernacular was still one of prestige.

- that some of the oldest extant Italian, written in a church, is 'sons of whores'.

FINE

Post Tweetum:

'The Making of: This Thread That You Just Read'

1) credit and thanks go to The Paideia Blog for the excellent picture of the fresco, which is of exceptional quality. Their write-up has lots more interesting details: https://thepaideiablog.wordpress.com/2014/11/23/the-fresco-of-sisinnius-and-st-clement/

2) in 2017, I headed to San Clemente, as if on a linguistic and historical pilgrimage - I knew it was special, but I had no idea *how* special.

Layers upon layers of Rome's history. A late antique basilica? The grave of St Cyril? An actual mithraeum?

God and COVID willing, go!