An ancient Fibula, or brooch used as a clasp to hold cloaks or robes, that was discovered in a tomb at the town of Palestrina (Lazio) in 1876, has finally been declared authentic. The importance of the 10.5 cm-long gold pin, which was thought by many antiquarians for over a century to be a forgery, lies in the fact that it is inscribed with the oldest known phrase in archaic Latin.

The pin with the words: Manios med phe phaked Numasioi (which means I was made by Manio for Numerio) is thought to refer to Numerio Sufficio, a noble of Preneste, as Palestrina was called in Roman times. According to classical sources, his name is linked with the Oracle of the Temple of the Goddess Fortune in Palestrina, one of the most important sanctuaries of the ancient world.

Credit for the positive identification of the inscription and establishing the age of the Fibula Prenestina goes to researchers Daniela Ferro and Eliberto Formigli, who tested the brooch with an advanced electronic microscopic scanner and were able to prove that it dates from the VII century BC and was made by a goldsmith using typical Etruscan techniques of that period.

The brooch is part of the collection of the National Ethnographical Museum śLuigi Pignorini in Rome, but the citizens of Palestrina are petitioning to have it returned to their own museum in the Palazzo Barberini, which contains important finds from the Temple of Fortune and the surrounding area.