A Report upon the Herculaneum Manuscripts

A line of thirteen Samnitic characters representing an ancient inscription. Above the script are the italicized Roman letters "m u s", "s e t a t", and "n e r e h" corresponding to groups of characters. Below the script are the Latin translations "Sum", "Sacra", and "Tabula".

Latin translation: "I am a sacred tablet."

This stone, thus inscribed, was found in Herculaneum, which, of course, was Samnitic. Besides, as it could resist a besieging army, even of the Romans, it must have been a place of some strength and consideration. If we suppose that the Osci, Tyrrheni (or Tusci), Pelasgi, and Samnites were not the same, the antiquity of Herculaneum becomes more respectable.

“The Osci held this [Herculaneum] and the next city, Pompeii—then the Tyrrheni and Pelasgi. After these, the Samnites. But they were cast out of these places.”

This passage from the geographer [Strabo], compared with that of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, assigns a very remote period to the existence of this city.