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Sacchi rejects the interpretation of ''cosmis'' as ''agreeable'' in the first section that is traditionally accepted in the scholarly literature, on the grounds of considerations of history of the language and semantics. He proposes to interpret the term as referring to the peculiar style of hairdressing of brides, known as ''seni crines'' which would find support in Festus:<ref>Festus s.v. ''Comptus'', p. 55 L.</ref> "''Comptus id est ornatus ... qui apud nos comis: et comae dicuntur capilli cum aliqua cura compositi''", '<nowiki />''Comptus'', that is adorned, ... what we call ''comis''; and ''comae'' is named the hair dressed with a certain care'. In the inscription the use of this word would be an explicit allusion to the fact that the girl shall be ready to marry. Festus gives it as a most ancient custom for marriage ceremonies.<ref>Festus s. v. Senis crinibus, p. 454 L: "''Senis crinibus nubentes ornantur, quod [h]is ornatus vestustissimus fuit''".</ref> An analogous usage of the word ''comis'' is to be found in Gellius while relating the custom of ''flaminica dialis'' on the occasion of the [[Argei]].<ref>Aulus Gellius, ''Noct. Att.'', X 15, 30: "''... cum it ad Argeos, quod neque comit caput neque capillum depictit''".</ref>
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The [[Praeneste fibula|Praenestine fibula]] is generally thought to be the earliest surviving evidence of the Latin language, dating to the 7th century BC, but has been alleged by [[Margherita Guarducci]] to have been a well-informed hoax; however, the evidence is only circumstantial and there are no clear indications pointing to a forgery. Ultimately, these claims have been disproven, as a new analysis performed in 2011 declared it to be genuine "beyond any reasonable doubt".<ref name="maras">{{cite journal |first=Daniele F. |last=Maras |title=Scientists declare the Fibula Praenestina and its inscription to be genuine 'beyond any reasonable doubt' |url= http://ancientstudies.fas.nyu.edu/docs/CP/963/EtruscanNewsVol14_2012_winter.pdf |journal=Etruscan News |volume=14 |date=Winter 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120224195235/http://ancientstudies.fas.nyu.edu/docs/CP/963/EtruscanNewsVol14_2012_winter.pdf |archive-date=24 February 2012}}</ref> The [[Lapis Niger]] inscription is another example of Old Latin dated to the period of Rome's monarchy, although scholars have had difficulty in their attempts to interpret the meaning of the texts in their surviving fragments.<ref>Johannes Stroux: ''[http://pao.chadwyck.co.uk/articles/displayItemFromId.do?QueryType=articles&ItemID=0215-1931-086-00-000016 Die Foruminschrift beim Lapis niger]'' In: Philologus Vol. 86 (1931), p. 460.</ref><ref>"Le ''juges auspicium'' et les incongruités du teureau attalé de Mugdala" in ''Nouvelle Clio'' '''5''' 1953 p. 249-266; "Sur l'inscription du Lapis niger" in ''Revue d'études latins'' '''36''' 1958 p. 109–111 and '''37''' 1959 p. 102.</ref>
==References==
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