top of page
Writer's pictureilKonfine

The Square of the Sator - Pompei

The square of the Sator is a recurring Latin inscription, in the form of a magic square, composed of 5 words: SATOR, AREPO, TENET, OPERA, ROTAS. This sentence remains identical if read from left to right or vice versa. In addition, the same palindroma sentence is also obtained by reading the words of the square from bottom to top as long as each line is read from right to left.


The inscription has been the subject of frequent archaeological finds, both in stone epigraphs and in graffiti, but the meaning and meaning remain obscure, despite the numerous hypotheses formulated.


The magic square is visible on a vast number of archaeological finds scattered around Europe but the oldest, most famous and most numerous specimens are present in the excavations of Pompeii.


The meaning of the square is not known: Sator is the ploughman, the sower. The word is nominative is therefore the subject. The question is complicated with Arepus, because the word is nowhere to be found in Latin literature. Some commentators say it is a proper name, for others it is a Gallic word meaning "plow".


Tenet is the verb "holds", third person singular present of the verb keep. Opera is the work, the work, the care, which here seems to be ablative singular, indicating the way. As for Rotas, it is the plural of rota, the wheel, the accusative, then used as an object complement.


In Italian you get the phrase "The grower Arepo directs the wheels with agility".

A meaning at the same time banal and obscure. According to some it can have a religious meaning linked to the first groups of Christians. Others said it was just a pun.

0 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comentarios


bottom of page