- chapter 61: Annius of Viterbo –
Figure 61.6 “Desiderius decree,” supposedly 776, probably circa 1493. Museo Civico, Viterbo.
Photograph: author.Figure 61.7 “Egyptian” stele, pastiche made circa 1493. Photograph: author.On the other hand, the inscriptions from Monte Cipollara were real Etruscan inscriptions,
and Annius interprets their letters differently in his last book than he did in his initial
study of 1493. Apparently, then, after producing the pamphlet that transformed his life,
he made a genuine study of these genuine Etruscan texts, and began to make headway
in reading them. By 1498, he had recognized that what looked like a letter “O” was a
letter theta, and that the Etruscans must have pronounced the “o” sound as “u,” so that
Rome was pronounced “Ruma.”^28 The word he had transcribed as “Laroal” in 1493 had