Faliscità e romanità nella epigrafia del sacro a Falerii Novi: le dediche dei ququei e dei Falesce quei in Sardinia sunt

This paper focuses on the dedicatory inscriptions coming from the Faliscan territory and dating back to the period following the destruction of Falerii Veteres by the Romans in 241 BC. Specifically, I will examine the dedications of the ququei (‘cooks’) to the i]nperat{.}oribus summeis (‘high emperors’) and of the Falesce quei in Sardinia sunt (‘Faliscans who are in Sardinia’) to [di]ouei, iunonei, and mineruai (‘Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva’), respectively engraved on the two sides of a bronze plate found in Falerii Novi. After discussing the problem of the relationship between the two texts, I will analyse their main linguistic and cultural aspects, also in comparison with other dedicatory inscriptions of the same period from Latium. Furthermore, I will propose some considerations on the possibility of recognizing in the two dedications, despite their evident Roman character, traces of local models, which are likely to be interpreted as the desire to connect with a disappearing local tradition.