,fuv*ofi&rt4'.

THE,LAND
OFTHE, E,TRI-]SCANS
from Prehistory to the Middle Ages
edited by SalvatoreSettis
Texts by Marisa Bonamici, Riccardo Francovich,
Renata Grifoni Cremonesi, Andreina Ricci
and Leonardo Rombai

Drawings by Giovanni Caselli

#*n //qr4,
/

ScalaBooks

The publisher wishes to dedicate this book to the

memory of Ferruccio Marchi, master designer,
art publisher and Florentine gentleman.

CONTENTS
PREFACE, 3
THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, 5
THE PREHISTORICAL AGE, 11
THE ETRUSCAN PERIOD, 12
THE ROMAN PERIOD,1.4
THE MIDDLE AGES. 16
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AREAS, 18
VEII AND THE FALISCAN PLAIN, 18
Prehistorical Implements, 22
VOLSINII,27
The Language and Origins of the Etruscansr 30
CHIUSI AND PERUGTA.32
The Banquet in Etturiar 36
AREZZO, FIESOLE, AND FLORENCE, 38
Religion and Divination,42
.
P I S A ,L U C C AA N D L U N I , 4 7
Agriculture and Agrarian Landscape, 50
VOLTERRA, POPULONIA AND SIENA, 54
Metallurgy,58
VETULONIA AND RUSELLAE, 63
Ceramics Workshopsr 66
VULCI, SOVANA AND COSA, 69
Trad,e,74
TARQUINIA AND CAERE, 80
Slaveryr 82
Hilltop Towns in Tuscany: Scarlinor 89
Museumsof Etruria, 94
Index ofPlaces.96

In order to enablethe readerimmediatelyto distinguishbetween the different historical periods dealt with in each of
the nine geographicalareasexamined,the first part ofevery
chapter (dealing with prehistory) has been ser in italics, the
secondpart (Etruscan and Roman period) is in roman, and
the third (Early Middle Ages) is in a smallertypeface.
The texts are by the following authors:
RenataGrifoni Cremonesi- Prehistory
Marisa Bonamici - Etruscan oeriod
AndreinaRicci- Roman oerircd
RiccardoFrancovich- Early Middle Ages
Couer:$onettatile ofApolhfrzn thesanctaarlofScasato
at Falerii,
intpired b1 a stataeof Ahxander tbe Great b1 tbe Greekscalptor
Llsippas (late 4th centaryB.C.). Rone, Villa Ciulia.
Title page:tbe tombknownas "Pltltagorat't lair" at Cortona(2nd
nntary B.C.).
Back coaer:a tombin tlte necropolisof Norchia (4tb-3rd centary
B.C,).
1. Tarqainia,endua// of the "Tonba degliAuguri" (540-520
B.C.). On eitbersideof tbe doorwaywlsicbslnbolized tbe world of
tbedead,twofguresgreettheonlooker.
O Copyright 1985 by SCALA, Istituto Fotografico
Editoriale, Antella, Firenze
Editing: Daniele Casalino
Layout: Fried Rosenstock
Drawings:Giovanni Caselli
Maps:Ilaria Casalino
Producedby SCALA
Photographs:SCALA (M. Falsini, N. Grifoni, M. Sarri)
with the exception of:.nn. 5 3 (F. Papafava);8 5, 8 6, 1 15
(Pubbliaerfoto,Milan); 1 16 (ArchaeologicalMuseum,
Grosseto);p.89AI,III, IV (R. Francovich)
Printed in Italy by SogemaMarzari, Schio

PRE,FACE
Tbe land of the Etrascans is not sinpfu tbe stageon which and socialdffirentiation: in all thesespberesman and tbe
land are tbeprotagonists.And it is not a casualcollection
their remarkablebistory anfolded.It playd an inportant
theforbefore
of euents,but a conplex historical deaelopment,fromwbich
began
well
tbat
ofeuents
long
line
roh in the
its
rootsofoarpresent.
beynd
continued
springthe
mation of the Etruscan nation and
Following a circular geographic route, fron Veii
slowassimilationaithin tbe ciailization ofRone.
The territory betweentbe Tiber and the Arno, both nortbaards to Fiuole and Pisa, and tben soutb again to
of its uarie! of landscapeand potential resnttrces Tarquinia and Caere,this book attemptsto illustrate tbe
becaase
(from its uastforests to its mineral reserues)and becaase bistory of eacbarea. Oar sn,lrcesare mostl1archaeological
ofthe balancebetweeninland and coast(idealfor maritime fnds, ratber tban written docaments.Our historical surtrade), ffirs as tbe essentialelements
for an understand- aeJgnesbeynd tbe Etruscan and Romanperiods to tbe
ing of itshistory,And, conuersei,it is tbe aork of tbehis- earj Middle Agu, but it is not our intention to proue tbe
tbat alloas us to reconstructtbe existenceof a continuitl tbat too nanl facts could easill
toriansand archaeologists
characteristicsof tbe nataral enaironmentin dffirent per- refuta IVe intend merell to illastrate the essentiale/eiods.Hilltop uillagesand tbe deuelopnentof arban com- nents of an exemplary caseof closeinteraction betaeen
and agrarian organi' man and the land heliueson.
nunities; regulationof watercoarses
routes,b1t
commanication
of
land;
deuelopment
of
the
zation
riaer or on land (ap to the Roman roads); manttfuctaring
SaluatoreSettis
of caltaral
agricultural and trading actiaities;mechanisms

2. Map ofEtruria.

THE NATURAL
ENVIRONMENT
b1LeonardoRombai
Thanks to both historical and archaeological
sources, we are able to reconstruct the major environmental features of Etruria, as well as the
complex role played by the natural habitat (geological structure and development of the soil, climate, inland watercourses and coastline, flora).
The arca between the Tiber and the Arnoand also the stretch ofland further north, asfar as
the River Magra and the Appennines, annexed by
Augustus to the 7th Region-was basically not
very different at the time of the Etruscans from
what it is like now. Some aspectsof the landscape,
however, must have been quite different, although
these changes are not the work of nature, but of
man, who over the past two and a half thousand
years (albeit somewhat discontinuously) has
causedthe destruction of a great deal ofthe spontaneous flora and the alteration of its composition.
Man has changed the course of rivers and dried
the plains, he has built towns, villages and roads.
By the first millennium B.C., the inland plains,
in the mountainous areas around the Appennines,
were no longer marshy, and the plains near the
coast had been created by the filling in of the gulfs,
while all volcanoes in Tuscany and Latium had already been extinct for thousands of years. Even
the structure of the mountains (shapes, position,
altitude and slope) was almost exactly the same as
it is today; the earth's surface has simply been lowone or two
ered-the result of erosion-by
metres. The only topographical element that
differs in any considerable way is the coastline
near flat areas, where the rivers, with their silt,
have slowly filled in all the marshy areas. As early
as the 7th-6th centuries B.C. the dunes along the
coast had akeady formed into continuous sandbars, creatingabanier isolating the inland marshy
lakes from the sea. In other words the coastline
consisted in crescent-shaped inlets alternating
with promontories-as is, for the most part, still
the cas*but did not have the pronounced jutting
areasaround the deltas of the Tiber, the Arno and
the Ombrone. The mouths of these rivers were actually recessedby five kilometres in the case of the
first two, and by two in the caseof the Ombrone.
Large expanses of marshland also filled some
of the lower-lying inland plains, for the rivers fre-

3.

'l-be

ntountainousbeecbaood on Mount Amiata.

quently flooded. The rivers'courses were characterrzed by curves and bends, with many rrmlfications; all the beds were very wide and obviously
without any artlfrcial banks. The River Clanis flowed towards the Tiber directly from Arezzo, the
Serchio (Auser) ran south of Lucca and one branch
emptied into the Lake of Bientina, the other
into the Arno at Pisa. The Ombrone originally flowed into Lake Prile until it managed, at the beglnning of the Christian era, to change its course
sufficiently to empty directly into the sea. Yet,
basically, the course of the rivers was not too different from that oftoday.
Before the development of the Etruscan society and economy, the flora of the region consisted
primarily in woods. The changes in climate which
occurred after the pre-historical eras did not modify the characteristics of the natural flora established after the last ice age: starting from the coastline and moving towards the highest peaks of the
Appennines, there were a succession of fundamental botanical groupings, more or less the same
as today. These began with the Mediterranean
evergreen shrub (without, however, the umbrella
pine, which was only introduced by the Romans);
there then followed the Submediterranean dry
wood, consisting primarily in pubescent oak, and
the Submountainous Turkey oak wood, both of
them without chestnut-trees which, although indigenous, spread after the Middle Ages as cultivated
trees; and finally the Mountainous beech wood,
also including many conifers such as the silver fir
and the Norway spruce.
At that time there must also have been large

fhc Natural ['.nvironment

1. T-hentountainaus siluer fir aood on Mount Antiata; in tbe distancethe c/a1hil/s of Radicofani.
5. Hydrrgrapbic uap ( Etruria.
o
l.agoonr and Iakes in classical time:
Rrr cr counes changed in classical times

\larshianclsin the imperialageand the NliddleAges

stretches of plain-growing forest, made up of alder, elm, common oak, poplar, willow and ash
which-together with the hydrophyte herbaceous
and shrubby vegetation typical of damp areasdeveloped throughout the marshy lands and
around the lagoons and wherever the surface was
covered with water. Today there are only small
areasof it left at San Rossore near Pisa.
The development and expansion of the Etruscan civthzation caused a gradual but profound
transformation of the environment, particulaily in
terms of water courses and flora. The Etruscans
deserve their fame as expert regulators of water
courses.They radically changed the appearanceof
the marshy plains and lagoons, not by actual drainage, but probably through a widespread series of
works increasing the natural (and, in some cases,
artificial) drainage of the water, in order to make
the agricultural land permanently cultivable and
the level of the lakes uniform, thus making fishing
and navigation possible. At the same rime, on the
higher plains and on the coastal and inland hills,
they began to exploit the resourcesof the forests,
using the wood to build ships and houses and as
fuel for the metal industry. The clearings were
used as cultivable land and pasture.
Under the Etruscans. the increasednumber of

human settlements, the drainage systems and the

introduction of the plough allowed for the widescale cultivation of grain and textile fibres, of
'of
vines and fruit trees. This form
agriculture
changed the appearanceof the landscape, creating
the geometric pattern of "closed fields" (with the
vines, tied high up to their supporting trees, in
straight rows marking the borders of the square
fields). All the areasaround the settlementsin south
ern Etruria began to have this regular appearance.
The only exception was the stretch north of the
Arno-a
natural border between the Etruscans
and the Ligurians-which was only won over to
this kind of agricultural colonization in the 2nd
century B.C. when the consular roads, the Cassia
and the Aurelia, were extended to Luni.
The Romans reorganized and further developed this system of regular square plots in the
plains with mixed cultivation, at the expense of
the wood and pasture land. They introduced the
cultivation of the olive and of the cvDress.which
flourished at least until the end of thl^late republic^n ^ge. Later, the transition from small, singlefamily farm units to the large landed estatesbased
on slave labour led to the degradation and regression of the agricultural areas-especially at the
time of the later Roman Empire-with an increase

fhe \atural Environment

l]ccclr u oods and mountain meadS*,

6. Map of the spantaneousuegetationin Etruria.

Dccirluous oak woocls

lilcrgreen

oak woods and l\lediterranean

shrub

7. The riaer Fiora, wbith marks the nortbern border of uolcanic

Etraria.

\lcscirhcrmic woocls

of wood and pasture land and a decreaseof cultivatedzones.

In other words, the natural environment offered huge possibilities to a culturally and technoIogically developed society. Firstly, the conformation of the land and the composition of the soil
were favourable to agriculture, for there were
many fertile stretches(the volcanic soil on rhe plateaux of Tuscany and Latium and the irrigation
provided by the flooding of rivers on the plains)
which the Etruscans cultivated with very advanced agricultural techniques. The mineral resources
in the central and western part of the region-the
so-called "mineral Etruria"-are also connected
with the geological formarion: the top soil,
consisting in clay and calcareousdeposits and sandstone, allowed easy access to the older formations below, rich in copper, tin, lead containing
silver, iron, cinnabar, ochre and so on.
Almost all the to\Mns and the minor agricultural centres were built on top of hills, the so-called
"Etruscan
position." This is undoubtedly connected with the geological characteristics of the region: the Etruscans graspedthe exceptional defensive advantages offered by the narrow tufa plateaux, from which thev could keep watch over the
valleys,the rivers, the fords, the ioastal ports and

the towns on the hillsides. This choice-which

also offered more favourable climatic conditions-was determined by the Etruscan political
set-up and not, as some would have it, by the fact
that the plains were uninhabitable because of
flooding or malaia. And in fact, when the region
was unified under the Romans, settlementssprang
up throughout the plains.
The natural resources were copious. The immense forests produced wood for building and for
fuel, which was also used in the minins industrv.
The manufacturing industry protp.r.Jthanks io
the ample water supplies,to the easyaccessto mineral deposits and to ports for export. At the mouths
of the major rivers, as well as in the inlets between the promontories, there were safe harbours
for trading vessels;the river valleys were important communication routes with the interior.
Etruria's very position, umbi/icusItaliae, was extraordinarily favourable.
The coastal lagoons, like the Prile, offered inexhaustible reservesof fish and wildlife as well as
shelter for boats. The hygienic condition of the
coast and of the Tiber and Chiana valeys musr
have been fairly good, since several settlements
sprang up in these areaswhich later were to be so
deadly. Malaria, if there was any at all, certainly

'I

he Natural [-nvironmenr

E. ,1 uine.Tardat .lorano, growing an lhe

lafa /erraces.
9. Ceonorpho/rlqical and minera/ nap of
Ittraria.
10. Lake Accesa, whirh lies in the middle
of a /arge minera/ basin exp/oited durin,q
c/assica//imes.

,'\llurial plains
\lountain

ranges

\lountain

lakes

tpsVolcanic

0
structures

Nlesozoic calcareous rock

tr ]:j':::,"::t1::^""'""")
Cffs
n
E
w
n
marl, scal) argtllaceous rock, etc)
Nlarine Pliocene

Continental Quatetnary
Volcanic tufa

(;ranite
I ron

Copper

I-eacl

Tin

I{ercury

I hc Natural L,nvironment

,.-1ti;:,i.f:,

did not constitute a serious menace, for the population led a very active and productive life. It was
not until the 3rd-5th centuries A.D. that malaria
reachedthe height of its destructive power.
During the period of the Roman Empire, however, the creation of large landed estatesand the
decline of productive activities and trade-since
Etruria was no longer on the maior communication routes between Rome and the Po valleycausedthe economic decline of the cities. The population of the cities decreased and many coastal
"castles"
towns were abandoned completely; new
were built on the hilltops in the interior.
Even before the destruction causedby the barbarian invasions in the 5th century A.D. (and
even more so in the late Middle Ages when the region was the victim of raids by Arab pirates), coastal Etruria was already described as a desolate, inhospitable and unhealthy wasteland. Natural
phenomena, such as the silting up of the river
mouths which caused the plains to turn into
swamps, favoured the spread of malana. Pisa was
the only Roman town, thanks to its favourable position at the mouth of the most important Tuscan

valley and its natural harbour, that remained an

urban settlement of any importance during the
late Middle Ages. Several new towns grew up
along the maior communication route of the time,
the Via Francigenaor Romea,which connected central and western Europe to the capital of Christianity through the Cisa pass, Pontremoli, Lucca,
Altopascio, Fucecchio, San Gimignano (later Poggibonsi), Siena,Radicofani and Acquapendente'
The importance of this road definitively movedthe economic, cultural and demographic centre of
Etruria towards the interior: a process which culminated in the 13th and 14th centuries when Florence asserted her supremacy by gaining control
over the routes leading to the Appennine passesin
the Mugello towards Bologna.

I l. .\lttp of srll/rrtett/s in Elruria

in t/a.;

12. .lhard with a grrffito (front Vado al

/',lrancio, Upper Pa/eo/itbic). I:/areme,
I-/orent i ne Prehistori ca/ M aseant.

1 ). Iitrtcrurl, obferl.r (lirtrt I tttlti,ttt,,,

Irtut/itltir). Pi.ra, ln.r/i/ale of' . lt/ltrop,,
/,t4t

THE PRE,HISTORICALAGE
b1RenataGriftni Cremonesi
The earliest evidence of man in the region which
is today Tuscany and Latium is given by some
shards found near Bibbona and in the area around
Livorno. Later, about 300,000 years ago, Homo
Erectus lived in open-air settlements and used bifacial implements. During the Middle Palaeolithic
period, we have evidence of large settlements of
Neanderthal Man, who lived in Europe between
80,000 and 35,000 years ago and used chipped
stone implements (Mousterian culture). The Upper Palaeolithic period, during which m^n acquired his modern physical ^ppearance, is very
well documented. In Tuscany there is evidence of
all the different phases: from the Ulutian culture
to the Aurignacian, from the Gravettian to the
Epigravettian. At the end of the Wi.irmian rce ^ge,
about 9,000 years ago, in a hot and dry climate,
microlithic cultures began to spread. Evidence of
these is found even at quite high altitudes on the
Tuscan-Emilian Appennines and it is attributed to
that er^ called the Mesolithic, which witnessed radical transformations of the habitat.
The transition to the Neolithic period is characterrzed primarily by the development of a productive economy, with the introduction of agriculture and animal husbandry, as well as by the
spread of new technologies, such as potterymaking and the polishing of stone implements.
The oldest Neolithic ltalian culture, dating from
about 7,500 years ago, is documented only by a
few fragments of unbaked impressed pottery
found at Pisa, on the island of Pianosa and at
Pienza.Incised line pottery appears to have been
more widely spread, and shards have been found
over a wide area between the Po valley and Tuscany and Latium, in a timespan th^t goes from
6,200 to 5,400 years ago. Our evidence comes
mostly from caves used as burial and worship
sites; we have little documentation about the
settlements. The Lagozza culture, dating from
4,700 yearc ago, spread primarily over the western Po valley; finds of polished black pottery in
caves around Pisa and Siena attest its presence in
Tuscany. This culture is evidence of the gradual
transition to the metal ages, until the affirmation
of the Aeneolithic cultures, derived probably from
contact with Eastern Mediterrane^n peoples. The
Aeneolithic period (2400-1800 B.C.) is well docu-

mented by a large number of tombs containing

copper v/eapons, stone axes and hammers, and arrowheads, evidence of new ideologies and customs. While northern Latium and southern Tusc ny ^re dominated by the Rinaldone culture with
its typical tomb shaped like an artrfrcrzl small grotto, the area around Siena and the Colline Metallifere (between Siena and the coast) use ditch graves
and in northern Tuscany burial sites are in natural
grottoes, more related to the Po valley and the Ligurian and Provengal cultures than to those of
central and southern Tuscany.
During the Bronze Age (1600-1000 B.C.) the
Appennine and sub-Appennine cultures flourish
in southern Tuscany, Umbria and Latium: their
economy is agricultural and pastoral. AIso at this
time, we have the appeatance of the protoVillanovan culture, which marks the end of this
efa.

The earliest stages of the Bronze Age are very

scarcely documented. The Appennine culture,
charzcterized by pottery decorated with spiral Patterns, and the sub-Appennine culture, with pottery without decoration but with elaborate handles, are present in southern Tuscany and Latium.
Many important fortified centres spring up
during the period of the proto-Villanovan culture;
they bear witness to an increase in trade and the
development of Bronze Age cultures towards early forms of urban communities.

12

THE ETRUSCANPERIOD
b1Marisa Bonamici

One can begin to speak of an Etruscan people

with the advent of the so-called Villanovan culture
(9th-8th centuries B.C.). During this period, the
population lived in reed or wood huts; the tombs
consistedof little wells dug in the ground containing biconical ossuariesand, in the later period (8th
centur/), of inhumation of the deceasedwith personal objects.
Towards the middle of the 8th century B.C. an
event that was to have an extraordinary effect on
the Italian peninsula took place: the first Greek colonizers, coming from Chalcis and Bretria, set up
trade bases in Campania. In their search for metals, they soon came into contact with Etturia, attracted by the mineral wealth of Elba and the area
around Campiglia, the Colline Metallifere and the
Tolfa Mountains. This was the beginning of a period of remarkable development for the Etruscans
and, thanks to the metal trade, also of social differentiation. It is at this stage that the Etruscans acquire not only those luxury items that constitute
the most remarkable aspect of the "Oriental" style
tombs of the 7th century, but also the essential
technological innovations in the field of metalworking and pottery and, especially towards the
beginning of the 7th century, writing. An aristocratic class, consisting of those who controlled
trade. was created and their role was to be fundamental throughout Etruscan history. Also at this
time the population began to increase and gradually cities were formed-towards the end of the century in the more developed areas of southern
Etruria, later in the northernpart of the region.
The later history of the Etruscans is only the
logical development of these beginnings: Etruria
is active in the world of maritime trade and establishes a continuous and profitable commercial and
cultural exchange with Greek and Oriental traders. At the same time, the development of its
craftsmanship, throughout the 7th and 6th centuries, gives rise to a democratically-minded middle
class,particulady in southern Etruria (Caere,Veii,
Volsinii). This middle class is also responsible for
the move towards colonization (beginning of the
5th century), which led to the founding of Capua
in Campania and of Manabotto and Felsina (Bologna) north of the Appennines.
In 47 4 B.C. the Etruscans were defeatedby the

*.

i:si*i{lll*',r.*r;i*iii;

Cumans and the Syracusans:this marked the beginning of the decline of their trading activities
and, consequently, of their contact with the Greek
world. But the recession only really affected the
coastal towns-except Populonia-while the inland cities continued to thrive on agriculture and
the sale of their manufactured objects to the
centres north of the Appennines.
By the 4th century, with the invasions of the
Gauls in the north and of the Samnites in Campania, Etruria was reduced once again to its original territory, but this brought the region a renewed prosperity. The population returned to the
countryside and the aristocracy conquered new
powers, very soon creating a relationship of conflict with the lower classes.The history of Etruria
is from this time onward merely the history of its
relationship with the growing power of Rome, beginning with the traumatic fall of Veii (396 B.C.)
and culminating, after vartous wars and truces,
with the separate alliances (foedera)that the Etruscan cities were forced to sign in the first half of the
3rd century. The terms of these alliances must
have been very harsh. Lir,y gives a list of the tributes that Rome demanded of the Etruscan cities
in 205 B.C., just before Scipio's expedition to Africa: wood and agricultural produce from Caere,
Tarquinia, Volterra, Perugia, Chiusi and Roselle;
iron from Populonia; arms, metal implements and
grain from Arezzo.
During the 2nd century southern Etruria experienced an economic decline, for it was al:andoned by the aristocracy who had settled in Rome.
Northern Etruria, on the other hand, which was
not abandoned by the aristocracy, was on the
communication routes from Rome to the nofth
and enjoyed a period of great prosperity. In 90
B.C. the Etruscans v/ere granted Roman citizenship; this put an end to their apparent autonomy
and marked the beginning of a new historical period.

;&t

l3

i hc EtruscanPeriod

11. On'ieto, (.rucifissrtde/-l'ali necroprt/i.r(6th

5tb rcnttry B.(..).

1 1. 1.s71talt:ri, Band j/accitt necrofttlis, arra of /Le " rlriuot,l .\'rttt'j"

(:t/t 6tL rertury B.C.).'l'ltis.qrrtap of ltrtu/as lontbs, eac/.tol'nLic/L
totrlains the buria/ p/ace of'sat,era/ ntenbtrs rll a lani/y
lcar/y /be txislence fi'an arislorracy,.

c/an, .s/t,ta,s

16. Htl .r/tapad un itt brmze /anina a,llh re/ief duora/iort.r (.front
|'tr/ci, aroand t/te ntid-8t/t centary B.(.'.). Rone, l'i//u (,ia/ia.'l /tis
dterarl, urn /akes l/-r s/tape.frolt l/tt ltou.re.rrtf't/tt l:i//anot,at
n,illt ur rn'a/,groatd-p/an attd n,oodenbunts.

f>eriod,

17. Brotie .r/alat rtf /lte Orator (f ron l)i/a, tear Pera,qia, /ate 2nd
'l'/",e
tr ear/1' 1.rl rcnla11, B.(..). I'/orerce, Arcltaert/oqica/ trluseunt.
'l
.tld///( il)ttr a t'o/itv 2llirin,q, a.r tbe itscriptiul sd)'s, t, tlte .qrtd t
\urs frtlt ..'lt'/t i)Ide/i, a tttnthtr of l/te ari.rlrrracl'.ft'ont lbe area
arrtttnrl l)t rt,qia.

16

14

THE ROMAN PERIOD

bl AndreinaRicci
The systematic conquest of Etruria, begun by
Rome in the 4th century, suffered several setbacks.After the fall of Veii rn 396 B.C.. the towns
of Sutri and Nepi were also conquered in 382 B.C.
Livy considered these towns "the barriers and
gateways of Etruria." The reaction to these defeats
by the other Etruscan cities was different: some,
like Caere, signed alliances with Rome (Caere was
granted the position of ciaitassinesnfragio, equality
with Rome but with no right to vote); others organized a strong opposition, like Tarquinia and
Falerii, who took arms against Rome in 358 B.C.
and succeeded in forcing Czere to abandon her
pro-Roman position and join the league of Etruscan cities.
Towards the end of the century, Volsinii and
Perugia lead a new opposition against Roman expansionism. But the defeat at Sentinum n 295 B.C.
marks the beginning of a series of victorious Rom n c mpaigns against Etruscan cities, followed
by the confiscation of most of their land and a
reotganrz tion of the communication routes. On
the new conquered territories the Romans founded Castrum Novum and Pyrgi rn 364 B.C., and
Alsium and Fregenaein 245, conceived as military
outposts controlling the coast (these are the years
of the first war with Carthage) and those portions
of Etruscan territory not yet entirely under Roman domination. The continuing battles in southern Etruria led to the destruction of Falerii and
Volsinii (later rebuilt on different sites); but some
Etruscan cities of the interior remained neutral,
like Statonia and Saturnia which were considered
prefectures and connected to Rome by the Clodian
Way built before 2258.C.
In the Etruscan cities of the north, however,
Rome signed alliances with the local ruling classes
and the only military interventions are more like
police actions, requested by the local aristocracy,
such as, for example, Rome's intervention in
Arezzo in 302 B.C. in order to quell a revolt of the
serfs. By the end of the 3rd century northern
Etruria is connected to Rome by the Cassian Way.
The process of colonization continues throughout
the 2nd century, but the aim is no longer strictly
military-the Gauls had been defeated in225B.C.
New towns are founded: Saturnia in 183 B.C..
Gravisca in 181 B.C. and Heba sometime between

| 8. Vieu ofthecoastnearPygi.
19. Fahrii Noui,citygatededicated
toJapiter( jrd centuryB.C.).
20. Siutri, Anplsitbeatre (1st ceiltilryB.C./).
21. Nunziatella (near Cosa), the aalls surroundingVilla del/e
Colonne
( 1il antury B.C.).

The Roman Period

167 and 157 B.C. The Roman aristocracy begins

to take over the agerpublicus,public land, aprocess
which will lead, in the following century, to the
spread of villas in the countryside. In northern
Etruria, and especially in the area around Volterra, there are still large landed estates based on
slave labour, whereas around Chiusi and Perugia
new settlements spring up, varying in size from
single farms to fairly large towns. This has usually
been attributed to the social integration ofpart of
the slaves. The Aurelian \Way is prolonged at the
end of the century (Via Aenilia Scaur) because of
revolts in Liguria.
In the early 1st century (89 B.C.) almost all the
populations of Italy are granted Roman citizenship. The Etruscan cities which had sided with
Marius during the civil w^r ^re punished by the
victorious Sulla with massacres,confiscation of
land and destruction. Sulla also gives 120,000 of
his soldiers land near Fiesole, Arezzo, Volterra
and Chiusi. The population and land distribution
in the region is thus radically altered, even though
a few lzrge family estates manage to survive-the
Cilnii in Arezzo and the Cecinaein Volterra. This
kind of colonization, aiming at distributing land to

the veterans, continues throughout the century.

Under Augustus the whole of Etruria became
part of the 7th Region and a new form of coloniz^tion, aimed at stopping the decline of some cities, was begun. This was then continued by his
direct successors.The policy of restoration included also the rediscovery of ancient Etruscan traditions and during this period the region became the
centre of the most important industries based on
slave labour. From the 2nd century A.D. onward,
most of the cities began to decline and, in the
countryside, most of the settlements were abandoned. Only a few large estates were left (maritime villas), mostly imperial property. A description of the coast, made at the beginning of the 5th
century by Rutilius Namatianus, a few years after
the invasion of the Goths, shows the survival of
only a few scatteredcommunities.

1,6

THE MIDDLE, AGES

b-yRi ccar do F r ancoui cb
Tuscany, or Tuscia, in the Middle Ages was not a
homogenous territorial or administrative unit. It
consisted of the territories of Lucca, Luni, Pisa,
Volterra, Pistoia and Florence, in the north, and
of those of Siena, Arezzo, Chiusi, Perugia, Orvieto, as well as the royal lands donated to the Pope
by Charlemagne-Sovana, Roselle, Populonia,
Toscanella and Castro-in
the south. After the
Gothic domination, the Longobards gave the region a certain amount of unity, beginning in 570,
setting up the duchy of Lucca, which under the
Franks became a county. The first Frankish count
was Boniface (81,2-823), who had come to Italy
with Charlemagne and founded the dynasty which
was to rule over the region for a century and
a half. During this period the ties with Corsica
and Sardinia were strengthened. Adalberto I
(845-898) was called marquis of Tuscany, but it
v/as not until the second half of the 10th century
that the region became a marquisate. It was this
institutional org nrzation that allowed the development of that kind of autonomy which forms
the basis of feudal seignories. The organization of
the large feudal propefties was based on the cartis,
which denoted both the type of rural domination
and the actual buildings housing this power. The
basic characteristic of this system was the division
of the estate in two parts: the part belonging directly to the lord (pars doninica) and the rest of the
land which was divided into small plots, usually
comprising a house lived in by slaves or freed
men.
In the early Middle Ages Tuscany was in great
decline. The areas in the valley of the Arno were
swampy until at least the 10th century and only
the small parts above the water were cultivated
(such as the plain around Lucca). The area of the
Maremma around Siena was almost entirely uninhabited and Bishop Giovanni (end of the 9th century) described the churches in ruins and the
whole of Tuscany as a disease-ridden regionrather like Rutilius Namatianus's description, or
that of Sidonius Apollinans in 467.
The plains were abandoned and the population
moved back to the hills, where they pursued pastoral activities. Agriculture, by now only just selfsufficient, was based on wheat, wine and olive oil.
A document from Lucca, dating from 764, illuS-

'it -

r.:

trates the basic diet: a loaf of wheat bread. a

quarter of an amphora of wine and the same quantity of a mixture of beans and millet flour, with an
occasional addition of meat. The settlements were
very poor: huts and houses made of mud seem to
have been the norm, as recent archaeological studies have proved. Groups of dwellings carved out
of the rock.were cornmon in southern Tuscany as
well as in a few other areas, such as the sandstone
hills around Siena. Settlements of this kind lasted
for a long time, in some casestill modern times.
The system of consular roads, which had remained efficient until the rule of Theodoric, soon
declined under the Longobard domination, serving only as means of local communication. It was
only later, with pilgrims and merchants, that they
resumed their original importance.
The Longobards found two routes leading to
Rome: the Aurelia, along the coast, and the Cassia,
which went through Pistoia, Florence, Chiusi and
Bolsena. But the Aurelia, exposedto dangers coming from the sea, passed through a desolate and
swampy countryside. The Cassia, on the othef
hand. was abandoned not so much becauseof the
increasing marshland in the Chiana valley, but becauseit was so close to the boundary with the Exarchate. This reduced the importance of the Tuscan mountain passestowards east and the major
communlcation route became the pass of the Cisa
further north. This is one of the reasons why Florence lost her supremacy ovef Lucca, which had
become the major centre along the new route,
called Via Francigena. The Via Francigena led
from Luni to Lucca through Camarore, then it
reached the river Elsa south of San Miniato via
Fucecchio, continuing on to Poggibonsi and
Siena; then it followed the valley of the Arbia to
Buonconvento, San Quirico and Radicofani and
finally, through the valley of the Paglia, it reached
Bolsena, Montefiascone and Viterbo. A north to
south route that was to last a long time.

..,,.-.;*GiL

The Middlc Ages

)1

22.

Go/d

"rrtcelte"

.\idnla Ciu/ia, Itcu,

or .vtta// crosse.r(frrtnt
7//t cenlarl'). I:/orenct,

.1 nh aert/r4ird /,\ 1ttst u nt.

.\u'atta, ciboriant rl'lbe churrlt rl .\,ar/a
,\Ia ri a ( 8 tlt - 9 th renlt 11,
).
21.

"]Jyzatt/itte"
21.
brotze be/t hack/es (frort
/tnth - ) a/ Gran.gia, second ha/f'rtf tlte 7t/t
rct / u r 1'). (, ro.r.re/ 0, .' 1rc/La er,/oqi ra / t\ 1u.rt u n.

THE ARCHEOLOGICAL ARE,AS

VEII AND THE FALISCAN PLAIN
Finds fron tlte apper Palaeolitbicperiod comefrom tbe CauernetteFaliscbe
andfrom Vignanello (Pigorini and Villa Giulia Museums in Rone). The
Neo/itbic is documented
in tbe Grotto of Monteuenereon the Lake of Vicn
incisedline pottery probabfu connected
to worsbippractices-as we// as in tbe
CauernetteFalischeand in tbe Vannaro Grotto at Corcbiano(Vi//a Giulia).
Tbe BronTe Age is we// repruented b1 the uillage on tlte Appennines called
Monteuenere,b1 the bronw and iron objectsfound at Narce, b1 tbe protoVillanoaan settlementsand tombsat Veii and b1 tbepile-dwellings on Lake
Bracciano(Vi Ila Gi ulia).
The plateau of Comunit), the site first of villages and later of the city
of VEtt, and the necropolises on the surrounding hills and valleys
have provided us with major finds of the Villanovan culturethanks especiallyto the Anglo-Italizn exc v^tron of Quattro Fontanili. These finds have helped in the study of this culture in the rest of
Etruria (objects at Villa Giulia and at the Museum of Civita Castellana). Also important is the 8th-century B.C. pottery from the Cicladesand Euboea (and the later imitations produced locally), which
are the result of trade with the first Greek colonizers; Veii controlled the mouth of the Tiber and thus held a privileged position in
dealings with the Greeks. This was in fact the primary reason of the
conflict with Rome and Veii was the first victim of Rome's expansionist policy.
The first "Oriental" phase (first half of the 7th century) flourished here and the objects found in the tombs clezrly show the influence of Caere and the Faliscan Plain (objects at the Archaeological Museum in Florence, atYtlla Giulia and at the Pigorini Museum
in Rome). There ^re very few finds of objects related to the aristocrzclt among which a few burial sites and the recently discovered
chamber tomb at Monte Oliviero, with an array of princely objects
(at Villa Giulia), similar in composition to those found in the Regolini Galassitomb in Caere.Also exceptional is the painted "Tomb of
the Ducks" (second quarter of the 7th century), now open to the
public at Riserva del Bagno: the fuieze of little ducks is reminiscent
of geometrical Etruscan ceramics showing Euboean influence. The
*Chigi
olpe" is also unique: it was produced and decorated on commission by Corinthian craftsmen around 650 B.C. (Villa Giulia).
Among the more recent "Oriental" finds, only the Campanatomb at
Monte Michele shows any autonomous artistic tradition. Its end
wall is embellishedby a painted decoration (animals on the lower level, and two knights accompanied by men on foot above) which
shows a polychrome technique and a late "Oriental" style similar to
the contempor^ry Etruscan-Corinthian ceramics.
The community of Veii became an urban settlement towards the
beginning of the 6th century when a group of permanent constructions were built on the acropolis (Prazza d'Armi). At the centre
stood a rectangular temple, which was abandoned at the end of the
century when the sanctuary of Portonaccio, dedicated to Meneraa

\ eii rnrl tlrc I aliscrn l)lrin

2i. C/ay sldtae rl Apo//r,,front llte acro

/erin (fittt //te sarclaur1, rtf' Porlonacrirta/
I rii, /ute 6tb cen/ury B.(.). Ilonte, l,'1//a

20

V c i i a n c lt h e [ ] e l i s c a nP l a i n

2 6. | 'eii, Ronan road.

27. Itrii, excatatirtts al the sanctuary of
Porlonario (/an 6t/t centarlt B.(.). 171y11,
f,'n.,4r,,unl.t/r lorK aal(r r6(nnir.
28. I'eii, rains of tlte Romanai//a at (,antpel/i. lt tbe backqround,tbt water cisttrn.
'l
29.
/te "OLigi o/pe" produced by Corin/ltiar rrafisnten (nn /eii, tttid Zlh centary
B.(.). ktnte, I'i//a Ciu/ia. On this side,
slarltn,q al the top: battle scenes,
prnnssion rf'
fui.qltt.r fi/lrnina a rbariot, ltuntin. scenes.

da,
(Minerva), was built outside the city. At Portonaccio, just as at Campetti (seebelow), evidence of conrinuous religious practice until the
the 1st century is provided by many ex-votos, some of which are of
great interest, such as the one offered by the celebrated Aaile Vipiennas,citizen of Vulci or the small statue depicting Aeneas carrying Anchises-an episode taken over by groups of Romans as a
symbol of their move to the newly conquered city. The sanctuary,
which is open to the public, consists of a central structure (probably
a cellawith alae)with, next to it, a large pond used in the religious
ceremoniesand filled by a network of little canals.In front there is a
smail building which contained an altar and the votive gifts. But the
most interesting aspectof this monument are the large clay sratues,

u'hich originallv stood on the peak of the roof, represenringApollo,

l,atona, Ileracles ancl Hermes (Villa Giulia). They arc the work of
the sculptor from Veii, Vulca,famous in antiquity, who was also thc
author of the decoration of the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline
I Iill in Rome.
'fhe
contemporary foundation, in the centrc of the city, of thc
sanctuary of Campetti cledicatedto the goddess Vei (who can be
identifiedwith the Roman Cercs),worshipped in Etruria anclRomc
by the lower classes,probably indicatesa political supremacyof thc
plebeians.This perhapsexplainswhy, although Latin sourcesreFerto
"kings"
of Veii, the objectsfound in the (rth ancl 5rh-cenrurvtombs
are never very lavish. Thesc "kings" were probably tyrannical figures and there may well have bccn laws banning cxcess luxu[,',
baseclon Solon's legislation ancl inspired by equalita.rianancl antiaristocraticsentiments.The citv continuecl to prosper throughout
the 5th century, thanks to its well-developedagriculture,as u,.ecan
see Lry the surviving unclerground drainage concluits all over the
countryside,among which the so-calleclPonte Sodo (seep. 50), still
visible today. lt was in this period of prospcrity that Veii was influencedby the classical(]reek style,examplesof which arc the "NIalavolta Head" anclthc statueof a young man, Lloth in the manner of
Polycleitus(from Portonaccio, now at Villa Giulia). Accorcling lo
Livy, the city was conqueredby the Romans in 39(r B.C., after a ten1'earsicge.The Roman conqucst was macleeasier by thc fact that
part of the leagueof lrtruscan cities, rulccl by an oligarch], atranclonedVeii becauseof its anomalousmonarchv.

qffi:".

ib*.j*,,,r,.,
qu*r*i",.

,;,..

]II
1 l
)0. I:nt.qltett/ ol a.rtr/p/rd
/nul, prrlub/y

/.ur.r (fiort

ttd

I'u/trii

puitt/ttl
'\'tr.rti,i.

lirs/ /u/l / t/tt 1//t tutltrr.'y l).(..).

I i//,t Oir/ia.

I\ortt,

) l. Irtfaslo tttf (fnrt Xar,;:, .srrutrl ltu/f Q

'i//t
-/lt
(,itr/it.
rtt/trr'1' I).(..). Ilortt, I

1/r

.1/ut.4 /lte rirt.r /bert art .rtt/plrra/ dttlr,t

/to/dtn.q fiur Lor.rt-r utrl /n',,

/itrt.t: tt nut

/nr.;t.r'/ttatl.r.

22
PrehistoricalImplements

,dR\

The first implemenrs manufacturecl by

man werc simple shards, chipped at
one end (choppers) founcl in Afrjca,
and which date from tu/o or two and a
half million years ago; some have also
been found in Europe. This elementary utensil gradually developed into
t!.
bifacial implement
(antgdala),
chipped probably with the aid of a
stone hammer. The flakes were used as
well, but gradually the chipping tech_
nrque succeededin producing flakes of
a determinate shape; the ea.liert o.res
were u'ide and thick, rhe later ones,
produced with a wood or bone billet,
were thinner. Durinq the N iddle palaeolithic more complicated procedures came to be used: a core of flint
was roughly prepared and then reguiar
shapedflakes were chipped off and retouched at the edges to be used as
points and scrapers. In the Upper palaeolithic, man refined theie techniques even further; he managed to ob_
tain long, thin bladesprovi.ting a wide
ill
D!
iEi!
range ofspecialized tools, proving that
us-19
the communities of hunters were in_
volved in a variety of activities. Bone
/F- f1
'+-y22
was also widely used during the palacolithic. Thc oldest tools that we
know of are bifacials made of bone
flakes found in Latium, but the use of
this material was widespread in the
L pper Palaeolithic: awls, gravers,
points, harpoons, perforators, often
clecorated or sculpted. Unfortunately
we havc no cvidence oF obiects proI
duced in other materials (wood.
ral activity developed: large pieces of
us to have a better picture of the comleather, vegetable fibres, and so on)
sanclstoneor volcanic stone were used. plex agricultural and manufacturing
and wc can only guess at the actual
with smaller ones as mullers. For
activities of this period. The first ex_
function of rhe srone tools. During the
weaving, Neolithic man used terracot_ amples of the wheel appeared
at this
\lesolithic the predominant flini inta or stone spindles and loom weights;
tlme.
dustry is that of pygmy flints or microfragments of fabrics have been fo"und
liths in the shape of triangles, trapein pile-dwellings. During the Aeneoziums and crescents, which were plob_
lithic we find stone arrowheads with
abll used as arrowheads. During thc
tangs, retouched on both sides, with
Neolithic, stone tools were maJe of
small nails to fix them to the handles.
obsidian (volcanic glass) as well as
as well as flat axes and narrow points.
flint. Generally they u,ere of regular
During,the Bronze Age, metal objects
shapes, frcquentll r rapezoidal, and
replaced stone ones "l-ost entirely:
were often used as reaping-hooks; the
we.have found swords, daggers,poinis
first dressed stone bifaaial arrowheads
ancl also tools such as a*is, sickles.
also appeared. A technological innovasaws and chisels. Bronze ornaments
tion were celts (ax or adz heads) edged
(brooches, necklaces and bracelets)
by grinding and polishing. Bone conand amber objects replacethe previoui
tinued to be used for points, needles, shell, bone,
stone or tooth ornaments.
hooks and harpoons. Grindstones,
In the pile-dwellings of northern Italy
used as early as the Upper Palaeolithic,
a variety of wooden vases and other
became more u'idespread as agricultu_ utensils have
been found; these enable

ffi

4h

ew
gFn
#,.
U,,ffi
&,.
Vi,"ii W
t\

\F

js (l
jiii

fri#

h,rsi

ffb

t;^i

q$,,
-ffi

L Reconstruction of prehistorica/ inplenenls: sbards from the Lower Palaeolithic

( 1 7), .fron the Middle Palaeolithic
( 8 - 1 1), .fron the Upper Palaeolithic
the Mesalitbic
and fron
(12-)0),

V. Grindstone (Neolithi).
of Anthropology.

Pisa, Institate

VI. Copper adz (Aeneo/ithic). Pisa, Insti

tate af Anthrapology.

(31-11).
II. Pa/aeo/itbic shard. F/orence, Flarentine
Prehislarica/ Museam.
III. Two adzes in dressedttone (Neo/ithi)
Pisa.Ins/ilule of Anlhropology.
IV. Boneimplements:spata/a,point, spearhead (Neo/ithic). Pisa, Insitate af Antbro
Po/,,gt.

VII. Terracotta wbarl .for weauing (Neo/ithir). Pisa, Institute of Antbropo/og1.

Vcii and the Faliscan Plain

32. Lucus Feroniae, the liuing qaarters of

tbe Volusii Vil/a (1st centurJB.C.).
)3. Lucas Feroniae, mosaic floor of tbe
peristlle of the Volaii Vi//a.
34. Ltcus Feroniae,the basilica (1st centary B.C.). In the foreground, tbe inlaid
marb/efloor.

During its cultural development and later during the conflict

with Rome, the only territory which remained allied to Veii was the
Faliscan plain. This area, with the towns of FalpRri, NARCn and
C,tpexe (in antiquity considereda colony of Veii), was inhabited by
a non-Etruscan population who spoke an Italic langtage, Faliscan,
similar to Latin. The finds in the tombs of this region from the 9th
to the 6th century bear witness to a civiliz^tion very similar to contemporary Veii and southern Etruria, both in the form of the burial
sites (cremation tombs in tufa stone containers, followed by shafts
in tree-trunks and chamber tombs) and in the objects found in them
(impasto, bronzes, bucchero, original Greek ceramics and imitations). An element, however, typical only of the Faliscan tradition is
the influence derived from the Sabines and other inhabitants of Latium, visible in the impasto vases with animal figures and foliage,
incised and incaved, dating from the 7th and 6th centuries (Villa
Giulia).
The most remarkable period of development in this area took
place in the 5th century, at atime when Falerii became a tealurban
settlement (and Narce was abandoned); the sanctuariesof Vignale
and Scasatowere built in the city, those of SassiCaduti and Celle
outside the walls. The latter was dedicated to Juno Curitis and the
ruins of patt of its structure have survived. Terracottas of great interest have been found on the sites of all these buildings (Villa Giulia). Just to mention a few: two fighting warriors, from SassiCaduti
(beginning of the 5th century); a bearded head in the style of Phidias's Zeus at Olympia; works influenced by the style of 4th-century
Greek artists, like the statue of Apollo from Scasato,inspired by Lysippus's portrait of Alexander the Great, the two statues of a mzn
and a woman inspired by Praxiteles, from Celle and Scasato,and the
head of a m^n from Scasatoin the manner of Skopas. In this artistic
atmosphere, strongly influenced by Greece, to*"rdr the end of the
5th century a workshop producing red-figure ceramics was founded
in Falerii. This workshop, probably set up by immigrant Attic artists, has left us such masterpieces as the krater of "the painter of
Diespater" and that of "the painter of Aurora" (Villa Giulia).
ln 394, after the defeats of both Veii and Capena,Falerii is forced
to sign a truce with Rome which will lead, after various ups and

Veii ancl the Faliscan Plain

25

downs, to the rebellion of 241ending with the complete destruction

of the city.
After Vgu was conquered by Furius Camillus in 396 B.C., the worship of Juno Regina was transferred to Rome and a large part of the
conqueredland was distributed to the Roman plebeians (an attempt
at solving the conflict between patricians and plebeians).A class of
small landowners was thus created and their presenceis evident in
the archaeological finds. The countryside appears to have been
densely populated, while the cities were being progressively abandoned as early as the 2nd century, Later the villas, the centres of
lzrger estates, replaced the smaller settlements established by the
small-holders and farmers. The ruins of a grznd late-republican villa
are still visible near Anguillara. Some of the villas grew up within
the cities themselves incorporating existing constructions. At the
Campetti villa (1st century B.C.) a cistern and semi-circular nymphaeum are still visible. In front of the nymphaeum a black and 15. Lucus I:eroniae,//te anpbitbeatre ( 1st
white mosaic was found. The sanctuaryof Portonaccio was used un- centurTB.C.).
til the 1st century B.C. (as is shown by the votive offerings). Shortly
)6. Lucus Feroniae, the Aerariant (lst
after it was abandoned, a road was built across the site.
centuryB.C.).
Augustus's project, followed also by his immediate successors,of
reviving the declining city of Veii (and other centres of Etruria) led 1 7. Lucus Feroniae, warebouse counter
to the creation of the Manicipiun Augustum Veiens,which was embel- with built-in doliun.
lished by several important buildings, such as the temples of Mars
and of Victory, a public bath building (the ruins are known as the
"Bagno
della Regint') and a porticas Aagusta, commissioned by Tiberius. Twelve Ionic columns of Carcara marble, discovered in
1912-17, are now visible in the atrium of Palazzo Wedekind in
Rome (PiazzaColonna).
But, despite these attempts, the city progressively declined, while
the surrounding countryside remained densely populated. The
countryside here was in fact abandoned much later and much more
"Muracci
di Santo Stefano"
slowly than elsewhere. The so-called
(near Angulllara) are in fact the ruins of a 2nd-century A.D. villa,
later converted into a place of Christian worship.
From the site of Lucus FpRoxrag (Colonialalia Lucoferoniensis),
founded probably around the middle of the 1st century B.C., the

26

Vcii and thc Iialiscan Plain

t r t r
t
t
t
t
o
t

t8

r
r
r
r

t
t
t
t

l
r
r
r
o
r t r

5m

38. Croand-plan of the moantain church of

.lanta Maria del Parto at Sutri.
19. Satri, tbe moantain church of .lanta
Maria de/ Parto (6th century?).

who_levalley of the Tiber is visible. The southernp^rt of the plateau

is taken up by the sacred wood of the goddess Feronia (of Sabine
origin), protectress of animals. The worship of this deity is yery ^ncient and the neighbouring populations (Latins, Sabines,Etruscans
and Faliscans) gathered here. The settlement grew up at the edge of
the sacred wood. The forum belongs to the eailier stage of the life of
this city, before the arrival of the volusii saturninii famiry in Augustan times. Along the north-western side of the forum stood thJasilica and the entrance to a small underground room where the colony's treasure (aerarium)was kept. At the foot of the basilica there are
two small temples, and there were various shops along one of the
long sides of the square.There are also the ruini of a bath building,
probably built in the 1st century A.D., which continued to function
until quite late, at least until the end of the 5th century. one can also
see the remains of a house dating from the republican period and
those of an amphitheatre which is very small and leads us to believe
that the- city was not densely populated. Near the amphitheatre the
ruins of a public bath have been found. A visit to tha volusii villa,
on the Autostrada del Sole, which has been largely preserved,is well
worthwhile.
After the destruction of Falerii veteres in 241 B.c.. a cerrain
amount of time elapsed before the new city, FALERII NOVI, was
built in 220.The old city stood on the site of present-daycivita castellana; the new one, a few miles away, on the site of today's Santa
Mariadi Falleri. It was rectangular in plan and sprang up around the
via Amerina which crosses it. The insulaear. telt".rgnlar. The walls
surrounding the town have watchtowers and gates.Inside, the ruins
of atheatre have been found; outside the walli stand the remains of
an amphitheatre, which was presumably built around the 1st century A.D. Many important engineering works took place in the

27
course of the history of Falerii Novi, such as the bridge over the
Amerina and the Fosso Tre Ponti acqueduct.
Unlike the majority of the cities of Etruria, this town was still
period.
thriving in the late-classical
The most well-known ancl widely spreaclt,vpesof rural settlements in Lattum tn
thc 8th and 9th centuries are the domuscultae,largelanded estates aclministercd b,v
the Papacy and which had come into being thanks to bequests. Some of these
have been stuclieclboth topographically and archaeologically: among them, Santa
Rufina, not far from Rome, and Santa Cornelia, near Veii, where an early meclier.al church has come to light. It stands in the administrative centre of the estate,
which was enlarged bv Pope Hadrian I increasing thefandus Capracorant,clonated
in the 8th century to the deacon of Santa N{aria in Cosmedin by dux Eustarhius.
\\ e still know very little about the decline of these settlements in the plains, but
their disappearancemay be related to the dangers of the times (Nloslem raicls)ancl
to the clevelopment during the 1Oth century of hilltop communities. These communities, a revir.al of pre-Roman customs, could not be reacheclby vehicles on
u'heels; thev were naturally fortified and far rcmoved from the major communt
cation routes, in a region where the distances between the citics, such as Civita
Castellana,Nepi and Sutri, were considerable.
Religious buildings dug out of the tufa stone are one of the more frequent
characteristicsof this phenomenon of hilltop communities, so common in northern I-atium. The church of Santa Nlaria del Parto, west of the Cassian Way, near
Sutttt, stands in an area v'here the l-ongobard occupation was shorter-Sutri
was only conquered by I-iutprancl in 728-and its influence less radical, compared to the more central parts of their conquerecl territory. The church consists
in a nave and two aisles separated by square pilasters and longitudinal arches.
There is also a large flat-roofed presbytery with four pilasters. Inside, among \rerv
badl,vdamageclfrescoes dating from the 12th to 14th centuries, there are two figures in red (a dove with an olive branch ancl a fish) on the two pilasters near the
presbvtery, which can be datecl to the 6th century thanks to their stylistic similaritv with contemporarv churches in southern ltaly, in particular around Syracuse.
The existence of rooms dug out of the rock nearby has suggested that there mav
have been catacombs on this site before the church, whereas it is almost certain
that the pre-existing structures incorporated in the church were usecl as burial
sites and as dwellings at the time of the Etruscans. The remains arouncl the
church were probably medicval houses.

VOLSINII
Tbe Lower Palaeolithic is representedfu, sbardsfound at Monte Peglia, tbe
Middle b1 thosefound near Oruieto and tbe Upper b1 tbe Tane del Diauolo
(Deuil's Lairs) at Parrano (Archaeological Maseum, Perugia). Tbe Neolithic period is ae// representedboth at tbe Grotta Bella of Montecastrilli and
to the worsltip of
at the wells called Pozzi della Piana at Titignano, connected
water. The Aeneolithic hasje/ded fnds at Terni Acciaierie (Pigorini Museum in Rome and Ciaic Museun in Terni), at the Rinaldone necropolis
(Montefiasnne) and in the tomb of FossoConicchio(Pigorini Museun). The
BronzeAge is representedb1 Appennine and sub-Appenninematerialsfound
at the Tane del Diauol0, Grotta .SanFrancescoal Titignano, Pozzi della Piana
and Crotta Bella.
On the territory that by the end of the 6th century was under the
direct rule of Vctr-stNtt (the present Orvieto), in other words the
area between the north and east shores of Lake Bolsena and the Tiber and the Paglia, there is evidenceof the Villanovan culture both in
the village of Gran Carco and in Volsinii itself. The village of Gran

Volsinii

40. Oriental-Greek
marblesturue(aroand
tbe end of tbe 6tb centaryB.C.). bnieto,
Ciaic Museum.Tb* statie of a iaked godder was the objut of worsbip in" tbe
tanctuaryoftheCannicellanecropolis.
41. Bronzeaotiaertatueof a warrior
ffiri:g:./ib!!ion (fron Todi, earj 4tb ceitary
B.C.). Vatican, Gregoriar Etruscan Mi_

ca*o is now under the water of the lake, near the east shore (the
finds are in Bolsena and at villa Giulia). The finds at volsinii arc in
the Faina Museum; one can also visit ihe excavation of the 6th-5th
century necropolises under the church of Sant'Andrea. During the
period of the "oriental" style, volsinii was not one of the cities that
imported precious objects and no artifacts indicating the existence
of an aristocracy have come to light.
From the first half of the 6th ientury we find evidence in volsinii
of anorganized urban community, but one which is particulady..democratic" in its set-up, a fact revealed primarily in ihe necropolis of
crocifisso del rufo (op.r to the pubric). Here, the tombs are all similar in shape, size and quality of objects; they appear to have been
according to a sirictly planned design'ani each one is identiF{ 9",
fied by the name of the o*neiloblects in tle Faina Museum and in
theP.alazzo dei Papi in.orvieto, together with an exhibition explaining the recent restorations). At thii time the first craftsmen's workshops were set,up and the products (impasto, bucchero, bronze
vases) were sold to-the neighbouring towns, Grotte Santo Stefano,
Grotte di castro, civita del Fosso d'Arlena, celleno, Bagnoregio,
which nonetheless ^pw^r to have been economically indeplndeni.
By the second half of the century, volsinii had bicom. " p.orp.rci_ty,thanks to its geographical position enabling it to control
9us
the Tiber and chiana valleys, and thanks also to orginized, agriculture on-the fertile plain. By this stage orvieto was involvedln the
trade of Greek-oriental artistic pro-ducts, among which one must
mention the famous "venus" (civic Museum, within the Faina Museum). It comes from the sanctuary at the centre of the cannicella
necropolis, which was dedicated to the goddess'vei here given the
zppeuznce of a funerary Aphrodite, a custom common in Greece.
The production of bronze objects is also interesting vases for comot1g., objects of great artistic value in a Ionic iyle, such as foils
Totfor the decoration of carts (the so-called Ferroni foils from Todi, in
the Archaeological Museum in Florence, and the bronzes from castelsan
\rarizno,partly now in the Archaeological Museum in perug,ta)_aydsmall sculptures like the so-called Mlars from Ravenna (in
thlfllseym_in
Leyden) Objects of this kind were widely exported
piceno. By this time v;lsinii
to umbria,
|omagna, Emilia and to
had won political supremacy over the arez and, this caused the decline and even abandon of some of the smaller settlements, such as
the neighbouring citadel of Acquarossa ; border towns, on the other
hand, were strengthened.
the second half of the 5th century and the beginning of
. lrying
the 4th, the local workshops were influenced by the style 3f pniai"r.
Examples of this are the architecturar terracottas of ihe temple of
Belvedere (the excavation is open to the pubric), those found at the
cannicella necropolis and in via San Leonardo (FainaMuseum) and
the bronze statue of Mars found in a sanctuary near Todi (now in
the Gregorian Museum in the Vatican).
In the 4th century, some powerful land-owning families had underground tombs built for themselves outside ihe city. Among
these, the Golini tombs at Settecamini and the Hescanas tomb aI
Porano, decorated with paintings praising the family and filled with

Volsinii

29

41

luxurious personal objects (now in thePalazzo dei Papi). This seems

to indicate a prevalence of the countryside and of the aristocracy
over the city, which must eventually have led to the civil strife mentioned in the sources. This paved the way for the Roman army's
conquest of the city in 264 B.C. The inhabitants that survived were
moved to a new city and the worship of Vertumnus, common to all
Etruscans, was transferred to Rome. The conquering consul, M.
Fulvius Flaccus, celebratedthe event offering a group of bronze statues to the sanctuary of Sant'Omobono in Rome, as war booty. The
tufa baseswith the commemorative inscriptions have survived.
There is practically no mention of Vot-stNtt in our sources after the Roman conquest. The city only resumed a certain importance in the 6th century A.D. when
it is mentioned in the writings of Paul the Deacon and Pope Gregory the Great.
The only remains worthy of mention are the fragments of mosaics in the crypt of
the church of Sant'Andrea.
Vot.stNtt Novt, which replaced the old Volsinii (Orvieto) like Falerii Novi re-

42. .\arcopltagas from T-orre .lan Seaero,

frort a tomb belongingto the agrarian aristocrac.y(araund the nid-4th centary B.C.).
Oruieta, Ciaic Museum. On the /ong side,
'frolan
Achil/et sacrtfcestbe
prisoners to the
Manes af Patroclos;on tbe thort side, Ufyssu
sacri/icu a ram beforethe entranceto Hades.
4). T'ua ceramic amphoras, wih relief decorations shrwing a batt/e rf the AmaTont
(early 3rd century B.C.). Oruien, Ciui
Museum. Tbh type of uase,produced-first at
Vakinii and later at Volsinii Nrni, is eaidenceof the crntinuity betweentbe two towrc.
14. Arcbitectural tenacatla fron tlte aritoratic residence at Acquarossa, with a
hanquel scene(aroand the mid-6th century
B.C). Viterbo, Ciuic Museun.

30
The Language and Odgins
of the Etruscans
'Ihe

Etruscan language, often mistaktnly considered the most mysterious

aspect of the so-called "Etruscan mysrcry," is in fact only partially undlrstood. This does not mean that Etruscan inscriptions are not legible and, in
the vast maiority of cases,perfectly understandable. It means that it is a language which has not come down to us
through a manuscript tradition, and is
therefore known almost exclusively
from epigraphs, most of which are frrnerary inscriptions offering only a restricted and repetitive range of informat10n.
So far as we know, Etruscan is not
an Indo-European language; it has
phonetic and morphological connections with the language documented at
Lemnos by an inscription dating from
the late 6th century B.C. It would seem
likely that Etruscan and Lemnian are
the last relics of an ancient language
common to the whole Mediterranean
reglon.
Modern research makes no use of
etymological methods, based on the
comparison of Etruscan with other
known languages. It studies the language on the basis ofinternal evidence
provided by the texts themselves, and

has obtained remarkable results in the

understanding of the onomatological
formulas, now perFectlyclear. of many
grammatical structures and of some
syntacticalcon st ructions.
What we have said so far implies a
clear distinction between the conceot
oF language and the concepr of alphabet, which consists only in a system of
slgns expressing the language itself.
The Etruscan alphabet presents no
problem; it is perfectly readable, for it
is basically simply tne Greek alphabet
brought over by the Euboean colonizers, with a few adjustments. It began

to be used in the early 7th century and,

srnce lt was an lnstrument of trade, at
first it was used only by the aristocracy. Later, with the birth of urban
communities, writing v/as taught in
the temples, such as the Portonaccio
temple at Veii, and began to be used to
record public events (see the lamina of
Pyrgi), lists of magistrates, and so on.
At the same time, the practice of writing spread, until in ttre Znd century in
the territory of Chiusi and perugia
even the cinerary urns oF slaves and
freed men were normallv inscribecl
with the names of the deceased.

31
"problem"
The
of the origins of the
Etruscans is in fact a false problem. inv e n t e d b y l g t h - c e n t u r y h i s t o r i a n si n spired by the myth of nationalism. Ancient historians had akeady pointed to
the origins of the Etruscans. According to Herodotus, the Greek 5thcentury B.C. historian, they came from
Lydia before the Trojan war (13th century B.C.); according to Dionysius of
Halicarnassus, who lived at the time of
Augustus, the Etruscans had always
been in Etruria. These two theories
have given rise to two different
schools of thought: on the one hand

there are those who see the Etruscan

"()riental"
style as evidence of their
Oriental origin, on the other those
who consider the isolation of the
Etruscan language proof of the existence of this people in the region before the migration of all other populations. Another trend of modern scholarship has advanced the theory that
the Etruscans came from the north,
producing as evidence the similarity of
the Villanovan culture to that of the
"urn
northern
fields." Faced with these
three different hypotheses, none of
them without contradictions, in 1947

N{assimo Pallottino Presented the

problem in a new light. Paliottino
claimed that it was wrong to approach
the problem of the birth of a popula"place
tion from the point of view of
the
On
did.
the
ancients
of origin," as
contrary, we must study civilizations
"formation" and look to
in terms of
the historical develoPment of the
Etruscans.

;)..1,

I. Iuarl tablet showingthe Creek alpltabet,

lron rigbt to:left (fron the Circolo dqq/i
luori at Marsiliana d'Albegna, 6 5 0 - 6 2 5
B.C.). The lablet waspart of the callectionrtl
personal abjecfifoand in a tomb; it indicates
that writing in this perind was the prerogatiue af the aristacrac-y.
II-IV. Gold /aminasfrom the sanctuarl'al
Plrgi; the first to the left has a Phoeniciatt
inscription, the atber tul are in Etruscan
(late 6th centuryB.C.). Rone, Villa Ciu/ia. Tbe inscriptions record that the king rtl
Caere, Thefarie Velianas, dedicated T'ent
ple B to thegaddessUni
V. Inscribed boandarl, stone, recarding the
(tgreemefilbetweenthe Ve/thina and A"funa
.faniliu reached after a terrilaria/ dispate
(fron the area around Peragia, eari 2d
,:::;? u, ) Pertgia, ArchaealogicalMu

L/1. Lead laminafram Maglianrt (5th-6//r

centar-l B.C.). F/orence, Archaeologica/
Museun. The inscription is spira/-sbaped
and couersboth tides; lhe crtntent is rather
abscare,bat sinceit recordstbe narnesttfdeities it ma-1'hauebeena deuotionalobject.

JZ

placed Falerii (civita castellana), was founded on rhe shores of Lake Bolsena in
264 B.c. The new colony hacl control over such important communrcation
r o u t e sa s t h e V i a C a s s i aa n d t h e n e w V i a T r a i a n a a n d t h i i a c c o u n l sf o r i r s s t a t u s .
Some families, originally from volsinii Novi, became very important in Rome.
There are only a few ruins of buildings of the republican perioj, in particular the
forum and the theatre (the latter was cliscoveied only thanks to aerial photographs). Among the consrructions dating from the F'lavian period we -uri -.nt i o n t h e a m p h i r h e a t r ea n d a n e w l o r u m ( p a v e d w i r h m a r b l c s l a h s ) ,a n c lt h e b a s i l i c a t h a t o p e n e do n t o i t . T h i s b a s i l i c aw a s t r a n s f o r m e t li n r o a C h r i s t i a nc h u r c h i n
the 4th century A.D. and remains of catacombs (4th-5th centuries) have also
been found. This indicates that, unlike other towns of Etruria, volsinii Novi did
not undergo a process of depopulation during the early ancl micldle imperial age.
The remains of two pri'ate houses, dating from the republican period-(2nd cJrtury B.C.), are most interesting: each one has its own small sanctuary dedicatecl
to Dionysus, which shows how widely spread the cult of the mysteriis and their
rites was_even in private homes. f'hese small places of worship were destroyed
around the second half of the 2nd century A.D., after the Roman senate hacl
banned thc celebrationoFBacchanaliain t8'6 B.C-.

CHIUSI AND PE,RUGIA

Tbe Lower Pa/aeoJithicis representedin tbe regionof ctttust onfi b1 o bxfnci/ inplenent at Montepalciano; tbe Middle Palaeolitbic,
fu finds in tbe
crotta di Gosto and in tbe Grotta Lattaia and Grotta San Francescoon
Mount cetona (ArcbaeologicalMuseum, Perugia). Tbe Neo/itbir period is
we// representedin a// its stages:tbe uillage of Pienza with pottery-with inpressedpatterns, tbe Grotta dell'orso at Sarteanowitb incised line potterl
(ArcbaeologicalMuseum, Florence),tbe Grotta Lattaia with pottery il rnrioustraditions (ArcbaeologicalMuseum,Peragia). Euidenceof the Aeneolitltic
period isfound in a// tbe aboae-mentioned
grottoesand in the Baca del Rospo
at cetona (Antiquariam, cetona) and at spedalettonear pienza (ArcbaiologicalMuseam,Florence).Thefndsfrom the BronzeAge are uerl abandant,
especiafuin tbe Grotta dell'orso at Sarteanoand in thegrottoesof Beluerdeat
cetona, wberethereare remainsof nnbs,firep/aces, wbeatstorage,be/ongingto
a1/tbe dffirent stagu of tbe BronTeAge (Arcltaeo/ogicalMasean, peiagia).
on top of Mount Cetonaand at casa carletti there are two fortified oiotiV i //anoaansetl/emenls.
Tbe Lower and Middle Palaeolitbicare representedin the territory of pt:,t
b
a/
\u f !fut faci i mp/ ement s and Mo ast er i in sbar dsfou ntl oro* d-pirogi a,
Lake Trasimenoand Norcia; tbe upper Palaeolitlticb1sltardsfoand near perugia and b1 tbe small stonestatueknown as the "Trasimeno Venus."
The Neo/ithicperiod is represented
on/1b1 the Norcia hut (Archaeo/ogim/
,
Musearn,Peragia). For tbe Aeneolitbic, weltaaethe ditcb tombfrom Marsciano (Ciuic Maseum, Bologna). Bronze Age remains are /nrre abundant,
includlng tbe proto-villan,aan necr,polisesof Monteleonedi Spoleto(Archaeological
Maseam, Florence) and Panicarola, and tbe oblecti in gold and
bronTefro m Gaa/ do T adi no ( Ar cbaeo/ ogica/ M aseam, perugia
).
In the territory of crilust, broadly speakingbetween I-ake Trasimeno and N{ount Amiata, from the Villanovan period through ro the
7th century the population was scattered and did not tenJto form
urban-typecommunities (Chiusi, Chianciano,Sarteano,Cetona, Castelluccio di Pienza, castiglione del Lago, Dolciano). The buriars
were individual, in shafts and in biconical ossuaries, and later (7th

33

(.hiusiand Perugia

46

century) in anthropomorphic jars and ossuaries(canopic urns); the

rituals did not change and there is no sign of inhumation or aristocratic differentiation (objects in the museums of Chiusi, Siena and
Florence). All this indicates an economy and a social organtzation
basedentirely on agricultural activity-considerably backriard compared to the developments of southern Etruria.
It is only at the end of the 7th century that we find the first chamber tombs with multiple graves; they are placed around the future
centre and are thus evidence of a rising aristocracy moving towards
urban organization. The personal objects found in them are frequently lavish: bronze ossuariesplaced on thrones (seethe example from
Dolciano in the Museum at Chiusi, with the head of the canopic urn,
which may not be related to it), Etruscan-Corinthian ceramics and
luxury items imported from southern Etruria (see,for example, the
ivory pyx from the Panra, now in Florence). From the first half of
the 6th century onwards, the local artistic market is more and more
dominated by importations, such as the famous Frangois krater,
commissioned from the Attic oainter Kleitias and oainted around
550 B.C. (ArchaeologicalMuseum, Florence),and by the advent of
craftsmen from southern Etruria, such as the ones from Vulci who
manufactured stone funerary statues(sphinxes,lions, female figures,
in the museums of Chiusi and Florence). By the second half of the
century, Chiusi experiencedall the typical phenomenathat accompany the growth of acity, from the development of craftsmanship to
the military control of the countryside, and the abandoning of the
scattered small communities (such as Dolciano, Sarteano, Cetona).
The first to be abandoned was the aristocratic citadel of MuRLo, in
the upper valley of the Ombrone, on the border between Chiusi's
territory and that of Rusellae.Here, the recent American excavation
has brought to light a square-planbuilding with an inner courtyard,
decorated with splendid architectural terracottas (PalazzoPubblico,
Siena).The building had been intentionally abandonedin 525, at the
sametime as the birth of the city and the rise to power of ICng Porsenna,who first began Chiusi's expansionist policy. Chiusi also must
have taken part in the foundation of Marzabotto, since some distinctive graphic symbols are used only in these two towns. By the sec-

,t1

45. Stanecinerarl, urn, witb a re/ief duora

tion sbawing a banquet scene(rant Chiusi,
520-500 B.C.). Flarence, Archan/ogiml
Mavam.
46. Incised /ine ceramir (t*,
del|Orso at Sarteano, Nn/ttlti).
A rcbaeo/ogica/ M useun.

Crrtta
Florence,

47. Appennine caltare ceramics(fron Cntta

de/l'Orsa at .larteana,Bntnw Age) Phtrence,
Archaeo/ogicalMasean.
18. Row/s (front Antro del/a Nace,Celona,
Brrnzr lqe). Fhtrence,Archaealqqica/,\4a

(ihiusi and Pcrugia

19. il[ur/0, excauations of tbe aristocratic

ai/la (aroand5 80 B.C.).
10. Canopic nrn .from the Mie/i .leruadio
n//ectirn (f.,
Castellaccio di Pienza).
(biusi, Nationa/ Muteum. As ofen bap.penedin Chiasi in the 19th centary,tbis urn
uds pill togelber using objats that bear no
re/atnnship to each other: a bronzr ossuary
(ud of the 7th century), a terracotta head
(*d ,,.f tbe 6tlt nntary) and a terracotta
lbrrtne.

ond half of the 6th and the beginning of the 5th centuries the local
artistic
_productionap,pearsto be well-organized in workshops and,
except fo^r
painted tombs done by craftsmen from Tarquinia lttre
the
Tomb of the Monkey is open to the public), consists in canopic
urns, heavy bucchero and above all local stone funerary monuments
(inscribed stones, sarcophagi,urns) decorated with banquet scenes,
dancesand ceremoniesrelated to the funeral ritual.
After the end of the 6th century the tradition of the canopic urns
was.replacedby local stone sculptedash urns, influenced by Greek
art in its various stages:from the Ionic to the classical (see the famous "Mater Matuta" and the two sarcophagus lids with a couple at
a banquet in the Archaeological Museurnin Florence).
The prosperity of the city, which derived both from the control
over the chiana valley and from agricultural activities (see, for
e.xanlpletthe legend of Arruns who went to sell wine, oil and figs to
the Gauls) continued in the 4th century, in the Hellenistic p.rioa
and through the whole of the 2nd century-and was accompanied
by a remarkable artistic production. In the first half of the 4th century a tradition of red-figure ceramic was set up; from the end of the
century onwards, specialized craftsmen began to create sarcophagi
and urns with relief decorations in pure Hellenistic style (museums
of Florence, chiusi and Siena). An interesting example of this style
is the tomb of Pellegrina (open ro the public), which also offers an
insight into the organization of the aristocracy.
In the 2nd century, probably as a result of the revolts of 196
B.c., large numbers of slaveswere set free and were qranted small
plots of land. New famlly names began to appear and, in the territory around Chiusi, the small countryside underground tombs were
filled with little terracorta urns, made from -orrldr and decorated
with scenesrelated to peasantbeliefs.
The territory of Pp,RuctA, broadly speakingbetween rhe eastern
shore of Lake Trasimeno and the Tibir, developed more or less
along the same lines as that of chiusi. \we know very little of the

(-hiusi and Perugia

35

51. Sculpted stonegroup, with the deceased

sbwn rulining at a banqaetnext to a female
denon (Lasa) anrolling tbe scroll of his du
ttry Qnd of the 5th century B.C.). Florence,
ArchaeologtcalMuseum. Tbe srulptare shows
how dorej the workshapsin Chiusi were in
contactwith dassicalGreek sjhs.

Villanovan period and of the 7th century. By the second half of the
6th century'-e harr. evidence of poweifnl aristocratic strongholds
in the countryside, documented by the finds at San Valentino (now
in Munich) and Castel San Mariano (partly in Munich, Partly in Perugia). These aristocrats commissioned the bronze decorations for
their carts and other prestige items from the workshops of Chiusi
and Orvieto, as well as from southern Etruria. The chamber tombs,
dating from about 500 B.C., of the Palazzonenecropolis (an Antiquarium there is open to the public) and the use of writing indicate
the birth of an urban organizztion, which teveals its cultural debt to
Chiusi through the imported bucchero vases and the sarcophagus of
Sperandio(Archaeological Museum, Perugia).
Although we have little documentation for the 4th century, the
importation from Chiusi of the bronze sarcophagus, in the manner
of Phidias,now in Leningrad, indicates a growing prosperity. In the
3rd and 2nd centuries an even greater degree of prosperity is shown
by the construction of the city walls (Porta Mania and Porta di Augusto) and by the growth of the necropolises.The tombs are mainly
formed by several chambers, each containing many little urns, pro-

52. Peragia, Palanone necropolis,Tonb of

the Vo/amni, centra/ chamberwith tbe arns
of the membersof the fani\. At the centre,
tbe urn of the founder Arnth Velinna
(sennd half of the 3rd centuryB.C.); to tbefar
left the urn of P. Volumnias (Aagastan
period), showingthat the tomb was re-used
by a distant descendantaf the originalfanii.
53-54. Peragia, the cil gates dedicatedto
Aagastus and Mars (3rd-2nd centurl
B.C.). Both thesegates were origina/i built
b1' the Etrucans and later nodifed by the
Romans.

36
The Banquet in Etruria
ln Etruscan artistic production the
theme of the banquet reappears constantly: vrhat is its meaning, what is
the ideology behind these representations. in all their different contexts?
The earliest representation of a banquet in Etruscan art is the one on the
Montescudaio,
c1.rera.y urn from
where the deceased, waited on bY a
maidservant, sits on a throne before a
table prepared for a feast, according to
the customs of the time (around the
middle of the 7th century) in Greece
and the Orient. The scene is clearly a
reference to the age-old custom of the
funeral banquet, held by the relatives
and at which the deceased was believed to be present. Towards the middle of the 6th century, it became the
custom in Greece to take part in banquets lying on beds, surrounded bY
music and dance; this practice, common only to the dlite, was considered a
sign of prestige. The scenes on the architectural reliefs found at Murlo and
Acquarossa are of this kind, and the
banouet takes on the function of selfportiayal of the exclusive aristocratic
caste.
The representations of banquets
on the 6th and 5th-century funeral
monuments, such as the painted tombs
at Tarquinia or the reliefs at Chiusi,
obviouily had the same function: to record the moment in which the rePresentativesof the aristocracywere united around the deceased in the cerimonial feast, thus stressing their solidity
and oower.
From the late 5th century onwards, this kind of banquet is sometimes replaced by a banquet taking
place in the Elysian fields, as is the
case in some late painted tombs (Orco,
Scudi and Golini). Here we have a
blend of the two meanings of the
aristocratic and the eschascen-the
tological. The latter meaning is particularly obvious in the figures ofthe deceased,especiallyin the cinerary urns
and on the lids of urns and sarcophagi
found at Chiusi (4th-3rd century).
They are portrayed with crowned
heads and bare chests, attributes normally associated with heroes, fzr rc'
moved from the world of the living.

I. Cinerary arn from Montescadaio, detai/

of the lid (650-625 B.C.). Florence,ArchaeologicalMateam. The deceasedis portrayd seated on a throne at a banquet, at'
tendedto b1 a maidseruant.
Il. Frescoshowing a banqaet scene,from tbe
Tonb of the Leopards at Tarquinia (first
half of the 5th cmtury B.C.).
III. Reconstructionof a banqaet. Tbe drauing shows uarioas e/ements taken from
Etruscan porlralals of banquets.ln a lauish
and splendid room, tbe participants lie (in
the caseof the nen) or sit (in the caseof the
women) on coachet,whi/e a nusician play
theflute.

it
),

Ohiusi and Perugia

duced locally in Hellenistic style (many examples in the museum).

Exceptional in this sphere are the tomb of the Volumni (Velinna, in
Etruscan), in which six splendid 3rd-century urns and one from the
Augustan period have been preserved (on view in the Palazzone necropolis), and the recently discovered tomb of the Cae Cuta, with
the sarcophagus of the founder (second half of 3rd century) and
the urns of the other members of the family down to the 1st centu-

ryB.C.

By this time the countryside was charactenzed by numerous settlements, indicating intensive cultivation of the land. An inscribed
stone from the 2nd century, found at Pian Castagneto (now in the
Archaeological Museum, Perugia), records the agreement between
the Velthina family and the Afana family regarding a border controthe valley of Sanguineto
versy. Also from the countryside-from
near Lake Trasimeno or from Pila, southwest of Perugia-is the famous bronze statue known as The Orator (Archaeological Museum,
Florence, seep. 13). The inscription tells us that this is a donation to
a sanctuary by Aule Meteli (Aulus Metellus), dating from around the
end of the 2nd century, just before the Etruscans, like the rest of the
Italic peoples,were granted Roman citizenship.
After the last great battle between Romans and Etruscans at Sentinum
in 295 B.C., CnruSI fell under Roman domination. In the 2nd century the city witnessed a revolt of the serfs (which involved Arezzo
as well). It appears that during the 1st century Sulla granted his civil
war veterans land around the city. From then on, the inhabitants
(old inhabitants) and Clusini noui
were divided between Clusini aeteres
(the new colonizers). We know very little of the life of the city
during the imperial period. Some buildings dating from the Roman

55. Jugs fron tombs around Chiasi (first

balf of tlte 7th century). Chiasi, Archaeological Maseum.
56-59. Earj medieua/ objuts fron the
Arcisa necropolis. Cbiasi, Arcbaeologica/
Museum. Co/d "rocette" or tma// crotses
(56); sbield stads (57); sword and spearhead (58); si/uerfibala in the secondst1le

(5e)

38
period have been found under the cathedrar (a rarge
cistern with several aisles still exists under the bell tower); som"e
inscriptions and
sculptures are preserved in the local museum. The
pr...n.. of the
christian catacombs at San Mustiola and Santa c"t
r'n^, on the outskirts of. th9 city, wourd seem to indicate that the .ity
-r, fairry important in the 4th and 5th centuries A.D.
As early as the 2nd century B.c., in the territory of
chiusi and
.
that of. Perugia the number of country settlements
had increased
probably because the slaves had been freed. unlike
southern Etruria, where the countryside was divided into large t^.ra.J.rtrtes
based on slave labour, here the serfs had been
fr""r.J ir..dom and
land after the great revolts they had led.
Since PgRuGrA had sided with Antony in the civil
war, in 40
was conquered and sackedby the victorious octavian (be//un
P.c. *
Perusinum).Augustus granted the city privileges and promoted
her
reconstruction: the Portl di Augusto dates fr6m this
iime although
the inscriFtions were added late-r.one of these i"r.riprio^
recalls
that the.city was granted ius coloniae(colonial rights)
,r.ri., ir.b..riunus Gallus (mid 3rd cenrury A.D.), a privirege"thit
at the time was
only nominal and probably due to the^fact thTt it was
the emperor,s
birthplace.
Cutust lay on the old CassianWay and was the searof a
dioceseasearlyasthe 4th
century' It becameLongobard later than the cities further
"".rt,, ,i*.'rt was fairly close to the boundary with_the Byzantines,who had
o..rrpi.i p;;;gr" and the
islandson Lake Trasimeno.we stili know very lrttle
abo,-,i-t'r,e;;;
the early
Yig$. Ages, or about .the countryside where the traces of th. o...rputro' u..
visible primarily t:.
lavish tombs, among which the one rhat was excavated
lk.
between1913 and 7914
at Arcisa. In 1933olh., to-b, cameto lieht rr.r, the bar_
racks of the carabinieri and, more recently, others
still i" ,n. ..riir.-o"r rh. ,o*.,
and under the cathedral (founded "ro,r.,d in. Ort, ...,r.rry;.-A_o;;;.
objects
found at Arcisa, and now visibre in the museum,
we must mention: jeweilery
decorationsfor belts (8th century), gold crosses, spatbae
(swords) *d ,hi.rdr, ^
splendid fibula with a decoration-con*sisting
of a human n.ua ..r.ro,..rded by animal heads.Someof the tombs aiso contai[ed pottery:
late classicalred impasto
jugs,confirming the absenceof purely Longobard
artisticproa,r.tio.,r.-

AREZZO, FIESOLE AND FLORENCE

TbeLowerPalaeolith\is ,t{!t*tt4fui bfacial inplenentsfound
in tbeua//e1
oftlteArno; theMiddle *i,uppo niotihthi, ori dotorrirri
ol,roriousremainsof nmmunitiu; wortblt-ofnoteis trte skullfoand d oi;;-(,,cranio
de//'o/no") last centary,castsof whicrtaren,u to ie seenin tbe
Arcbanlogt
Musean of Are72o,tbe PrebistoricalMuseumof Florenceand the
1/
Arcbaeologtcal
Museumof pyugia. TrteNeolitrticperiid is docunenied
onj b1
axesandadwsin dressed
stonefound
ontrtesuface;tbeAeneolitiic,b1,ior6,
of the Rinaldonecultureat M)rciano della cblaia *a "t
n"ii,1otn qr_
chaeological
Museum,47ezz0). Tbefinds duumentingtbe BronzeAge are
,:ry.tr, an,ng then tle two swordi
from Frassinei and Terontola(Ar_
cbae
ologica/ Museum,Arezzo).
Bfacial implements
ttaltebeey
foynd at Montelupoand in thepesaua//e1;
-Moysj3rian
nme.from,
trti
Muge//0.shardi docunenting-riluiaan
lbjects
and upper Palaeolitbic
ltaul
pran, Trqlii-)nd in tbe
leenfouni at Fucenbio,
PesaualleyFindsfron tbe Neo/i/bicperiod
areueryfew;tie Ae1eolitbicis re_

.\rczzo. Fiesolc ancl Florencc

'the
terracottaframe of the pedinent r'tf
60.
a tenple (from zXrezzo,piazza San Jacoprt,
aroand 480 B.C.). Arezzo, Archaealrgical
'the
relief decnratirtt shous batt/e
I:;::.,
61. Fiesole,Etrascan tenple. In tlte.foreground, the stairt leading to tlLe enlranrc.
Originally bui/t in the 3rd centurl B.C. and
rebui/t, on the sane gronnd-p/a4 in tbe 1:l
centurTB.C.
62. puinta Fiorentino, Mala tho/os lortb,
lhe interior looking towards tlte entrance
(6 i0-600 B.C.). Thefalseuau/t is created
b1, rows of prrgressiuefy prajecting stotte
s/abs.

pruented b1 a tonb at Montespertoli and b1 renains found on tbe sufan.

Findsfron the Appennine culture comefrom Dicomano;tbe sab-Appennine
cultareis representedfu thefinds at Fiesoh and tbe threehuts of Stabbia(ArMuseum and PrehistoricalMaseum,Florence).
chaeological
The towns of northern inland Etruria, between Cortona and Fiesole, along the Arno and Chiana valleys, all experienced a similar
development at the time of the Etruscans. They were all on the major route leading north, beyond the Appennines, and, except for
Arezzo, developed into proper urban communities relatively late.
The archaic peiiod is represented in the territories of Arezzo and
"melons" at Sodo and at
Cortona by lavish tombs, such as the two
"Oriental" style objects. These
Camucia containing remarkable
tombs were used between the end of the 7th and the 4th centuries
and indicate the presenceof aristocraciesin the countryside, pfactising-ConroNa
agriculture and controlling the routes through the valleys.
itself only appears to have become a city in the 4th
century (the 3rd-century walls and the Academy Museum are open
to the pubtic) and only begins to figure in Etruscan history quite
late-in the war against Rome in 310 B.C.
By the end of the 6th century the maior centre of the area was

40

Arezzo, Fiesole and Florence

Axazzo. Ar9"g the earriestevidenceare the first city walls (some

parts are still intact), a necropolis of ditch tombs (poggio al bole),
and somesanctuariesdocumentedeither by architectuffterracottas
(suchas the slab ftomPiaz-za.
SanJacopo,now in the Archaeological
Museum) or by votive offerings iuch^asthe one from Fonte veneof small bronze male and female figures (Archaeo3ia1agglsisting
logical Museum, Florence;other similar ones in Arlzzo\. in the 4th
century Arezzo witnessed rebellions by the serfs: the first one,
around the middle.of
the _century,was quelled by Aulus Spurinna;
the second,in 302,by theRoman
army.During this period i+rrr-:ri
century) the prosperity of the city is docomerrledby a few, bot re_
markable, buildings, such as the masonry walls (partly stiil standing); amongthe artifactsdating from this period "i. ^i"y coins and
the famous bronze statue of ihe chimaen, probably produced in
Arezzo where there were metallurgicalworkshopr. A-o.rg the obiectsdating_fromthe 2nd century aie the Hellenistic stylete?racottas
found at Catona (Archaeologiial Museum, Florence) and at the
.t"l_.!""ry of Castelsecco,.rlearthe city, which consisied of many
63. Arezzo,Romanampbiteatre
(|st cen- buildings,including a smalltheatre.
tur1A.D.).
_ There is very little evidence from the villanovan and archaic
oriental-periods
in the territory of Fmsole ^p^rt fuom somefrag"Aretini"
64-65. Two examphsof
aases
ments
of
pottery
in the museum in Fiesole uid ^ few finds in the
(1st centuryB.C.-lst antury A.D.).
centre
A rezRo,A rcbaeologi
of
Florence.
ca/ M aseum.
In the 7th-6th centuriesthe most characteristic
aspectof this areaatethe grand tombs, like the tsro tboloiat
Fiorentino (Montagnola andMula, both open to the pubric),euinto
the tumulus of Montefortini and the tomb of tihe Boschetii at Comeana
(near Artimino; some.of the objects are in the Antiquarium of the
Y.d:i villa), containing artifacts in gold and ivory, mostly pro_
ducedin southernEtruria. Theseu.. tf,. tombs of thl local .robitity
who controlled the road to Manabotto and Bologna along th!
valley of the Reno. Until quite late the population u#d in scattered
settlements,if we are to believethe evidenceoffered by the typical

\rezzr', I iesnlc .tn(l Florcncc

local stone funerary stelesdecorated in Ionic style with warriors or

with banquet and dance scenes(museums in Florence and Fiesole)
and the little bronzes from the small sanctuariesof the area (excellent examplesin the local museum).
Fiesole became an urban community in the Hellenistic period,
when the walls (3rd century, in part still standing) and a temple consisting of a cella and alaewere built.
As early as 302 B.C, the revolt of the serfs in Axvzzcl against the
most powerful local family, the Cilnii (the ancestors of Maecenas),
led to the intervention of the Roman consul Valerius Maximus.
During the 3rd century Arezzo became part of Rome's network of
alliances,but the city retained a great productive capacity and contributed an enormous number of bronze weaPons towards Scipio's
campaign in Africa in 205 B.C.-a sure sign of its economic prosperity. At the time of Sulla the city became a colony: the new into distinguish them from the old ones'
habitants were called Fidentiores
Arretini aeleres.Later, at the time of Caesar,more colonizers settled
here: they were called Iulienses.With the increase of population,
Arezzo spread outside the city walls; the most recent set of walls,
dating from the 4th-3rd century, was built in half-baked bricks. Another element that favoured Arezzo's prosperitv was the construction of the CassianWay (before 217 B.C.) connecting the city to
Rome and the rest of inland northern Etruria.
By the middle of the 1st century B.C. there were many ceramics
industries producing fine tablew^tei terr^cotta, plates, goblets and
glasses,covered by a thick layer of coral-red glossy paint. These
"zretim," were extremely sought aftet and reachedeven
vases,called
the furthest outposts of the Roman empire. This industry continued
to prosper until the middle of the 1st century A.D. when many
other Italian centresstartedproducing similar wares and the comPetition of other orovincial manufacturerscontributed to its decline.

6 6. Fieso/e, Ratnan theatre ( 1st cenlary

A.D.).
67. I:iesrtle,rains of the Rantan balhs (1sl
centur1,A.D.).
68. T'ba Rortan city of [:/orence,aitb the
"rcnturies" and
sarrottndin.qdiuisinn into
the Rontanroads.

42
Religion and Divination

.,\s early as the Middle Palaeolithic,

funeral rites presuppose a continuation
of life after death (tools and food offerings in the tombs). The objects found
in tombs dating from the Upper palaeolithic prove that there must have
been a belief in a very complex spiritual world, about which we know little.
The Neolithic agricuitural economy v/as tied to fertility rites and cults
of the changing seasons; evidence of
these lies in the holes in grortoes cont a i n i n g o F f e r i n g s ,w h i c h l l s o m a y b e
connected to funeral rites and spirits
of the underworld, and in srone circles
with human remains, vases and other
precious objects. There is also evidence of the worship of water deities.
Similar rites continued throughout the
metal ages,and in some cases-thesame
site was used continually from the
Neolithic to classical times. Mesalithic
monuments and stele statues, fo-und in
Europe and in the western Mediterra-

nean region, are evidence of even

more complex cults.

were founded along the two axes. This

system of division was used everywhere, down to the animal liver which
According to the Roman historian
was the most common, but not the
Lir,y, the Etruscans \yere a people paronly, instrument used for divining, or
ticularly given over to religious worinterpreting the will of the gods. We
ship, for they excelled in its practice. know of this from several figurative
Latin writers, such as Cicero ^nd S.rr.representations and from the small
ca, reca\l that the Etruscans used a se_ bronze model of a liver (late 2nd
cenries of written doctrines, both reliqious
tury B.C.) now in Piacenza. The outer
and civil (Libri fu/garaks, harutpirini, ripart is divided into sixteen parts, and
taales). The revelation o[ these texts
each one is inscribed with the name of
was ascribed to the boy Tages, mira god. The science of divination was
aculously born out of a furrow in the
practised exclusively by the baraspices
countryside near Tarquinia. The foun(in Etruscan, netsuis), who formed an
dation of all doctrine (tn Latin, disciaristocratic caste and wore soecial
p/ina) was the division of the heavens
clothing. They were honoured and reinto sixteen regions, the dwellings of
spected even in Rome, from the 4th
the gods; to rhe easr the favouiable
B.C. until the late classicalperones, to the west the unfavourable.
;,ff.,".t
This division, based on the two axes
east-west and north-south, determined
The Etrusca disciplina was the aspect of
the allocation of any space that was to
religion in which the Romans felt most
be used for either ,^.."d o. civil pracstrongly the influence of the Etrustlces, starting from the cities, which
cans. It is thanks to the fact that the

II
Romans adooted this ritual that it has
come down to us. According to Varro,
the ritual surroundins the foundation
of Rome was based on the ritual of the
foundation of Etruscan cities. Ancl
during the Punic wars Rome made use
of haruspicesbrought in from Etruria
(in fact there were no haraspicesamong
the Roman high priests). During the
2nd century B.C., perhaps after the
discovery of impostors, the Roman
Senate decreed that there should be a
fixed number of people authorized to
practise divination: it is possibly at this
time that the college of the sixty haruspiceswas instituted in Tarquinia. Under Emperor Claudius the discipline of
divination was included amons the
branches of the official Roman religlon.

I. Recanstruction af a diuinatian cereTtlzn-y.

The drawing e/aborating ancientportra-yals,
recznstract:a scenein which the haruspex,
in a ritaa/ pase and with spetia/ c/othing
interprets an anima/ liuer beJitrean attentiue
aadience, conscioasof the solennity of tl:e
teremon-)t.
II. The urn af Atle Lecu (ear/1, 1st century
'fhe
B.C.). Volterra, Gaarnacci Museam.
dercayd is portra.yed as an haruspex,
readingthe omensof an anima/ /iuer.

IV
III. Reuerseside of a bronze ntinor showing
the n-ythical seer Calchas dressed as an
haruspex exaruining an aninta/ /iuer (frant
Valci, ear/y 4tb century B.C.). Vatican,
Cregorian H,trascanMaseam.
IV. Bronze nodel of a sbeep's/iuer (frant
Decima di Cosso/enga,/ate 2nd-ear/1 1st
centary B.C). PiacenTt, Ciair Museunt.
Nanes of deities are inscribed in tbe dffirent
shapedsabdiuisians.

44

69. Co/d thread uyd

fnr brocade (fron
Are7lo,1Aril balf rf the 7th century,).F-/or_
ence,Archaeo/agica/Maseam.
7-0 Cald pendant earrings (from Are72o,
Jir:t ha/f rf tbe 7tb centarl,). F/orence,Ar_
cbaeo/ogica/
Maseunt.

The traderirarks stamped orpthese vases provide us with useful

inFormationabout the characteristics
of this industry.
There are m^ny important remains of the Roman Arezzo. The
basic plan of the town appearsto dare from the time of caesar. An
exact copy of the Elogia in the Forum of Augustus in Rome has been
found in the forum, near the cathedral. R,iins of the amphitheatre
and of the foundations of the rhearre are visible. The Archaeological
Nluseum stands on the site of the amphitheatre and housesa marvellous collectionof "aretini" vases.
In the course of the 2nd century A.D. the city suffered a pronounced decline, p^rtly a result of the waninq ceramicsindustrv ancl
Daftly becausethe cassian way had been morred further "-"y frothe city centre.
During the civil war, FIEST)I-Esided with Marius; at the end of
_
the war, the victorious Sulla reacted by founding a colony there. A
fire' probably at the time of the civil war, destioyed the Etruscan
temple which was reconstruced at the time of Suila with the addition of a portico with columns and steps. A roacrconnects the temple and the theatre, which. was parrly dug out of the hillside; nearby
there are baths built at the time of Arrgustus. The rocar museum
houses a good collection of Roman mar;ials. The deveropment of
Florencein the 1st century A.D. led to Fiesole'srapicldecline.
when, at the time of caesar, Ft-,Rpxcu (F/r,reitia\ becamea Roman colony, ir was given a regular plan, built around cardines
(streets
running north-south) and decumani(streets running east-wesi). The
intersection of these streetsgave rise to brocks of rTaryingsizes.Archaeological research has shown that the forum -.ni hrr.. been at
the centre of the city; several pubtic builclings were built along its
sides, such as the capitoliun. Some areaswithin the walls remained
for a long time without buildings but, by the 1st century A.D., the
town had spread even outside rhe wails, especiallyro th; sourh. rowards the Arno. At the same_rime,many .r.- p.rbri. buildings were
built: baths in the area behind the capiti/iun, inrl a thearre. Ii seems
that to build the theatrepart of the wails haclto be clemolishec-I.

\rezzo, []iesole ancl lrlorencc

Like other towns of northern Etruria-but in contrast to those

further south-it seemsthat Florence survived as a city until quite
late. During the 2nd century the forum was enlarged and paved
with marble slabs; new baths, a temple to Isis and an amphitheatre
were built outside the walls. Still fairly prosperous in the 3rd and 4th
centuries, Florence underwent further transformations and became
the capital of Tusciaet Umbria at the time of Diocletian (297 A.D.).
By the 4th century the city had spread to the north as far as Ptazza
San Lorenzo, where, at the end of the century, St Ambrose consecrated a Christian basilica. To the south. the citv had reached the
Arno.
At the time of the I-ongobards, the diocese of Ap,l'zzct ruled over an enormous
area, ftom the Casentino to Cortona and from Nlontevarchi to the river Arbia,
but we have so little information that we are unable to reconstruct either the
events of the first three centuries of the early N'Iiddle Ages or the characteristics
of the region, except along very general lines. The most valuable element available to modern researchers is the network of churches, which, however, have no
fragments of sculpture dating from the first phase of I-ongobard domination.
There are some materials from the Longobard period in the Nledieval and NIodern Nluseum in Arezzo'. among these, a rax (sort of long knife) and two spathae
(swords) which an X-rav examination have revealed to be damascened. But the
most inieresting materiais come from the excavations on the site of the old cathedral, on the Pionta hill (razed to the grouncl by the Nledici in 1561): in the tomb
of a small girl there were, as well as the gold thread from the brocade veil, a pair
of gold earrings with pendants with regular settings-green glass paste and
amethyst drops-in a late Roman style very popular among the Byzantines and
adopted also by the I-ongobards (first half of the 7th century; there are other examples in the Archaeological Nluseum of Grosseto and in that of Florence, founcl
at SantaCristina near Bolsena)
Among the few examples of earlv medieval architecture in Tuscany, the only
one that seemsto have kept its original characteristics is the little temple of Santo
Stefano in the plain of ANc;t tt,tRt. Today it is in the diocese of Arezzo, but it was
originally in that of Citti di Castello, a city that probably grew up around a Byzantine fortification and later developed into a l-ongobard outpost. The builcling
is square in plan, built in bricks and clecorated with blind arches outside. Insicle,
the nave and two aisles are divided by round arches, resting on columns, anci a
vestibule. The church, which probably dates from the 7th century, is connected
to the civilization of Ravenna. It has also been suggested that it represents the
theological symbol of the Trinity, in an area which was for a long time Arian.
In the war between the Greeks and the Goths, FL<tnnNr-ttwas a Byzantine
stronghold and was besieged by Totila. During the l-ongobard occupation, together with eastern Tuscany, frlorence was part of a region whose main centres
were l,ucca and the new Via Francigena, for neighbouring Romagna was still dom-

"dt
L]

' 1fl1
75
7r---=|

l
L

l
U
n

76
71. Co/d eanings (fron .lanta Cristina
near Bo/sena,frtt ha/f of the 7th rentary).
F/arence,Arcltaeo/r4i ca/ M useum.
72. Angbiari, tenp/e af Santo.ltefano(7th
centur.y
).
7i. F/orence,the apse of tbe charch of .lanta
Reparata.
74. l/nrence,.fragntents of the mosaic.flaarof
tlte origina/ churcb ofSanta Reparata (6th
cenlury).
7 5. Cround-p/an of the ear/y Christian
church of .lanta Reparata.
76. Croand-plan of tbe pre-Romanesqae
and Romanesquechurch af Santa Reparata.

46

\rezzo, I;iesolc and Florenct

rflf
78

I
anfireatro /

all

\/,
^-I

77. I,{ecklaceclasps (Jron tonb 21 at Fieso/e, 7tb - 8 tb centa ry ). Fi esole, Arcltae ologica/ Museam.
78. Fragmenx of damascenedbelt decorations (7th-8tb centary).Fiesole,Arcbaeological Museam.
79. The deuelopmentof the cig of Flarence
up to tbe earj Midd/e Ages.
I l c ' l : t h c R o m . t nc r \ , i ' , l J ( . r .
llccl clottccl line: thc maximum expansion cluring
thc Roman period (2nd ccntury ,,\.D.; arouncl
10,000 rnhabitants).
Creen: the Bvzantine ca:trazt (511-568; around
1 , ( X ) 0i n h a b i t a n t s ) .
l)urple: the Caroiingian u'alls (late 9th centurr';
around 5,000 inhabitants).
Yellou': the walls built bv Countcss i\latildc
( 1078; arounci 20,000 inhabitants).
L The river \lugnone during the Roman period.
II. The river Nlugnonc after its course u'as chan
gcd in 107ti - toda\"s Via Tornabuoni.

inated by the Byzantines. Under the Fra.nks, the city became the
seat of a
county; under the ottonians, it became part of the marquisate of ruscanv.
Flor_
ence, wirh its Roman origins, had a uniqu,e relationship with Fiesole, of Eiruscan
origin: both were the seats of dioceses,but their territ-ories were more or less
in_
terwoven. It.was only in 1,125that Frorence definitively asserted its hegemony,
destroying what little autonomy Fiesole had left.
The excavation of Santa Reparata, under the catheclral of Florence, has
provided us with a wealth of matirials documenting the history of the city i. the
\licldle Ages, especially between the 4th and 11th1ent,.,.ie.. fhe Roman
occuDatron came to an end at the-beginning of the 5th century, when the city was conquered by Radagaisusin 406. The church ofSanta Reparata was founded around
the year 500. Even in its name it is evidence o[ rrery close ties with the relision
practisedin Ravenna and the Exarchate.Ten panelsof the floor mosaic hrue"rr.vived: they are decorated with quatrefoils, wirh facing lozenges and peltas, surrounded by swastikas, circles and meanders with peac6cks in"the midile. lt is so
similar to decorations from the region along the northern Adriatic, that it enables
us to date it at the 6th century. \r)7eknow ihat the church was in use cluring the
7th century thanks to the objects found in a Longobard tomb. A seco.,d
pf,ase,
"carolingian"
(9th century), witnessed the constriction of a crvDt and the addition of two trapeze-shapedt]r1_ets,forming almost a rransept. Ii was probably at
^San
this time that the seat of the bishopric was iransferred from
Loreizo to Santa
Reparata by Bishop Andrea. The body of the founding bishop, Saint Zenobius,
was also moved to the site which, until 1965, was called the..mortuarv chaoel of
Saint Zenobius" and constituted the only trace in Santa ,\laria del Fio." jf th.
earlier cathedral. A third phase, Romanesque, dates from the time of Bishoo Ger a r d o ( m i d - l l t h c e n t u r y ) , w h o c a m e f r o m B u r g u n d y . T h i s p h a s ei l c l o s e l yc o n nected to cluniac architecture. The church was completely- reconstrr.,cted.and
the side chapels and small apseswere added as well as pilasterswith transversal
arches at the crossing.and a rough marble and stone pavement. The style was basically."retrospective", indicating solidarity with cluny, as opposed ,o .,p.og...sive", like the cathedral of Pisa built soon afterwards.
The Archaeological Nluseum in Ftl,sot-tr houses several earlv medieval objects from Longobard necropolises around the thearre, inptazza Mino
da Fiesole
and villa Marchi, as well as some pottery found in a well in piazza Mtno
(1Oth-11thcentury). we know neitherthe size nor the exact location of the
earlv
medieval settlemenr, although it must have been nearbv and certainly within the
Etruscan walls. The tombs, dating from the late 6th and 7th centuries, are built
of upright stones, covered in stone slabs: the reconstruction of one such tomb is
visible at the entrance to the excavations. The pottery found in them consisted
mostly of objects produced locally, but there *.r. ^iro some imporred pieces.
such as an AFrican bowl or_a set of bottles very similar to rhose pioduced'in the
area of the lower Rhein valley. A particularly interesting collection of personal
obiects belonging to a woman includes fragments of gofi brocade and necklace
clasps..Among the men's personal objects th.re we.e sfearheads, spatltae(swords)
and bejewelled belt buckles and decorations, a techniqueiypical ofLongobaid craftsmanship in Italy. The pottery from the well in piazza Mino, mostlv iable and kitchen goblets, were found in 1879 together with some wooden buckets, on vrew
in the same room of the museum. one of these, examined with c14, has enabled
us to date the objectsat the 10th-11th centurv.

47

PISA,LUCCA AND LUNI

The Lower Palaeolitbic is representedb1 shardsfoand at Liuorno, b1
bifucial implenents around Liaorno and in the lower Arno ualle-y.Numeroas
sarfacefnds from the Moasterian period are in tbe area around Liuornrt, at
Massaciurcoliand in caaesof tbe Apuan Alps. The Upper Palaeolitbicis we//
documented
in almosta/l its aspectsin tbe area around Liuorno, at Massaciurin
the
lower
ua//e1of tbe Arno and in the Lima ualley Microlithic meson/i,
lithic finds comefrom the passeson the Appennines. The l\eo/ithic period is
documented
b1 inpressed cerarnicsfoundnear Pisa,particulari at tbe Riparo
LaRomita at Asciano, which hasprouided us witb objectsfron the Neolitbic-represented fu incised line potterl and the cultures of Lagozza and
Diana-througb to the barbarian inaasions.On the sand danesnear San Rosof a settlementcharacterized b1 incisedline pottery
slre wehauefound eaidence
and late Lagozza cultare oblects;otherLagoz2a ca/tare remainswerefoundat
Grotta del/'Onda and at Massaciurcoli.The documentationof tbe l{eolithic is
alsoabundant:tberearefindsfron its earj stage(Ronita, Grotta del Leone,
Grotta dell'Onda, San Rossore)andfron /aler periods, characterizedb1 the
local influencesof the Rinaldone cultare and other northern trends, represented
onj fu tombsin creaicesand cauesin tbe ruounlainousareas (Monte Pisano,
Apaan Alps, Garfagnana,Lunigiana). Thereare alsoelementsfromthe bel/shapeduasemlture. The Bronze Age is lesswe// represented,witb just afew
finds at Coltano and occasiona/
fragments at Romita, somenon-representatiue
fragnentsfound in tbeproto-Villanoaangrottoesand sbeltersat Cabbro,Lirnoneand Pariana. Also worlhl of mention,in Lunigiana, are the ste/e-statues
datingfron a// the aarioas metal ages.(Materials are in tbe Arcbeological
Museum in Florence,in the FlorentinePrehistoricalMaseam,at the FaculQ rtf
AntbropologJ at Pisa, at tbe Ciuic Museam in Viaregiq at Vil/a Cuinigi in
Lucca, at tbe Archaeologica/Museum at Caso/a in Lunigiana and at tbe
Malaspina Castle at Pontrenoli).
The territory of Pts,t consisted in the stretch of the Arno valley
from San N'liniato to the seaand the coastal area from Castiglioncel1oto Serravezzainarchaictimes, to Camaiorefrom the middle of the
3rd century B.C. onwards. I-ike the territory of Fiesole,it was a typical border region, as is proved also by the variability of its northern
frontier. The stretch along the coast was clotted with small settlements from the end of the 7th century onwards; thesecommunities
prosperedthanks to maritime trade. Among them were Massarosa
and the town documented by the warehouse discovered tn Piazza
dei Cavalieri in Pisa, where the large number of amphoras is evidence of the importance of this commercial port used by Phocaean
merchants.From the 5th century, the connectionsbetween the territory of Pisa and the towns on the other sicleof the Appenninesis
documented by ceramics, small bronze statues and typical pearshaped marble inscribed stones resting on square bases decorated
with rams'headswhich will soon be on view in the new NluseodelI'Ooera della Primaztale tn Pisa. These finds show the ties between
Pisa and Volterra (there are similar objects in the Guarnacci NIuseum in Volterra) and Nlarzabotto and SassoN{arconi. The communication route-along the valley of the Arno, the Serchio and the
L,nza-is documented bv manv finds. such as the tombs in the Bien-

l)isa, Lucca and Luni

:-]

i:
t.
l*;r

1
'_
':'

t#
80. Lagozzt calture ceramicsfroru Grotta
del Leone, Agnano, I"leolitbi). Pita, Insti/ute rf Antbropa/0g1,.
81. S*le-statues from Lunigiana (neta/
ages).La Spezia, Ciuic Museum.

tina basin (at that time crossed by the river Auser, today calred Serchio) with their Attic gold jewellery and potterf, and the necropolis
of Ponte a Moriano (first half of the 3rd ientury) with its many referencesto the aristocratic family Perma,also found at Spina (seethe
items now in Villa Guinigi in Lucca).
We know very little of the development of pisa. From around
the middle of the 3rd century B.C., it became a Roman stronghold
against the Gauls and the Ligurians, who were beginning to move
southward, and against Hannibal. The strong pfesence of the Rom^n atmy in the area led to the foundation of Lucca in the territory
of Pisa (180 B.C.) and of Luni in Ligurian territory (177 B.C.). Th;
prosperity of the are ^t the time is documented by a few finds in
Pisa, by the tombs of Fonte vivo (on the site of the town hall of San
Miniato) and by the pre-Roman ruins under the baptistry of Lucca.
Here, as well as the kelebai(black ceramics of Volterran origin), archaeologistshave also found imported objects. particularly worthy
of mention are two female statues in marble (end of the 3rd century), one from Pisa (new Museo dell'Opera della primaziale) and
the other from San Miniato (Archaeological Museum in Florence),
comparable to the volterran sculpture of the time. After the foundation of Luni, it appearsthat Pisa lost importance as a port, while the
small port of castiglioncello developed and flourish.d fo. the whole
of the 2nd century (tombs in the Archaeological Museum in Florence ).
Is-was only under Augustus that LuccA was included in the region
of Etruria and its territory was divided into "centuries.,' Lucca-had
previously been a fairly important centre because of its position
along the communication routes, and it remained one under the Romans. In 56 B.C. it was in Lucca that Caesar,pompey and Crassus
met to renew their agreement(First Triumvirate).
The city was surrounded by walls (some parts are still visible at

l)isa, I-ucca and l-uni

82. Lacm, ruins of the Roman wa/lt in the

charch of .lanta Maria della Rosa.
83. Base af a narb/e cippas, decoratedwith
rams' heads (fron the area aroand Pisa,
ear/y 5th centurl B.C.). Pisa, Masea
de//'( )1teradd/a Prinazia/t.

Santa Maria della Rosa) and laid out according to a regriar plan
rather like those of military camps (castra).During the late imperial
age, the walls were provided with watchtowers. Within the walls
there was a theatre (ruins near Sant'Agostino), while outside there
was an amphitheatre,later incorporated into some medieval buildings that maintained, however, its circular shape. The arca of the
arena is today the Piazza del Mercato. Objects found in Lucca and
surroundings are in the Villa Guinigi Museum.
The port of LUNI (Luna was the pre-Roman name) overlooks the
gulf of La Spezia.It must have been important, active and accessible
to the Romans even before the founding of the colony (177 B.C.). It
was from here that Consul Cato set off towards Spain in 194 B.C.
The town, on the left bank of the Magra, became part of Etrurizand
marked its northern boundary. It was probably at the time of the
founding of the colony that the town was given its regular plan,
with the usual grid of streets intersecting at right angles. The area
where the forum was built must have been a public space even before; two temples, dating from the very first years of the colony,
stood there (the architectural terracottas which decorated them are
in the Archaeological Museum in Florence). On a slightly higher level and facing in a different direction, there was the Capitoliun) a tripartite temple dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva) built later
than the first two temples. The Via Aenilia Scauriseparatesthe CaPitzlian from the forum. At that stage it was the continuation of the
Via Aurelia, and will be called that after the 3rd century A.D. In recent years, systematic excavations have taken place in Luni, bringing to light many buildings including some private houses,many of
which arc yery large and have mosaic floors. The walls were built
partly in concrete, p^rtly in large blocks of local stone. Both Rutilius
Namatianus at the beginning of the 5th century A.D. and Ciriaco of
Ancona in the 15th mentioned the existence of marble walls, but
they probably mistook the ruins of some other building for the city

50
Agriculture and the Agrarian landscape

The earliest agricultural activity is documented by palaeobotanical remains

(wheat, barley, millet, beans, lentils)
and by agricultural tools: f.ragments of
sickles, grindstones and stone mullers,
wells and underground silos for the
preservation of foodstuffs.
The appropriation of land and the
subsequent setting up ofborders lies at
the root of the development of the
Etruscan people: the boundaries of the
land are considered sacred. thev are
the projection of a cosmic order tased
on the separation of the elements, as is
shown by the prophecy of Vegoia and
by the numerous inscribed stones
marking property divisions (see p. 31).
In agriculture, contact with the Greek
world introduced several more rational innovations: the practice of fallowing (the alternation of leguminous
crops and wheat crops), the cultivation
of the vine (7th century) and of the
olive (5th century), and even the instrument used for measuring the land,
the groma, for which even the name
was borrowed from the Greek. Classical writers tell us how remarkably fertile the Etruscan fields were. so much
so that the Roman populace, after the
fall of Veii, wanted to move to rhe
newly conquered territory because it
was more fertile (Livy). But we also
know that all this fertility was due to
man's interyention as well. This intensive agricultural activity did not decline even when Etruria lost its independence, for all the Etruscan cities,
except Arezzo and Populonia, supplied
Scipio's African campaign (205 B.C.)
with agricultural produce and timber.

lived in the city if their property was

nearby, or in farms on the land. The
fields surrounding these modest dwellings, usually housing only one family,
were used for mixed crops. The vine,
for example, was "married" to supporting trees and the rest of the field
was taken up by grain, vegetables and
leguminous plants, and whatever else
might be necessary for the survival of

the family. Often, however, the produce of the land was not sufficient and
then portions of public land (ager
pabblica:) were taken over, primarily
as pasture land. When th. highranking citizens of Rome, mostly
members of the Senate, began to appropriate the land, setting up large
landed estates controlled bv villas. the
agricultural activity becami more spe-

The agrarian landscape of Etruria in

Roman times is strictly connected to
the territory's political and administrative set-up. On the land controlled by
the allied cities the traditional Etruscan cultivation methods continued to
predominate, whereas in those areas
where the Roman presence was more
direct, such as the colonies, the landscape began to look more like that of
Latium and Campania. The land was
divided anto centuries (a svstem of
measuring and dividing the land according to the intersection of axes at
right angles) and the plots granted to
the colonizing farmers. The colonizers

II

cialized and intensive. The crops were

mostly exported. For the most part the
cultivations consisted in vines, olives,
fruit trees, leguminous plants and
grain (in rotation on the same fields)
and anything else that was necessary to
feed the numerous agricultural labourers that lived in the villa. The maioritv
oF these workers were slaves. During
the middle and late imperial age the
land became progressively more the
property of the emperor, and the appearance of the landscape changed
considerably. Intensive cultivation was
replaced by extensive (the alternation
of wheat, fallow and pasture). The villas were replaced, starting in the 2nd
century A.D., by a few very large buildings (among which the maritime villas)
connected to the development of these
vast and underpopulated estates.
The peasants and farmers were probably the ones who were less affected by
the fall of the Roman empire and the
impact with the Germanit tribes, for
the Longobards adopted the Roman
laws governing land division. The system of the cartis, which in Tuscany is
documented primarily
through the
large ecclesiastical estates, was organized rather loosely around the curtis itself. the direct descendant of the late
Roman vllla. Large estates might consist of more than one curtis, even quite
fat apart from each other. Division
and subdivision were the fundamental
characteristics of early medieval agrarian landscape, both because of mixed
cultivations and for the very nature of
the cartis, vrithin which the property
was divided tnto sorti, mansi andpetia de
terra. Some of these had a house on
them where freed men or serfs lived,
while the overlord's part, controlled
directly, consisted also of pasture land
and woods. During the early Middle
Ages many changes took place in the
distribution of settlements and population: the initial preponderance of scattered settlements in the olains was replaced progressively by-hilltop communities.

I. The so-called "Ponte Sodo" at Veii (5tb

century B.C.). ActaaQ, it is an artifcial
tannel wbich was used to cbangethe cotrse of
tbe Cremera riaer.
II. Reconstructionof tbe large pigsj in tbe
Rortan ailla at Settefinatre near Cosa.

51
III. Snall bronTeaotiuestatae of a ntan
pkugl)ing (from Arezzq late 5th centarl'
B.C.). Rone,Vi//a Giulia.
IV. Re/iefsbowingslauesprusing grapes.
Aq ui lei a, Archaeo/ogica/ Mu seam.

I)isa, Lucca and Lunj

84. Lucca, the arcades of the Ronan anphitbeatre.

85. Lacca, aeria/ uiew; in'the lower part,
the market sqaare built on the site of the Ronan Amphitheatre.

walls. Outside the walls, the ruins of the amphitheatre ^re still visible, and, within the walls, there was a theatre built in the JulianClaudian period. The relatively small size of this theatre makes one
suppose that the population was quite small. An event which added
to the prosperity of the town must have been the discovery of the
quarries of white marble, called Lunensian or Carrarzmarble, which
was used for the first time, according to Pliny, in 48 B.C. Between
40 and 30 B.C. its usagebecamewidespread and, by the time of Augustus, it was used in large quantities in Rome and the provinces.
The blocks of marble were transported by sea to the mouth of the
Tiber, then carried to the various parts of the capital. The town of
Luni must also have prospered thanks to the surrounding fertile
plain. Both Pliny and Martial speak of the famous large cheesesand
Pliny thought that the wine from Luni was the best in Etruria. The
amphoras used for transporting wine are evidence of a thriving
wine trade as early as the 1st century B.C.
Of Roman PISA, on the other hand, we know very little. There
are inscriptions which document its importance, among which the
Elogia pisana, recording the honours tributed to Caius and Lucius
Caesari (2-4 A.D.), which can be seen together with other Roman
items at the Camposanto. The location of the various buildings in
the city is still not known (there are remains of baths, known as
"Nero's
baths," near Porta a Lucca). Many pieces of Roman marble
(mostly from Rome and Ostia) -.r. ,..rr.i in the construction of
later important buildings, such as the cathedral. Many Roman sarcophagi were also reused between the 11th and 15th centuries; they
may be seen at the Camposanto.
'We

know very little about eady medieval LUCCA, despite the fact that it was the
capital of the region; it was occupied by the Longobards very early-probably
before 570-and they settled within the Roman walls, as is documented by the
finds at Santa Giulia and San Romano, later spreading out to the countryside as
well (see, for example, the burial site at Marlia). Among the Longobard objects

53
Pisa, I-ucca and Luni

with geoFound in the tombs are the little gold cfosses, sometimes decorated
onto the cloth
sewn
were
which
engraved),
(in
relief-or
pattefns
animal
or
metfic
this custom
.orreri.rg the facetf the deceased. For a long time it was believed that
or MeItalic
is
that
it
proved
have
studies
recent
more
*^ r.f;'fy Germanic, but
than one tomb at
more
in
found
crosseswere
leaf
Five
gold
origin.
in
diterranean
was also discovSanta Giulia, wheie the ve!, ehborate gold apparel of a knight
together with
Guinigi
at
villa
the-museum
in
ered. All these obiects u." ,ro*
the central
unbo,
the
(7th
century):
Romano
at
san
forrnd
shield
oarts of a Darade
showing
part,wooden
the
and the metal-plate_sthat decorated
;;;;;,h.';hield,
den, or
lion's
the
in
Daniel
or
Longobards,
ofihe
hrchangel Michael, protector
himself.
deceased
even the
atPiazzadel
Longobard presence in the area is also documented by the finds
and began
settled
first
Longobards
the
(where
Serchio-and San Lo.enzo a Vaccoli
"Lamina" of Agilulf (^
leaf pecthe
by
Tuscany),
of
,h.i. .o.,q,r..t
ry.ld
f.amo5
found i"'ir'. vutai"ievole area (now in 'Lt B-gtJl-"-National
;;;;l ;t;;-.nt),
dei Miracoli in
Museum of Florence) and, above all, by the discoveries in Piazza
pisa. where there was a necropolis iaid out on Roman foundations. Here,
of
belts with precious stone decorations were found; the Patterns ^consist
Matteo
di
San
Museo
7th
century,
the
of
half
(second
entwined snakelike animals
in pisa) that arecomparable io north Tyrolean belts of the same period..
evident
The decline of the cities and of the urban organization .is particularly
begun
dig,
archaeological
a
systimatic
where
as early as the 6th century at LUNI,
the area
in
houses
extremell
two
to_light
brought
has
ago,
Poo.
o^ty uh* years
from
that had been the forum. They"show ho"lesurhere the poles stood and.stones
wideobviously
an
of
evidince
are
They
earlier constructions have been used.
except that it
sOread |ifestyle that archaeologists, howevei, still know little about,
tribes.
riust have e*isted even beforJthe arrival of the Germanic
from tombs
in. Longobard presence is documented by the bronze objects
buckles, arfibulas,
city
walls:
the
within
even
frequently
(burial by infiumation),
similar
but
quite
Lin^, ^rra brooches, all more or less in the Byzantine tradition
Tes(Verona),
Castelvecchio
at
i" "U1..,, found in ihe Longoburd necropolises
on'
so
(Lucca)
and
(Turin),
Giulia
Santa
tona
of almost a century, archaeologists have recently ,reAit., "rr'i.rt.rruption
a cathedral
sumed work on the basilica of Luni. The construction was formally
was
diocese
the
of
the
seat
1204,
when
untrl
century
the
9th
of
from the middle
stages and
transferred toSarzana.The basilica vras built in at least three different
its foundations are Roman.

86. Luni, aerial uiewof the Romanamphitheatre.

87. Bronzelaminas belongingto a parade
balf of the
shield(fron SanKomano'second
Cuinigi'
Vil/a
7th centurl. Lucca,
plaquey!
88. Bronzespurs,spearheads,
half of the
stads (from ian Romano,second
7th centurl). Lacca,Villa Cainigi.

VOI-TE,RRA.POPULONIA AND SIE,NA

The Lower Palaeolitbicis represented
bl sbardsfoundat Bibbonaand b1a biinplementfrom
Monastero
d'Ombrone;
tbe Midd/e Palaeolitbicb1 sarfacial
along
the
ualley
of
the
and
Merse
tbe
Farma. Tbe archaic tJpper
facefnds
Palaeolitbic is documentedat Montalcino and the Graaettian at Mante .fan
Sauino.An incisedshard, showinga bison,wasfoandat Lustignano. The Neolitbic is representedon/1 fu a .fewfragments of inpressed pottery found at
Piornbino,wbile tbe Aeneolitbic is docuruenledb1 the ditch tombsat Pornarance,Cuardistall0, Canigliano and Monteroni d'Arbia, b1 tbe Grotta di
Sant'Antimo near Montalcino and b1 the little grotto tomb al Montebradoni
near Volterra. Tbe BronzeAge is representedb1 tbe co//ections
of ear/1 objects
found at Canpiglia, Castiglion d'Orcia, Souicilleand Populonia,and b1 uariaus other singlefnds. (Objects in tbe Pigorini Museunt in Rome and in the
Archaeo/ogicalMuseumsof Sienaand Florence).
Materials dating from the Villanovan culrure (9th-7th centuries
B.C.) have been found near V()I-TuRRA,in the necropolisesof Badia, Ripaie and Guerruccia; they show close connecrions with the
civilization of Bologna at the time (seethe objectsin the Guarnacci
N{useumin Volterra). The "Oriental" phasewas lessdevelopedhere:
it was still tied to the Villanovan tradition, as far as funeral ritual
was concerned,although it also shows some analogieswith contempor^ry southern Etrurian civilizations. Particularly interesting are
the cinerary urn of Nlontescudaio(mid-7th century) which has on its
lid, executedin an elementary sculptural form, a representationof
the deceasedat a banquet; the bucchero rtyathosfrom Nlonteriggioni,
imported from southern Etruria (examplesin the Guarnacci NIuseum); the q I tomb from Badia (about 650-625 B.C.) on view in the
museum, which contained h,truscan-Corinthianoil jars proving that
Volterra had commercial ties with southern h,truria, via the port of
Populonia. From the early 6th century onwarcls, the typtcal tbolos
tombs began to be used throughout the area: they are formed by
rows of stone slabs, each row projecting further than the previous
one, sustained by a central pilaster. All these tboloi, or beehive
tombs, were found in the valley of the Cecina, at CasaleNlarittimo
(reconstructed in the Archaeological Museum in Florence), at Casaglia (reconstructed in the garden of the town hall of Cecina), at
Bolgheri and at Bibbona (no longer standing). The objects in them
(Archaeological N{useum, Florence), mostly imported from southern Etruria, are analogousto the contemporary ones from Populonia, which in the archaic perioci was the area's only port. Some
soufces even state that Populonia was founcleclbv Voiterra. It is
likely that it is also thanks io the ties with Populonia that a casker
full of Phocaean and Massalian coins (Archaeological Nfuseum,
Florence) arrived in Volterra and that the artistic acrivitiesof the second half of the 6th century were characterized by a "Ionic" style:
inscribed steles with figures of knights (examples in the museum),
some bronze statuettes and the so-called "Lorenzini head" (about
480 B.C.), in marble, probably belonging to rhe full-figure starueof
a gocl.
It was at this time, thanks particularly to rhe copper mining in
the area, that the city as such was born; the walls were built (no

Volterra, Populonia and Siena

55

89. Reconstruction
of the tho/ostonb of (.asa/e Marittintt, (araund 620-600 B.(..).
I:/orence,Arcbaeo/rgira/ Museurt.

longer standing) as well as stone buildings with tiled roofs on the

Acropolis. The marble bases of inscribed stones, decorated with
,u-rt heads, and the recurrence of the name Kaikna on three steles
in Bologna are evidence of Volterra's participation in the refounding of Felsina (Bologna) and the foundation of Marzabotto
(early 5th century).
From the 4th century to the end of the 2nd, Volterra experienced
its period of greatest prosperity, probably thanks to its wellorganized plan of intensive agriculture which we have discovered
through the presenceof several small settlements scatteredthroughout the countryside. By this time Volterra ruled over a vast territory:
the stretch of coast from the river Fine to Bolgheri, the valleys of the
Cecina and of the Era, the valley of the Elsa and the fortress of
Monteriggioni. The city built a new set of enormous walls (which
are still standing in some places,such as Badia), began to coin money and to produce atypical kind of ceramic ware (red-figure kraters
and ceramic varnished black and then painted; examples in the
Guarnacci Museum). This pottery was exported, throughout the
4th,3rd and 2nd centuries, to the towns of northern Etruria, of I-igt:.ia, beyond the Appennines as far as Adria and Spina and even to

ste/e,witlt dedicalarf itt90. Stone.funeraql'

scription to Auile I'ite, porlra.led as d Ddr
rior ( 5 5 0- 5 2 5 B.C.). Llaherra,Cuartatt
Musean.

Volterra, Populonia and Siena

92
91. Reconstruction
of the Inghiranti tonb al
Vo/terra (2nd centurl B.C.). Flnrence,Archaeologica/Museum.

Corsica (Aleria). Particularly important is the collection of cinerary

urns (Archaeological Museum in Florence and Guarnacci Museum
in Volterra) which follow, at a remarkably high artistic level, the
various currents of the Hellenistic period (Microasiatic, Rhodic,
Pergamonic, Classicistic).The Hellenistic style is also evident in the
architectural terracottas found in the temple on the Acropolis,
which was rebuilt during the first half of the 2nd century B.C. But
this flourishing artistic activity soon came to an end, for the aristocracy stopped commissioning works, so anxious were they to become an integral part of the Roman state. Evidence of this can be
found in the portraits of local magistrates, commissioned by themselves,on urns dating from the early 1st century and also in the history of the Ceima-Caecinafamily.
PopuroxrA is the only Etruscan city that even the ancient geographers considered anomalous for its position on the sea. It owed
its orosperity, which lasted uninterruptedly from the archaic period
to late Hellenism, to the mineral resources in the arca of Campiglia
and on the island of Elba: the maritime transportation of these -itterals made its port the most developed of the arca. On the coast of
the bay of Baratti, Villanovan necropolises, belonging to two separate communities, have been found at Poggio del Molino, Poggio alla
Porcareccia, San Cerbone and at Granate. These show close links

Voiterra, Populonia ancl Siena

-M
' . f \

#
.*{*;
,/*q{#qf-

,t

with the culture of the Nuraghe, perhaps brought here by phoenician traders. As early as the end of the 9th century B.C. they were
building chamber tombs for multiple burials, covered by a dome
made by progressively projecting stone slabs. Between the mid-8th
and the mid-7th centuries, contact with Greek merchants in search
of mineral ore does not seem to have brought much prosperity to
the region, probably becausethis trade was mediated by the mote
powerful (and more socially evolved) communities of southern
Etruria. Despite this, in the first half of the 7th century some large
mound tombs were built (for example, those of the Flabelli or of t6e
Carri, which can be seen in that part of the necropolis that is open ro
the public). The marvellous collection of objects found here is evidence of a rigidly aristocratic and warrior ideology: iron weapons,
andirons, grills and locally manufactured chariots. From the lasi decades of the 7th century and throughout the 6th, the number of imported artifacts (Etruscan-Corinthian, Corinthian, Greek-Oriental
and Attic ceramics) which have been found in the tombs-from the
earliest mound tombs, to the aedicu/ae,to the sarcophagi, to the cassonetombs-increased considerably; it also reflects an acquaintance
with Greek-oriental culture which influenceseven the local artistic
activities, such as the acroteria and the palm-shaped decorations at
the top of stone steles(examples in the Archaeological Museum in
Florence and in the local museum).
Towards the middle of the 6th century the necroDoliseswere all
transferred to the flat stretch of coast along the bay und " ,.t of walls
was built (in part srill standing), which enclosed the two pogi
(hills), Poggio del Molino and Poggio del Castello. This leads us to

92. I'o/turra, the archedgate (3rd-2nd

centarlB.(.).
9). A/abaster urn from Vo/terra (late
3rd centary B.(.). Vatican, Gregorian
Etrascan Masean. On the /id, lhe deceased
roup/e; on the base, Pelops ki/ls Enamaos.
'l'lte
sty/x shows the inf'luence of the art o/'
Perqanton.
91. Branze cainfrom the Vo/terra mint, reyerse side ()rd centur.l B.C.). Along tbe
rin, tbe inscription Velathri (Vo/terra),.at
the centre, a do/pbin and tbe yntbol of its
aa/ae. V a/terra, G uarnacci Mas eurt.
9 5. Branze rtatuette af a warrior (fron Popa/onia,frst half of the 5th century B.(.).
F/nrence,Archaea/ogica/Museam.

58
Metallurgy

'I'he

scienceof metallurgy reached Italy

cluring the 3rd millennium B.C. and is
clocumented at first by copper and ar_
senic daggers and flat axes, as well as
by traces of mining activities founcl in
Tuscany and Trentino. During the
Bronze Age, the use of -.tri*u,
widespread, not only for weapons but
also for tools (axes, sickles) u.rd or.,u_
ments (collars, brooches, bracelets).
The many stone moulds that have been
found prove that the processing also
took place Iocally.
Traces of mining activity have been
found in the area around Massa Marittima and Campiglia, where the smelt_
ing furnaces for iron and copper were
placed near the mines (the onls at Val
Fucinaia, at Campiglia, in use from the
8th century B.C. onwards, are open to

ffi W

the public). The iron ore mined on the

island of Eiba, on the other hand, was
processed at Populonia after the 6th
century.
In the 8th and 7th centuries B.C.
metal objects were manufactured al_
most exclusively at Vetulonia, Vulci,
Tarquinia and Caere; the old proce_
dure of rhinly hammered layers,loined
together with rivets, *rs ,s.d. Lat.r.
al'ter the 6th-5th cenlury, the work_
shops in sourhern Etiuria (Vulci.
Caere, Volsinii) and those in inland
northern Etruria learnt from the
Greeks the practice of soldering and
began to make more use of the cistine
procedure, specially in the productioi
of vases.These innovations led. on the
one hand, to much shorter production
t i m c s a n t l i n c r e a s e dq u a n t i t i e s m
, akinq
Etruscan produce competitive on

other Italian and central Eurooean

markcts; and on the other made it oos_
sible to create large-scalestatues, of
which the Mars from Todi, the Chi_
maera and the Orator ard the only sur_
viving examples.
Vfe have very little information about
mining activity in Roman times, and
what little we have has yet to be prop_
e.rly studied. The processing of iron,
tne most common metal in Etruria,
probably continued much as before. At
Populonia, an analysis of the quantity
ot lron present in the scrap--much
more_than in the previous periodwould seem to indicate " mrrih faste.
but less.accurate processing technique.
According to the informatlon we have
today, iron processing in popuionia increased in the 3rd and 2nd centuries.

ilm

ffi

&

ffi

. ,f-.*'

W
@
@.kffiK#W

19

l*u;*.;li.

,i.,'i;l

ilI

it:
'L'

.#
' S ,
i;

:,:Ji:ft: .

"l;t'$t.

: l' i-r ! . i ' i .

'-',.t\,

,.,,tf ' r ' Jf r

g:
l'

f
ii,:;'':.,r,^u'

probably becauseof the increase in demand fiom Rome. Pliny mentions Pooulonia's vast contribution of iron to
Rome at the time of the second Punic
war. But in the lsl centurv iron orocessingseemsro Fall oft quite sud<lenly, more or less at the same time as the
development of metallurgical activities
in Carnia, in the Alps. The copper
mines of Vetulonia and Populonia,
and the cinnabar (used for leagues)
ones on Mount Amiata, apper to have
suffered the same fate, probably because of the competition afforded by
the mines in the Iberian peninsula.

I. Bronze axes and ingols (fron Cantpi,q/ia

X[aritlinta, ear/1, BronT.eAgi). F/orence,
,4 rcbaeologicalMaseun.
II. Bronzelamina mrt (ront the O/no Be//o necropo/is,BisenTio,sennd ha/f of tlte 8th
ceaturl,B.(.). Rone, lli//a Cia/ia.
III. Bronze lanina lhrone uitb relief'decoration (rort the Barberini tamb al Prenestu,
first lta/f of the 7th rentury B.C.). Ronte,
l:i/la Ciu/ia.

II'. Re/ie/ shawin.qa h/arksrtitlt'.r n,ork

.rhrtp.. 1qui/tia, .1rtbuco/,tgica/,\Irstttrtt.

Il. Bronzeslatue of'a (himaera, with a uo/iue inscriplion (from Arezzo, early 4ilt cett
lary B.C.). F/nrence,Arcbaeo/ogiu/ XItrJuttTl.

60

Voltcrra, I)opulonia ancl Siena

.-,.f,ri.!:.

...-

9 6. Palnette-shapedcrowningf'stone ste/es
(secondba/f of the 6tb centary,).Populonia,
Casparri Museunt.
97. Papa/onia,Archaic wal/s (around the
nid-6th centuryB.(.).
98. Papa/onia, aedicala and cassanetombs
(6th-5th centary B.C.). In theforegraand,
'tonb of the
the aedicala tontb known as the
branzcstataettenaking an ffiring.'
99,, Populonia,Porcareccianecropa/is,F/abelli tumulus, with lwo stoneste/esinfront of
tbe entrance (secondbalf of the Vtb rcntar1,
B.C.).

believe that the community had become a city and it is significant

that it should have happened at the same time as the processing of
the minerals from Elba becamepubliclv administered. An industrial
factory was built for this prtpo.. ouiside the city, at Poggio alla
Porcareccia;it contained also housing for the workers and was used
until the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. Also at this time PopuIonia began to coin its own money, an indispensableinstrument for
the development of the metal trade; it coined sporadically at first,
but began to issue regular series(coins with Gorgon head) at the beginning of the 4th century and continued through to the middle of
the 3rd.
The city's prosperity continued during the 5th and 4th centuries,
as is shown by the importation of ceramics from Attica (the two hydrias by the painter Meidias in the Archaeological Museum in Florence are remarkable), and later from Latium, southern Etruria and

Voltcrra,I)opulonia and Sienr

61

Campania.Not even the two expeditions led by the Syracusansin

453 B.C. against the mining district seem to have causedmuch damage.

It was d-uring the 4th century that the industry of metal process.
ing reached its peak, as can be deduced from the vast accu;ulation
of scrapthat buried the old necropolis. At the sametime, the city becamevery powerful politically, as is shown by the construction of a
new set of walls with towers (visible along the road leading to the
castle)that isolated the whole promontory from the mainland. Also
at this time, the new hilltop fortresses on the island of Elba were
built to protec the mines. During the 3rd century, popuronia must
have joined rhe system of alliances with Rome and in 70s g.c. tLr.
city supplied iron for Scipio's campaign in Africa. During the 2nd
century, the port continued its activity of metal trade, but the pro_
cessinghad by then been rransferred ro Pureoli (Pozzuoli).
100
During the civil war VoLTERRA sided with Marius and this caused
Sulla's revenge: in 80-79 B.C. he besieged the city and eventually
conqueredit, depriving the inhabitants of Roman citizenship. But it
does not seem that Sulla then transformed the city into a colony, as
happenedin many other parts of Etruria.
The construction of the major public buildings is due to the most
important local families. The theatre, for example, was built in the
early 1st century A.D. by A. CaecinaSeverusand his son Sixtus. At
the foot of the stage there were statuesof Roman emperors (at the
Guarnacci Museum there are two statues of Augustus and one of
Livia). The names inscribed on the seats-among which the name
of the family of the poet Persius-provide interesting material for
the study of the local notables. The theatre was modernized and restored severaltimes during the 1st and2nd centuries, and in the 3rd
century it was definitively abandoned and used as a rubbish dump.
Behind the stage there is a large portico and a building housing
baths. A large cistern which supplied water to the whole city datei
from the Augustan period. Just outside Porta San Felice, on the
Acropolis, there are the ruins of baths and private houses (some
floor mosaicscan be seenin the Guarnacci Museum).
We know very little about the territory around Volterra, for it
has not yet been studied systematically.Researchhas recently been
undertaken at the villas of San Vincenzino and San Gaetano at
Vada. But we can state fairly certainly that there were many large
landed estatesbased on slave labour, as was common in northern
Etruria, while the areasfurther south were divided into smaller properties.
We have very little information about Poput-oxtA in Roman
times. We know that the city supplied iron for Scipio's campaign in
Africa (205 B.C.). Coins dating from the 2nd century B.C. prove
that at the time the city was still in existence. But the imperial age
must have brought a rapid decline, and we know that Strabo saw the
city in a state of total abandon, inhabited only by workers involved
in the metal industries. The production of iron, which had been particularly intensive during the middle and late republican period (and
perhaps even slightly later), has left us seven metres of accumulated

102
1()0. llc,/terra, the Roman tbeatre ( 1sl
centuryA.D.).
101. Vo/terra, the steps of tbe Roman
theatre.
102. Valterra, the mosaicJloor af tbe baths
( 1stcenturyA.D.).

Volterra, Populonia ancl Sienr

ffi
ttrE

'.

@--

,A.,
L:

l:-.,1:.4.:"

105

103. Montanenti, l2tlt-centary tower belonging to tbe castlekeep (B on thep/an). To

the left, tbe excauatiorc(1000 on theplan)
reuealthe /ate medieua/constructions.
104. Montarrenti, the peasants' aillage
(5000 on tbep/an). Under the late medieaa/ constructionswe cafl seetbe bolesfor the
beam of the earl1 medieualhouses.
10 5. Cround-plan of the castle of Montarrenti. At the centre, tbe buildings forning
the castle keep, surrounded b1 tbe peasantt'
ui//age.
106. Melted bronze belt cap and discshapedgold fbala (fron Volterra, late 7th
cent a ry ). Florence,Arcbae ologica/ M useum.

scrap along the coast of the bay of Baratti. There are ruins of a few
seaside villas along the coast of the promontory. Among these,
worthy of mention is the one of Poggio del Molino, where scholars
of the last century found a Nilotic mosaic dating from the first half
of the 1st century B.C. (sold, outside Italy, to private antique
dealers). In the museum of Populonia there are some inscriptions
dating from the Roman period.
The town of SrEx,t (Saena),which probably became a colony
under Augustus, grew up on the site of a previous settlement, possibly an Etruscan community called Saina. The town never really became important, despite its favourable position along the Cassian
Way. Very few materials have been found; they are in the local archaeological museum and among them is z portr^it of the so-called
Pseudo-Seneca.The recent discovery of some Roman period pottery
suggests,among other things, that the centre of the town was near
Castelvecchio.Lower down, more or less where today's Piazza del
Campo stands, there was the city's forum-which
was called campas
There
are
ruins
of
villas
on
the
surrounding
territory
(at Vico
fori.
Bello, Pieve alBozzone andLa Befa), but they all seem to have been

63
quite small. They must, however, have survived until quite late. orobably from the Augustan period until rhe 5th century A.D.
The bishopric of Stgxn was from the very beginning one of the smallest
in Tuscany, surrounded as it was by the two great dioceset of volt..r" and
Arezzo. The
latter p_racticallyreached as far as the gates ofthe city itself, This
was the result of
the different degree of importance of these cities in the Roman period.
During
the,first years of the Longobard occuparion, Siena had no bishop, but its
militari
and administrative territory grew considerably, at the expense'of Arezzo.
This
fact underlies the numerous Grritorial quarreli between tire two dioceses
which
were.only.definitively resolved in the earlv 13th century when it was decidecl
that
the churches of the area, claimed by Siena, were to be considered under
the aclministration of Arezzo. Some of these churches still house interesting fragmcnts
of early medieval sculpture. The economic development of Siena
wis clue to its
position along the Via Franctgena.
very few marerials dating from the early Ntiddle Ages, mostly housed in
the
Archaeological N{useum in Siena, have been found in thJarea ofthe city;
rraces of
"pre-Romanesque"
settlements in the countrysicle are equally few and far bec]1ly recently the excavation of the castle of r,roNr,rRRuN'r.r(dicoese
of
11v1en.
volterra) has provided us with some archaeorogicalinformation. It is a'tvpical
example of a fortified village, the centre of the administration of a landecl
estate,
and its existence is documented from the mid-12th century. Today Nlontarrentr
consists of the vast ruins of a castle keep, with two towers and other houses,
and
an abandoned town below, enclosed by a set of walls. The houses, inhabited
until
the late Nliddle Ages by peasantsan.l iharecroppers, show that the land
had been
regula.rly divided up. The excavation of the upper part and apartial
study of the
town have shown that the settlement, during iis earliest.t"g.,
llrh-tOth cenrurre_s),consisted of irregular builclings, partly in wood, spreaJover the
whole area
of the later castle, without any ..town-planning" as s,rch.

VE,TULONIA AND RUSELLAE

Tbe lower Palaeolithic is represented brfacial inplenents
fu
found at pian
dell'Osa; tbe Middle an! Upper palaei/itbic,
surfacefinditbrougboat
the
fu,
territory, in tbe Grotta La Fabbrica at Alberese,in tbe erotta cali Gioyanna.at
(Ciuic Museam of Rtgto Enilia), and b1tsurfacefnds on tbe
li1ysa
island of E/ba. In the Grotta Vado all'Arancio near Massa Maiittina tbere
aere craaettian tombs,witb seaera/interesling artfacts, including a buman
profi/e (Florentine Prebiltoriyl Maseum). Fiom the I\eolitltic p"erioda
few
impressedceramicsbauebeenfoandat Elba and pianosa,wbile fu) docamentation of the Aeneolitbic and,tbe Bronze Age is mucrtgreater: tracesof nining
actiaities in tbe cinnabar /odeson Moant Arniata, birials in artifiiial sna/l
grottoesat Pianosaand in natara/ grottoese/sewbere,
sucbas Grotta SanGiaseppeat RictMarina on fr,lga (Antiquariam of Marciana Marina), Grotta
(//o s.coslietn(F/orentinePre/tistoricalMuseam), small grottoesat bianizzoli and Prato (ciuic Museum at Massa Marittina), Griua del Fontino (oblects at tbe FlorentinePrebistorica/Museum). Tbe jater beriodsare rlctcumenred b1 ruins datingfron the Appennine caltare t n Mouit Amiata and tbe
fut
proto-villanouan necropolisat SticcianoScalo(ciuic Maseum at Grossei antl
ArcbaeologicalMuseam in Florence).
vpruroxtA
prospered thanks to the mineral resourcesafforded bv
the colline Metallifere and its fortunate position on the lagoon of
Lake
(now drained). The Villanovan necropolise, o.r ih. ,.rr-Prile
rounding hills belonged to rwo distinct .o--.rnities;
the objects
from the earliest period found in them are very modest. But from

Vetulonia and Rusellae

j$,
-.

E;

\'.(11;i-

the middle of the 8th century onwards there was an increase in the
wealth of the inhabitants: ambers were imported from the north,
Nuraghic materials from Sardinia and glass paste and a Phoenician
cup from the Orient (Archaeological Museum in Florence; some examples in the local Antiquarium). The necropolis, and by this stage
also the settlement by the Lake of Accesa (Civic Museum of Massa
Marittima), show that the community of Vetulonia began very eady
on to administer the metal trade, perhaps through the mediation of
107. Funeraryuase(fromGrottaSanCiaVulci or Tarquinia. Soon metal processing was also done locally.
seppe,Iiland of Elba, Aeneolithic). Pisa,
"Oriental"
The
style tombs (7th century), consisting of several
I nsti tute ofA nthropo/ ogy.
ditches within a single circle of stones, were filled with real trea108. Bell-sbabeduasesand bonebuttons sures: gold jewellery and precious vases imported from southern
(from Grotta- del Fontino, Aeneolithie). Etruria and the Orient, Greek ceramics, Oriental bronze cauldrons
FlorentinePrehistoricalMuseum.
Florence,
and elegant products of the local metal industry (tripods, cauldrons,
bronze
incense burners, gold objeas; Archaeological Museum in
109. Vetulonia, Tonba del Diaaolino, a
Florence).
Dating from the second half of the 7th century there are
tumulastombwith a sqilarechanbertopped
pilashuge chamber tombs, topped by false vaults sustained by pilasters.
@ afalse uaalt supportedb1a central
ter (around620-500 B.C.).
Among these the tombs of Diavolino and Pietrera are open to the
public.
Towards the middle of the 6th century B.C., when the city walls
were built, Vetulonia began to show signs of decline, as can be deduced from the necropolis; perhaps its role as mining centre was being taken over by the growing town of Populonia. On the other
hand, prosperity appears to have continued uninterruptedly both in
the aristocratic countryside tumulus tomb at Poggio Pelliccia near
Gavorrano (with burials from the mid-7th to the early 5th century
B.C.) and in a building in the city, possibly a temple, at Costa Murata, where Etruscan and Greek ceramics from the early 6th to the
mid-5th centuries have been found.
The city of RuseLtAE (Roselle) began to be important around the
middle of the 6th century. Since we have found no interesting artifacts of local production, Rusellae's pov/er must have been based on
the control over the valley of the Ombrone and on agricultural

65

Vetulonia ancl Rusellae

112

ll
?l

lt rro

activities. The decline of Vetulonia and the rise of Rusellae must.

however, be connected in some way.
Rusellae illustrates very well the various stagesin the life of a
town of ancient Etruria: from the 7th century B.C. (the date of the
oldest house) to the 9th centurv A.D.. when the Christian basilica
was built. We know very little about the necropolises, for no systematic excavations have yet been made; but we can get an idea of the
grandeur of the city by the enormous set of cyclopean stone walls
(mid-6th century B.C.), marking the birth of the city as such, also documented by the presence of contemporury architectural terracottas,
similar to the ones found at Murlo, in the upper valley of the Ombrone. The prosperity of Rusellaeis shown in the 5th century by the
importation of Attic ceramics, and in the Hellenistic period by the
restoration of the walls, the new houses built on the southern hillside and by the constructionof a temple in the 2nd century, documented by architectural terracottas in the Microasiatic style.
According to Silius Italicus, it was VaTuloNtA that handed down
to Rome the usageof emblems of power, such as thefasci or the curule chair; but Vetulonia, during the Roman period, was no more
than an insignificant milnicipian.

110. Head ctf a slone statue of a ,v0man

(ront tbe tamulus of Pietrera al Vetulonia,
650-525 B.C.) F/orence, Archaealogical
'I'he
stJle af the scalptare c/ear/1,
Museunt.
shows the influenrc of snal/-scale Orienta/
scalpture.
1 1 1. Vetulonia, tamulas
(650-625 B.C.).

of

Pietrera

'fn,o
gold brarclets (fron the tuntalus
1 12.
of Migliarine at Vetalonia, 620-600 B.C.).
F/orence, Archaeo/ogtcal Museum. These
uere made in a /oca/ workshop, using tbe
f ligree techniqae.
'l'wo
1 1).
bronzehorse'sbits, produced/ocaQJ (fron the necropolis of Lake Accesa,
secondhalf af the 8th centuryB.C.). Massa
Maritti ma, Archaealogim/ Musean.

66
Ceramics Workshops
During the Neolithic period and the
metal ages pottery was made bY hand
and cooked over an open fire; the lathe
was not used until the late Bronze Age.
Several kinds of ceramics were produced: from rough clay ones with only
vaguely smoothed surfaces, to fine red
or black polished ones, yellow vessels
made of the finest clay, generallY
painted red or brown.
The Etruscans' production of ceramics, between the 9th and 2nd centuries, developed continuously in terms of
quantity; it could be manufactured in
the home by the women, or on a latge
scale in organined workshops. From

'*

ffi#."

the technological point of view, a qualitative develoDment occurred around

the middle of the 8th century when
contact with the first Greek colonizers
introduced the use ofthe lathe and the
practice of refining clay. From this
iime onward, ceramics were produced
bv specialized workers who often
signed their works. Until the 3rd centurv. Etruscan ceramics were imitations of Greek models, and took on
their shapes, names and decorations:
Etruscan geometric ceramics (Sth century), Etruscan-Corinthian (7th-6th),
Ionic style (6th), Attic and Magna
Graecian red-figure vases (5th-4th),
Attic and Car-lpar'ian black varnish
(4th-3rd). Even bucchero, a typically
Etruscan black ceramic based on local
traditions, was influenced by imported
models in its shapes and decorations
(Phoenician, Corinthian, Greek Oriental styles).
Among the various different types of
ceramics produced in Etruria, some
were intended primarily for export
(black varnish ceramics and fine drinking cups) and others were used locally
or regionally (common use ceramlcs
and dolia). Pratically none of the workshops that produced these vases have
been identified, except the ones in
Arezzo which were located inside the
city walls. Thanks to the numerous
and varied trade marks stamped on the
vases, we are able to reconstruct the
organization of these factories. In
Arezzo, where about ninety different
workshops have been identified, the
workers were slaves and their numbers
varied according to the size of the factory. In some casesthere was only one
slave, in others ten or tv/enty, and in
some even sixty. In the larger workshoos the internal division of labour
muit have relied on a complex organization, requiring some slaves to fulfil
rather generic functions, while others
were truly specialized workers. The
processing, in fact, went from the simplest tasks, such as the digging of clay
or the storage of the vases, to the more
complicated procedures of refining the
clay and varnishing and baking the
pots: the most difficult and delicate
iasks were naturally the modelling and
the decoration ofthe vases. These iobs
were done by highly specialized slaves
who signed each vase with their personal stamp, and it is these markings
that have made this reconstructlon
possible. The procedure, however, was

not always like this. The trademarks

on vases produced elsewhere, even
though in imitation of the ones made
"late Italic" ceramat Arezzo ("Italic" or
ics), are not the signatures of the
individual craftsman, but more gener"company."
ally of the manufacturing
It is likely that this indicates a different
labour organization, but we still know
too little about it to be certain. The
systematic excavation of some of the
workshoos found in Arezzo would
help to ans-e. this question and many
others as well.
After the 6th century A.D. ceramic
production declined enormously; the
lavish late Roman sets of tableware
disappeared and the only kinds of pottery used were a few kitchen obiects,
such as the jar and the dish (which was

67
essential for the cooking of farinaceous
foods and began to be used at this
time), and the table tankard. None of
them were glazed and their decoration,
if any, consisted in simple wavey line
patterns. The Longobards used mainly
pottery produced locally, even as burial objects; this explains why in Etruria
no Dots like the ones from the northern Italian necrooolises have been
found, and only a fiw objects imported
from North Africa or from central
Europe (Museum of Fiesole). This situation remained constant until at
least the 12th century.
This decline in ceramic production
denotes a change in the manufacturing
organizatton: the large, almost industrially organized production centres
must have disappeared, while small
workshops, covering a small market,
spread and in some cases the produc"in
the home."
tion was even handled
It was not until the birth of late medieval enamel factories in Orvieto. Viterbo, Pisa, Montelupo and Siena that
production increased enough for Tuscany to become a centre of ceramics
export again.

I. Appennine culture ceramics(fron Crotta

del/'Orso, Sarteano, Bronze Age). F/orence,
Archaeological Maseum.
II. Proto-Vi/lanzaan zssaary (fron SticcianoSca/o).andbowl (fron Grotta dell'Orso, Sarteano,Bronze Age). Florence,ArchaeologicalMaseam.
IIL Etruscan-Corinthian amphora, decorated with friezes of aninals b1 the so-called
Painter of the Bearded Sphlnx (fron Vulci,
late 7th centuryB.C.). Rome,Vi//a Cialia.
IV. Buccherobucket with relief decorations
showingafrieze of animals, inJlaencedfu 51rian and Pboenician models (from Caere,
6 5 0 - 6 2 5 B.C.). Rone, V i//a Ciulia.

/\

l i i ' Jl

l.i

---\______-----J

\-------7

tI -__J-.,
\
\

rA

ll
- -u
n-- 0 J,llr
\

/ \

\_1
q-----/

" l/ \
I

(:--:)

/ F
a \_:!

VI

IX
"Aretini"
V. Crater b1 the so-called Painter of Dawn
VIL A nould for
uases(lst
(fron Fa/erii, 3 7 5 - 3 5 0 B.C.). Rone, Vi/':::;,
U, ) Are72o, ArchaeologicalMrla Ciulia. On this side, Dawn rising out of
tbe sea on a cbariot drawn b1four horses,'
VIII. An "Aretino" uase ( lst century
seatednext to lter is ber /ouer Titon.
B.C.- 1st centarJA.D.). Arey2o, Archaeo/ogica/Maseum.
VI. Rennstraclion of Etrascan reramirc.
This drawing illustrates the dffirent kinds
IX. unpainnd eeranic tankards (rom
of Etruscan ceraminfrom the 9tb to the 2nd
Fiesole, 10th-11th nnt*ry). Fiaoh, ArcentariesB.C.
chaeologicalMaseam.
1.
2.
3.
1.
5.
6.
t'.

9th rentaryB.C.
8/b centarlB.C.
7th untury B.C.
6tb antary B.C.
5tb nntary B.C.
4tb- Jrd nntariesB.C.
2nd renturlB.C.

X. Ceramie bottles (fron Fiesole, 7th cen'

turl).
Fiuole, Arcbaeological Museum.
Theseobjectsare uery similar to the onestbat
were produced in the lower aa//e1 of the
Rbein at tbe sametime.

Vetulonia and Rusellae

114. Rusellae,
tltecitl wal/s(nid-6th century B.C., with later additions).
115. Rusellae,aerial uiea of the excauations.
116. Stataeof a loung giil (kuse//ae,lst
century A.D.). Crosrcto, Archaeological
Museum.
1 17. Rasellae,uiewoftbeexcauations.
1 18. Gold earring(firct balf oftlte 7th century). Crosseto,Arcbaeological
Maseum.

RUSELLAE, on the other hand, was a very important centre of

this region and we have far more information about it. The earliest
records tell us of the war with Rome in the early 3rd century B.C.,
which lasted a few years and ended with Rome's conquest of the
city. We also know that Rusellae supplied wheat to S-ipio's campaign in Africa (205 B.C.). The town became a nanicipium and, later,
under Augustus, a colony. It seems that at this time ihe city was reduced to a much smaller area, concentrated around the forum.
Thanks to the ruins brought to light by the excavations begun in the
1950's, we have discovered that in the Augustan period a ipa.e was
flattened in order to create aplateauwherethe forum was built. The
forum consisted of a square in the centre, with no paving. The
square was crossed by a little cobblestone road; another similar road
ran along the west side of the square. on this side, large terracing
walls supported a portico. The whole area was eventually flattened
out in the 1st century A.D. and from this time on several changes
took place: the existing buildings were restored and enlarged and

69
many new ones were built. A paved road was constructed along the
east side of the square, possibly following the course of the cardo
maximus (the main street running along the north-south axis). At
the north-east corner of the square, this street turned east at right
angles,thus becominga decamanzs
(east-westaxis). This is quite unusual, for normally there were tv/o or more streets that intersected
perpendicularly. At the corner, where the street curved sharply,
there was probably a fountain. The basilica, on the east side of the
square,was rectangular in plan; it had a raised entrance atrium with
stepsleading up to it. The internal spacewas surrounded by rows of
columns, eight on the long sidesand four on the short ones. The original construction of the basilica would apper to date from the Augustan period, whereas the raised entrance hall, with its very different building techniques,cannot have been built before the imperial
age. The seat of the Aagustales (a body of six men who organtzed
the worship of Augustus and were elected annually) stood along the
short side of the square.This building was rectangular, and its walls
were covered with marble slabs;near the apse,two stone baseshave
been found, which probably supported the statuesof Augustus and
Livia. In the niches along the long sides there were probably statues
of members of the lulian-Claudian dvnastv (several of these are 1n
the Archaeological.\lur.u- in Grosieto).'Rusellae's
declinebegan
in the 2nd century.
Desoite the economic ancl social transformations that characterized the territon'
of the Nlaremma from the late imperial age onwarcl, and ciespitethe decline of the
citi'itself, RtrSHLt-..\1,
was the seat of the diocesefrom the 5th century until it was
'Ihe
transferred to Grosseto in 1 138.
Longobard necropolises scattered over the
territorv indicatc that the city had a very small population; this is also confirmed
bv the fact that onlv one important public builcling \r,'asconstructed over the
u'hole periocl:the Christian basilica.Built on Roman ruins, it consistsof a nar.e
ancl tu.o aisles, with a raised narthex and presbytery and a square apse with two
rooms leading off it. Reliefs and pilasters,decorated u'ith guilloches, swastikas
anclrosettes(8th-9th centuries),covered the lefthand wall ofthe apse.
But the most intcresting objects come from the Longobarcl necropolis of Casette c'li Nlota (a fev' hundred vards south of Rusellae), consisting of fourteen
tombs, ancl from the larger necropolis of Grangia, probably connected to thc
to\\'n of l\fontecavoli (on a hill a few miles south of Grosseto). The study of this
necropolis has revealeclthat onlv the central and earliest nucleus of tombs containecl personal objects. The personal objects belonging to women in the tombs
of Grangia consist mainl,v in disc-shapeclfibulas, one of which has an ornament
in the ccntrc, cross-shaped{tibulasand pearls; the men's objects are mostlv bronze
ornaments for belts, buckles ancl shielc'ldecorations. All these objects can be datcd at thc 7th centur.,' in anaiogy with similar materials founcl north of the Alps.

VUI-CI. SOVANA AND COSA

Fron the Palaeolithicperiod tbereare sbardsfoundat Montauto di Manciano;
Apartfrom
fron the Mousterian cultare, at Cala dei Santi and Settefinestre.
the Neolitbicfragnents foand at Vulc| it is not until the Aeneolitbicperiod
tbat wefnd an1 euidenceof communitiesrepresentedb1 tonbs in artificial
small grottoes (Rinaldone cu/ture)found especialfuin the ua//e1of tlte Fiora
(tbe "Tomb of the lYidow" bas beenreconstructedat tbe Pigorini Museum in
Rone) betweenPitig/iano, Manciano, Capalbio and Caraaicchio,and at Farnese.Tbe be//-shaped
uases
found at Torre Crognola(Vulci) and the barial

70

V u l c i , S o r a n . r . t n r l( , r r . r

S\%$ie.*
119
1 19. Funerary objects(frotzt Prnte San Pie'
tro, Viterba, Enea/ithic). F/orence, Arrhaeo/agica/Museum.
120. Va/ci, Pontedel/a Badia, an the riaer
Fiora (first half of tbe 1st centafyB.C.).

grottoes at Panta degli Stretti (Argentario) and at sassi IVeri (capalbio)

appear to indicate the transition to tbe Bronze Age, cbaracterizedin its ear_
liest stageb1 storesof bronzeobjects(Manciano, Montemeranoand Saturnia)
yd bq.tbepile-dwellings on Lake Mezzano. Tbe later periods are represented
fu, ui/lagesa/ongthe Fiora (Ponte san Pietro, crostolito di Lanone) antJby
eaidence
of worsbip of water and agricaltaral deitiesin grottoes.The niunberof
settlertentsincreasedgreatl1 in tbeproto-Villanouan age:manJuillagessprang
ap,.oftenon the site of existing ones,and tbe1,werecbaracleriwd inni wal/s
fu
and buts and b1ttumulus tombs.Among the mostinterestingare Croslolettodi
Lamone, sorgenti della Noaa and Bisenzio. obiects are at tbe villa Giulia
Museum and Pigorini Museam in Rome,at rbi museuruin vu/ci ancl at the
Anliquariam in Saturnia.
The vast rerritory that eventually fell under the rule of vut-ct-the
valleys of the Fiora and of the Albeqna-is indicati'e of the relationship between city and countrysidi in southern Etruria. During
the early villanovan period (9th century B.c.) and for mosr of thE
later (8th century), our information comes almost entirelv from the
area of the future city, with the four necropolisesof osteria, cavalupo, Cuccumella and Polledrara, which continued to be used even in
the following centuries (materials in the Antiquarium of castello
della Badia and in the villa Giulia Museum in Rome; particularly interesting is a small bronze statue of Nuraghic origin found at cavalupo, grgvlfg that trade with Sardinia began very early). During the
second half of the 8th century the aristocracy of Vulci must have
been in close contact with the Greek colonizers, probabry because
they controlled the routes towards the mines of northern Etruria.
This contact is shown by the presence in vulci of Euboean ceramics, brought here by the Greek colonizers of pitecusa (Ischia), such
as the krater from Pescia Romana (Grosseto N{useum), and by the

Vulci, Sovana ancl (losa

121. Eaboean crater, decorated with geometric patterns (fron Pacia Romana, around
r.r. Grotseto, ArchaeologicalMa(/rOrU

121

122

imitations produced locally by immigrant craftsmen (such as the biconical ossuary in the Antiquarium in Vulci).
During this period the investment of excess wealth led to the
f:rst agrarian appropriations and numerous aristocratic citadels
sprang up throughout the territory (Castro, Poggio Buco, Pitigliano,
Sovana, Saturnia, Marsiliana, Magliano, Orbetello), all of them
placed in strategic positions controlling the communication routes.
There are many necropolises in these zre s) some of which are open
to the public. One of these is the one at Pocclo BUCo, with ditch
graves and chamber tombs, some of which consisting of several
rooms, with sculpted pilasters and support beams, showing the influence of Caere. In the necropolis of CasrRo, the chamber tombs
are decorated with stone sculptures in the shape of real and imaginary zntrnals; a unique entrance path to one of the tombs is lined on
both sides by rows of animal statues; a large altar is topped by tufa
cornices decorated in the corners with heads of rams and lions (materials in the Antiquarium of Ischia di Castro). At SarunNIA one
can visit the necropolis of Pian di Palma, with tumulus tombs built
out of stone slabs. But the most prosperous of all those communities
appears to have been M,qRSILIANA, in a strategic position for the
control of the routes to the Colline Metallifere; in its tombs at Banditella, (ditch graves within stone circles), were the burial sites of
warriors accompanied by remarkable personal objects, especially the
"Circolo
"Circolo
della Fibula" and the
degli Avori" in the Archaeological Nluseum in Florence. These objects are more interesting
even than those found in contemporary tombs at Vulci, such as the
Tomb of the Chariot (Tomba del Carro) with its embossed bronze
foils, now in the Villa Giulia Museum in Rome.
The destruction of Marsiliana in the late 7th century, and the
gradual decline over the course of the next century of the other
towns, mark the definitive supremacy of the city over the countryside. This historical event is recalled also in the paintings of the
Frangois tomb, where among the enemies of the heroes of Vulci,

122. Tlrrbenian ampbora (from Vu/c|

575-550
B.C.). Vatican, Cregorian
Etruscan Museum. Thfu tlpe of ceramic
uase,prodaced b1 Athenian craftsmenexclasiue/1for the Etruscan market, was considered a laxary item. In tbe topfrieze, Herculesstrug/es aith the centaur; in tbe otbers,
anima/ scenes.
123. Satarnia, Pantone necropolit, Tomb
A, a tamalus with a sqaare cbanber and
slabwal/s (675-650 B.C.).

Vulci, Sovana and Cosa

124. Vu/ci, /ate repub/icanperiod hoa.re.

125. Vahi, Romanslreet.
126. Valci, late repab/icanperiod ltouse.
127. .ltatue ofa centaar in tuft stone(from
lhe necntptt/is of Ptggto Maremma; Vu/ci,
early 6th centuryB.C.). Rane, Vi//a Giu/ia. ln Vu/ci, slatues of real and irta,ginary
anirtalt werep/aced at gaardians in front of
the enlrancelo lhe tombs.

Aaile and Caile Vipinas, there is also a warrior from Sovana. Vulci's
period of greatest prosperity lasted from the late 7th century to the
mid-Sth, as is shown by the numerous chamber tombs (exceptional
is the one at Cuccumella, a tumulus, with an inner chamber with
steps)containing Greek-Oriental and Corinthian ceramics, and later
Attic and Ionic ones (materials in the Antiquarium in Vulci and in
the Villa Giulia Museum, in particular the tomb of Panatenaica).
During this period many workshops producing ceramics were set
up, often by Greek craftsmen such as the Painter of Swallows, a
Greek-Oriental (bowl in the Villa Giulia Museum), or the Painter of
the Bearded Sphinx, of Corinthian origin (objects from the tomb of
the same name at Villa Giulia), or later, after the mid-6th century,
by craftsmen of lonic origin. Also remarkable during the 6th and
5th centuries is the sculpture (see such masterpiecesas the centaur
and the sea-horseat Villa Giulia) and the production of bronze vases
and implements (for example, the Warrior's Tomb, late 6th century,
at Villa Giulia). Objects produced at Vulci v/ere exported to distant
lands, as is shown by the precious objects, such as decorated ostrich
eggs, found in northern Etruria and in the Marches, by the ceramics
of the "Ciclo dei Rosoni" found in Carthage and Provence, by the
bronzes found all over Etruria proper, in Campanian and Po Valley
Etruria, in non-Greek areas of southern Italy and in centralnorthern Europe, and above all by the wine amphoras found all
over the western Mediterranean, indicating also that Vulci had a
flourishing and specialized agricultural activity.
After the decline of coastal southern Etruria in the second half of
the 5th century, Vulci took part in the renaissanceof the 4th cen-

Vulci. Sovana and Cosa

73

128

tury. New public works were built, such as the walls and the great
temple (ruins open to the public); nev/ aristocratic tombs, with Tshaped central chambers (at Ponte Rotto), and magnificent burial
sites dug out of the rock, wrth aediculafacades (sculpted tympanums
in the Antiquarium). The Frangois tomb, dating from the second
half of the 4th century, is particularly interesting. The paintings that
decorated it (transferred to Villa Albani in Rome in 1857, shortly
after their discovery) show the influence of Apulian painting. They
illustrate a complex story, in which the killing of the Trojan prisoners by Achilles and other characters from Greek mythology is interspersed with duels beween the heroes of Vulci and warriors from
Rome, Sovana,Volsinii and Falerii. These battles, although in the fic
tion of the paintings taking place in the distant past (late 6th century), must have been intended as symbolic of the struggle of southern Etruscan cities against Rome. The two most famous sculpted
sarcophagi,with a couple lying on the lid, are in Boston; another, illustrating a battle between Amazons, is now at the Villa Giulia Museum.
During this period, as happened elsewhere in southern Etruria,
the towns that had prospered during the archaic age experienced a
new development. Among these, Sovnxa, where new elaborate
tombs u/ere constructed in the rock of the hillside; many of them are
now open to the public, such as the Tomb of Hildebrand (first half
of the 3rd century), carved into the rock in the shape of a temple,
with beautifully ornamented capitals, or the Tomb of the Siren and
the picturesque pathway, called Cavone, with Etruscan inscriptions
on the walls. Sovana and the other smaller towns continued to
thrive even after Vulci began to decline. Vulci was defeated by Q.
Coruncanius in 280 B.C. and alarge part of its territory was confiscated. But the smaller tov/ns were favoured by Roman policy which

128. Sna// chestin bronTefoil, decorated

witb a.frieze of a battle with AmaTons, inspired b1 Greek models (front Valci, ear/1
3rd century B.C.). Vatican, Cregorian
Etruscan Maseam. The handle isftrned by
tao twans mrrying a Joung bo1,ar7 trr, o,
their backs. This chest shaws what a high
leuel of artistic achieaement
had bun reacbed
b1 the craftsmen of Vu/ci on the eae of the
war pith Rome.
129. Pedinent af the tenple of Ta/amone,
detat/ shawing Oediput. F/orence,Archaec,/ogical Maseam. The tenple was rebuilt and
modernized in the f rst balf of the 2nd century B.C. in accordanceaith the Roman
pa/iry of strengthening tbe outposts of the
territory around Valci.
110. Souana,Hi/debrand Tonb, facade in
tbe style of a tenph (first half of the 3rd
centaryB.C.).

74
Trade
The existence of trade is documented
during the Palaeolithic period by the
use of flint from distant countries and
by the presence ofnon-indigenous seashells. During the Neolithic, obsidian
was imported from Lipart, Sardinia
and the Aegean islands. During the
Bronze Age, Italy was involved in the
exchanges between northern Europe
and Mycenae and took part in the
trade of metals and amber.
From the middle of the 8th century to
the end of 7th, Etruria exchanged with
foreign merchants, who were often
integrated in Etruscan society, mineral
products for luxury items (ceramics,
jeweliery, precious metal vases), precious raw materials (gold, silver, ivory,
amber) and agricultural produce (oil
and wine). After the late 1th century,
the Etruscans began to play an active
role in maritime trade, exporting wine
and pottery (ugs and goblets) to the
western Mediterranean countries.
Their oresence in the eastern Meditertunrui is documented bv the soread of
"bucchero"
in this region and by the
Greek legends telling of the cruel ex"Tyrrhenian
ploits in that arca of the
oirates."
But the competition, first of the
Phocaeans (battle of Aleria in 545
B.C.), then of the Greeks and later of
the Syracusans(battle of Cumae in 474
B.C.), eventually forced the Etruscans
to abandon maritime trade. They then
concentrated on overland trade, exchanging ceramics and bronze vases
with the populations on the other side
of the Appennines and, in some cases,
even beyond the AIps.
Among the products of the Etruscan
economy, some were destined solely
for internal consumption, others were
sold on local or regional markets and
others still, especially during the late
republican period and the early impertal age, covered a vast export market.
Among the latter, wine was the most
important. ln Fact, in the organization
of the villas based on slave labour. the
production and export of wine was
one of the major sources of revenue
for the new large landowners. The export trade was essentially maritime,
since overland transport was often impossible and always much more expensive. The wine was carried in ceramic

containers, amphoras, and was stored

in the holds of large trading ships
which sailed from all the major ports
and reached the imoortant cities on the
western shores of ihe Mediterranean.
The wine then often continued its
journey along navigable rivers and was
sold even in faraway places. The evidence of this widesoread commerce
lies in the remains of amohoras discovered by archaeologists.Scholars have
studied these amphoras in depth and,
among all ceramic objects, they are the
best known. But there is still an unanswered question concerning their production: we do not know whether amphoras specifically produced for the
export of wine were made by the ceramics industries or by the estates producing the wine. Together with the
wine and other foodstuffs, the export
trade also dealt with fine tableware
produced in various parts of Etruria.
In some cases, these obiects (Arezzo
ceramics, black varnish vases, and so
on) have been found in very distant
oarts of the world. The remarkable
commercial successof the oroduce of
Etruria (and of ltaly in general) later
declined considerably and export was
reduced to a regional scale. This was
the result of the development of the
provinces: Spanish oil, wine from
Gaul, African wheat took over and in
the end Etruria was even importing

fine tableware from the orovinces.

During the late I st century A.D. in rhe
countryside around Cosa, the landowners abandoned the wine presses
and began to invest in other activities,
such as animal breeding. This was the
beginning in Etruria, as elsewhere,
of the great transformation
which
brought about the collapse of the manufacturing industries and the spread of
the large, underpopulated
landed
estates.
During the early Middle Ages the main
activity in Tuscany, as in the rest of
central and northern Italy, was agriculture. Money was used only on exceptional occasions, to buy large quantities of merchandise; normally it was
simply hoarded. Most sales and purchases were done by barter. The archaeological evidence from the period
of Longobard domination shows us
that valuable objects, such as the gold
jewellery placed in the tombs with the
deceased,were only rarely locally produced, while ceramic wares were almost entirely local. This situation lasted until the 10th century, when Pisa
and Genoa challenged the hegemony
of Arabs and assertedtheir suoremacv
on the coasts and the islandi of thl
Mediterranean. These two cities began
to invest their war booty in the construction of mercantile shios which

75
carried, as well as the agricultural sur- III. In the inperia/ agethe export oJEtrusplus (mainly oil and wine), also the canprodacts declined, while the importation
first Arab ceramics that decorated so fron the prouincesincreased.
many north-western Tuscan churches Yellou': export of local products (u'ine and
potterv)
after the 1 1th centurv.

L Reconstraction of a trade uessel.To tbe

of the bald containingwine
right, cross-sedion
amphoras.
IL In the republican period Etruria exported. a wide uariery of prodacts ta the prouinces.
Grecn: Italic potte4'
( )range: quality foodstuffs

Rlue: u'ine and fruit

l)urple: u'inc, oil and potterv
Red: wine, oil, fish sauce and potterv
Green: wine an<l pottery
Brown: u'ine and potterv
C)range: quality foodstuffs

Anphoras asedJar /ransparling wine

fram Etraria, found in the wreck of a Ranan ship near Albenga. Albenga, Ciuic
Musettm.
IV.

V. I7ine amphora witb a painted inscrip'

tion giuing the name ( the owner (/ate 7th

centarl B.C.). Vatican, Cregorian Etrascan Museum. Daring the 7th and 8th centuries Etrascan wine was exparted in cantainei.rs/ike theseto the lVestern Mediterra-

VI. Branze tfipld, with scu/ptaral decorations (fram Vulci, late 6tb century B.C.).
Vatican, Cregorian Etrascan Museam. At
the tap, Herca/es and afena/efgure; at the
boltom, three reclining sileni. Simi/ar examp/esfoand at Spina, at Dtirkhein in Cerman-yand at Athens are eaidence
of howfarreachingVa/ci's export trade was.
VII. Bucchero kantharos (from soatbern
Etraria, /ate 7tb-ear/1, 6th century B.C.).
Florence, Arcbaeological Maseam. This jag
was asedfor drinking wine; at the height af
tbc Elrasuns' maritime expantion, i/s
asagespread throughoat the Mediterranean.

76

Vulci, Sovena antl (-osa

allowed them to take over the confiscated land; Rome thus benefited
from the traditonally antagonistic relationship between the small
towns and the former ruling city.

1) 1. Cosa, the uta//s ( j rd- 2nd centurl,

B.c.).
1)2. Cosa, ruins of the Capitoliant (2nd
centuryB.C.).
13). Satarnia, tlte C/odian lYa-y and the
Ramangate (225 B.(.).

After the Roman conquest (280 B.c.) vur-ct lost the majority of its
land which was divided into prefectures and colonies, some founded
ex n0u0)others by developing existing communities.
The city probably onlv kept control over rhe cenrral-easternland
surrounding it; the coastal stretch, between Vulci and the sea, became public land (agerpablicus)and the city's port (Regisvilla) was
abandoned.
There are ruins and archaeologicalfinds documenting the life of
vulci under the Romans. It was here that Aurelius cotta's milestone, marking the distance of 70 miles from Rome, was found;
Aurelius cotta was responsible for the construction of the via
Aurelia, probably in 241 B.c. Along the main east-westsrreerof the
city (decumanus)
an inscription documenrs the restoration of a building during the imperial age. Walking down the decumanusone can
see the ruins of a late republican house where floor-mosaics with
geometrical patterns were found; nearby is an areawhere the baths
stood.
D_uringthe 3rd century the prefecture of Statonia (today, Castro)
was formed just north of Vulci, and further north, the prefecture of
Saturnia. Both these towns, as we have seen,existed before the Rom_anconquest. On the coast, on the other hand, the Roman colony
of Cos,q (today, Ansedonia) was founded in 273 B.C. The city,
whose name probably derived from the earlier Etruscan settlement
(located on the site of nearby orbetello), has been excavated and is
today-almost entirely open to the public. Surrounded by a polygonal
set of walls, like those at Saturnia, Cosa covered ^n ut^ oflver
thirty acres;the town-planning was based on the customary straight
streets, regularly intersecting at right angles (the cardinesrunning
north-south, and the decumanirunning east-west). The forum was
surrounded by public buildings such as the basilica, the comitium,
the curia, and was very similar in plan to the Roman forum. The

Vulci, Sovana and Cosa

{u
f

134. Sxtefnestre,tbe fortifcatioru of tbe

Romanailla ( l st centaryB.C.).
tbeporticoof the Roman
13 5. Settefnestre,
ailla ( l st centurJB.C.).
of tbe uilla at Sette136. keconstruction
fnestre.

highest point of the city, the sacred arez (arx), was where the temples stood. The Capitolium stood on alaLrgeplatform; it was built in
ihe 2nd century B.C. on the ruins of an older temple dedicated probably to Jupiter. Among the private buildings, a domushas been excavated and almost entirely reconstructed near the entrance gate on
the south-east side of the city.

Vulci, Sovana md Cosa

13 7. Talanone, rains of the Roman uilla at

Madonna delleGrazie (1st centaryA.D.).
1)8. Talanone, tbe cistern of tbe Roman
uilla at Madonna delle Crazie ( l st century

A.D.).

There are remains of the walls of SarunNn, which we mentioned earlier, still visible near the Porta Romana; this was where
the Clodian Way, built in225 B.C. to connect Rome to Saturnia, entered the city. Among the other ruins in Saturnia, t castellumaqaarilm
(a public building where the distribution of water took place) has
been identified, as well as a group of baths near the present-day sulphur springs.
In the 2nd century Saturnia became a Roman colony (183 B.C.),
while the colony of Heba (situated on the site of Present-day Magliano) was founded on the coast, north of Cosa, probably between
1.67 and 157 B.C. Heba was founded on an ^rea of Etruscan territory, presumably allied to Rome, ruled over by the city of TALAMoNE. Talamone stood on the hill that today is called Talamonaccio. \We know from literary sources that in 225 B.C. the famous battle between the Romans (led by Atilius Regulus and Aemilius Papus) and the Gauls took place on the outskirts of Talamone. The discovery of a mass grave, with remains of men and horses mixed with
quicklime, along the coast at Campo Regio is considered to be connected to this battle. Our sources also tell us that Marius landed at
Talamone in his search for allies against his enemy Sulla. And it was
Sulla who was probably responsible for the sack of the city in 82
B.C. \7e do not know whether the city managed to survive for any
length of time after that; nor do we know whether the numerous
small farms that sprang up throughout the countryside are the
consequence of the abandoning of the city. What we do know is that
Talamone continued to prosper throughout the whole of the 2nd
century and this is shown by the new decorations added to the temple on the top of the hill. Among these are several architectural terracottas and the famous pediment (now in the museum in Orbetello) which has recently been dated at the second quarter of the 2nd
century B.C. Why such an elaborate new decoration was added at
that time is still uncertain. Next to the temple a votive tablet with
miniature reproductions of agricultural implements and weapons
was found; this has been interpreted as the offering of ex-soldiers
(ueteran) who had been granted land in the new colonies founded
nearby (perhaps at the time of the foundation of Heba).

79

V u l c i . S o v e r t r r t n r i( i r s r r

4 r , , r . t !. l f

140
1j9. Sauana,the ear/y rnedieualcrlpt ofthe
catltedra/ ( 7th century).
11(). Buck/e and decoratittere/iefsfron a
be/t (fron Grangia, secondbalf af the 7th
century).Grosseto,Archaea/ogtca/Maseum.

The history of the land along the coast is at present more well
known than that of the inland towns. The river Albenga was the
boundary between the territory of the colony of Heba, to the north'
and Cosa, to the south. As early as the 3rd century B.C. (but the majority of our archaeologicalevidence dates from the 2nd), the countryside appears to have been dotted with many small farms where
the colonizing farmers lived. The excavation of the farm of Giardino
Vecchio (near Cosa) has confirmed the theories basedon the sufface
finds: the farms, belonging to peasant smallholders, appear to decline in the early 1st century B.C., at the same time as the development and spread of large estatesbased on slave labour. The small
i.t.o.porated into large properties in the hands of
farms *.t.
wealthy landowners (the presence in the area of the Domitii
Oenobardi and the Sixti families is documented).
near Cosa,has been comOne of thesevillas, at SETTEFINESTRE
pletely excavated. The living quarters of the landownets (pa-rs
urbana) and the agricultural part have been brought to light. The
former was elaborately decorated with painted wall plaster, stuccoes
and colourful floor mosaics;the other part contained the machinery
for the production of wine (exported to almost all the western Mediterranean countries) and oil, the gtanary, the stablesfor the animals
and the living quafters of the slaves employed in agriculture. This
kind of agricultural organization reached its peak between the mid1st century B.C. and the mid-1st century A.D. and beganto decline
during the 2nd century. The buildings were abandoned or converted to other uses,and replacedby new, luxurious and enormous constructions, usually along the coast (maritime villas). We have no evidence as yet of any productive activity connected to these new constructions except for the reservoirs for the breeding of fish; but none
of them has been systematicallyexcavated.It would be very interesting to establish the connection between the maritime villas and the

80
surrounding countrysi de, organrzedas a large landed estate.Among
these villas, one should mention the one at Santa Liberatz, on the
north coast of Monte Argentario, and the one at Madonna delle
Grazie, near present-day Talamone. At least a few of these villas,
such as the one near Talamone, continued to exist until the late 5th
century, surviving the invasion of Alaric and the Goths and despite
the fact that the neighbouring inland areashad become progressively more swampy and uninhabitable. Mzlana began to spread
through the swamps (and continued until quite recently) until the
countryside was completely abandoned towards the late imperial
age. Rutilius Namatianus, describing his iourney from Rome to
Gaul betwen 412 and 416, said that the coast of Etruria was deserted.
From this time onwards the total lack of archaeologicalevidence,
which continued throughout the early Nliddle Ages, coincides with
the desertion of the countryside.
From the late imperial age onwards, SCIVANAmust have ruled over the territorics
of Cosa (on the coast) and Saturnia (inlancl). Under the Longobards, it was the
seatof a gastaldo(chamberlain) and probably exerted supremacy over the other cities of southern Etruria, even though Lucca extended its domains into Sovana's
territory where the population must have been very sparse. The rise to power in
Sovana of the family of the Aldobrandeschi dates from the 9th century: in 862
Count Ildebrando exchanged with his brother Geremia, Bishop of Lucca, a conslderable amount of property he owned in that diocese for those his brother possessedat Sovana and Rusellae. I-ater, the Aldobrandeschi became a widespread
feudal seigneury in southern Tuscany.
The archaeological finds are few but not unimportant. The Longobard presence is documented by obiects found in tombs at Sovana: relief plaques and
"romance" type, have been found above all in the Nlaremma are^, lfl
buckles, of a
particular in the necropolis of Grangia (near Grosseto), dating from the earlv 7th
cenrury. Other contemporary objects, with traditional late-classical relief patterns, have been found at nearby San N{artino su1Fiora (late 7th century).
The territory of Sovana, which was still Byzantine in 592, was incorporated
into the I-ongobard state at the time of Agilulf, and for a long time its boundaries
were ill-defined. But the obiects found at Crocignanello (Pitigliano), and now in
the Archaeological Museum in Grosseto, ^pper to be completely Longobard.
There is very little left of the early medieval buildings in Sovana. The cathedral, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, was largely rebuilt in the 14th century,
so that there is little left ofthe 12th-13th century building that, in turn, had replaced the original pre-Romanesque structure. In any case, the octagonal dome
can be dated at the 1Oth century, and the crypt, with a nave and four aisles divided by colonnettes, dates from the Sth. Near the ruins of San Nlamiliano, which
was probably the first catheciral built on ruins of Etruscan and Roman buildings,
there is the Romanesque church of Santa Nlaria. Here, near the high altar, ls a remarkable pre-Romanesque (8th-9th century) ciborium, with four columns with
imitation Corinthian capitals and carved ornaments in the shape of leaves,
bunchesofgrapes inside circles, peacocksand doves (seep. | 7)'

TARQUINIA AND CAE,RE

The Lower Palaeolithicis aell documentedat Torre in Pietra and Castel di
Guido (wherethereare also remains('Homo erectus). Tbe Middle Palaeolithic is present at Castel Malnome and Torre in Pietra; tbe tJpper Palaeolithic at Palidoro and Norcbia (Riparo Biedano), and objectsin the Pigorini
and Vi//a Gialia Museums.The l{eriithic period is documentedat Palidoro
and at tbe Patrizi grotto at Sassodi Furbara, abere there was a remarkable
tonb of a man with a drilled skull (Pigorini Masean). The Aeneolithic is

Tarquinia and Caere

not aell documented:

small grotto tombsat Tarquinia, a tomb at Norcbia and
fragnents at Palidoro. Tbe Bronze Age fu representedb1 a uarieg offndl
Along tlte coasttoaards Ciaitaueccbiathere are seaeralAppennine culture
conmunities,uitlt dolmen-t1pegrauesat Pian Suhano.Tbe largest nunber of
settlementsis to be _fo*d in tbe hilj nastal stretclt (Appenninq subAppennine and proto-Villanouan uillages,tbe latter fortfied). At Luni on
tbe Mignonetltere aas an Appennine calture comnunitl whereM-ycenean
ceranics of tbe 14th nntury B.C. bauebeenfoand;later objectsrepresentingthe
sab-Appennineandproto-Villanoaan cilltures werefoundin tbe sameuillage.
Otber settlements,witlt documentationfron tbe Appennine to tbe protoVillanouan, are at SanGiouenaleand Torrionaaio (Monte Romano).Betaeen
Tolfu and Allumiere tbere are alsoproto-Villanoaan tumulus graues;incinerationnecropolises
are at Allumiere, Costade/ Marano (witb a riclt collection
of bronzeobjut:) and at Sassodi Furbara. (Objuts at tbe Pigorini Museum,
Villa Giulia Munum, at tbe Antiquariam of Sassodi Farbara and at the
milftum of Alluniere).
The pre-eminence of TanqutMA over all other Etruscan cities is
indicated among other things by the legends that attribute its foundation to Tarchon, the friend (or son, or brother) of the mythical
Tyrrhenus. And in fact, the Villanovan culture-the earliest Etruscan civilizztion-found
in Tarquinia its highest expression. There
were settlements on the two plateaux, called Civita, the side of the
future city, and Monterozzi, where huts have been excavated and
are now open to the public. The necropolises of Civitucola, Poggio
Gallinaro, Poggio Selciatello, Poggio dell'Impiccato, Villa Bruschi,
Le Rose and Le Arcatelle were all connected to these settlements
(objects now in the museums of Florence and Tarquinia and in the
Pigorini Museum). The Tomb of the Warrior, now in Berlin, dates
from the late period of this culture; in it a complete armour was

141. Tarqainia,Tombof the Baron (late

6tb centaryB.C.). Tbefrieze showsthree
scenetof leauetakingthe oneonthe endwa//
sbousa couplewitb their twoloung uu on
borseback.

82
Slavery
From classical texts and inscriptions
we know that in Etruscan society there
were various forms of serfdom (total
or partial exclusion from civil and political rights), denoted by the lack of a
family name. As eady as the 6th century B.C. there were slaves who were
totally dependent from their masters,
and were employed in domestic labour
or as craftsmen. An example is the signature of the painter of the Tomb of
the Jugglers (late 6th century) in Tar
quinia: he signed himself Arantb Heracanasa, the first being his individual
name, the second the genitive of his
master's family name.
Those that Latin writers called serui were probably half-free men, that is
individuals who were personally free
and benefitted from civil rights, such
as the right to ov/n properry, but had
no political rights. This can be deduced from the prophery ofthe nymph
Vegoia (an Etruscan text of the eady
1st century B.C., or according to other
scholars of the 3rd centurv. which has
come down to us only in iis Latin version) which threatens vengeance on
the part of Tinia-the
Etruscan |upiter-against
all those, masters or
serfs, who shall change the borders of
their property. The class of the serfs,
probably of Italic origin, was responsible from the 4th century onwards for
revolts demanding political rights,
which in some cases led to Roman intervention . In the 2nd centurv B.C.. in
inland northern Etruria wherethe presence of Rome was less direct, there
were slaves whose names were often
of Greek origin; they were called laatni
in Etruscan, derived from the word
lautn meaning family. During the Hellenistic period, there is evidence of a
great number of lastni and serui being
granted freedom; this is documented
in particular by old individual names
now being used as family names and
transmitted from father to son.
In Rome, like in Greece, despite the
occasional contrasting opinions, slavery was considered part of the right
of the people (ias gentian). The slave,
seruas,had no political rights and was
not considered a member of the citv:
he was like an object and, ". sr.h,
could be bought or sold. Slaves could
be bought in slave markets, like the famous one on Delos in the Aegean.

83
One of the major sources of slaves
were wars, since the victor could
either kill the enemy or reduce him
into slavery and therefore sell him.
There were two kinds of slaves: oublic
.-and orivate. The former *.r.
ployed in works of public utility, in
manufacturing industries and as craftsmen. They were highly specialized and
in some cases became respected professionals. This created deeo differences between individual slaves: one
might even be the Emperor's private
counsellor, while another might spend
the rest of his life as a humble stonecutter. The serai were sometimes given
the permission to have property and
ownings, but this permission could be
revoked at will by the master. Private
slaves were used for domestic labours
in the city (fanilia urbana) or for agricultural tasks in the country (fanilia
rastiea). The ones employed in the
countryside were organized in a militarv fashion: thev were divided in
groups of ten (dicariae), were supervised by monitores who were in turn
under the control of the ailicus. Ve
know from ancient texts that slaves
were considered agricultural implements. In fact, the farm's properties
were divided into three kinds of instruments: tools (instrumenttm matum),
animals (instranentum vmiuocale) and
slaves (instrumentum uocale). A great
deal of care was taken in the upkeep of
the slaves, for the death ofone ofthem
was considered a great financial loss.
They were encouraged to have children, and a female slave who gave birth
to four children was granted freedom.
When we consider the technology of
the classicalworld, we must point out
that these men were in many cases
much more efficient than the tools or
machineries of the time; in a sense,the
slaves were the real Roman technology.

III. Terracotta arn portraling tbe hero moa/dsand produced in large qaantities.
Ecltetlo armed on/1 witb a plough (fron
IV. Reconstructionof tlte wine-press in the
Chiasi, 15 0- 12 5 B.C.). Rome,Villa Cia/ia. This kind of ilrn uas ofien ased b1 Roman ailla at Settefnestrenear Cosa.
s/aues,freedmen and artisans, at can beseen
b1 tbe inscriptions; tbel were made from

I. Detail of thepainted decorationof the Go/ini I tanb at Oruieto, sbowing a slauegetting winefrom a bowl (first half rf the 4th
centaryB.C.). Oruieto,Palazza dei Papi.
II. Re/ief showing slaues working a winepress. Aquileia, Archaeological Museam.

IV

84

I ;trcluinirL
enrl (.lcrr

#'ffi

,du
1

j;*l
u; '

'I'arqainia, 'l.r.,ttb
112.
rl' Huntin.q and
I;isltin,q (around 5 J0 B.(..). Detai/ of' the
end n,a//sban,itt.q
a fishin.q,rcrnt.

found, as \\'ell as bronzes and ceramics in an imitation Cy'cladic

stvle, pror.ing that Tarquinia was in contact u'ith the first Clreekco"()riental"
"Roclonizers. After the early
stage,represente(lbv the
r vesc u'ith the
choris" tomb (early 7th centun') famous for rhc.fa-1,en
inscription b,v the pharaoh of the same name (Tarquinia \luseum),
the citv unclerwenta perioclof cleclne. According to tradition this ts
when the noble (-orinthian merchant Demaratosarrived.
At thc beginningof thc 6th ccntury a ncw pcrioclof prospcritv
beganfor Tarquinia: the harbour temple of Gtt,\ttlsr-,-\u,asfouncleci.
Thc inscriptions,in Greek until 480 B.C., shou' that the temple u'as
cleclicatecl
to the worship of Aphroclite, Hera ancl l)emetra; the r.otir.e offerings were mostlv macle br, artisans ancl merchants trom
easternGreece.The onlv exception is thc stonc enchor-stockdedicatcd to Apollo arounci,180b1,Sostratosof ,,\egina,a rich merchurnt
also mentioncd b,v I {croc-lotus.Thc numcrous presenceof Greek
trac'lers\\,'asalso responsiblefor thc clcvelopmcnt,fiom the first half
of the 6th centurVonu,arcls,of Ionic stvlc artistic procluctions,such
as the stone slabscor.eringtombs clecoratecl
with relicfs (in thc local
museum) ancl the earliest paintecl tombs, clating from after 5,10.
,,\mong these u,'emust mcntion thc tombs of Auguri (Circctings),
Giocolieri Qugglers),(-accia(Hunting), Pesca(trishing),'fori (Rulls)
ancl llaronc (Baron), in some of u,hich thc u'ork of immigrant Ionian artistsis clearlv iclentifiable.
Bv the 4th century, Tarquinia controllccl a largc inlancl tcrritorr

farquinia ancl Caere

143. Two terracotta winged borses (rom

tbe "Ara della Regina" tenple in Tarqainia wbere tbel pmbabj werepart of tbe decoration of tbe nain beam;secondbalf of the
4tb century B.C.). Tarquinia, National
Museum.
144. Cerueteri,Banditaccia necropolis,interior of tbe Tonb of "Capite/li" (earj 6tb
centuryB.C.).

(Tuscania, Norchia and castel d'Asso) developing its agricultu ral res_ourcesand exploiting its position along the iommunication routes.
The powerful ruling fao'ily, the Spurinnas,owners of the Tomb of
the ogre (orco), gave Tarquinia the supremacy within the revived
on the eve of the war against Rome (35g-351
F,11s.gl.leagpe,
B.c.). This renewed economic and cultural flourish is revealed also
by the reconstruction of the temple called "Ara della Regina" (ruins
on the hill of the civita, while the fictile relief of winged horses is in
the museum), by the stone sarcophagi in the museum]some decorated with reliefs, others painted, such as the famous sarcophagus of
the Amazons (Archaeological Museum in Florence), and 6'y the
painted tombs, showing thenew ideology tending towards the glorification of the aristocracy (orco, Scudi, Giglioli and rifone toirbr;.
In this last tomb, dating from the late 3rd .e.rtory 8.C., zscenewith
a procession of magistrates significanrly expressesthe desire of integration in the Roman state.
The territory of cennE was densely populated by small settlethe plains along the coast from the earliest villanovan perT:"tr.i"
iod. The objects found in the necropolises around the site of the future city (Sorbo and cave della pozzolana) are relativelv modest:
they can be seen in the local museum and at the villa iiulia l,luseum. Even tombs dating from the later villanovan period have
prgserved only modest objects, unlike in other parts of i,truria. It is
onl'r in the 7th century that the materialculture of the citv beqins to

farquinia

Caere (550-525
145. Lldria fron
B.C.\. Kone, Villa Gialia' The decoration
sbops Hercules leading the tbree-headeddog
Cerberas to King Earlstheas who is frigbt'
enedand hides in a largejar.
146. Siluer cap mantfactared in an Oriental workthop, with relief decorations (rom
tbe Kegolini-Galassi tomb in Caerei
B.C.). Vatican, Cregorian
675-650
Etruscan Maseam. The oatsidefrieze shoat
a processionof armed men; tbe middle one,
hant;ng scenes;the inner roandel, a battle
betweentuo lions and a ba//.

and (-aere

flourish, thanks probably to the mineral resources of the Tolfa

mountains. An aiistocratic 6lite begins to emerge, documented for
us by princely tombs of unsurpassedsplendour. The Regolini Galassi tomb in the necropolis of Sorbo is the finest example: it consists
of a first tumulus (then incorpofated into a later one with peripheral
tombs) including two long and narrow rooms along the same axis
and covered by a false vault. Two niches carved out of the tufa stone
open off the first room. The splendid collection of personal objects
oi the three people buried here is now in the Gregorian Etruscan
Museum in the Vatican. It includes very fine gold jewellery, silver
cups and chalices,ivory objects, shields,urns' bronze bases,a c rt, a
produced locally and some imported from various
thion-some
East-and bucchero and ceramic goods imported
the
Near
of
parts
irom Corinth and eastern Greece. Dating from this same period (second quarter of the 7th century) is the necropolis of Banditaccia,
now open to the public, on the plateau to. the north-east of the city.
cube-shaped,
Here, in extraordinary quantity of tombs-tumulus,
in
funeral
architecture
of
range
the
whole
chamber-illustrates
B'C.
centuries
Caere between the 7th and 3rd
After the 7th century the development of the city causedthe population of the territory to concentrate in a few communities (some
of which are documented by necropolises open to the public) along
the coast (La Scaglia near Civitavecchia, La Castellin^ ne r Santa
Marinella, Pyrgi, Montetosto, Cerr, Alsium), in the Tolfa mountains, in the valley of the Mignone (Rota, Pisciarelli) and along the
border with the territory of Veii (Monterano). Some of them, especially the ones along the borders, were given defence walls in the
4th century. During the 7th and 6th centuries-see the obiects in
the local museum ^nd ^t Villa Giulia:-^s well as the Corinthian,
Oriental Greek, Laconizn and Attic ceramics imported from
Greece, we find artifacts produced locally, principally bucchero. The

Tarquinia and Caere

of tbe Amazors (fron

147. Sarcopbag'ts
ArTarqainia,t50-125 B.C.). Florence,
Museam.Detail uitb an Amacbaeological
zon on borseback
-fiSbtkg a Creek watiory
on tlte outsidetbereis ar inscriptionrecording that tbe sarcopbagusis dedicatedto
Rantba HucTnaib1herson.

invention of buccherowas the work of the craftsmenof Caere,as is 148. SanGiotterah,excaaationsof ltoases'
shown by tomb No. 2 at Casalettidi Ceri in the local museum,by Tbeground-planof tbe towndatesfrom the
the Calabresitomb in the Gregorian Museum and by the Montetos- 6th-5thcenturvB.C.
to tumulus at Villa Giulia. Etruscan-Corinthian ceramics' such as
the large amphoras, the coloured group of bizzane figures or the
*human masL group," exported to southern France, were found in
later tombs. And finally, dating from the mid-6th century, there are
the "hydrias from Caere,"the work of an immigrant Aeolian artist
who painted scenesfrom Greek mythology, esPeciallythe labours of
Hercules,in a lightheartedand playful spirit. During this period the
"middle class" composed of pro-Greek
development of a sort of
at Delphi) is documentmerchants and craftsmen (see the Tbesaaros
ed by the new tombs in the nofrh-easternPart of the Banditaccianecropolis: theseare no longer tumuli, but die-shapedtombs, and they
arephced next to eachother in straight lines, indicating thal the deceasedwere all consideredequals.Also in the secondhalf of the 6th
century, when the city allied with the Carthaginians against the naval power of the PhocaeanGreeks (battle of Aleria, 545 B.C.), a
large number of public buildings were constructed: the temPles at
Montetosto and Furbara, the temPle of Vigna Zoccoli (in the city)
with inscriptions in Greek to the goddessHera (in the local museum). The sacred Lre in the port of PYRGI was enlarged and enriched by Th{arie Velianas,who is referred to as king of Caere in a
gold foil with a Phoenician inscription, but was probably ^ tyranni--al figure supported by the plebeians.The sanctuarywas connected
to tha crty by a monument^lgute:it consistedof a Greek type temple
(B) dedicated to the Etruscan goddess Uni (the sarneas the Latin
Juno and the Greek Hera) and the Punic goddessAstarte, errtdalzter
Etruscan type temple (A). The excavationsand the Antiquarium are
open to the public; the fictile high-relief from temPle A shordng the
battle between Tidaeus and Melanippus and copies of the three gold

Tarquinia and Caere

149. Stonereliefsbowingtbe battle betpun

Tldeus and Melanippas,witb Atbena and
Zeuslookingon (rom Tenph A at Pygi,
aroand460 B.C.). Ronq Villa Gialia.
150. P1rgi,excaaatiorconthesite of Tenph B (late 6tlt centuryB.C.).

foil inscriptions (two in Etruscan, one in Punic) commemorating

the dedication of the temple are in the Villa Giulia Museum. A
school of ceramic u/orkers, working at first in the Ionic style and
later in the Aeginan, was active at this time, producing among other
things the architectural sculptures from Pyrgi and the Sarcophagus
"degli
Sposi" in Villa Giulia, ^nd ^ sarcophagus lid with a young
m n at a banquet (Cerveteri museum).
After a period of cultural isolation (second half of the 5th centrry), charactenzed only by the importations from Attica found in
"Tomb
the
of the Greek Vases" (Villa Giulia) and by the foundation,
towards the end of the century, of the "Tomb of the Sarcophagi" (local museum and Gregorian Museum), the city experienced a cultural
revival. The sanctu^ry at Pyrgi was restored after it had been sacked
by Dionysius of Syracuse (384 B.C.) and new tombs were founded,
"Tomb
such as the
of the Reliefs," decorated with painted stuccoes
showing weapons and utensils of daily usage. During the invasion
of the Gauls in 390, the Roman vestal virgins took refuge irr Caere,
for, unlike its traditional enemy Veii, the city was allied to Rome
and was soon granted the rights of Roman citizenship excluding the
vote (ciaitassinesufragio). This alliance explains the presence in Caere
of several important Roman citizens, documented by the tomb of
the Claudii (who changed their nalne to the more Etruscan Clautie)
and by inscriptions in Latin and Etruscan on "Genucilia" disks, a typical local product. The good relations between Caere and Rome
continued throughout the 4th century (with the only exception of
the war between Rome and Tarquinia in 358-351), until the early
3rd century when Caere joined the other cities of southern Etruria
in their revolt against Rome.
The territory between Ferento-Acquarossa to the nofth and San
Giovenale to the south, comprising the basin of the Fosso tsiedano
and the upper valley of the Mignone, has all the characteristics of a
communication route, beginning from the archaic period until the
late 3rd or early 2nd century B.C. when the Clodian Way was built.
This area was the land of Caere and Tarquinia and the material culture'il/as influenced by these two towns, predorninantly l:y Ca.erein
the archaic period, and by Tarquinia fnrnn the 4th century ,8.C. orr-

89
Hilltop Towns in Tuscany: Scadino
Fortified hilltop villages are one of the
fundamental aspects of medieval and
modern Tuscany. The development of
these settlements cafl be studied orimarily thanks to archaeology,for it is
not until the 11th century that written
documentation begins to be at all
abundant. Some recent excavations
have shown us how complex the phenomenon really is and how many transformations these settlements have undergone. The case of Scarlino is exemplary. It u/as a castle documented from
the end of the 1th centurv. on the
border between the diocesesof Roselle
on one side and Populonia and Massa
on the other. The early medieval settlement, consisting in huts with fireplaces and a frescoed church, grew up
on a site of much earlier communities.
There are, in fact, traces of a late
Bronze Age settlement (12th-1ith century B.C.) which was then practically
abandoned during the archaic Etruscan period; between the 5th and 1st
centuries B.C. there was a large hilltop
fortress, surrounded by walls that were
more than two metres thick. Durins
the imperial age, the site was all bui
abandoned, while the ^re ^t the foot

of the hill and along the coast became

populated by villas and other smaller
farming communities. When the early
medieval settlement developed it followed a model that was more than a
thousand years old. The hilltop had
probably been fortified since it was
first settled, but during the 10th century the fortifications
had to be
strengthened. Even the houses became
more solid and the huts were reolaced
by stone houses with terracotta rooF
tiles, surrounded by a huge set of walls
that enclosed the whole hilltoo. The
village underwent several renovations
until the 13th century: for example,
the old church was replaced by a new
Romanesque one. But, basically, its
general appearance did not change
much. It was only at the beginning of
the 14th century that serious changes
'The
took place.
arca occupied by the
original castle was taken over by a fort
and a new set of walls was built
around the houses that had grown up
outside the original settlement, including the Romanesque church of San
Donato, built in the first half of the
13th centurv.

N))
I

------

-J
I

T-r
I

[l
t l

l'l---r

L--'

i-l -:-=;
ii-l
L:-;
lfuH=|--ur
- --LJI]
L
Jt-

9th tOth...t'.y

lorh-13th.e.tt.v

ffi

t3th-l4th..^trrv

I 5th.".i,r,y

I. Cround-plan of tbe castleof Scarlino.

II. Tbe castleof Scarlino.
1il. .'lcar/ino. The interior of tbe citade/:
earl1 medieual beam boles, Hellenistic and
medieua/elements.
IV. Scarlino. Inside the 15th-centary
church tbere are the ruins of the apset of twa
churches:aboue,the Romanesqueone and at
ihe centre,tbe 9th-centuryone.

Tarquinia and Caere

wards. Three of the very few excavations of private houses in Etruria are in this region: AcquanosSA, with private houses and an aristocratic residence built around a square internal courtyard with porticoes, and Luwt and SAN GIoveNarB in the upper valley of the
Mignone. Another characteristic of this are are the spectacular
mountain necropolises carved out of the rock: BLERA and SRN GruLIANO, used in archaic times, CasTer D'ASSo and NoRcnIA, dating from the later period.
The long struggle against Rome was finally concluded with TaR151. CastelD'Asso,faeadeof tomb 5i,
QUINIA's defeat in 281,B.C. The city was forced to surrender alarge
with afake doorand tbe invription aboueit
stretch of coastland which became public land (agerpublicus) and its
giuingthenameoftbeowner,Arntbal Ceises control over the towns and villages of its territory, which rapidly be(6tb nntaryB.C.).

gan to acquire ^ grc^ter degree of autonomy.

During the 2nd century B.C. Tarquinia's old port, which had
been abandoned after the defeat, resumed activity thanks to the
foundation of the Roman colony of Gravisca in 181 B.C.. The plan
showinga reclining of this town, like most other coastal colonies, is similar to that of a
15 3. Stonesarcophagas
nuple (fron Caere,late 6th centuryB.C.).
military c^mp (castriln) with streets running parallel to each other.
Rone,Vi//a Ciulia.
At the end of the civil war (90 B.C.), the towns in the area which
had already become independent of Tarquinia became nunicipia.
During the Augustan period, despite all attempts at increasing
the population (as at Gravisca), a period of irreversible decline beg^nfor Tarquinia and it continued all through the imperial age.
Roman presence at Tarquinia is documeqted, among other
things, by a street near the Ara Reginae,a sacred building restored
many times, even during the imperial age. Also in the centre of Tarquinia are the ruins of a small house with a large pilastered room
next to it: here there were dolia for the preservation of foodstuffs.
Roman control over the area caused the extinction of some large local families and the entry of others into the Roman senate. The latter were responsible for the construction of many public buildings.
In the early imperial age the elogiaof the Spurinnae(an important local family whose members were arrlspicesin Rome and even became
consuls) were placed in the Ara Reginaetogether with the statue of
Tarchon, the mythical founder of Tarquinia, and thefasti of the col152. Norchia, the hillside neropolis
(4th- 3rd centurJB.C.).

Tarquinia and Caere

lege of sixty haruspices,who interpreted for the Roman senate the

meaning of unusual or exceptional events. The decline, which began
in the 3rd century, is documented by the scarsity of archaeological
finds, with the exception of a very grand late classicalhouse in the
centre of Gravisca.
Defeated by the Romans in the 273 8.C., CaERg lost about half
of its territory, in particular the coastal ^re ; m ny towns that until
that time had served primarily as centres of worship (e.g. Pyrgi)
were abandoned. Some coastal colonies are founded in the region:
from south to north, Fregenae which became a colony in 245 8.C.,
Alsium, near a previous Etruscan settlement, founded tn 247 8.C.,
and Pyrgi, founded in 264 B.C. on the site of the most important
port on Caere's territory before the Roman conquest.
The colony of PyRcr is surrounded by a set of polygonal walls,
similar to those of Cosa, founded in the same period. The harbour,
which is today underwater, has been identified by aerial Photographs. The colony of CesrnuM NOVUM (near present-day Santa
Marinella) was also founded in 264 B.C. near an earlier settlement.
'We
know from an inscription that the town had a theatre, a curia
(the seat of the colony's magistrates) and a tabularium (the town's archive). All these newly founded coastal towns had the function of
controlling both the sea and the Etruscan inland, still not completely subjugated.The construction of the Via Aurelia (probably tn 241
B.C.) connected these centres to one another and to the other tov/ns
along the coast as far as Cosa.
The inland territory was organized as a prefecture under the rule
of a magistrate nominated directly by Rome @raefectu:).No new colonies were founded in this area, unlike what happened along the
coast, and the only new town that was built was Forum Clodii,
founded in the 2nd century along the Clodian Way (built in 225
B.C.) connecting Rome to Saturnia.
During the republic^n'age many villas were built, both along the
coast and in the inland. We do not know whether the maritime villas (which became more numerous and important in the early and
middle imperial age) were the centres of productive activities like
the ones in the inland, but we do know that they had large pools

154. Sarcophagasof the Magistrate (fron

Caere, Tomb of the Sarcopbagi,late 5th centurl B.C.). Vatican, Gregorian Etruscan
Museum. The frieTe shows the joarne-y to
Hades of tbe deceasedon a cbariot, with a
processioninc/ading tbree musicians and a
man earrying a staf.
15 5. Blera, a tomb in the necropolis (6tb
centuryB.C.).

92

l rrquinia and (-acrc

t)/

158
15 6. Tarquinia, thepauing of tbe port.
157. Santa Marinaila, rains of tbe lale
repablicanperiod ui//a at Crottacce.
158. Grauisca, a dolium avd for the prevruation offood,fron a late republican period priuate house.
1 f 9. Santc ll z;.ztl,lt, rtis: r{ l!,e &trn:t
ail/a er Crottacce,
160. Pyrgi, iht
B.C.).

Castram (3rd

centwry

used for fish-breeding. Near Arsrutt (between San Nicola and Palo)
i;here were severai vilias-one of which belon*,ed to Pompey. The
most interestinq are the one at the castle of Palo. with polychrome
mosaic-snow in the ca.stleitself, anci the one at San Nicola. Among
the villas around Castrum Novum" we must rention the one at Groi tacce, with very large fishponds.
During the Augustan age the area experienced a new period of
(where the Caesarswere
prosperity. At Caere, a theatre, ^ caesareum
honoured) and other important public buildings, such as an aqueduct, were built. Nothing remains of these constructions today. It
seems that during this period Caerc was once ag rn granted the status of arrtonomous manicipium,but it was probably only a formahty,
for in practice the city's subordination to Rome continued unchanged.
Despite Au.gustus'sattempts at reviving the cities of this area,
they continued to decline. I)uring the irnperial age this decadence
br-carrieeven more pronounced anci by the 2nd century A.D. all the
'l'he
itr(-,t.:jmriori-arr'cit;es vrere abtndc;,ned.
viilas appeat.to have remai,i,,erlthe-rnlv artitt,=elenrentsin aterritotr,- p.hi,'h was becomins,

Tarquinia rntl Cacrc

93

162
^progressively more the property of the emperor.
Il was Traian who was responsible for the last important intervention in the region (107-108 A.D.): the construction of the harbour of Centumcillae (Civitavecchia). This port and the surrounding town are the only ones that survived until the 5th centufy, as we
kn-ow from Rutilius Namatianus. Tfavelling through the atea at the
beginning of the 5th century, he was struck by Centumcellae'svitalitv compared to the fest of the coastland, which was already an uninirabitei marshland.
East of the city, on a hill overlooking the harbouf, thefe are the
remains of Trajan's famous villa (mistakenly identified with the site
of Aquae Tauri). It consists of a smaller nucleus, built during the
late ripublican period, and a larger one, built later' Among th:
ruins, scholarshave identified severallarge rooms used as baths, a library and the hospitalia(apartments for guests). Fragments of the villas fioor decorations are now in the museum at Civitavecchia. The
site of Aqu ae T auri is present-dayFiconcella, near a sulphur spring.
only in 649,p\ayedan important
rheseatof a diocese
TuscaNra,whichbecame
role under the Longobards as a border town, in the centre of a territory rvith several pre-exist ing ciitas (Tarquinia, Ferentis, as-well as the future \/iterbo' a newly founded tow-n not far from the abandoned ciaitasof the Sorrii.renses).In the
early Middle Ages the development of Tuscania is connected to its position along
the blodian W"-"y,between the Cassian and the Aurelian, on a fairly flat stretch of
land connected io the sea by the river Nlarta, navigabie at the time. On the hill of
San Pietro the Romanesque church of the same name is interesting for. the presence of early medieval motifs in its decoration. Here, recent excavations have
brought to light archaeologicai strata from the late Bronze Age to the Modern
Era. ihe ear"ly medieval Gvels document the existence of buildings probably
made out of wood. But the most important early medieval find is not quite in the
centre of the town: it is the crypt ofsan Giusto, consisting of three cellaetrichorae,
with cross-vaults without intiados and barrel-vaults. The architectural design is
reminiscent of the crypt of San Salvatore on Mount Amiata and also has similarities with the crypt of the abbey of Farneta in the Chiana valley'

'I-ascania,
tbe hill of San Pietro with
161.
the apses af tbe churches of Santa Maria
Maggiare and San Pietro.
162. Tuscania, San Ciusto, the crypt con'
sisting of three cellae trichotae with a
cross--aaahresting on co/umnstaken from a
rained classical building. This is the oldesl
arrbi /er/ura/ st nrrl a re i n T asrania.

94

Museumsof Etruria
AI-BANO I, AZI AI,E _ CIVIC MUSEUM
The archaeological
section houseslocal materialsfrom the
prehistorical,proto-historical,Roman and early Christian
periods.
ALLUMIERE _ PREHISTORICALMUSEUM
OF UPPER LATIUM
Nlaterialsfrom prehistoricaland proto-historicalperiods,
including Villanovan vases and objects from Etruscan
tombs.

CORTONA- MUSEUMOF TTIE

ETRUSCANACADENIY
Etruscan and Roman gold jewellery, coins, ceramics and
bronzes from various sites.
FIESOLE - ARCHAEOLOGICAL
MUSEUM
Materials from the excavations of the nearby Etruscan temple and from the Roman theatre and baths.
FLORENCE - ARCHAEOLOGICAL
M USEUM
OF CENTRAL ETRURIA
Prehistorical materials from excavations in Tuscany. Etruscan and Roman sculptures, bronzes, urns, ceramics, gold
jewellery and coins which formed the Medici and Lorraine
collections, originally housed in the Uffizi. Etruscan monuments and tombs have been reconstructed in the tooographical section.

AREZZO
N,IECENATE ARCH AEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
Prehistoricalmaterialsand Etruscanand Roman urns. cramics, bronzesand statues.The collection of the so-called
'vasi Aretini' is
particularlyinteresting.
FLORENCE
ASCIANO- ETRUSCAN MUSEUM
Objectsfrom the necropolises
of PoggioPinci.

FLORI]NTINE PREHISTORICAL MUSEU M

Prehistorical objects (weapons, implements, graffiti) and didactic material illustrating the various prehistorical cukures.

BOI-OGNA - CIVIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

M USEUM
A vastcollectionof prehistorical,Villanovan,Etruscan,Ro- GROSSETO ARCHAEOLOGICAL
Prehistorical
materials,
Etruscan
and
Roman
funerarv obman and medievalmaterialsfrom the region around Bologjects, urns, statues, bronzes and coins from the local excavana and alsofrom other partsofltaly. Particularlyinteresting
tions, in particular at Rusellae. Also a small section of mearethe furniture itemsand householdimplements.
dieval archaeology.

CAPENA _ ANTIQUARIUM OF LUCUSFERONIAE

Objectsfrom the excavationof Lucus Feroniaeand the necropolisof Capena.
CASOLA IN LUNIGIANA
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
Prehistorical
materialsand stele-statues
from Lunigiana.
CECINA - CIVIC ANTIQUARIUM
Materials from local excavations,in particular from an
Etruscantomb and a Roman villa.
CERVETERI - NATIONAL MUSEUM
Villanovan, Etruscan and Roman materialsfrom the area
around Cerveteri:vases,sarcophagi,terracottasand funeraryobjects.

GROTTAFERRATA
NlUSEUM OF THE ABBEY OF SAN NILO
Prehistorical and Etruscan materials.
GUtsBIO-CIVIC N{USEUM
Inscriptions, statues, coins and other objects from the proto-historical and Roman periods, from the Roman theatre
and local excavations.
ISCHIA DI CASTRO _ CIVIC ANTTQUARIUM
Nlaterials from the excavations ofthe Etruscan necroDolises
of Castro.
I.A SPEZIA-CIVIC MUSEUM
Prehistorical, proto-historical, Roman and early Christian
materials from the excavations at Luni. The collection of
stele-statuesis particularly interesting.

CHIUSI - NATIONAL ETRUSCAN MUSEUM

A vastcollectionof Etruscanand Roman materialsfrom excavationsin the area: ceramics,cinerary urns, sarcophagi
LUCCA _ NATIONAI, MUSEUN{ AT VILI-A GUINIGI
and bronzes.
CIVITA CASTELLANA
NATIONAL FALISCAN MUSEUM
Archaeologicalfinds dating from the 10th to the 3rd centuriesB.C. found in the FaliscanPlain.
CIVITAVECCHIA
NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
Villanovan, Etruscan,Roman and medievalmaterialsfrom
excavationsin the area.
COLLE VAL D'E,LSA
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
Etruscanfuneraryobjects,ceramicsand coinsfrom localexcavationsor acquiredasgifts.

Etruscan and Roman materials as well as an important

medieval section including objects from excavationi in the
area around l-ucca-

LUNI _ NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

Materials from the excavations at l-uni, primarily dating
from the Roman period.
MARCIANA _ ARCHAEOI,OGICAL NIUSEUM
Prehistorical and Roman materials from various communities on the island o[ Elha.
MASSA _ CASTELLO NIALASPINA
Permanent exhibition of prehistorical and Roman materials
from the area.

95
N I A S S AM A R I T T I M A
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
Objectsfrom the Etruscantombs of the areaand a collection of Roman coins.
MONTALCINO - ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
Prehistoricaland Etruscanmaterialsfrom the area.

ROME. VATICAN
GREGORIAN ETRUSCAN MUSEUM
Sculptures,ceramics,bronzes,gold jewellery,funerary ob'
jects and other materialsfrom excavationsin the necropolises of southern Etruria. The objects from the RegoliniGalassitomb at Cerveteriareparticularlyinteresting.

SAN GIMIGNANO _ ETRUSCAN MUSEUM

_
ANTIQUARIUM
CIVIC
ORBETELLO
Etruscan archaeologicalfinds from various excavationsin
Etruscan and Roman funerary obiectsand other materials the area.
from the excavationsin the area.in particularfrom Cosa.
SATURNIA _ ANTIQUARIUM
ORTONOVO
Etruscan and Roman materials form excavationsin the
NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
zfeaRoman archaeological finds from the excavations in the
MUSEUM
SIENA - NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL
areaaround Luni.
Prehistorical materials, Etruscan and Roman urns' sarco-

ORVIETO - FAINA MUSEUM

phagi, sculptures and ceramics from excavations around
Archaeologicalfinds mostly from the Etruscannecropolises Siena (Val d'Elsa, Amiata, Chiusi).
around Orvieto. The collection of Greek and Etruscan
MUSEUM
SPOLETO - ARCHAEOLOGICAL
vasesis particularlyinteresting.
ORVIETO - CATHEDRAL MUSEUM
sectionhousesfuneraryobiectsfrom the
The archaeological
necropolisesaroundC)rvieto.

Prehistorical objects, Roman and medieval sculptures, inscriptions and architectural fragments.
ETRUSCAN MUSEU M
TARQUINIA - NATIONAL
Etruscan materials from the necropolises of the area: sarcophagi, detached frescoes, vases, bas-reliefs and funerary ob-

PERUGIA - NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL

NIUSEUMOF UMBRIA
,ects.
Prehistoricalmaterialsfrom central Italy. Urns, bronze laMUSEUM
minae and funeraryobjectsfrom the Etruscannecropolises TERNI - ARCHAEOLOGICAL
of the area. Bas-reliefsand inscriptions from the Roman Proto-historical materials from the necropolises of the area.
period.
_
TERNI

PISA_ MUSEO DELL'OPERA DELLA PRIMAZIALE

An archaeologicalcollection of Etruscan and Roman statues,sarcophagiand architecturalfragments.
PONTREMOLI
CIVIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
Prehistoricaland Roman finds from Lunigiana,in particular
stele-statues.
POPULONIA _ ETRUSCAN MUSEUM
Vases,fragmentsof sarcophagiand funerary obiectsfrom
the excavationsof the Etruscannecropolisesof Populonia.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

COLLE,CTION

AT PALAZZOCARRARA
Sarcophagi,inscriptions,stelesand other Roman and medievalmaterials.
TODI - ETRUSCAN ROMAN MUSEUM
Italic, Etruscanand Roman sculpture,gold iewellery,ceramics and inscriptions.
TUSCANIA - NATIONAL MUSEUM
Materialsfrom excavationsin Tuscaniaand the surrounding ar ea;in particular sarcophagi.

VETULONIA - CIVIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

ROI\{E _ CAPITOLINE MUSEUMS
Materialsfrom excavationsin the city: funeraryobiectsand
Etruscan vasesand funerary objects.Sculptures,mosalcs, Villanovan,Etruscanand Romanceramics.
coins and other materialsfrom excavationsof Roman sites.
VITERBO-CNIC MUSEUM
ROME - MUSEUN{OF THE INSTITUTE
Villanovan, Etruscan and Roman materials from excavaOF'ETRUSCANSTUDIES
tions in the areaaroundViterbo.
Casts and reconstructionsof Etruscan cities and settlements.
VOLTE,RRA _ GUARNACCI ETRUSCAN MUSEUM
Prehistoricalmaterials;a wide range of Etruscan cinerary
ROME - PIGORINI PREHISTORICAL AND
urns, Etruscanand Roman gold jewellery,sculpture,ceraETHNOGRAPHICAL MUSEUM
mics, coins and other materialsfrom the areaaround VolN{aterialsfrom the palaeolithic,aeneolithic,bronzeand iron
teffa.
ages,from all over Italy and in particularfrom Latium.
VULCI-NATIONAL MUSEUM
' Villanovan,Etruscanand Roman archaeological
ROME - NATIONAL ETRUSCAN MUSEUM
finds from
ATVILLAGIULIA
the area.
Proto-historical,Italic and Etruscan materials from Latium, southern Etruria and Umbria. Sculptures,ceramics,
bronzes,gold jewellery,funeraryobjectsand other materials
from excavations,arrangedtopographically.

Marzabotto,12, 33, 40,47, 55

M a s s aM a r i t t i m a , 5 8 , 6 3
Montescudaio,
36, 54;364
N { u r l o3, 3 , 3 6 , 6 5 ;4 9

Index of Places
Acquarossa,28, 36, 88, 90; 44
A l s i u m ,1 4 , 8 6 , 9 1 , 9 2
Anghiari,45; 72
Arezzo5
, , 1.21
, . 4 - 1 6 , 3 7 - 4 1 , 4 4 , 4 5 ,0 , 6 3 , 6 6 , 6 7 , 7 4 ; 6 0 ,
6) - 65, 6 9, 70, 514il, sg/V, 67Al, VllI

Narce, 18,24; i 1
N e p i ,1 4 , 2 7
Norchia,80, 85, 90; 152
Orbetello,71,76
()rvieto (seeVolsinii)

Blera,90;155
Bologna(Felsina),
9, 12,40,54,55
Bolsena(seeVolsinii Novi)

Perugia,12, 1.4-76,30,32, 34,37,38; 17, 5 2- 54, 31/V

P i s a3
, , 5 , 9 , 7 7 , 1 6 ,4 6 - 4 8 5
, 2 , 5 3 ,6 7 , 7 4 ;8 j
P i s t o i a1, 6
Pitigliano,69,71,80
PoggioBuco, 71
P o p u l o n i a7, 2 , 1 6 , 5 0 ,5 4 , 5 6 ,5 8 - 6 1 ,6 4 , 8 9 ; 9 5 , 9 7 - 9 9
Pyrgi, 14,30,86-88,91; 18, 149, 150, 160;31fi1-IY

Caere(Cerveteri),
3, 72,14,18, 58, 80, 85-88,91,92;
15, 144- 146, 15 t, 154; 3lAl-lY, 67AV
Capena,24
CasafeMarittimo, 54; 8 9
Casteld'Asso,85, 90;.15 1
Castro,16,28,71,76
CastrumNovum, 1,4,91, 92
Cetona,32,33;48
Chiusi, 12, nl5, 1,6, 30, 32-38;4 5, 5 0, 5 1,5 5 ; 83All
Civitavecchia(Centumcellae),
81, 86, 93
Civita Castellana(seeFalerii Veteres)
Conona,39,45
C o s a 6, 9 , 7 4 , 7 6 , 7 8 - 8 09, 1 ;2 1 , 1 3 1 ,1 j 2 ; 5 1 , 4 1 , 8 3 4 Y

Quinto l' iorentino, 401'62

Rusellae(Roselle),12, 16, 33, 63-65, 68, 69, 80, 89;
114-117
SanGiovenale,90;148
Sarteano,32, 33; 4 6, 47, 674, lI
S a t u r n i a1, 4 , 7 0 , 7 1 , , 7 6 , 7 88,0 , 9 1 ; 1 2 j , 1j 3
Siena,9, 1nl,16,33, 54,62, 63,67
Sorano,8
S o v a n a1, 6 , 7 1 , 7 3 , 8 0 ; 2 3 ,1t 0 , 1t 9
S u t r i ,1 4 ,2 7 : 2 0 ,i 8 , 3 9

Dolciano,32, 33
Falerii Novi, 26, 27, 29; I 9
Falerii Veteres(Civita Castellana),14, 24, 26, 27, 32,73;

t0.67/v
Talamone,78, 80; 129, 1t7, 1)8
Tarquinia,3, 72, 74, 34, 36, 42, 43, 58, 64,80, 8 1, 82, 84,
85, 88, 90, 93; 1, 14 1- 14 t, 147, 15 6; 36Al
Tuscania,85, 93; 161, 162

Felsina (see Bologna)

Fiesole,3, 15,38-41,44,46, 47; 6 1,66, 67, 77, 67AX,X

Florence,9, 16, 33,38, 40, 41, 44-46;68, 7t, 74, 79
Fregenae,
14,91
Gravisca,74, 84,90; 15 8
Grosseto,69, 80; 24

V e i i ,3 , 1 , 2 , 7 41, 8 , 2 0 , 2 7 , 2 4 , 2 5 , 2 7 , 3 5
00
, ,8 6 ,8 8 ;
25-29,51.4
Vetulonia,58, 59, 63-65,68; 109- 1 12
V i t e r b o ,7 6 ,6 7 , 9 3 ; 1 1 9
Volsinii(Orvieto),72, 74, 16,27-29,58,67, 73;

l{eba(Magliano),14, 7 7, 78, 79; 3lNl

14,4t.83n

I-ucca,5, 9, 16, 45, 47-49,52, 80; 22, 82, 84, 8 5

l,ucusFeroniae,25l.32- 3 7
Luni, 6, 16, 47-49,52, 53,81, 90; 8 l, 86

j, 71
VolsiniiNovi(Bolsena),
1,6,32;4
Volterra,12, 15, 16,47, 48,54, 55, 61, 63; 9 1 , 9 2 - 9 4 ,
100-102,106
Vulci,20, 33, 58, 64,69-73,76;16, 120,122,124-129;
43/ilt.67Arr.75/Vr

N{anciano,69,
70
Marsiliana.71

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