The Etruscans and the Foundations of Rome through the Republic

Greek Settlements in Sicily and South Italy (8th-3rd C. BC), Etruscans (8th-2nd C. BC), Rome's Foundation

fresco (true fresco)

painting on lime plaster either dry (fresco secco) or wet (Buon fresco / true fresco); also a painting executed in either method

3 points of background for early Italy:

1) Greek settlements in Sicily and South Italy thrived from 8th-3rd centuries BC

2) Etruscans flourished from 8th to 2nd centuries BC

3) Rome is traditionally said to have been founded in 753 BC although we have evidence that goes back much earlier

Poseidonia (founded ca. 600 BC) 

Greek colony founded around 600 BC in southern Italy, later known as Paestum 

1. Temple of Athena (500)

2. Temple of Hera I (550)

3. Walls 

4. Agora

5. Tomb of the Diver (480)

6. Temple of Hera II (470-460)

Poseidonia: Temple of Athena 

1. 500 BC

2. y = 2x+1 (ideal)

3. stair cases

4. travertine and sandstone

5. porch framed by ionic columns

6. 1st mix of doric and ionic

Poseidonia: Temple of Hera I

1. 550 BC

2. Doric 

3. columns down center

4. travertine and sandstone

5. not ideal (y≠2x+1)

Poseidonia: Temple of Hera II

1. 470-460 BC

2. ideal GREEK temple

Poseidonia: Tomb of the Diver (480 BC)

1. 480 BC

2. fresco on travertine 

3. frescoes on all sides with images of feasts & games

4. top of a diver and a dead tree

kottabos

game in which one flings wine dregs from a cup at a target

Etruscans (list 6 points) CCUCGS

1. culture based on city-states

2. 1st complex native society in Italy before Romans

3. uncertain origins maybe Turkey / Italy always

4. extensive contact with Mediterranean world

5. heavy borrowing and adoption of Greek traditions

6. Made sarcophagus of terracotta

sarcophagus

coffin used to hold a body (or ashes) of deceased; Etruscan ones were often made of terracotta

Etruscan Sarcophagus Lid from Caere (525 BC)

1) Greek 5th century archaic smile

2) rigid Egyptian style and unnatural position

terracotta

fired clay

Etruscans in Tarquinia: Tomb of the Leopards (472 BC)

1. tufo - rock that covers tomb

2. fresco

3. Egyptian poses

4. Leopards warding off danger

5. Dining scene

6. shift to classic but not quite

Important Dates Rome 

1. 10th c. BC: Iron Age habitation evidence of burials on Capitoline & Paletine Hills

2. 753 BC: traditional date of Rome’s founding

3. 753 - 509 BC: “regal period”

4. 509 BC: explosion of kings

5. 509 - 27 BC: Republican period

Iron Age cremation burials in “Hut Urns”

1. terracotta

2. 10th-8th centuries BC

3. models of actual houses in the Forum valley

forum

public square / marketplace used for judicial and other business

wattle and daub

dried mud held together by straw

Building projects in 6th century BC (regal period)

1. fill in the Forum

2. Build Cloaca Maxima

3. Build Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus

Cloaca Maxima

“Great Drain”; drain and sewer that ran from the Forum Augustum through the low-lying areas of Ancient Rome, winding between the Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline Hills

Italic / Roman Temple (vs. Greek Temple)

Italian / Roman 

1. On a high podium 

2. Emphasize the front; columns and steps on the front side

3. Tripartite cellas (a cella that is split into three side-by- side chambers)

Greek 

1. Not on a high podium

2. Peripteral; steps and columns on all sides

3. Usually not tripartite cellas

cella

the inner chamber of a temple, typically a simple rectangular room that houses the cult statue of the deity

podium

a raised platform or base that serves as the foundation for a structure , most famously a temple

Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus (aka Capitolium) (509 BC)

1. vowed by Tarquinius Priscus

2. mostly completed by Tarquinius Superbus

3. dedicated in 1st year of the Republic of Rome

4. NOT GREEK but TUSCAN / ITALIAN

   1. gridded columns NOT outlined

   2. wall on the back

   3. cella in back not middle

   4. stairs

   5. 3 gods, 3 altars: Jupiter, Juno, Minerva