Comprehensive Study Guide on Early Italian Contexts, the Etruscan Civilization, and the Rise of Republican Rome

Early Italian Contexts: Pithekoussai and Southern Italy

• Pithekoussai (Ischia):

  • The site geography is composed of three primary areas: the San Montano valley, Vico hill, and Mezzavia hill.

  • Shipwreck Krater: A Late Geometric II ($LGII$) krater produced locally within Pithekoussai, dated to the period between $720-700\,BCE$.

  • Pottery Assemblage:

    • Impasto spiral amphora: Representing the traditional local style.

    • Matt-painted ware: Originating from the Dauni and Peucezi regions.

    • Etruscan Inscriptions: Pottery sherds have been recovered featuring Etruscan writing, which suggests the presence of alien residents (characterized as residents of a "third kind") at Pithecussae/Cumae between $750-675\,BCE$.

• Incoronata and Metapontion:

  • Incoronata ($630\,BCE$): Stratigraphic evidence reveals mixed levels of Greek and indigenous material culture, indicating early cultural intersections.

  • Metapontion (Metaponto):

    • By $600\,BCE$, the settlement had progressed into a fully established city featuring an Agora (marketplace), a Sanctuary, a grid-based street plan, and an Ekklesiasterion (a dedicated town council building that was subsequently converted into a theatre).

    • Artistic Evidence: The Amykos Painter (a Lucanian artist) produced a nestoris—a pottery shape local to Italy—during the final quarter of the $5^{th}$ century $BCE$.

The Villanovans and the Early Etruscan Culture

• Definition and Discovery:

  • The Villanovan culture ($900-700\,BCE$) is defined as the formative early stage of Etruscan civilization.

  • It was named after a cemetery discovered near the town of Villanova (close to Bologna). The site was excavated by Count Giovanni Gozzadini between $1853-1855$.

• Burial Practices:

  • During the Early Iron Age ($900-700\,BCE$), cremation was the primary method for handling the deceased.

• Key Archaeological Examples:

  • Tarquinia (Poggio Selciatello Tomb $179$): An $8^{th}$ century $BCE$ cinerary urn containing impasto pottery, a spearhead, a spear-butt, a fibula (safety-pin/brooch), and a razor.

  • Veii (Tomb AA1, $745-730\,BCE$): Provides critical evidence of emerging social hierarchy and status distinctions between men, women, and the warrior class.

• Etruscan Resource Wealth:

  • The Etruscans maintained control over several mineral-rich regions, which fueled their economic power:

    • Tolfa Mountains: Contained lead, copper, and antimony.

    • Colline Metallifere: Contained iron, lead, tin, silver, and copper.

    • Apuan Alps: Contained iron, lead, silver, copper, mercury, and manganese.

• Urbanization ($700\,BCE$):

  • Settlements in Southern Etruria (such as Cerveteri, also known as Caere or Kisry) began a significant transition from small villages to organized proto-urban centers.

Funerary Architecture and the Orientalizing Period

• Cerveteri (Caere):

  • Around $700\,BCE$, there was a shift in burial style toward Chamber Tombs.

  • Banditaccia Necropolis: Famous for massive tumuli (singular: tumulus). These were large mounds with multiple entrances leading to separate tombs that would be filled over time. Some tumuli reached diameters of $60-70\,m$.

• The Regolini-Galassi Tomb ($675-650\,BCE$):

  • Excavated in the $1830s$ by the priest Regolini and the general Galassi.

  • The primary chamber was originally dedicated to an Elite Female, while secondary burials were later added to the dromos (the entrance passage).

• Orientalizing Period ($720-600\,BCE$):

  • A period characterized by intense influence and imports from the Eastern Mediterranean regions, including Phoenicia, Egypt, and Assyria.

  • Key Luxury Goods:

    • Phoenician gilt silver bowl: Displays Egyptian-style motifs but is a Phoenician imitation.

    • Gold Fibula: Demonstrates the techniques of granulation (applying tiny dots of gold) and filigree (fine gold wire work), techniques likely introduced by itinerant Phoenician artisans.

    • Jewelry: Intricate pectorals and bracelets.

    • Furniture: Elite wooden furniture that has been restored with bronze elements featuring Eastern motifs.

• Literacy and Writing:

  • Found objects include a Bucchero pottery inkwell featuring an Abecedarium (specifically the Euboean Greek alphabet). This is a hallmark of cultures in the early stages of adopting writing.

The Peak of Etruscan Power and Art

• Peak Power ($6^{th}$ century $BCE$):

  • The Etruscans dominated the Tyrrhenian Sea and engaged in extensive international trade. Their influence was so significant that they installed kings in Rome.

• Bucchero Pottery:

  • A signature Etruscan ceramic type designed to imitate expensive metalwork. It was preferred over earlier handmade Impasto pottery. The technology for this was likely passed to the Etruscans from the Greeks.

• International Presence:

  • The Etruscans were influential enough to dedicate their own treasury at the Panhellenic sanctuary of Delphi: the Treasury of the Caeretans (also referred to as the Tyrrhenians).

• Tomb of the Augurs, Tarquinia ($530\,BCE$):

  • Religious/Social Symbols: Depicts an Augur holding a Lituus (a curved staff used to interpret the will of the gods through the flight of birds). Features a Sella Curulis (curule chair), representing the presence of magistrates and a structured social hierarchy.

  • Athletic and Ritual Games: Depicts wrestling and a mysterious figure known as Phersu. Phersu is a masked figure holding a leash attached to a hound that is attacking a man with a bag over his head. This is theorized as a precursor to Roman gladiatorial games and theatre.

  • Discussion on Phersu: The scene raises questions about whether it depicts real-life wrestling for prizes (metal objects) or a ritualized execution. The victim in the Phersu scene is shown heavily bleeding.

• The End of the Etruscans:

  • Despite their power, the Etruscans remained a collection of separate city-states, much like Greece.

  • Just after $400\,BCE$, the Romans began the process of absorbing Etruscan civilization into their growing territory.

The Origins of Rome: Myth vs. Archaeology

• Mythological Foundation:

  • Romulus and Remus: Traditionally founded on April $21$, $753\,BCE$. They were the sons of Mars and Rhea Silvia (daughter of King Numitor). They were ordered to be killed by Amulius but survived.

  • Aeneas: A Trojan hero who settled near the site of Rome. His son Ascanius (also known as Iulus) founded Alba Longa, creating a narrative link between the Trojan War and the foundation of Rome.

• Archaeological Reality:

  • Evidence shows occupation on the site dating back to $5000\,BCE$.

  • Early Iron Age ($1000-700\,BCE$): Organized settlement began on the Palatine Hill. Burials were cremations where remains were placed in hut-shaped cinerary urns, which were then stored inside a large vessel known as a dolium.

• Monarchy ($753 - 509\,BCE$):

  • Rome was ruled by a succession of kings. In the late $7^{th}$ to $6^{th}$ century $BCE$, these kings were primarily under Etruscan influence.

Republican Rome ($509-27\,BCE$): Civic Works and Architecture

• Etruscan-Influenced Infrastructure:

  • Cloaca Maxima: Constructed in $600\,BCE$ (during the monarchy but serving the early Republic) to drain the swampy marshland around the Forum Romanum, effectively raising the ground level by $9\,m$.

  • Servian Wall: The first earthen defensive walls around Rome; stone walls did not appear until the $4^{th}$ century $BCE$.

  • Forum Boarium: Served as a market and port situated on the Tiber River.

• Key Republican Structures:

  • Curia Hostilia: The dedicated Senate house.

  • Comitium: An open-air space used for public assembly.

  • Rostra: A platform used by speakers to address the public.

• Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus (Capitolium):

  • Built in $500\,BCE$ on the Capitoline Hill.

  • Followed the "Etruscan type" of temple design: built on a high podium, featuring frontal access only, a deep portico, and three internal chambers (called cellae) for the Capitoline Triad: Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva.

• Greek Influence on Republican Architecture:

  • Circus Maximus: An entertainment venue for chariot racing with a capacity of approximately $150,000$ spectators.

  • The transition from trading with the Greeks in Magna Graecia to conquering them occurred in the $2^{nd}$ century $BCE$.

  • Temple of Hercules Victor ($120\,BCE$): A round temple using the Greek Corinthian order.

  • Temple of Portunus ($100\,BCE$): Uses the Greek Ionic order but is built on a traditional Roman-style platform.

  • Plunder: Roman leaders like Sulla and Nero systematically took Greek art and columns to decorate the city of Rome.

Roman Expansion and Infrastructure

• The Via Appia (The Appian Way):

  • Built in $312\,BCE$ by Appius Claudius Caecus.

  • Originally connected Rome to Capua to bypass the malaria-infested Pontine Marshes during the Samnite Wars. It was eventually extended to Brundisium.

  • It functioned as a "footprint" of Roman power, allowing for the rapid movement of crops, goods, and military troops.

• Colonies - Cosa:

  • Founded in $273\,BCE$ on conquered Etruscan territory (formerly Vulci).

  • Planned with an Arx (citadel) and a Forum. Archaeologist Frank Brown initially interpreted the site as a small-scale replica of the city of Rome.

• Villas - Sette Finestre ($75\,BCE$ – $150\,AD$):

  • A massive working agricultural villa located near Cosa, approximately $140\,km$ northwest of Rome.

  • The site included wine and oil presses. It is estimated to have produced over $1.2\,million$ liters of wine annually.

  • The design featured a strict architectural separation between leisure quarters (atrium and gardens) and the working/slave quarters.

• The End of the Early Republic:

  • Social Wars ($91-87\,BCE$): Fought between Rome and its Italian allies (Socii) who demanded full Roman citizenship. While Rome succeeded in military terms, it conceded politically by offering citizenship through the Lex Julia.

  • Imperial Transition: By the time of Augustus ($27\,BCE$), Rome had expanded its reach across Italy, North Africa (conquered in $146\,BCE$), the Hellenistic East ($133\,BCE$), and Gaul ($52\,BCE$).