CIRC. NON-GIRf ersity of California juthern Regional GIFT OF SEELEY W. MLBD and GEORGE I. COCHRAN MEYER ELSASSER DR. JOHN R. HAYNES WILLIAM L. HONNOLD JAMES R. MARTIN MRS. JOSEPH F. SARTORI to the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SOUTHERN BRANCH JOHN FISKE ETIIUSCAX MIRIIOU OR '^^rrt^f:^^^/ BACCHUS, SKMELE, AND APOLLO. ^ THE CITIES AND CEMETEEIES ETEURIA. By GEORGE DENNIS. Parva Tyrrhermm per ivqnor Vela darem. Ho hat. IIEVISED EDITION, RECORDING THE MOST RECENT DISCOVERIES. IN TWO VOLUMES.— VOL. L WITH MAP, PLANS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDOX : JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1878. [TJic TiigJti of Trandaiion is reserved.'] i i 1. Rsverere gloriam veterem, et hanc ipsam senectutem, quaj in homine venerahilis, in urbibus sacra. Sit apud te honor antiquitati, sit ingentibus factis, sit fabulis quoque. Plin. Epist. VIII. 24. Quis est auteni, quern non moveat clarissimis ironumentis testata consignataque Antiquitas? Cicero, de Div. i. 40. LilDrary TO THE PJGIIT HONOURABLE SIE HENRY A. LAYARD, G.C.B., |jcr ^Tujcsfg's ^mbassnbor to lljc Sublime ^axU, Etc., Etc., Etc. ; THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AXD MOST SUCCESSFUL EXCAVATOR OF TIIR AGE; IX ADMIRATION OF THE EMINENT POWERS AND MANIFOLD RESOFRCES WHICH HAVE RKNDKIJEI) HIS CAREER ONE CONTINUAL TRIUMPH OVER DIFFICULTIES SUCH AS FEW MEN HAVE HAD TO ENCOUNTER ; AND IN GRATEFUL ACKNOAVLEDGMENT OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND ASSISTANCE I;EC£IV£D from him DURING ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES IN SICILV, LYDIA, AND THE CYRENAICA ; THESE VOLUMES ARC RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. PEEFACE TO THE FIKST EDITION. This work is the fruit of several tours made in Etruria between the j^ears 1842 and 1847. It has been written under the impres- sion that the Antiquities of that land, which have excited intense interest m Italy and Germany during the last twenty or thirty years, deserve more attention than they have hitherto received from the British public ; especially from those swarms of our countrymen who annually traverse that classic region in their migrations between Florence and Home. A few Englishmen, eminent for rank or acquirements, have long been practically acquainted with the subject — but till the appearance of Mrs. Hamilton Gray's w^ork on " The Sepulchres of Etruria " the public at large was in a state of profound ignorance or indiffer- ence. That lady is deserving of all praise for having first intro- duced Etruria to the notice of her countrymen, and for having, by the graces of her style and power of her imagination, rendered a subject so proverbially dry and uninviting as Antiquity, not only palatable but highly attractive. Her work, however, is far from satisfactor}', as all who have used it as a Guide will con- fess ; for there are many sites of high interest which she has not described, and on some of those of which she has treated many remarkable monuments have been subsequently discovered. It is to supply such deficiencies that I offer these volumes to the public. The interest and curiosity that lady has aroused in the vi I'EEFACE TO THE EIEST EDITION. mysterious race to which Italy is indebted for her early civiliza- tion, I hope to extend and further to gratify. The primarj' object of this work is to serve as a Guide to those who would become personally acquainted with the extant remains of Etruscan civilizntion. The matter therefore is so arranged that the traveller maj- readilj^ ascertain what monuments he will find on any particular site. I have deemed it advisable to add succinct notices of the history of each city, so far as it may be learnt from ancient writers, with a view to impart interest to the traveller's visit, as well as to give the book some value to those who would use it, not as a Hand-book, but as a work of classical and antiquarian reference. Yet as the former is its primary character, the traveller's wants and convenience have been parti- cularly consulted — by statements of distances, by hints as to means of conveyance, as to the accommodation to be found on the road, and sundr}' such-like fragments of information, which, it is hoped, may prove the more acceptable to him, as they are intended for his exclusive use and benefit. Some apology may be thought necessary for the copious annotations which give the work pretensions to something more than a mere Hand-book. As in the course of writing it I have had occasion to make frequent references to the classics and to modern works on archeeology, it seemed to me, that b}- the in- sertion of my authorities I should avoid the charge of loose and unfounded statements ; while at the same time, by collecting and arranging these authorities according to the several subjects on which they bore, and by pointing out the sources whence further information might be derived, I should be rendering service to the scholar and antiquary. Yet to avoid swelling the work to an undue extent, I have contented myself, for the most part, with simply indicating, instead of quoting. Though the exhibition of the process b,y which the work was constructed may be useless or even unpleasing to the general reader, to the student of these matters it will not prove unwelcome. PEEFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. vii The obligations I have been under to Cluver, Miiller, and other writers, living as well as dead, I must here acknowledge in general terms, as it would he impossible to state the source whence every reference or suggestion has been derived. Yet wherever I have availed m3'self of the labours of others, I have carefully verified their authorities, or, when that was impossible, have transferred the responsibilit}^ to the proj^er quarter. I must also take this opportunit}' of paying my personal tribute of thanks to certain living antiquaries, whose names stand high in European estimation ; particularly to Doctors Braun and Henzen, the secretaries of the Archaeological Institute at Rome, for their kindness in affording me facilities for the prosecution of my studies, especially by placing the copious library of the Insti- tute at my command. To these I must add the names of Pro- fessor Migliarini of Florence, whose obliging courtesy has stood me in good stead wiien in that city ; and of Mr. Birch, of the British Museum, who has favoured me with his notes of two sarcoijhagi at Musignano, described at page 439 of this volume. Nor must I forget to mention my friend and fellow-traveller Mr. Ainsley, to whom I am indebted for the free use of the notes of his Etruscan tours, as well as for several sketches used in illus- trating this work. The drawings of masonry, tombs, and other local remains have been mostly made by myself with the camera lucida. Those of portable monuments are generall}' copied from various works little known in England. Most of the plans of ancient sites are also borrowed, but two have been made by myself, and though la^'ing no claim to scientific precision, will be found sufficiently accurate for the purposes of the tourist. The general Map of Etruria has been formed principally from Segato's Map of Tuscany, aided by Gell's and Westphal's Campagna di Roma, and by the official maps of the Pontifical State. My chief aim throughout this work has been truth and accuracy. At least half of the manuscript has been written in Italy, and the viii TEEFACE TO THE EILST EDITION. greater part of it has been verified by subsequent visits to the scenes described. Notwithstanding, the book has, doubtless, its share of errors and imperfections. Those who take it up for mere amusement will think I have said too much, the scholar and antiquary that I have said too little, on the subjects treated, — on the one hand I may be accused of superficiality, on the other of prolixity and dulness. To all I make my apology in the words of Pliny — Res arclua, rctustis novitatem dare, novis aiictoritatem , obsoletis nitorcm, ohscuris luccm, fastkUtis gratlam, duhiis Jidcm, omnibus rero naturam, ct natune su(C omnia — " It is no easy matter to give novelt}" to old subjects, authority to new, to impart lustre to rusty things, light to the obscure and mj'sterious, to throw a charm over what is distasteful, to command credence for doubtful matters, to give nature to everything, and to arrange everj'thing according to its nature." PKEFACE TO THE SECOKD EDITION. Since the publication of the former edition of this work in .1848, many important and interesting discoveries have been made in Etruria. Long forgotten sites have been recognised as Etruscan ; cemeteries of cities, known or suspected .to have that ■origin, have been brought to light ; and excavations have been hy myself on the spot, yet true enough, I trust, to prove useful to those who ma}^ visit the sites. I have little indebtedness to plead beyond what I have acknow- ledged in the course of the work. But I cannot omit to offer my tlianks to my old friend Dr. Henzen, now Chief Secretary to the- Archaeological Institute of Eome, who kindly furnished me with introductions to those local antiquaries in Etruria, who could be of service to me ; and to Padre Evola and Padre Di Marzo,, Directors of the National and Communal Libraries of Palermo, for their indulgent courtesy in placmg at my disposal whatever works it was in their power to supply. Nor must I fail to record my grateful sense of the kindness of another friend of ni}' youths E. AV. Cooke, R.A., in most generously placing his Italian port- folio at my disposal, from Avhich I have selected four sketches as illustrations. I have no further acknowledgments to make, having revised the work under considerable disadvantages, during the intervals of official labour, without access to many books which were at my command in writing the original edition, and far from all friends Avho could render me personal assistance. M}^ chief sources of information have been the admirable publications of the Archa30- logical Institute of Pome. I have had the gratification of learning that the former edition of this work, apart from literary and antiquarian considerations,. has received the approval of not a few who have used it as a guide, on account of the conscientious accuracy of its descriptions. I trust that the present issue Avill maintain its reputation in this respect, for to ensure correctness has been my primary endeavour. GEORGE DENNIS. P.vi.KiiMo, October, 1878. CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. INTRODUCTION. PAGB Ecccnt researches into the inner life of the Etruscans — Nature of the docu- ments whence our knowledge is acqiiired — Monumental Chronicles — Object of this work to give facts, i;f)t tlieories — Geographical position and extent of Etruria — Its three grand divisions — Etruria Proper, its boundaries and geological features — The Twelve Cities of the Confederation — Ancient and modern condition of the land — Position of Etruscan cities — Origin of the Etruscan race — Ancient traditions — -Theoiies of Mebuhr, Mliller, Lepsius, and others — The Lydian origin probable — Oriental character of the Etrus- cans — Analogies in their religion and customs to those of the East — Their language still a mystery — The Etruscan alphabet and numerals — Govern- ment of Etruria — Convention of her princes — Lower orders enthralled — Eeligion of Etruria, its effects on her political and social state — Mytho- logical system- — The Three great Deities — The Twelve Dii Consentes — The shrouded Gods — The Nine thunder-wielding Gods — Other divinities — Fates — Genii — Lares and Lasas — Gods of the lower world — Extent and nature of Etruscan civilization — Literature — Science — Commerce — Physical con- veniences — Sewerage — Pioads — I'unnels — Luxury — The Etruscans superior to the Greeks in their treatment of woman — Arts of Etruria — Architecture — To be learned chiefly from tombs — Walls of cities — Gates — The arch in Italy worked out by the Etruscans — Sepulchres — Peculiarities which dis- tinguish them from the Eoman — Imitations of temples or houses — Plastic arts — Character and styles of Etru.scan art — Works in tcrra-cotta — In bronze — Statues and various implements — Works in wood and stone — Sepulchral sculpture — Smrahc'i — Mirrors and Caskets, with incised designs — Jewellery — The ])ictorial art in Etruria — Painted tombs — Varieties of gtyle — Pottery of Etruria— Earliest ware not painted, but incised, stamped, or relieved — I'ainted vases classified and described — Why placed in sepulchres — Tombs rifled in bygone times — Vases of native or Greek manufacture ? — Attic character of the painted vases — Etruscan imitations of Greek vases — The Etruscans maligned by the Greeks and Eomans — European civilization indebted to Etruria — Pre-eminence of Tuscan intellect in all ages . .......... xxv Appendix. Greek and Etruscan vases classified according to form and use . cv xii CO^' TEXTS. CHAPTER I. YEII.—TuE City. PAGE Historical interest of Yeii — Site determined to be near Isola Farnese — First view of Yeii — Isola- — The mill — Fra\.—BLERA. Scanty notices — Romantic glens — A true city of the dead — Site of the ancient and modern towns — Ancient bridge, and rock-hewn roads — Sewers — Fragments of the ancient walls — The modern town — Count of S.Giorgio — Feudal power. . CONTENTS. PAGE courtesy, and hospitality — A second ancient bridge — Eock-sunk roads — The Count's domain — The Cemetery of Blcra — Great variety in the sepulchres — Cornices — Door-mouldings — Conical tomb with trench and rampart — Sepulchral interiors — IS, Giovanni di Bicda .... 207 CHAPTEK XX. YALO.—ALSZUM. Coast -road between Eome and Civita Vecchia— Maccarese — FregenfE — Palidoro — Excavations at Selva la Rocca — Pelasgic antiquity of Alsium — A city of villas — Local remains— Tumuli of Monteroni — Shafts and galleries in the mound — Palo and its hostelry — Sea-shore scenes 219" APPE^'DIX. The Tia Aurelia. from Rome to Centum Cellre .... 22(> CHAPTER XXI. CERYETEI.—^ ^rZZ.4 or t\£i:E. Hints to travellers — Road to Cervetri— The Vaccina and its honours — Scenes of Virgil's pictures — The village, the c'lcerone, and the accommodation — Remote antiquity of Agylla — Change of its name to Ca^re — Ilistorioal notices — Desolation of the site — Vestiges of antiquity — Picturesque scenes — The Banditaccia, a singular cemetery — A city of the dead — Tumuli — Geotta BELLA Sedia — Arm-chair of rock — Geotta delle Cixque Sedie — Grottadell' Alcova — Resemblance to a temple — Architectural interest — Tomb of the Taequixs — Probably of the royal family of Eomc^ Numerous inscriptions — Sepulchral niches — Grotta de' Saecofagi — Three archaic monuments of marble — Geotta del Teiclixio — Paintings on its M-alls almost obliterated — A pretty pair — Another painted tomb, more archaic — Tomb of the Reliefs — Reliefs around the walls — Typhon and Cerberus — Reliefs on the pilasters and pillars— Curious implements of domestic and sacred use— Tomb of the Seats and Shields — Its plan that of a Roman house — Arm-chairs and foot-stools hewn from the rock — Tomb of the Painted Tiles — High antiquity of these paintings — Difficult interpretation — Similar tiles in the Louvre described and illus- trated — xVrtistic peculiarities— Geotta Regulini-Galassi — Peculiar con- stnaction, and high antiquity — Very archaic furniture — The Warrior's tomb and its contents — His household divinities — The Priest's or Princess's chamber, and its wonderful jewellery — The side-chambers— Deplorable condition of this sepulchre — Pelasgic alphabet and primer inscribed on a pot — Other relics of the Pelasgic tongue — Monte Abatone — Grotta Cam- PANA — Its decorations and furniture — TOMK OF THE Seat, Monte d'Oro — Arm-chair of rock — Geotta Torlonia — Singular entrance and vestibule — Crumbling dead — Tombs at La Zambra — Terra-cotta sarcophagus in the Louvre — Another in the British Museum — Both from Cervetri — Corinthian . vases, and imitations of them — Hercules strangling the priests of Busiris — Artena 227 Appendix. Sliields as sepulchral decorations — Genii and Junones , . 281 CONTENTS. xvii CHAPTER XXII. SANTA SEVERA.— Pr/J*?/. PACK The fortress of Santa Serera — Foundations of polygonal masonry — Pyrgi of Pelasgic origin — A castle, port, and nest of pirates — Its temple of Eileithyia — History — Necropolis little explored 239 CHAPTER XXIII. SANTA MAR I NE LL A. —P UNICUM. Santa Marinella, and its tiny bay — Remains of Punicum — Puntone del Castrato — Excavations by the Duchess of Sermoneta — Discovery of an Etruscan town — What was its name 1 — Tlie Torre di Chiaruccia — Castrum Novum . 294 CHAPTER XXiy. CI VITA YWQ^lk.— CENTUM CELL.E. Ancient and modern condition of this port — ^Etruscan relics at Civita Veccliia — Tombs in the neighbourhood — Excavations at La Tolfa . . . 2L)8 CHAPTER XXV. CORNETO. TARQ UINIL — Th e Cemetery. Corneto, and the way to it — First view of Tarquinii and its Cemetery — Cor- neto, its inns, interest, and antiquity — Carlo Avvolta — The painted Toml^s — Geotta Querciola — First impressions— An Etruscan banquet — Dancers — Wild-boar hunt — Greek style of art — Superiority of the Etrus- cans to the Greeks in their treatment of the fair sex — Colours used in this tomb — Grotta de' Cacciatori — Frantic dances — Return from the Chase — Curious sea-shore scenes — Revels in the open air — Grotta della PULCELLA — Sepulchral recess — Scene of revelry — The pretty maiden — Grotta del Letto Funebre — An empty bier — Pjanquet under shelter — Funeral games — -Grotta del Triclinio — Striking scenes — Banquets and dances— Peculiarities of the figures — Etruscan modesty — Incongruity of festive scenes to a sepulchre — Religous character of music and dancing among the ancients — -Are these scenes symbolical ? — Colours in this tomb. how laid on — Camera del Morto — Death-bed scene — Tipsy dance and jollity — Archaic character of the figures — Grotta del Tifoke — Its peculiarities — Typhous on the pillar — Etruscan inscription — Funeral pro- cession on the wall — Chanin with his mallet and snakes — Procession of souls and demons — Etruscan inscription — Date of these paintings — Latin inscriptions — The Pompeys of Etruria — Ariosto's pictures of Etruscan tombs — Grotta degli Scudi — A mourning genius reading an epitaph — A fair Etruscan at dinner — Another pair — Trumpeters — Etruscan inscrip- tions — Chamber hung with shields — GROTTA del Cardikale — Temple- like tomb — Paintings on the walls — Byres' work — Cisapennine cockneys — ^spirited combats — Souls in the charge of good and evil spirits — Scenes in AOL. I. b sviii CONTENTS. PACE the Etruscan Hades — Etruscan Cupid and Psyclic — Omnrx una maiu-t iw.v — Grotta dell' Orco — ^^Three tombs in one — Arnth A'elchas and his beautiful wife in Elysium — A dusky demon — Another banquet — Ulysses blinding rolyphemus — Pluto, rrosorpine, and Gcryon in Hades — Shades of Teircsias, Mcmnon, and others — Theseus and Peirithoos in charge of the demon Tuchulcha — The sideboard — The Montarozzi — Grotta del Yec- CHio — December and May — Other revellers — Grotta de' Vasi Dipikti — Family ban(juet — Affectionate children — Painted vases on the sideboard — Dance among the trees — Character of the paintings — Grotta del Moribondo — Death-bed scene, and horse waiting for the soul — Style of art — Grotta delle Iscrizioni — Funeral games — Dice — Boxing — Wrest- ling — Horse-races — A bacchic dance — A sacrifice — Primitive character of these paintings — Grotta del Barone — Horsc-races^The prize disputed — Brilliancy of the colours — Archaic cliaracter of the paintings — Grotta del Mare— Marine monsters — Grotta Francesca — Etruscan Tjallrvuir — Spirited figures — Dilapidated paintings — Grotta delle Bighe — A fiymjwxiiiDi — Dances — Funeral games of the Etruscans — Character and date of these paintings— Grotta del Pulcinella — Men on foot and horse- back — Figure in fantastical costume — Grotta del Citarkdo — The sexes dance apart — Expressive head of the Cithnrwdits — Grajco-Etruscan art— Review of the painted tombs — Their comparative antiquity — Demonology of the Etruscans — Speculations on the jiaintings — Sepulchral luxury of the ancients — Other painted tombs, now closed or destroyed — Monkish record of them — The tumuli on the Montarozzi — The Mausoleo — Tumular sepulchres — Avvolta's warrior-tomb — Vast extent of this cemetery — Exca- vations, ancient and modern— Tomb of the Mercareccia — Lamentable decay of its sculptures — Singular chimney or shaft — Mysterious caverns , ."iOl Appendix. Ohajilets in Etruscan tomlis — Grotta della Scrofa Ncra — Lost tombs delineated l)y Byres — Painted tombs recently opened and reclosed ;!li4r CHAPTER XXVI. CORNETO-TARQUINIA.— The Museums. The Municipal Museum — Painted sarcophagus of the Sacerdote — Of the Magnate — Other singular sepulchral monuments — Kylix of Oltos and Euxitheos — Kylix of Theseus and Ariadne — Disk of the horned Dionysos — MusEO Bruschi — Painted vases — Bronzes — Flesh-hooks — Fragments of paintings from the Grotta Bruschi — The Warrior's tomb— Very archaic contents — Pottery of Tarquinii — Beautiful bronzes — Jewellery — Picliefs in ivory IOl CHAPTER XXVIL TARQUINII.—'YiW. Cnv. Origin of Tarquinii — Legends of Tarchon aiul Tages — Metropolitan claims of Tarquinii— Legends of Demaratus and his son — The Tan^uins — History of • Tarquinii — Scanty remains on the site — Scenery — The Acropolis and ancient walls — Kecent excavations —Tomb on the site of the city — Utter desolation of 'J'arqninii .......... 417 CONTENTS. xix CHAPTER XXVIII. an A risc.E. i'Ar;K iiraviscfc. the port of Taniuiiiii — Its site disputed— Lc Saline — Legend of St. Augustine — Ruins on the right bank of the Marta — Discovery of an ancient arch and embankment — A port confessed — Here stood the port of Tar- ([uinii — Desolation of this coast 4"?i) A PPEXDIX. The Via Aurelia from Tvrgi to Cosa 4:?(*i CHAPTER XXIX. YULCI. Vnlin entirely of modern renown — Montalto — -Regisvilla — Ponte Sodo — Ponte della Badia — Magnificent bridge, draped with stalactites — Date of the bridge and aqueduct — Site of the ancient Yulei — Its history almost a blank — The Pelago — The necropolis — Its discovery accidental --Lucien Bonaparte — Tomb of the Sun and Moon — The Campauari painted tomb — The Francois painted tomb — The Bonaparte excavations — Barl^arism of Italian excavators — Necropolis of Vulci \uilike that of Tarquinii — The Cucumella — Its towers and contents — Analogy to the sepulchre of Alyattes at Sardis — Other tumuli — Warrior tombs — ttrotta d'Iside — Egyptian articles in an Etruscan tomb — Specimens of Etruscan female l)eauty — Bronzes — Painted pottery of Yulci — Beautiful wine-jug .... Pi? Appexdix. Tl\e Campanari painted tomb at Vulci ...... 465 CHAPTER XXX. CAXIXO AND MUSIGXANO. Hints to travellers — Canino — Lucien Bonaparte's villa at Mu.signano — Cabinet of vases — Bronzes — Portraits of the Bonaparte family — Interesting sarcophagi ............. 40" Appendix. Eyes on the painted vases — Two sarcoiJiagi representing nuptial scenes ..... 47i CHAPTER XXXI. TO^CX^'S.hLX.—TUSCANIA. 'Joscanella — Accommodation for the traveller — Campanari brothers — Their garden, and model tomb — Banciueting-hall of the dead — Etruscan sar- cophagi explained — Etruscan passion for jewellery — Painted sculpture — - Occupants of the model sepulchre — Tomb of the Calcarcllo — Sarcophagus of the Niobids — Sarcophagi of stone and earthenware — Capital of Paris and Helen — No history of this ancient town — Extant vestiges — Church of S. Pietro— The necropolis of Tuseania — Grotta Regina and its labyrinth — Columbaria in the cliflfs — Campanari's excavations — Origin of the Gre- gorian Museum — Environs of Toscanella 47:i b 2 XX , CONTENTS. CHAPTEIl XXXII. ISCHIA, FARNESK, anj. CASTRO. PAGE Etruscan sites — Piansano — - Ischia — Italian squalor — Farnese — Castro — Picturesque desolation — Itemains of antiquity — Proverbial gloom — Site of Statonia disputed — Yalentano — Lago Mczzano — Lake of Btatonia and its floating island ............ 48D CHAPTER XXXIII. PITIGLIANO AND SORANO. Phantom perils — Pitigliano and its "Baby" — An Etruscan site — Walls, roads, and tombs — Picturesque beauty of the ravines — Popular legends — Sorano — Casa Farfanti — Nox ambrosia — Romantic scenery — Scant antiquities — The mirror of the Marchese Strozzi i'JG LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS IN VOLUME I. — « PAG ETRUSCAX JiiRKOR (drawn (311 wood l^y G. Scharf ) from a cast of the original Frontis2ncce. RH.ETO-ETEUSCAN BRONZES FOUND IN THE TYROL . . Giovanelli XXXvil THE ETRUSCAN ALPHABET G. D. xlviii THE SHROUDED GODS OF ETRURIA Gerhard Ivi HUT-URN, FROM THE NECROPOLIS OF ALBA LONGA . . . Birch Ixix ETRUSCAN CxVNDELABRUM Musco Grcgoriano Ixxv KYLIX OF THE EARLIEST STYLE Birch Ixxxix ARYBALLOS, DORIC STYLE Bircll XC ARCHAIC LEBES, FROM ATHENS Blrch xci ETRUSCAN AMPHORA OF BUCCHERO Micali Cvii TYRRHENE AMPHORA Cviii LATE PANATHENAIC AMPHORA G. D. Cvlii NOLAN AMPHORA G. D. Cvlil PELIKE CIJ: STAMNOS cij: APULIAN STAMNOS G. D. CX LEKANE G. D. CX LEKANE OR LOPAS G. D. CX HYDRIA CX KALPIS Cxi KRATER cxi LATE KRATER, ORVIETO ■ . Ann. Listit. Cxi KELEBE exit OXYBAPHON Cxii PRIMITIVE GREEK LEBES Mon. Instit. cxiii ARCHAIC LEBES Mon. Instit. cxiii OLPE Cxiv ETRUSCAN OLPE, OF BUCCHERO Micall Cxiv LATE OLPE, FROM ORVIETO Ann. Instit. cxiv (ENOCHOii cxiv GiNOCHOii:, DORIC STYLE Birch cxiv CENOCHOE, PROM NOLA From a Photograph cxv LATE CENOCHOE, SICILY G. D. CXV PROCHOOS Lcnormant cxvi xxii LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. PAf.K J'UOCHOOS, OR EPiCHYSis Lcnnnnant cxvi KYATHOS cxvi KANTHAEOS CXvii KANTHAEOS. LATE V'AEIETV G. D. CXvii KAECHESION, OF BUCCHEEO, CETONA G. D. CXvii KAKCHESiox, OF BUCCHEEO, CHirsi Dos Yergers fxvii .SKYPHOS cxviii SKY'PHOS, LATE VAEIETY G. D. CXviii JIASTOS, WITH BACCHIC FIGUEE.< Micali CXviii 3IASTOS. IX SHAPE OF A HEAD Micali CXviii DEPAS G. D. cxix KEATEEISKOS G. I>. Cxix Kl'ATHOS. IN BUCCHEEO Micali CXX EABLY' KYLIX CXX KYLIX CXxi KYLIX jMon. last. cxxi LEPASTE cxxi PELLA .......... From a rUotograiili cxxi HOLKIOX cxxi HOLKIOX, OF BUCCHEEO Micali cxxii HOLKIOX, OF BUCCHEEO Micali cxxii ETIYTOX. WITH A DOG'S HEAD fxxii RHYTOX. WITH A GEIFFOX"S HEAD Pauofka CXxii Ein'TOX. WITH A H0KSE"S FOEE-QUAETEEf? .... raiiofka cxxii PHIALE OMPHALOTOS, WITH BELIEFS Biicll Cxxiii LEKYTHOS CXxiii LEKYTHOS, WITH P0LYCHE03IE FIGUEES, SICILY' FrOlU a l'h()logiai)h CXXiii LEKYTHOS, LATE VAEIETY CXxiv LEKYTHOS, LATE VAEIETY G. I». CXxiv AECHAIC LEKYTHOS G. D. CXxiv LATE LEKYTHOS, FEOJI BEXGHAZi .... Froui a I'hotograpli cxxiv AECHAIC ARYBALLOS G. D. cxxi\ AEYBALLOS CXxiv AECHAIC AEYBALLOS FlolU a rUotOglaph CXxiv AEYBALLOS CXXiv J'.OMBYLIOS CXXV P.OMBYLIOS, QUAINT VAEIETY CXXV -VSKOS G. L). CXXV ASKOS . . . ■ CXXV KOTYLISKOS CXXV ALABASTEON CXXV ALABASTRON, WITH DOUBLE FEMALE HEAD . . . Moll. lu.st. CXXV PYXIS ............ T.euonnant cxxvi GROUP OF AECHAIC DOEIC VASES Bircll CXXvi ISOLA FARXESE, VEII G. D. ."> ROCK-CUT TOMB AT VEII G. D. '.> CASTLE OF THE FABII G. D. 121 Gl.'OTTA CAMPAXA, VEII Caiiipaiia ;!I I'AINTIXGS ON THE WALLS OF THE (, ICOTTA CAMPAXA . . Micali '.'A DITTO DITTO . Micali ;!.'> LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. xxiii PAOE I'AIXTIXGS OX THE WALLS OP THE GR )TTA CAMl'ANA . . .Mkall 'M> CIXERAKY PITHOS, GROTTA CAIIPAXA Micali ;$9 CIXERARY URX, GROTTA CAIIPAXA Micali 40 THE ANIO AXD POXTE SALARO .... K. \\'. ( ' JOke, R.A. 43 AMPHITHEATRE OF SUTRI G. D. 62 \IEAV OF SUTRI G. D. 75 PORTA DI GIOVE, FALLERI G. D. 1)7 PORTICOED TOMB, FALLERI G. D. 98 WALLS OF FALLERI G. D, 101 TOMBS IX THE CLIFFS AT FALLERI G. D. 103 VIEW OF CORCHIAXO G. D, 115 IXSCRIPTIOX OX THE ROCK AT CORCHIAXO G. D, 119 CAPEXA, WITH SORACTE IX THE DISTAXCE . . . . G. D. 124 ORTE FROM THE ROAD TO THE VADIMOXIAX LAKE . . . G. D. 136 TORRE GIULIAXA, OX THE TIBER Arthur Glennie 139 THEATRE AT FEREXTO G. D. l.")6 ETRUSCAX ALPHABET OX A POT I'mll. Inst. 172 VALLEY OF TOMBS, CASTEL L»'A.SS0 G. D. 177 MOULDED DOOR G. D, 180 ROCK-HEWX TOMB, CASTEL D'ASSO Moil. IllSt, 185 MOULDIXGS OF TOMBS, C.\STEL D'ASSO G. D, 186 JXSCRIPTIOX OX A CORXICE OF ROCK G. D. 187 THE TEMPLE-TOMBS, XORCHIA G. D. 193 MOULDIXGS OF TOMBS AT XORCHIA G. D. 203 AXCIEXT BRIDGE, BELOW BIEDA G. D. 211 MOULDIXGS OP TOMBS AT BIEDA G. D. 216 MOULDED DOOR, BIEDA G. D. 216 COXICAL TOMB, BIEDA G. D. 217 TERRA-COTTA SARCOPHAGUS, CERVETRI . . . Frolu a I'llOtograpll 227 TOMB OF THE TARQUIXS, CERVETRI G. D. 242 ETRUSCAX IXSCRIPTIOX FROM THE TARQUIX ToMJi . . . G. D. 244 TOMB OP THE RELIEF.S. CERVETRI Sir (i. "WilkillSOn 251 PLAN OF TOMB OP SEATS AXD SHIELDS, CERVETRI . . Mon. Iu.st. 2.76 SECTIOX OP THE SAME TOMB Moil. Inst. 256 ETRUSCAX PAIXTED TILES FROM CERVliTRI. . . . Mou. IllSt. 2G1 DITTO ....... Mon. Inst. 2G2 DITTO ....... Mon, Inst. 263 MOUTH OF THE REGULIXI-GALASSI TOMB, CERVETRI . . . G. D. 265 TERRA-COTTA LARES FROM THIS TOMB . . . .M llsfo Grcgoriano 267 PELASGIC ALPHABET AXD PRiiiER Annali Inst. 271 ETRUSCAX FUMIGATOR G. 1). 275 ROCK-CUT CHAIR AXD FOOTSTOOL G. D. 276 HERCULES SLAYIXG BUSIRIS, FROM A VASE. CICRVKTRl . ]\lon. Inst. 283 SALTATRIX AXD SUBULO, GROTTA TBICLIXIO, CORXETO (drawn OU wood by G. Scliaii ) G. D. 301 CITH.VRISTA AXD SALTATRIX, GROTTA TRICLIXIO Ditto G. D. 319 JiTRUSCAX SALTATRIX, GROTTA TRICLIXIO Ditto G. D. 320 TYPHOX, GROTTA DE' POMPEJ, CORXETO G. D. 329 IXSCRIPTIOX, GROTTA DE' POMPE.J G. D. 333 WIFE OF ARXTH VELCHAS. GROTTA DELL" ORCd . . . .Mon. Inst. 346 xxiv LIST PF ILLUSTEATIONS. PAGE AKNTir VKLCHAS AND HIS WIFE IX ELYSIUM . . . Mon. IllSt. :347 PLUTO, PROSERPIXE, AND GERYOX IX HADES . . . MoH. Inst. Syl THESEUS AXD PEIRITHOOS IN HADES Mon. Inst. 355 BANQUET-SCENE, TOMB OP THE PAINTED VASES . . . Moil. Inst. 359 DANCING FIGURE, FROM THE TOMB OP THE PAINTED VASES . Mon. Inst. 3G1 HEAD OF A CITHARCEDUS Annali Iiist. 378 HEAD OF A SALT\TRIX Annali Ins'. 379 MOULDING OF THE MAUSOLEO G. D. 38G THE MAUSOLEO, ON THE MONTAROZZI, CORNETO . . . G. D. 387 BRONZE DISK, WITH THE HEAD OF THE HORXED BACCHUS. MuS. Gregor. 401 ETRUSCAN STRIGIL Mus. Gregor. 408 KREAGR.E, OR FLESH-HOOKS MuS. GrCgOr. 411 GATEWAY IN THE WALLS OF TARQUINII G. D. 417 ANCIENT CLOACA ON THE MARTA BELOW CORNETO . . . G. D. 430 ETRUSCAN KRATEB Grnncr 437 PONTE DELLA BADIA, VULCI G. D. 441 EGYPTIAN FLASK AXD OSTRICH EGG, PAINTED, VULCI . . Micali 457 UNGUEXT-POT. IX THE FORM OF A WOMAN Micali 458 STATUE OP AN ETRUSCAN LADY' Micali 459 BUST OP AN ETRUSCAN LADY IN BKOXZE Micali 4fiO spoox OF IVORY Micali 401 KYLIX. OR DRIXKIXG-BOWL. FROM VULCI Micali 4G2 WIXE-JUG, WITH THE HEAD OF PALLAS-ATHENE, VULCI . Mon. Inst. 464 SCENE FROM AN EYED AMPHORA Micali 467 SARCOPHAGUS OP THE NIOBIDS, TOSCAXELLA . . . . G, D. 473 ETRUSCAN CAPITAL. CIPPUS, AND MOULDING . . ■ . . . G. D. 481 COLUMBARIUM AT TOSCAXELLA G. D. 485 LIST OF PLAKS IX VOLUME I. PLAX OF VEii Adapted from Gcll 1 PLAN OP FIDEN.E From Gell 48 PLAN OF SUTRI G. D. (15 PLAN OF FALERii From Canina 87 PLAN OF FALLERi Adapted from Gell 105 PLAN OF CASTEL d'ASSO AXD ITS XECROPOLIS . . . G. D. 174 PLAX OF XORCHIA AXD ITS NECROPOLIS G. D. 197 PLAX OF BIEDA AXD ITS XECROPOLIS G. D. 206 PLAX OF c.t:re AXD ITS XECROPOLIS . . . Adapted from Canina 235 PLAN OF PYRGI From Canina 289 PLAN OP TARQUlxii AXD ITS NECROPOLIS . Adapted from Wcstplial 304 PLAN OF VULCI AXD ITS XECROPOLIS . . Adapted from Knapp 438 THE AXUBIS-VASE — ETRUSCAX BLACK WAKE. INTKODUCTION. Antiquarian research, partaking of the quickened energy of the nineteenth century, has of late j-ears thrown great hght on the early history of Italy. It has demonstrated, in confirmation of extant records, that ages hefore the straw hut of Romulus arose on the Palatine, there existed in that land a nation far advanced in civilization and refinement — that Rome, hefore her intercourse with Greece, was indebted to Etrueia for whatever tended to elevate and humanize her, for her chief lessons in art and science, for many of her j)olitical, and most of her religious and social institutions, for the conveniences and luxuries of peace, and the weapons and appliances of war — for almost ever3'thing that tended to exalt her as a nation, save her stern virtues, her thirst of conquest, and her indomitable courage, which were xxvi INXEE LIFE OF THE ETEUSCANS. [ixtkoductk.x. peculiarly lier own ; for verily her sons were mighty with little else hut the sword— Stolidum genus — Bellipoteutes sunt magi* quam sapientipotentes.^ The external histor}' of the Etruscans, as there are no native chronicles extant, is to he gathered only from scattered notices in Greek and Roman writers. Their internal histor}', till of late 3'ears, was almost a hlank, hut by the continual accumulation of fresh facts it is now daih' acquiring form and substance, and promises, ere long, to be as distinct and palpable as that of Egypt, Greece, or Rome. Eor we already know the extent and peculiar nature of their civilization — their social condition and modes of life — their extended commerce and intercourse Avith far distant countries — their religious creed, with its ceremonial observances in this life, and the joj's and torments it set forth in a future state — their popular traditions— and a variet}^ of customs, of all Avhich, History, commonly so called, is either utterly silent, or makes but incidental mention, or gives notices imperfect and obscure. We can now enter into the inner life of the Etruscans, almost as fully as if they were living and moving before us, instead of having been extinct as a nation for more than two thousand years. We can follow them from the cradle to the tomb, — we see them in their national costume, varied according to age, sex, rank, and ofHce, — we learn the varying fashions of their dress, their personal adornments, and all the eccentricities of their toilet, — we even become acquainted with their peculiar jihysiognomy, their individual portraiture, their names and family relationships, — we know what houses they inhabited, what furni- ture they used, — we behold them at their various avocations — the princes in the council-chamber — the augur, or priest, at the altar or in solemn j)rocession — the warrior in the battle-field, or returning home in triumph — the judge on the bench — the artisan at his handicraft — the husbandman at the plough — the slave at his daily toil, — we see them at their marriages, in the bosom of their families, and at the festive board, rechning cup in hand amid the strains of music, and the thne-beating feet of dancers, — we see them at their favourite games and sports, encountering the wild boar, looking on or taking jiart in the horse or chariot-race, the wrestling-match, or other pahestric ^ Old Ennius (Ann. VI. 10) said this of ceiving lio\v iiiucli more aiii>licable it w;ih the ^acidre, or race of Pyrrhus, not per- to the Romans. jMuoDucTio-x.J MONL'MEXTAL CIIEONICLES. xxvii exercises, — we behold them stretched on the deuth-Led — the List rites performed by mourning relatives — the funeral procession — thfir bodies laid in the tomb — and solemn festivals held in their honour. Nor even here do we lose sight of them, but we folloAV their souls to the other world — perceive them in the hands of good or evil spirits — conducted to the judgment-seat, and in the enjoy- ment of bliss, or suffering the punishment of the damned. AVe are indebted for most of this knowledge, not to mvisty recoi'ds drawn from the oblivion of centuries, but to monumental remains — purer founts of historical truth— landmarks which, even when few and far between, are the surest guides across the expanse of distant ages — to the monuments which are still extant on the sites of the ancient Cities of Etruria, or have been drawn from their Cemeteries, and are stored in the museums of Italy and of Europe. The internal history of Etruria is written on the mighty walls of her cities, and on other architectural monuments, on her roads, her sewers, her tvmnels, but above all in her sepulchres; it is to be read on graven rocks, and on the painted walls of tombs ; but its chief chronicles are inscribed on stelce or tombstones, on sarcophagi and cinerary urns, on vases and goblets, on mirrors, and other articles in bronze, and a thousand ct cetera of personal adornment and of domestic and Avarlike furniture — all found within the tombs of a people long passed away, and whose exist- ence was till of late remembered by few but the traveller or the student of classical lore. It was the great reverence for the dead and the firm belief in a future life, which the Etruscans possessed in common Avitli most other nations of antiquity, that prompted them to store their tombs with these rich and varied sepulchral treasures, Avhicli unveil to us of the nineteenth century the arcana of their inner life, almost as fully as though a second Pompeii had been disinterred in the heart of Etruria ; going far to com- pensate us for the loss of the native annals of the country,'- of the chronicles of Theophrastus,^ and Verrius Flaccus,^ and the twenty books of its history by the Emperor Claudius.' '■ Parian le tombe ove la Storia c miita." Etruria truly illustrates the remark, that "the history of an ancient people must be souL-ht in its sepulchres." - Yarro, ap. Censorin. de Die Natali, Miiller, Etrusker, I. pp. 2, 197. XVII. 6. '' Interi). Mn. X. 183, 198, ed. Mai. ■* t^clloI. riudar. Pytb. II. ?>, cited ]>y ^ Suetonius, Claud. 42. Aristotle also xxviii DOlSriNIQN OF ETRURIA. [introduction. The object of this work is not to collect the disjecta membra of Etruscan history, and form them into a whole, though it were possible to breathe into it fresh spirit and life from the eloquent monuments that recent researches have brought to light; it is not to build up from these monuments any theory on the origin of this singular peoi")le, on the character of their language, or on the peculiar nature of their civilization, — it is simply to set before the reader a mass of facts relative to 'Etruscan remains, and particularly to afford the traveller who would visit the Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria such information as maj^ prove of service, by indicating precisely what is now to be found on each site, whether local monuments, or those portable relics which exist in public museums, or in the hands of private collectors. Before entering, however, on the consideration of the local antiquities of Etruria, it is advisable to take a general view of her geograj)hical position and physical features, as well as to give a filigbt sketch of her civilization. It is difficult to define with precision the limits of a state, which existed at so early a period as Etruria, ages before any extant chronicles were written — of which but scanty records have come down to us, and whose boundaries must have varied during her frequent struggles with her warlike neighbours. We are told that in very early times the dominion of Etruria embraced the greater part of Italy,'^ extending over the plains of Lombardy to the Alps on the one hand,'^ and to Vesuvius and the Oulf of Salerno on the other ;^ stretching also across the penin- sula from the Tyrrhene to the Adriatic Sea,'' and comprising the large islands off her western shores.^ -wrote on the laws of tlie Etruscans. Allien. Osci, tlie original inhabitants ; and then Deipn. I. cap. 42. founded Capua and Nola. If Yelleius '' In Tuscoruui jure pene omnis Italia Paterculus (I. 7) may be credited, this was fuerat.— Serv. ad Vivg. Mu. XI. 567; X. 17 years before the foundation of Rome. 14.5 ; Liv. V. 33. Cato (ap. eund.) makes it as late as 471 B.C. ' Usque ad Alpes teauere. — Liv. loc. Liv. IV. 37 ; Polyb. II. 17; Mela, II. 4; (it. ; Polyb. II. 17 ; Diodor. Sic. XIV. Strabo, V. pp. 242, 247 ; Plin. III. 9 ; p. 321, ed. llhod. ; Scylax, Perijjlus, cited Serv. ad Virg. Georg. II. 533. by Midler, Etrnsk. einl. 3, 9 ; Justin. XX. '-' Liv. V. 33, 54 ; Pint. Camill. 16. The 5. Catullus (XXXI. 13) calls the Benacus, Adriatic received its name from the Etrus- 710W the Lago di Garda, a Lydian, i.e., an can town of Atria. Plin. III. 20 ; Strabo, Etruscan, lake. V. p. 214. ** The Etruscans at one time possessetl ' Elba, called Ilva by the Romans, and the land of the Volsci, and all Campania, .Slthalia or .lithale by the Greeks, belonged as far as the SUarus in the Gulf of Prestum, to Etruria, for Virgil (I^n. X. 173) classes it or, as one account states, as far as the with the Etniscan states which sent assist- Sicilian sea. They took this land from the ance to iEneas. Diodorus, XI. p. 67 ; (ireek colonists, who had driven out the Pseudo-Aristot'.e, de Mirab. Auscult. c. INTRODUCTION.] ITS THEEE GEANI) DIVISIONS. This -wide territoiy was divided into three grand districts — that in the centre, which may he termed Etrm-ia Proper ; that to the north, or Etruria Circmnpadana ; and that to the south, or Etrm'ia Campaniana. And each of these regions was divided into Twelve States, each represented hy a city," as in Greece, 95 ; Hecat. ap. Stepli. sul voce. There was a close connection between it and the neighbouring maritime city of Populonia ; and it is very probable that it was a possession of that city, unless both were ■under the sway of Yolaterrae. See Vol. II. pp. 138, 215. Corsica, the Cyrnus of the Greeks, was originally colonised by the Phocaaans, who were driven out by the Etruscans, says Diodorus (V. p. 295, cf. XI. p. 67), by the Etruscans and Carthaginians combined, according to Herodotus (I. 166), and the island probably remained in the hands of the former to the last days of their in- deiiendence, when it passed under the dominion of Carthage. Kallimaclios, Delos, 19, cited by MiiJler, einl. 4, 6. It would seem, however, that Corsica was never fully occupied by the Etruscans, for it was a wild, forest-grown, little-populated land, and its inhabitants had the savage manner.^ of a primitive state of society (Strabo, Y. p. 22i ; Diodor. V. p. 295 ; Seneca, Con- sol, ad Helv. c. 6 ; Theophrast. Hist. Plant. Y. S); and it is very likely, as Muller conjectures, that it was a mere nest of pirates. That Sardinia was a possession of the Etruscans is not so clear. The earliest settlers were Libyans, Grreeks, Iberians, and Trojans, followed by the Carthaginians, about the middle of the third century of Rome. Strabo (V. p. 225) is the only ancient writer who mentions its being under Etruscan domination, and he says it ■^^■as subject to the TjTrheni, prior to the Carthaginian rule. By these Tyrrhenes Miiller (Etrusk. einl. 4, 7) thinks Strabo meant Etruscans, not Pelasgi, because he always made a distinction between these races ; but Niebubr (I. p. 127, Engl, trans.) maintains that they were unquestionably Pelasgians. 2 The Twelve Cities of Etruria Proper ■will be presently mentioned. In Etruria Circumpadana there were also Twelve cities, founded as colonies by the Twelve of Etruria Proper. Liv. V. 33 ; Serv. ad Yirg. ^n. X. 202. The capital is said by Virgil to have been Mantu.\ {Mn. X.^ 203 ; Serv. ad loc), though Pliny, with more probability, assigns that honour to Felsina, now Bologna. H. N. III. 20. A third city was Melpum, of Avhich we know no more than that it stood north of the Po, was renowned for its wealth, and was destro.yed by the Gauls on the same day that Camillus captured Yeii. Com. Nepos, ap. Plin. III. 21. Atria, or Adria, was a noble city and port of the Etruscans, and gave its name to the Adriatic Sea. Plin. III. 20 ; Liv. V. 33 ; Strabo, Y. p. 214: Plut. Camill, 16; Yarro, L. L. V. 161 ; Fest. v. Atrium. And Spina, at the southern mouth of the Po, though called an ancient Greek city by Strabo (loc. cit.) and Scylax (Geog. Min. I. ), was certainly a Pelasgic settlement (Dion, Hal. I. c. 18, 28), and probably also Etrus- can. Niebuhr, I. p. 36 ; Aliiller, Etrusk. einl. 3, 4. Miiller thinks, from Strabo's mention of it, that Ravenna was an Etrus- can to\\Ti, and its name is certainly sugges- tive of such an origin. But Strabo (V. p. 213) says it was founded by Thessalians, ■i.e., Pelasgians, who, on being attacked by the Etruscans, allied themselves with the Umbri, who obtained possession of the city, while the Thessalians returned home. CupiiA, in Picenum, was also probably Etruscan, for its temple was built by that peojsle, and named after their goddess, Cupra, or Juno. Strabo, V. p. 241. And although Parma and Mutina (Modena) are not mentioned in history as Etruscan towns, vi'e are justified in regarding them as of that antiquity, by the evidence of monu- ments found in their territory, which Livy tells us once belonged to the Etruscans. Liv. XXXIX. 55. We know the names of no other Etruscan cities north of the Apen- nines, though Plutarch (Camill. 16) asserts that there were eighteen cities of wealth and imijortance in that region. There were Twelve chief cities also in Etruria Campaniana. Liv. Y. 33 ; Strabo, V. p. 242. The metropolis was Capua, XXX ETRURIA PEOPER. [introductiox. ■where Athens, Sparta, Argos, Thebes — or in Ital}- of the middle nges, where Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Florence — were representatives of so many independent, sovereign states, possessed of extensive territor}^ Such seems to have been the extent of Etruria in the time of Tarquinius Priscus, when she gave a dynasty to Eome, probably as to a conquered city. But ere long the Gauls on the north and east,^ the Sabines, Samnites, and Greek colonists on the south, "^ succeeded in compressing this wide-spread dominion into the comparatively narrow limits of the central region. This may be called Etruria Proper, because it was the peculiar seat of the Etruscan power — the mother-country whence the adjoining districts were conquered or colonised — the source where the political and religious sj'stem of the nation took its rise — the region Avhere the power of Etruria continued to flourish long after it had been extinguished in the rest of Italy, and where the name, religion, language and customs of the people were pre- served for ages after they had lost their political independence, find had been absorbed in the world-wide dominion of Pome. It is of Etruria Proper that I propose to treat in the following pages. It was still an extensive region of the Italian peninsula, com- prehending almost the whole of modern Tuscany, the Duchy of liUcca, and the Transtiberine portion of the Papal State ; being bounded on the north bj' the Apennines and the river Magra, on the east by tlie Tiber, on the west and south by the Mediter- ranean. This region was intersected by several ranges of moun- tains, lateral branches or offsets of the great spine-bone of the liuilt by tlie Etruscans 800 years before II. 2, 2 ; Stepli. Byz. a. r. 'S.vpivTiov) ; ami ; Dionys. Hal. VII. p. 420, et sf(j. have belonged to that people (Stat. Sylv. IXTR013UCT10X.] GEOLOGICAL FEATURES— TWELVE ( ITIE.S. xxxi peninsula — in tlie northern part in long chains, stretching in various directions — in the south, of inferior altitude, l^dng in detached masses, and separated, not by mere valley's, but by vast plains or table-lands. The geology (^f the two districts differs as Avideh"" as their superficial features. In the northern, tlie higher mountains, like the great chain of tlie Apennines, are chiefly composed of secondary limestone, and attain a con- siderable altitude ; the lower are formed of sandstone or marl. The southern district shows on ever}^ hand traces of volcanic action — in the abundance of hot springs and sulphureous waters — in wide plains of tufo and other igneous deposits, of even later date than the tertiary formations — and in the mountains which are chiefly of the same material, with beds of lava, basalt, or scoricie, and which have been themselves volcanoes, their craters, extinct long before the days of histor}-, being now the beds of beautiful lakes. Here and there, however, in this southern region, are heights of limestone ; now, like Soracte, rearing their cragg}'^ peaks from the wide bosom of the volcanic plain ; now, stretching in a continuous range along the coast. On these physical differences depend many of the characteristic features of northern and southern Etruria. The line of demarcation between these two great districts of Etruria is almost that which till lately was the frontier between the Tuscan and Roman States — /. e., from Cosa north-eastward to Acquapendente, and thence following the course of the Paglia till it mingles with the Tiber, near Orvieto. Of the Twelve Cities or States of Etruria Proper, no complete list is given by the ancients, but it is not difiicult in most instances to gather from their statements, which were the chief in the land. Eoremost among them was Tarquinii, where the national polity, civil and religious, took its rise. This city was in the southern division of the land ; so also were Veii and Ealerii, long the antagonists, with Cjere, the ally, of Eome ; and VoLsixii, one of the last to be subdued. Vulci also was probably of the number. In the northern region were Vetu- LONiA and perhaps E.usell.e near the coast,^ Clusium and Arre- TiuM in the vale of the Clanis, and Cortona and Perusia on the heights near the Thrasymene : while Volaterr.e stood ■* Rusellae is generally classed among tlie tlie preference to tlie latter, whose claims Twelve, but the question resolves itself rest on monumental, not on historical evi- into the comparative claims of that city dence. and of Yulci, and I am inclined to give xxxii ANCIENT AND MODERN CONDITION, [introductiox. apart and ruled over a wide tract in the far nortli.^ Beside these, there were many other towns, renowned in history, or remarkahle for their massive fortifications still extant, for their singular tombs, or for the wonderful treasures of their sepulchral furniture, together with numerous castles and villages scattered over the country, many of which will be described in the course of this work. Etruria was of old densely populated, not only in those parts which are still inhabited, but also, as is j^roved by remains of cities and cemeteries, in tracts now desolated by malaria, and relajised into the desert ; and what is now the fen or the jungle, the haunt of the wild-boar, the buffalo, the fox, and the noxious reptile, where man often dreads to stay his steps, and hurries av\'ay as from a plague-stricken land — Ens vacuum, quod non liabitet, nisi nocte coacta, Invitus — of old yielded rich harvests of corn, wine, and oil," and contained numerous cities, mighty, and opulent, mto whose laps commerce ]")0ured the treasures of the East, and the more precious j)roduce of Hellenic genius. Most of these ancient sites are now Avithout a habitant, furrowed j'early by the plough, or forsaken as unpro- litable wildernesses ; and such as are still occupied, are, with few exceptions, mere phantoms of their pristine greatness — mean villages in the place of populous cities. On every hand are traces of bygone civilization, inferior in quality, no doubt, to that which at present exists, but much wider in extent, and exerting far greater influence on the neighbouring nations, and on the destinies of the world. •* The claims of tliese several cities will tra, Vulci, ami Salpinum — whose claims, be discussed, when they are treated of he thinks, must l^e admitted, and suggests respectively. The above is the classifica- that they may have held that rank at dif- tion which appears tome to be sanctioned liy ferent periods, or have been associated re- ancient writers ; it agrees, save in the sub- spectively with some one of the rest. Noel stitution of Vulci for llusellas with that of des Vergers ranks both Vulci and Rasellif Cluver (Ital. Ant. II. p. 453), and Cramer among the Twelve, and excludes Falerii. (Anc. Italy, I.). Micali (Ant. Top. Ital. Etrurie et les Etrusques, I. p. 203. I. p. 140) adopts it with the exception of '' The fertility of Etruria was renowned Falerii, for which he offers no substitute. of old. Diodorus (V. p. 316) says it was Niebuhr (I. p. 118, ct seq.) admits tlie second to that of no other land. Liv. IX. claims of all, save Falerii and Cortona, 36 ; XXII. 3 ; Varro, Re Rust. I. 9, 44. and hesitates to supply the void with Tlie Romans, even in very early times, Fiusuke, Cosa, or Capena. Muller (Etrusk. used to receive corn from Etruria, in times- II. 1, 2 ; 1, 3), to those given in the te.xt, of famine. Liv. II. 34 ; IV. 12, 13, 25, adds five — Pisa?, Fresulse, Saturuia or Cale- 52. INTRODUCTION.] POSITION OF ETRUSCAN CITIES. xxxiii The sites of the cities varied according to the nature of the ground. In tlie volcanic district, where they were most thickly- set, tlie}^ stood on the level of the plains, yet were not unpro- tected hy nature, these plains or rather tahle-lands heing every- Avhere intersected hy ravines, the cleavings of the earth under volcanic action, which form natural fosses of great depth round the cliff-hound islands or promontories on which the towns were built. Such was the situation of Yeii, Caere, Falerii, Sutrium, 4ind other cities of historical renown. The favourite position was on a tongue of land at the junction of two of these ravines. In tlie northern district the cities stood in more commanding ■situations, on isolated hills ; but never on the summits of scarcely accessible mountains, like many a Cyclopean town of Central Italy, which — "' Like an eagle's nest, hangs on the crest Of purple Apennine." Low ground, without an}^ natural strength of site, was always avoided, though a few towns, as Luna, Pisa?, Graviscae, Pyrgi, for maritime and commercial i)urposes, stood on the very level of the coast. The position of the cities of Etruria is in some measure a key to her civilization and political condition.- Had they been on mountain-tops, we might have inferred a state of society little removed from barbarism, in which there was no security or confidence betv/een the several communities. Had they stood on the unbroken level of the plains, we should have seen in them an index to an amount of internal security, such as nowhere existed in those early times. Yet is their medium i:)osition not inconsistent with a considerable degree of civilization, and a generall}' peaceable state of society. The}- are not such sites as were selected in later times, especially b}' the Ptomans ; but it should be borne in mind, that the political constitution of early Italy, as of Greece, was entirel}^ municipal — that cities were states, and citizens soldiers — and fortifications were as indispensable to the cities of old, as standing armies and fleets are deemed to be to the states of Modern Europe. The Etruscans especially appear to have trusted more to their ramparts than to the valour of their warriors. Before we consider the institutions of Etruria, it may be well ^ Stralio (XIII. p. 592) cites Plato as of civilization, illustrating this view liy tlie pointing out the iiosition of cities as tests successive cities of the Tro:id. VOL. I. c xxxiv OEIGIXAL INHABITANTS C)F ETEUEIA. [ixtgoduction. to say a -word on the origiu of the people, and the source of their civilization. It must he remarked, that the people knt)wn to the Romans as Etruscans were not the original inhahitants of the land, hut a mixed race, composed parti}' of the earlier occupants, partly (jf a people of foreign origin, who became dominant by right of conquest, and engrafted tlieir peculiar civilization on that pre- viously existing in the land. All liistor}^ concurs in reji resenting the earliest occupants to have been Siculi, or Umbri, two of the most ancient races of Italy, little removed, it is j^robable, from barbarism, though not nomade, but dwelling in towns. Then a people of Greek race from Thessaly, the Pelasgi, entered Italy at the head of the Adriatic, and crossing the Apennines, and allying themselves with the Aljorigines, or mountaineers, took possession of Etruria, driving out the earlier inhabitants, raised towns and fortified them with mighty walls, and long ruled supreme, till they Avere in turn conquered b}' a third race, called by the Greeks Tyrrheni, or Tyrseni, b}' the Romans Etrusci, Tusci, or Tliusci,^ and by themselves, Rasena,^ wlio are supposed to have established their power in the land about 290 3'ears before the foundation of Rome, or 1044 before Christ." The threads of the histor}', however, of these races are so entangled, as to defy ever}- attempt at unravelment ; and the confusion is increased b}' the indiscriminate application of the word Tvrrheni, Avhicli was used by the ancients as a synonym, sometimes of Pelasgi, sometimes of Etrusci. Amid this confusion, two facts stand out with prominence. Eirst — that the land was inhabited before the Etruscans, pro- '•' Plin. III. 8, 19; Dion. Hal. I. c. 3(i. raseni. Maiiiiert. Geog. p. 308 ; Cramer, cf. Herod. I. 94. They were called T^rseui, I. p. 161. The name "Rasna," or it is said, from the fortifications — rvpcreis — "Resiia," is sometimes met ■with on tlie they were the first to raise in Italy (Dion. .sepulchral urns of Etniria. A chain of Hal. I. loc. cit. ); and Tusci, or Tliusci, from mountains in Tuscany, not far from Ai-ezzo, their frequent sacrifices — otto toD Qveiv — is said to have retained the name of Rasena Serv. ad Virg. ]&i\. II. 781 ; X. 164 : to the pretent day. Ann. Inst. 1856, I'lin. III. 8 ; cf. Fest. r. Tuscos. Etruria p. 77. is said to be derived from eVepoy and '6pos, - Thisis the period which ]\Iul]er(Etnisk, lieeause it lay Leyond the Tiber. Serv. einl. 2, 2 ; IV. 7, 8) considers the com- ad jEn. XI. 598. But the etymologies of mencement of the Etruscan era, referred the Romans are generally forced, and rarely to by Censorinns, de Die Natali, XVII. to be dependeil on. Thuscia is a late word, Helbig agrees with him. Ann. Inst. 1876, not to be found in the earlier writers. p. 227, I't scq. Niebuhr (I. p. 138), how- ' Dion. Hal. I. c. 30. Some writers ever, would carry the first Etruscan scccuhan take Rasena to be but. a form of Tyrseni, as far back as 434 years l)efore the founda- either a corruption from it, as Tyr— seni= tion of Rome, or to 11 88 B.C. Ra— seni ; or a contraction of it, as Ty — ixTRODUCTiox.] ORIGIN' OF THE ETHUSOANS DISPUTED, xxxv l)eiiy so called, took possession of it. And secondly — tliat the Etruscans came from abroad. From v/hat country, however, is a problem as much disputed as any in the Avliole compass of classical inquiry. It is not compatible with the object of this work to enter fully into this question, yet it cannot be passed by in silence. To guide us, we have data of two kinds — the records of the ancdents, and the extant monuments of the Etruscans. The native annals, which may be presumed to have spoken explicitly on this point, have not come down to us, and we have only the testimony of Greek and Roman writers. The concurrent voice of these — historians and geographers, philosophei-s and poets — with one solitary exception, marks the Etruscans as a tribe of Lydians, who, leaving their native land on account of a j^rotracted famine, settled in this part of Italy.'^ Th^ dissentient voice, however, is of great importance — that of Dionj^sius of Halicarnassus — one of the most accurate and diligent anti(piaries of his times, and an authority considered by many as sufticient to outweigh the vast body of opposing evidence. His objections are two-fold. First — that Xanthus, an early native historian of Lydia, well versed in the ancient historj' of his land, makes no mention of any such emigration, and never speaks of the Etruscans as a colony from Lj'dia. Secondly — that neither in language, religion, laws, nor customs, was there any similarity between the I^ydians and Etruscans — i.e. as they existed in his day. He consequently maintained that the Etruscans were autochthons — a view not held by any other ancient writer whose works have come down to •' "The father of history " is the first cuiitimieil to exist, but at ieugtii, their tiirtt records this tradition. Herod. I. 94. couditioii being in no way imjiroved, it was It is mentioned or alluded to also by Strabo. agreed that half the nation .should emigrate, Plutarch, and Lycophron among the Greeks, under the conduct of Tyrihenus, the king'.s anil by a crowd of lloman writers — Cicero, son. After various wanderings, they Pliny, Seneca, Valerius Maximus, Tacitus, reached the coast of Umbria, and thei-e Paterculus, Appian, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, established themselves, exchanging the Catullus, Silius Italicus, Statins, Tertul- name of Lydians for that of Tyrrhenians, liau, Festus, Servius, Justin, and Rutilius. in honour of their leader. A more pro- The tradition as related by Herodotus, bable veision of this emigration is given echoed by Servius, was this: — In the by Anticleides, an Athenian historian (ap. reign of Atys there was a j^rotracted Strab. V. p. 221), who states that the famine in Lydia ; and in order to forget Pelasgi first colonized about Lemuos and their misery the people had recourse to Imbros ; and then some of them joined games and amusements, and invented dice, Tyrrhenus the Lydian in his emigration to and ball, the pipes and the trumpet; Italy. This account is nearly in accordance abstaining from food on alternate days with that given by Plutarch (Komulus, 2), when they gave themselves tip to these new that tlie Tyrrheni passed originally from iliversions. For eighteen years they thus The.ssaly to Lydia, and thence to Italy. r 2 xxxvi NIEBUnR'S THEORY. [introduction. us, yet suggested to liim by the fact that they were unlike every other race m language, manners, and customs.* This view has been adopted by jNIicali, who may be suspected of national par- tialities, when he attempts to prove that the early civilization of Italy was indigenous.^ A different opinion was held by Xiebuhr — that the Etruscans were a northern tribe who invaded Italy from the Rluetian Alps, and conquered the Tyrrhene-Pelasgi, the earlier possessors of the land, — that the true Etruscans were these Ehaetian invaders, and that the term Tyrrheni was strictl_y applicable only to the Pelasgic, or subject part of the population. This theory is worthy of respect, as coming from such a source, but it is directly opposed to the statements of ancient writers.*" Nor does the well-known fact that monuments like the Etruscan, and inscrip- tions in a character very siiAilar, have been found among the Khfetian and Noric Alps, come to its aid. For though we are told by Livy and others, that the Etruscans occupied Hhfetia, it was only when they had been driven by the Gauls from their settlements in the plains of the Po. All history concurs in marking the emigration to have been from the south northwards, instead of the contrary.^ The subjoined specimen of Pthffito- Etruscan ait confirms Livj^'s testimony as to the degenerac}'- and semi-barbarism of these Etruscan emigrants.^ ■* Pion. Hal. I. c. 28, 30. similar to tliose of Volterra, and unlike the ^ Micali, Ant. Pop. Ital. I. cap. YII. works of the Gauls or Rouiaiis. * Niebuhr, T. p. 110, et scq. So great " Livy distinctly asserts the emigration an ai^thority naturally takes in its train a to liave been from the plains to the crowd of German writers, not unwilling to mountains, on the invasion of the Po-vale adopt iin opinion so flattering to the rater- by the Gauls ; and he, as a native of land. The view, however, of a lilnetian Padua, speaks with the more authority ou origin of the Etruscan race had been pre- this subject. Ali)inis quoque ea gentibus viously held liy Freret, and by Heyne. It hand duliie origo est, maxime Rha^tis, ijuos is founded on the resemblance of the name loca ipsa efferarunt, ne quid ex antir|no "Kasena,"' which the Etruscans gave them- i)rieter sonum lingiue, nee eum incorrup- selves, to Rha'ti — on the statement of the turn, retinerent. V. 33. He also states ancients that the Rhteti were of Etruscan that the Twelve Etruscan cities of Nox-thein origin — on the analogy certain dialects now Etruria were founded subsequently to those spoken in these regions bear to the Etrus- of Etruria Proper, being so many colonies can — and on the fact that no earlier popu- of the original Twelve cities. Klia-tos lation than the Etruscan is recorded to Tliiisconim ]irolem arliitrantur, d Gallis have inhabited those mountains. pulsos, duce Rhajto. Plin. Nat. Hist. HI. Niebuhr (II. p. 525) even supposes that "24. Galli . . . sedibus Tuscos expulerunt. at one time the Etruscan race extended Tusci quoque duce Rlucto, avitis .sedibus north of the Aljts into Alsace and the plains amissis, Alpes occupavere ; et ex nomine of Germany, and cites, in confirmation of ducisgcntcsltluetorumcondiderunt. Justin, his view, the walls ou Mont Sainte Odilie, XX. 5. in the former country, whieli are very * These figures form part of a procession INTKOUUCTION.] MULLEirS THEOEY. A modification of Niebulir's view was lieltl by Otfried ]MUller — that the later element in the Etruscan nation was from Lvdia, yet composed not of natives, but of Tyrrhene-Pelasgi who had settled on the coasts of Asia Minor ; and that the earlier lords of the land were the Ilasena, from the mountains of Ivhtetia, who FIGURES ON RH-ETO-KTRUSCAN BIU'XZES, FOUND IX THE TYROL. ill relief fountl, in 18 45, at Llatrai, a village on the northern slope of jMoinit J>renner, in the T\"rol. IJesides this were found other singular reliefs, one of which has i)Ugilists contending with the cestui, very like the scenes in the tombs at Chiusi and Tarquinii ; ijieces of amber and coral, jH)ula; and rings of bronze. At Sonnen- burg, 12 miles distant, many similar relics were in 1844 brought to light ; together with cinerary urns of black ware, and knives of bronze. A few years previous, in a sepulchre at Zilli, in the ancient Xori- cum, were found two bronze casques, with inscriptions in a character very like the Etruscan. And in the valley of Cembra, 9 miles from Trent in the Tyrol, a bronze .tituht, or bucket, was discovered in 182S, bearing five inscrijrtions in a similar cha- racter ; and it is remarkable tiiat it was found near the torrent Lavis, and that that very word occurs in one of the inscrijitions. (iiovanelli, Pensieri intorno ai Kezi, ed una inscrizione llezio-Etrusca ; Le antichit-?!. IJezio-Etrusche scoperte Presso Matrai ; ^licali, Monumenti Inediti, p. 331, et seq. tav. 53. At Yadena, in the Tyrol, Etrus- can tombs have been found, one bearing an Etruscan inscription graven on its lid. Ann. Inst. 1856, pp. 76-78. Relics of very similar character, however, are dis- covered in districts never possessed by the Etruscans. Such are the Euganean inscrij)- tions found in the Venetian territory, in that corner of Italy which Livy tells us never belonged to the Etruscans. Liv. V. 33. Such are the helmets with similar inscriptions, discovered in 1812 between Marburg and Radkersburg in Styria. Micali, Mon. Ined. loc. cit. And such is tlie gold torque, also with an Euganean iiiscrii)tion, found in 1835 in Wallachia. Jlicali, op. cit. p. 337 ; Bull. Inst. 1843 p. 93. But at Castel Yetro, near Modena xxxviii OPINIONS OF LEPSIUS, [introduction. driving back the Uiubrians, and uniting Avitli the Tvrrheni on the Tarquinian coast, formed tlie Etruscan race.'' A more recent opinion is that of Lepsius, Avho utterly rejects the Ehivtian theory of Xiebuhr and Miiller, pronouncing it most improbable that the arts and sciences, the literature and religious discipline, the refined civilization of Etruria, originated Avitli a rude race of mountaineers from the Tyrol ; although tliej' ma}' Avell have been introduced by the Tj-rrhene-Pelasgi. He also rejects the Lydian tradition of Herodotus, chiefly on the ground of the silence of Xanthus, which he regards as conclusive evidence against it. His theory is that the Tyrrhene-Pelasgi, leaving Thessaly, entered Italy at the head of the Adriatic, made their first establishments at the mouths of the Po, eventually crossed the Apennines, and occupied Etruria, after conquering the Um- brians Avho then possessed it, from whom they took three hundred cities. He thinks there was no subsequent occupation of the land by any foreign people, but that the Umbrians continued to inhabit it as a subject race, like the Saxons in England after the Norman conquest, and that this mixture of Umbrians with Pelasgians, produced what is known as the Etruscan nation.^ Mommsen, the historian of Rome, rejects alike the Lydian origin of the Etruscans, and their identity with tlie Pelasgi, or the Tyrrhene pirates of the .Egaean seas, with whom they had on the other hand, a bronze mirror lias an Etruscan sepulchral inscriiition has liocn been found with ligures jirecisely in the found. 15u!l. Inst. 1871, pp. '214-219. At same style as those of Hhjetia, and appa- Verona, at Kavenna, at Uusca, near Ales- rently by the same artist. Cavedoni, Ann. saudriain Piedmont, and at Adria, genuine Inst. 1842, p. 67, ct seq. tav. d'Agg. H. Etruscan inscrii)tions have been found In this northern district of Italy many (Lanzi. 11. p. 649 ; Miiller, I. pp. 140, relics have been found which snbstantiate 144, 164), and at the last-named place its recorded possession by the Etruscans. painted vases of great beauty, like those Of the recent discoveries at Bologna, ani>, of this work. At Castel Vetro, and Savig- 142 ; Micali, I\Ioii. Ined. pp. 279-297, tav. nauo, n'?ar ]\Iodena, a nuu)ber of tomlts 4.5, 46. In the hills above Kimini also, have been opened with similar furniture. tombs very like the Etruscan have been dis- Bull. Inst. 1841, pp. 75-79; 1868, p. 209; covered. Torini, I. p. 241. Ann. Inst, loc.cit. In the neighbourhood of '•• Miiller, Etrusk. einl. 2, 4-12; 3, 10. Parma numerous objects have been found This opinion is in part favoured l>y Plutarch jjroving tlie existence of tlie same race in (Knmul. c. 2), wlio says the Tyi-rheni passed that region in very early times. Bull. from Thessaly to Lydia, and from Lydia Inst. 187/i, pp. 140-149. At Arano and to Italy. Cf. Strab. V. p. 221. Ilovio, in the district of Lvigano, at I\Ion- ^ Lepsius, Ueber die Tyrrhenisclien- drisio, Ligurno, Sesto Caleide, and in the Pelasger in Etrurien. JVearly the same (Janton Ticino, many Etruscan anticjuities view was held by the late Mr. Mijiingen, liave been discovered. Hull. Inst. 1875, Trans. Hoy. Soc. Literat. II. 1834, Ann. j.p. 200 203. AtTrevLsiointhe Valtelline, lust. 1834, p. 286. INTRODUCTION.] MOM^IS]^:N, A\D OTHEES. xxxix nothing whatever in common. He ascribes the contusion between these people, made by the ancients as Avell as by the moderns, to the accidental resemblance between the names Tursenni (Etrus- cans), and the Torrhehi, or Tjirvhcm, of Lydia, which resemblance seems to him the only foundation for the Lydian tradition of Herodotus. As the principal cities of Etruria were all in the interior (?), and as the movements of the Etruscans in historic times were always from north to south ('?), he thinks the Etrus- cans must have reached the peninsula by land, and that their origin must be sought in the north or west of Itah^ and pro- bably in the Rhsetian Alps, because the earliest inhabitants of that mountainous region spoke Etruscan even in historic times." It would take too long to record all the opinions and shades of opinion held on this intricate subject. Suffice it to say that the origin of the Etruscans has been assigned to the Greeks — to the Egyptians — the Phosnicians — the Canaanites — the Libyans — the Tartars — the Armenians — the Cantabrians or Basfjues — the Goths — the Celts, an old theory, revived in our own days by Sir AVilliam Betliam, who fraternises them with the Irish — and to the Hyksos, or Shepherd-Kings of Egypt. I know not if they have been taken for the lost Ten Tribes of Israel, but, ccrtes, a very pretty theory might be set up to that effect, and supported by arguments which would appear all-cogent to every one who swears by Coningsby.'^ The reader, Avhen he perceives how many-sided is this question, will surely thank me for not leading him deeply into it, yet may hardly like to be left among this chaos of opinions without a guiding hand. Amid the clash and conflict of such a host of combatants, who shall attempt to establish harmony ?— and Avhere there are "giants in the land," who shall hope to prevail against them ? No one, of course, in esides, we have it on record that the Etruscans claimed for themselves a Lydian origin. Tacitus tells us that in the time of Tiberius, deputies from Sardis recited before the Roman senate a decree of the Etruscans, declaring their consanguinity, on the ground of the early colonization of Etruria by the Lydians.^ This popular tradition might not of itself be decisive of the question, but Avhen it is confirmed b}' a comparison of the recorded customs and the extant monuments of the two peoples, as will presently be shown, it comes with a force to my mind, that will not admit of rejection." I cannot yet consent to consign it to "the limbo of unsubstantial fabrics" to which it is contemptuously condemned b}' a recent writer on " the Etruscans.'"' * Tacit. Ann. IV. 55. This tradition appeals to have been at least as ohl as Romulus. Plutarch (Rom. c. 25) relates that thiit monarch, when he conquered Veii, and granted her a truce for 100 years, led the vanquished chief of the Veientines in triumph through Rome. To commemo- rate this triumph tlie Romans, whenever they offered a sacrifice for any victory, Avere wont to lead an old man clad in a ioffu prcetexta and wearing a golden hiiUa round his neck, from the Forum to the Ca]>itability, from a considera- tion of the close similarity of style between the early silver coins of Thrace, and the engraved scarabs of Etruria, that tlie Etruscans and Greeks had common fore- fathers in the Pelasgi, and that this peojjle in Italy developed into the Etruscans — a theoiy not very unlike that jiropouniled by Lei)sius. IJut this is a very limited view of a many-sideil subject. IMr. Murray omits to take into consideration the many striking oriental analogies in the earliest iNTEODTJCTiox.] FAVOUE THE LYDIAN OEIGIN. xli When a tribe like tlie Gj'psies, -without liouse or home, -witli- out literature or history, without fixed religious creed, but willing to adopt that of ari}^ country' where their lot may be cast, with no moral peculiarity bej'ond their nomade life and roguish habits — when such a people assert that they come from Egypt or elsewhere, we believe them in proportion as we find their personal peculiarities, their language, habits, and customs,, are in accordance with those of the people from whom tlie}^ claim their origin. Their tradition is credible only when con- firmed from other sources. But when a people, not a mere tribe, but spread over a large extent of territory, not a nomade, semibarbarous, unlettered race, but a nation settled for ages in one country, possessing a literature and national annals, a systematic form of government and ecclesiastical polity, and a degree of civilization second to that of no contemporary i:)eople, save Greece, — a nation having an extensive commerce, and fre(][uent intercourse with the most polite and civilized of its fellows, and probabl}^ with the very race from which it claimed its descent, — when such a people lays claim traditionally to a definite origin, which nothing in its manners, customs, or creed appears to belie, but man}' things to confirm — how can we set the tradition at nought ? — why hesitate to give it credence ? It was not so much a doubtful fiction of poetry, assumed for a peculiar purpose, like the Trojan origin of Itome, as a record preserved in the religious books of the nation, like the Chronicles of the Jews. If this tradition of the Lydian origin of the Etruscans be borne out by their recorded manners, and b}' monumental evidence, it must entirely outweigh the confiicting and unsup- ported testimony of Dionysius. Na}', granting him to have spoken advisedly in asserting that there Avas no resemblance between the two people in language, religion, or customs, it would be Avell explained by the lapse of more than a thousand years from the traditional emigration to his day,' — a period much more than sufficient to eftace all superficial analogies between people so widel}' severed, and subjected to such difterent ex- ternal influences, and a period during which the Lydians were artistic ■works of the Etruscans, notably in for Ly commercial x-elations, however iuti- tlie ii(''c/« scry. (Strom. I. p. 3U6, ed. Sylb.) says the '' In customs, however, as will be pre- Carians were the first who divined from .sently shown, there existed strong analoj;ies the stars, the Phrygians from the flight of between the Lydians and Etruscans. And birds, the Etruscans by aruspicy. Dionysius' statenient us to the dissimilarity - Cicero, loc. cit. The same power,- lie p. 287, 342 ; IT. ]i. ] 82. Figulus, a "Diarium Tonitruale, or Etrus- xliv ASIATIC ANALOGIES IN THE CUSTOMS [IxXteoduction, Tlie analogy of the Etruscan customs to those of the East (lid not escape the notice of ancient writers. And liere let me- remark that the Mysians, Lydians, Carians, Lycians, and Phrj'gians being cognate races, inhabiting adjoining lands, what is recorded of one is generally applicable to all.'' " The ascendancy' of the Lydian dynast}- in Asia Minor, with its empire (real or fabulous) of the sea during its flourishing ages, would naturally imj^art to an}' such tradition a Lydian form. In any attempt, therefore, to illustrate the Etruscan origin or manners from Asiatic sources, our appeals may safeh' be extended to the neighbouring, whether kindred, or merel^y connected, races." ^ The sports» games, and dances of the Etruscans, adopted by the liomans, are traditionall}' of Lydian origin, '^ The musical instruments on which they excelled were introduced from Asia Minor, — the double-pipes from Phrygia, the trumpet from Lydia.^ Their luxurious habits were so- strictly oriental, that almost the same language is used in describing them and those of the Lydians.'^ Even the common national robe, the toga, was of Lydian origin.^ Dionysius him- self, after having stated that there was no resemblance whatever between the customs of the Etruscans and Lydians, points out that the purple robes worn in Etruria as iiisifjnia of authority, were similar to those of the Lydian and Persian monarchs, dif- fering only in form " — the oriental robe being square, the Etruscan 5 Herodotus (I. 171) calls the Carians, ad Stat. Tlieb. IV. 224. The current belief Mysians, and Lydians, KaaiyvriToi. Strabo was that the trumpet was of Etruscan (XIII. p. 628) says the boundaries between origin. Strabo, V. p. 220 ; Died. Y. Lydia, Phrygia, Caria, and Mysia, could p. 316 ; ^schyl. Eumen. 567 ; Sophoc. not be determined, and had given rise to Ajax, 17 ; Athen. IV. c. 82 ; Yirg. Mn. great confusion. Cf. XIV. p. 678 ; Plin. VIII. 526 ; Serv. in loc. ; Clem. Alex. V. 30. Strom. I. p. 306; Pollux. IV. 11. Silius •* Quarterly Review, No. CLI. ix 56. Italicus (VIII. 490) sijecifies Vetulonia as " Liv. VII. 2 ; A'al. Max. II. 4, 3 : the site of its invention. Tertull. de Spect. I. 5 ; Appian, de Reb. '■' Athen. XII. c. 11, 17 ; XV. c. 41 ; Punic. LXVI. Dice, M'hich were a Lydian Theopomp. ap. eund. XII. c. 14 ; Poseidon, invention (Herod. I. 94), were also much ap. eund. IV. c. 38 ; Diod. Sic. V. p. 316. used in Etrnria, as we learn from history So Anacreon (ap. Athen. XV. c. 41) uses (Liv. IV. 17), as well as from their l>eing AvSoiradris for r]5viradT}s, and ^^schylus frequently found in Etruscan tombs. (Pers. 41) si^eaks of the a^poSiaiToi AvSoi. ■^ Plin. VII. 57. Clem. Alex. Strom. I. ' Tertull. de Pallio, I. ; cf. Serv. ad p. 300. The Lydian pipes were also famous, Virg. lEn. If. 781. The Romans received Pind. Olymp. V. 44. One tradition ascribes it from the Etruscans, who have theietore- the invention of the trumpet to Tyrrhenus, a prior right to the title of i/ens to'jata. the Lydian colonist of Etruria. Pausan. Liv. I. 8 ; Flor. I. 5 ; Plin. VIII. 74" ; II. 21; cf. Serv. ad Virg. R'ax. I. 71 ; Sil. IX. 63 ; Diodor. V. p. 316 ; Macrob. Sat. Ital. V. 12. Another refers it to Maleus, I. 6 ; Festus v. Sardi. the Etruscan prince of Rcgisvilla. Liictant. - Dion. Hal. III. c. 61. INTRODUCTION.] AND PHYSIOGNOMY OF THE ETEUSCANS. ' xlv ioga or rri^ivvo^, which answered to it, semicirciilar. The eagle^ which Rome bore as her standard, and which she derived from Etruria, was also the mihtary ensign of Persia.^ The young women of Etruria are said, like those of Lj'dia, to have obtained their dowries b^y prostitution.'' The singular custom of the Lycians, of tracing their descent b}^ the maternal line, obtained also among the Etruscans, alone among the nations of antiquit}-.'' And another custom which essentiall}"^ distinguished the Etrus- cans from the Greeks, and assimilated them to the people of Asia Minor, was that they shared the festive couch with tlieii- wives.'' Their language and the character in which it was written have ver}'- marked oriental analogies. But in their tombs and sepulchral usages the affinity of Etruria to Lydia and other countries of Asia is most strongly marked ; and it is to be learned not only from extant monuments, but from historical records. These analogies will be pointed out in detail in the course of this work. In one important particular there is also a striking analogy — in physiognoni}'. In many of the early monuments of Etruria the oriental ty.X)e of countenance is strongly and unmistakabh marked, a fact well illustrated by reference to the loving couple of life-size recumbent on the terra-cotta sarcophagus from Cervetri, now in the Louvre," or better still, to the similar, but nude pair from the same site in the British Museum, who are portrayed in the woodcut at page 227 of this volume. There can be no mistake here. The type is purely oriental, nay Mongolian. Any one who has lived among Tartar tribes will at once. recognize the characteristics of that race, especially in the obliquel}^ placed eyes, which, as Mr. Isaac Taylor says, no Aryan ever possessed. In the Etruscan portraits of later times, these archaic peculiarities are in great measure lost. The mixture of races, it may be, on ^ Cf. Dion. Hal. loc. cit. and Xenopli. XII, 11. Horace complains of Ins Ljve as Anab. I. 10. lieing mucli too obdurate for an Etruscan. -• Cf. Herod. I. 93, and Tlaut. Cistell. Od. HI. 10, 11. Strabo tells us tliat the II. 3, 20. — ancient Armenians also prostituted tlicir „ , daughters before marriage, non enim hic, iibi ex i usco modo , „ -it , y t aa m X ...-I • ■ T 1 I „ See voh I. p. 100. Tute tibi indigue dotem qureras corpore. „ , _^ „„„ ^ « See Vol. I, p. 309. Herodotus (I. Chastity, if we may believe the accounts of 172) mentions that the Caunians, a people the ancients, was little valued by either of Asia Minor, were accustomed to liold people ; and this is a point in which they siimposki, or drinking-bouts, with tlieir differed widely from the Greeks and early wives and families. Cf. I. 146. Eomans. Strabo, XI. p. 532 ; Theopom- ' See Vol. I. p. 279. pus, ap. Athen. XII. c. 14 ; cf. Athen. xlvi EELATIOX OF ETRUEIA TO THE EAST, [ixtroductiox. tlie one Land, and the influence of Greek art on the other, tended to assmiilate Etruscan portraiture to the European type. The rehition and connection of Etruria witli the East is an established fact, admitted on all hands hut variously accounted for.^ To me it seems to he such as cannot be explained by commercial intercourse, however extensive, for it is apparent not merely on the surface of Etruscan life, but deep within it, influencing all its springs of action, and imparting a tone and character, that neither Greek example and preceptorship, nor Roman domination could ever entirel}' efface. So intimate a connection could only have been formed by conquest or coloniza- tion from the East. That such was possible all will admit, — that it was not improbable, the common practice of antiquity of colonizing distant lands is evidence enough ; sublime memorials of Avliich we still behold on the shores of Italy and Sicily, in those shrines of a long-perished creed, now sacred to Hellenic genius. Had we been told that Mj'sia, Caria, Phrygia, or Lj'cia, Avas the mother-country of Etruria, we might have accepted the tradition, but as Lydia is specifically indicated, why refuse to credit it ? To what country of the East we may be inclined to ascribe this colonization, is of little moment. We must at least admit, Avith Seneca, that " Asia claims the Etruscans as her own." — Ttiscos Asia sihl rindicdt.'- Language. That which in an investigation of this kind would prove of most service is here unfortunately of no avail. The language of Etruria, even in an age which has unveiled the Egyptian hierogl3i)hics and the arrow-headed character of Babjdon, still remains a mystery. This " geological literature," as it has been aptly termed, has bafiled the learning and research of scholars of every nation for ages past ; and though fresh treasures are daily stored up, the key to unlock them is still wanting. We know the characters in which it is written, which much resemble the Pelasgic or early Greek,^ — we can learn even somewhat of the ** ]\Iiiller (Etnisk. einl. 2, 7) asseiis their commercial intercourse with tlic "tlie luimistakahle connection between tlie Egyptians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and civilization of Etruria and Asia Minor." other oriental peoijlc. Even Micali, who maintains the indigenous ^ Seneca, Consol. ad Helv. VI. P. origin of the Etruscans, sets forth their ^ To the Pelasgi is referred the in- relation with the East in a ijromincnt troduction of letters into Latiuin. Solin. light, though explaining it as the result of Polyhist. VIII. Another tradition says iNTiiODVCTiox.J THE ETEUSCAX LANGUAGE A :\[YSTKRY. xlvii gt'iiiiis of the language and its inflections ; but beyond this, and the proper names and the numerals on sepulchral monuments, and a few words recorded by the ancients," the wisest must admit their ignorance, and confess that all they know of the Etruscan tongue, is that it is unique — like the Basque, an utter alien to every known family of languages. To the otlier early tongues of Italy, which made use of the same or nearly the same character, we find some key in the Latin, especially to the Oscan, which bears to it a parental relation. But the Etruscan has Iteen tested again and again Ijy Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and every other ancient language, and beyond occasional affinities which may be mere coincidences, such as occur in almost every case, no clue has yet been found to its interpretation, — and unless some moninnent like the Rosetta-stone should come to light, and some Young or Chami)ollion should arise to decipher it, the Etruscan must ever remain a dead, as it has always emphatically been, a sepulchral, language."' Till then, to every fanciful theorist, who fondly- lings tliey were Lronglit to tlie Aliorigines by Evnndei- from Arcadia, and that the ancient Latin characters were the same as tlie earliest Greek. Tacit. Ann. XI. 14. Tlie Etruscans are said by the same autlioritj- to have received their characters from Corinth throngh Demaratus. It is cei'tain that all the ancient alphabets of Italy — the Umbrian, Oscan, Eugancan, Messapian, as well as the Etruscan — bear ;ui unmistakable affinity to the early Greek. - All we know of the language from the ancients is confined to some thirty words, many of which are manifestly disguised l>y the foreign medium through which they have come down to us. The names of certain Etruscan deities are also known, either from ancient writers or from monuments. Mr. Isaac Taylor (Etruscan Researches, jj. 197 ct 8cq.), from a careful comparison of mortuary inscrip- tions, has determined the i^recise mean- ing of certain words used in sepulchral formulte : — "Ril" = years. " Avil" or " avils " — age, or aged. " Leine" = lived. " Lupu " = died. If to this we add that the general, if not precise, meaning of two or three other sepulchral formulse can be guessed at, and that "Clan" seems to mean son, "Sec,"' daughter, and " Ilinthial," ghost, or spectre, we have the full extent of our knowledge of the Etruscan vocabulaiy. •' Lauzi states that in his day, lieside< the three classic languages, "the Ethiopic, the Egyptian, the Arabic, the Coptic, the Chinese, the Celtic, the Basque, the Anglo- Saxon, the Teutonic, the Runic, and what not,'' had lieen consulted in vain for the key to the Etruscan. Lanzi thought he had discoveretl it in the Greek, and to estahlish his theory put that noble language to s.ul torture, from which sounder criticism has released it. Dr. Arnold (History of Rome, pref. p. -Xiir.) expected the interpretation of the Etruscan to he discovei-ed. And Miiller (Etrusk. einl. 3, 10) entertained the hope that in some secluded valley of the Grisons or of the Tyrol, a remnant of the old Rhajtian dialect might be discovered which would serve as a key to the Etrus- can, lie adds that Von Hormayi- held the Surselvish dialect to be Etruscan. Within the last few years Muller's hope has been in some degree realised by the labours of a German scholar, who though he has found no key to the interpretation of the Etrus- can, has atleast shown that some remnants of a dialect very like it remain among the Alps of Rh;etia. Steub, Ueber die Urbewohner Riiticns nnd ihren Zusammenhang mit den Etruskern. Miinchen, 1843. In travelling in 1842 among these Alps he was struck clviii THE ETRUSCAX ALPHABET. [introduction. himself into the helief that to him it has heen reserved to unravel tlie mj^stery, or -who possesses the Sabine faculty of dreaming Avhat he wishes, we must Ye\)\y in the words of the prophet. " It is an ancient nation, a nation whose langunge thou knowest not." AVere it not for this mvstery of the language, the oriental analouies on the one hand, and the Greek features on the other, which are obvious in the recorded customs of Etruria and the monuments of her art, might be reconciled by the theory of a Pelasgic colony from Asia Minor. But the language in its utter loneliness compels us to look further for the origin of tlie Etruscan people. For the benefit of travellers, who would spell their way through epitaphs, I subjoin the Etruscan alphabet, in the proper order of the characters, confronting them with the Greek. A f\;^P\ N nMv\H K(r?) >) n^ 11 E 3a^ 2 accented M/A Digamma ^ _ ^ "1 Q koppa P Z =!=:{: rarely :J J P ,- (] T T-riN I 1 T ^ YY ™i«i.''' y^ K HA *F ©0 ALU s/ J X v|/ s)' 4^ M m^ \M ; IL 296. lation. for the latter, iroui the small size To these three Tarquin added ^lercury. INTRODUCTION.] THEEE GEEAT GODS— TWELVE DII CONSENTES. Iv tlmnder and descends in the lightning." He alone had tliree separate bolts to hurl, and is therefore always represented on Etruscan monuments with a thunder-bolt with triple points in his hand." Thalna or CupRA w'as the Etruscan Hera or Juno, and her principal shrines seem to have been at Veii, Falerii, and Perusia. Like her counterpart among the Greeks and Eomans, she appears to have been worshipped under other forms, according to her various attributes — as Feronia, Uni, Eileithyia-Leucothea.' Mexrva, as she is called on Etruscan monuments, answers to the Pallas- Athene of the CI reeks. It is probable tliat the name by which the Ptomans knew her was of x)urely Etruscan origin.'* She seems to have been allied to Xortia, the Fort una of the Etruscans.^ Lilce her counterpart in the Greek and Pioman mythology, she is represented armed, and with the legis on her breast, but has sometimes wings in addition.^ There were Twelve Great Gods, six of each sex, called Dii Consentes or Complices. They composed the council of Tinia, and are called " the senators of the gods" — "the Penates of the Thunderer himself." They were fierce and pitiless deities, dwelling in the inmost recesses of heaven, whose names it was forbidden to utter. Yet they were not deemed eternal, but supposed to rise and fall together.^ fi Plin. II. 53. Seneca (Nat. Quwst. II. tive of her as a goddess of liiitL.s and liglit. 41) says that the first kind of bolt, which is Feronia is said by Varro (\\ 7i) to be a monitory and not wrathful, Jove can liurl Sabine goddess. Gerhard (Gotth. p. 3) at his pleasure ; the second he can hurl takes her to be equivalent to Juno, Miiller only with the consent of his Council of the (III. 3, 8) to Tellus or Mania. See Vol. I. Twelve Great Gods ; and to hnrl the third p. 129. For Uni, see Ann. Inst. 1851, kind he is obliged to consult the Shrouded tav. d'agg. G. H. For Eileithyia, see Vol. I. (jods. He is sometimes represented as a p. 292. The rites of the Etruscan Juno are beardless youth. Gerhard, Etri;s. Spieg. described by Ovid, Amor. III. eleg. 13 ; I. taf. 14. Some have sought an etymo- cf. Dion. Hal. I. p. 17. logical relation between Tina and Zeus ; ** So thinks Miiller (Etrusk. III. 3, 2), others to Tonans, and others even to the notwithstanding that Varro asserts it to be Odin of the northern mythology, though Sabine. Ling. Lat. V. 74. Muller regards tins similarity is pronounced by Miiller to her as the only Etruscan divinity wlmse be accidental. Etrusk. III. 3, 1. (ierhard, worship was transferred to Rome in all its <, sitting liack to back, and with both liands to their mouths, which he thinks may represent "the shrouded gods." They are taken from a drawing in the public archives of Viterbo, supjjosed to be a copy from .some Etru.scan monument, found in former times ; iierhaps a mirror, as Gerhard suggests, but more jirobably a lias-relicf. See the above wood-cut. •* Plin. II. 53 ; Manilius ap. Arnob. III. 38. Varro (Ling. Lat. \. 74) says the name of Novensiles is derived from the Sabines. Gerhard considers the Novensiles to belong, without doubt, to the Etru.scau mythology. Gotth. Etiiisk. \). 3. ■'' Plin. loc. cit. : Servius (ad S.n. I. 46) .states that in the Etruscan books on Things .struck by Lightning, mention was made of twelve sorts of thuuderl)olts. 6 Serv. loc. cit. ; YIII. 429. J" Serv. loc. cit. : XI. 259. INTRODUCTION.] OTIIEK ETRUSCAN DIVINITIES. Ivii more honour from the old Romans as a thunder-wiekling god, than Jupiter himself." Yejovis, or "N^edius, though Avith a Latin name, was an Etruscan deity, whose bolts had the singular effect of making those they struck so deaf, " that they could not hear the thunder, or even louder noises.""^ Yulcan, or as the Etrus- cans called him Sethlans, was another holt-hurling god.^ jNIars was also one of these nine.- The last two are not mentioned, hut it seems probable that one Avas Saturn, or it may be their great infernal deity Mantis."' The ninth was probably Hercules — Ercle, or Hercle — a favourite god of the Etruscans.^ Besides these, were other great deities, as Yertujinus, or " the cliangeable," the god of wine and gardens, the Etruscan Bacchus;* though that god is sometimes also called Phuphluns." Allied to liim, probably in more than name, v.as Yoi/rriMNA, the great, goddess at whose shrine the confederate princes of Etrm-ia held their councils.' With her also may be analogous, Horta, Avhose name perhaps indicates a goddess of gardens, and from whom a town of Etruria derived its name." Aplu, or Apollo, often appears on Etruscan monuments, as god of the sun, being some- times called IIsil;-^ and so also Turms, or Mercury;^ and Ti:ran, or Yenus; " and more rarely Thesan, the goddess of the ^ Plin. loc. cit. ; Augu.stiii. de Civ. Dei, IV. 23. '■' Ammian. Marcell. XVII. 10, 2. » Serv. ad .^n. I, 46. It is " Vnlca- num" in some editions, andMiiIIer(Etnisk. III. 3, 5) jjrefers it to " Junouem," wIulIi is Bnrmann's reading. - Sen-, ad ^n. YIII. 429 ; cf. Plin. II. 53. The name of tlie Etruscan ]\Iars is not known, but that of the Sabine Mars, " J\la- mers," is inscribed in Etruscan letters on a fihvla in the Gregorian Museum. ])ull. Inst. 1846, p. 11. '^ The Etruscans are said to have lielieved that thunderbolts came not always from heaven, l)ut sometimes from the earth ; or. as some said, from the planet Saturn. Plin. II. 53. On this ground Miiller (Etrusk. III. 3, 5) thinks Saturn was the eighth. So Gerhard, Gottheiten der Etrusker. p. 23. Servius (ad .^n. VIII. 430), indeed, says that some ascribed the power of hurling bolts to Auster. •• Muller (III. 4, 2) does not attempt to supply the ninth. Gerhard, however, from the evidence of monuments, takes it to have been Hercviles, for on an Etruscan gem in his possession that god is repre- sented armed with the thunderbolt as well as with his club. Gottlieit. d. Etrn.sk. p. 23. Lanzi (II. p. 203) took the ninth to he ISacchus. * See Vol. II. p. 33. ^ As in the beautiful mirror represented in the frontispiece to this volume. The name seems connected with " Pupluna, ' the Etruscan form of Populonia. See. Vol. II. p. 220. ^ See Vol. II. p. 33. « See Vol. I. p. 140. Gerhard, (iottheit. p. 3.".. '■• As on a mirror in the Museo Gregoriann. See Vol. II. p. 482. This name, however, has been found attached to a female divinity on another mirror. Bull. Inst. 1847, p. 117. ' The name of this god on Etruscan mirrors is generally "Turms, "or" Thurms ;" in one case he is called "Turms Aitas," or the infernal Mercury (Vol. II. p. 482),. in another, " ]\Iirqurios. " Gerhard, Etrus. Spieg. II. taf. 182. He was associated by Tarcjuin with the three great gods. Ser\-. ad .ain. II. 296. Callimachus (ap. Macrob. III. 8) said that the Etruscans called this god (Jamillus. - This name i.s so often attached to- Iviii THE GODS OF THE ETEUSCANS. [inteoductiox. (lawn, E OS- Aurora ;'^ and Losxa, or Lala — the Etruscan Luna, or Diana. ^ Xethuns, or Neptune, also a^ipears on monuments,"' though rarel}', which is singular considering the maritime character of the people ; and Janus and Silvanus are also known as Etruscan gods,^ the double head of the former being a common device on the coins of Volatemie and Telamon. Then there were four gods called Penates — Ceres, Pales, Fortuna, and the Genius Jovialis ; '' and the two Penates of Latium, — the Dioscuri, — Castur and Pultuke — were much worshipped in Etruria, as we learn from monuments.'' The worship of the mysterious Cabeiri testified to the Pelasgic origin of a portion of the Etruscan population.^ All these deities are more or less akin to those of other ancient mythological systems, and what w-ere of native origin and what of foreign introduction, it is not alwa3'S easy to determine. But there Avere others more peculiarl}^ Etruscan. At least if their counteri:)arts are to be found in the Greek and Roman mj^tli- ology, they had a wider influence in Etruria, and occujiied a more prominent place in the Etruscan Pantheon. Such is the goddess of Fate, who is generall}^ represented with Avings, some- times with a hannner and nail, as if fixing unalterabl}' her decrees tigiues of Venus, that there can be no ad ^n. II. 325), but ]\Iullei- (III. 3, 4) question of the identity. Sometimes she says justly, if the name be not Etruscan, is represented witli " Atunis" (Adonis), that i^eople must have had a god of the sea. or with " Elina " and " Menle " (Helen ^ A four-faced Janus was worshipped at and Menelans), or Mith "Elina" and Falerii. Serv. ad jEn. VII., 607 ; Jlacrob. "Elsntre" (Helen and Alexander). Ger- Sat. I. 9. Silvanus was a Pelasgic god, hard, Et. Spieg. taf. Ill, 115, 197, 198. who had a celebrated shrine at Ctere. Tertullian (Spect. c. S) says this goddess Virg. ^n. VIII. 600 ; cf. Liv. II. 7. was called Muvtia. ' Aruob. loc. cit. ; Serv. ad Mn. II. 325. •' " Thesan " occurs on two mirrors in ^ The Dioscuri are not recorded as Etrus- the (iregoriiin Museum (Vol. II. p. 482). can divinities by ancient writers, but they 'er of atmospheric action, seem destined to endure to the end of time ; yet often show a beauty, a perfection of workmanship, that has never been surpassed. The style of masonry differs in the two great divisions of the land, and is determined in part by the nature of the local materials. In the northern district, Avliere the rock is difficult to be hewn, being limestone, hard sandstone, or travertine, the walls are composed of huge blocks, rectangular in general, but of various sizes, and irregular arrangement, according as the masses of rock were hewn or split from the quarry ; and in some instances small pieces are inserted in the interstices of the larger blocks. There are also a few instances of the irregular, polygonal st^de, as in the so-called Cyclopean cities of LatiTun and Sabina. In the southern district the masonr}' is less massive and very regular, being isodomon, composed of parallelepiped blocks of tufo or other volcanic rock, which admits of being easily worked.^ In the earliest fortifications the gates were square-lieaded, - There was a tradition, recorded by intended citj', -wliile liis followers turned Dionysius (I. c. 30), that the Tyn-heni all the clods inward to the city. The were the first who raised fortresses in Italy, ridge thus raised marked the line of the and that thence they received their name. future walls, and the furrow that of the Cf. Tzetz. in Lycoph. 717. fosse. Wherever the site of a gate was ^ The niasom-y most common in this reached, the plough was lifted from the district is that to which I have ajiplied the earth, and carried over the proposed road- name emph'rton, described Vol. I. pp. 65, way; for the walls were deemed to Ije 80. In measurement the Idocks of this consecrated by the ceremony of ploughing, masonry generally correspond with the and had not the gateways been omitted, ancient Roman foot and modern Tuscan there could have been no entrances into hracr.io. See Vol. I., p. (56 ; II. p. 339. the city. On either side of the walls a The peculiar ceremonies which the spacecalled the j30)/iR'*7'M)/( was also marked Romans observed in founding their cities, out, which was ever after sacred from the and which were olisen-ed in the case of plough, and from habitation. Virgil {S,n. Rome itself, they received from the Etrus- V. 755 ; Serv. in loc. ) represents ^lineas as cans, with whom this was a very sacred founding a city according to the same rite, rite. A day was chosen that was pro- For authorities, see Vol. II. p. 228, n. 9 : nounced auspicious by the augurs. The to which add, Dio Cass. Exceii). Mai, 11. founder, having yoked a bull and cow to a p. 527 ; Serv. ad S^n. V. 755 ; Isid. Orig. brazen plough, the bull outside, the cow XV. 2. ivithin, ploughe' (I. 33) to Ancus Martins, which is very doubtful— and it dates from the middle of the second century of Rome, or about six hundred years before Christ. How much (earlier the princijile of the arch may have been discovered, it is impossible to say ; but the perfection of the Cloaca Maxima miglit lead us to suppose a long previous acquaintance with this mode of construction. Canina (Cere Antica, p. 66) refers the first nse of the true arch in Italy to the reign of Tarquinius Priscns (610 — 578, B.C.), to which conclusion he arrives from a com- parison of the Cloaca with the Tullianum ; and he thinks that Tarquin must have brouglit Ihe knowledge of it from Tarquinii, and that it was introduced there from Corinth by bis father Demaratus ; but for this tliere is no authority in ancient writers. " The most remarkable instances of ])seudo-vaults in Etruria are the Ilegulini- (ralassi tomb at Cervetri, the (irotta Ser- gardi near Cortona, and the sepulchres lately opened by Signer Mani ini beneath Orvieto. A tomb of similar construction has been found at Cumaj. * The only tomb of purely Roman times that I remember to resemble the Etruscan is that of the Nasones, on the Via Flaminia, a few miles from Rome. Early tombs of Etniscan character, however, are found in Latium, Sabina, and other parts of Central Italy, and notably at Ardea of the Rutuli. Xotil des Vei-gers, Etrurie, I. pp. 185-8. So occasionally also on Greek sites. But of all the ancient sepulchres I have seen out of Italy, those of Cyrene bear the closest resemblance to the Etruscan, making allow- ance for the difference in the style of art. In that most remarkable and abounding L-rreek necropolis are streets of tombs carved in the cliffs, resembling temples or houses, with archaic Doric or Ionic fayades, and bearing Greek inscriptions, or else built np in the form of small temples on the surface of the plain. The city, for ages desolate, is surrounded by the homes of the dead, which have long survived the habitations of the living. It has always struck me with surjirise that at CjTene, next door as it were to Egypt, there should be little or nothing of Egyptian art in tlie sculptured architecture of tlie tombs, while that style is a prominenii iNTEODUCTioN.] CHAEACTERISTICS OF ETEUSCAN TOMBS. Ixix readily admit of such excavation, or where the soil was loose and friable, the tomb was sometimes a mere pit, or was constructed with masonry more or less rude, and heaped over with earth into the form of a tumulus. There is nothing in all Etruria like some Greek and most Roman sepulchres, built up above the surface of the ground ; unless, indeed, the tombs disinterred by Signor Mancini beneath Orvieto were originally left uncovered with earth. The object of the Etruscans seems generally to have been to conceal their tombs rather than to display them, in which they differed from the Romans.^ Another characteristic of Etruscan tombs, which distinguishes them from the Roman, and allies them intimately with those of Egypt and Asia Minor, is that they frequently show an imi- tation, more or less obvious, of the abodes of the living. Some display this analogy in their exterior ; others in their interior ; a few in both. Some have more resemblance to temples, and ma}" be the sepulchres of augurs or arus- pices, or of families in which the sacerdotal office was here- ditary. Yet it must be con- fessed that the analogy sug- gested by the external monu- ment is often belied by the sepulchre it covers or contains, as is the case with the tumuli of Corneto and Cervetri, which, exter- nally at least, resemble the huts of the ancient Phrygians,^ yet HUT-URX FROM ALIiA LuX(;a. characteristic of tlie rock-hewn monuments of Norcliia, Castel d'Asso, and Sovana. '•* Yet they often placed stelw or cippi over their underground sepulchres, in the shape of columns, cubes, pine-cones, slabs, lions, or sphinxes. The strong resemblance the sepulchral slabs, with reliefs of men and animals, found at La Certosa, near Bologna, tear to those which marked the sites of the royal tombs at Mycenaj (see the wood- cuts at pp. 52, 81, 86, 93, of Schliemann's Mycenre), is worthy of notice. Etruscan tombs, like the Greek and Roman, are occasionally found by the way- side, real monuments — monimenta — warn- ings and admonitions to the living. Varro, Ling. Lat. VI. 45. ^ Yitruv. II. 1, 5. I liave pointed out this analogy at p. 278 of this volume, yet I doubt if it be more than accidental, for the tumulus is a natural form of sepulchre, which would suggest itself to any people in any part of the world in an earlj' stage of culture, from the facility of its construction. In a rude state of society, the 1)ody would be laid on tlie ground, or within it, and earth would be piled over it, both to pro- tect it from wild beasts, and to mark the Ixx TOMBS FREQUENTLY IMITATIONS OF HOUSES, [introd. cover tombs generally of quadrangular form. The idea of repre- senting the abodes of the living in the receptacles for the dead, which is quite oriental, was not, however, confined to the Etrus- cans among the early people of Italy, as is proved by the singular cinerary urns found in the necropolis of Alba Longa, which are obvious imitations of rude huts formed of boughs and covered with skins," as shown in the woodcut on the preceding page. There can be no doubt that the paintings on the walls of Etruscan tombs show the style, though perhaps not the exact sub- jects, of the internal decorations of their houses. The ceilings are often carved to imitate beams and rafters, or adorned with coffers, and the Avails with panelling — couches and stools surround the chambers — weapons and other furniture are suspended from the walls — and eas}^ arm-chairs, with foot-stools attached, all hewn from the living rock, are found in the subterranean houses of these Etruscan "cities of the dead." The analogy to houses in such instances has been truly said to hold in everj^thing but the light of day. In this respect, Etruscan tombs have a peculiar interest and value, as illustrative of the plan, arrangements, and decorations, external and internal, of Etruscan houses : of which, as time has left us no trace, and history no definite description, we must gather what information we may from analogical sources. In the temples and houses of Etruria, be it remembered, we view those of early Rome, ere she had sat at the feet of her more accomplished preceptor, Greece. Plastic Arts. Of the plastic and pictorial arts of the Etruscans it is not easy to treat, both on account of the vast extent of the subject, and because it demands an intimate acquaintance with ancient art in general, such as can be acquired onl}' by years of study and experience, and by the careful comparison of numerous fiite of its interment, and tlie more illus- they were covereil. For no tumulus in trioustlie deail, tlie loftier, safer, and more Etruria has yet been found to contain a conspicuous would be the mound. I cer- conical or bell-shaijed chamber, correspond- tainly cannot accept Mr. Taylor's theory ing with its external form ; and the Kprjiris (" Etruscan Researches," p. 42) that these ov podimti of masonry, with which many, seDulchral mounds are intentional imita- if not all, of these mounds Avere originally lions of tents, and that the masonry en- girt, was absolutely necessaiy to sustain circling their base was in itself useless, and the superincumbent earth, and to give the therefore evidently a mere survival of the structure a permanent form. custom of surrounding tents with heavy - See yd. II. p. 457. .stones to keep down the skins with which ixTKODLX'Tiox.] THE PLASTIC AETS OF ETEUEIA. Ixxi works of various ages and countries. It lias been laid down as an axiom, tliat " He who has seen one work of ancient art has seen none, he who has seen a thousand has seen but one.""' I feel, therefore, reluctant to enter on a ground to which I cannot pretend to do justice, especially in the narrow limits to which I am confined. Yet it is incumbent on me to give the reader a general view of the subject, to enable him to under- stand the facts and observations he will meet with in the course of these volumes. As the fine arts of a country always bear the reflex of its political and social conditicHi, so the hierarchical government of Etruria here finds its most palpable expression. In the most ancient Avorks of sculpture the influence of the national religion is most apparent ; deities or religious sj'mbols seem the onl}-- subjects represented, so that some have been led to the con- clusion that both the practice and theory of design were originally in the hands of the priests alone.^ These early Etruscan works have many points in common with those of the infancy of art in other lands, just as babes are very similar all the world over : yet, besides the usual shapelessness and want of expression, they have native peculiarities, such as dis- proportionate length of bodj' and limbs, an unnatural elongation of hands and feet, drapery adhering to the body, and great rigidity, ver}' like the Egyptian, yet with less parallelism. In truth, the earliest works of Etruria betray the great influence of Eg3'pt ; '' and that of Assyria is also often manifest in early Etruscan, as in earh' Greek art, especially in the decorations. By degrees, however, probably from the natural progress common to all civilized countries, Etruscan art stepped out of the con- ventionalities which confined it, and assumed a more energetic character, more like the Greek than the Egyptian, j-et still rigid, hard, and dry, rather akin to the .Eginetic than the Athenian school, displaying more force than beauty, more vigour than grace, better intention than ability of execution, an exaggerated, rather than a truthful representation of nature. It was only when the triumph of Greek art was complete, and the world •' GerliaiJ Ann. Inst. 1831, p. 111. some maintained that this rigid and recti- ■* Micali Ant. Pop. Ital. II. p. 222. linear Etruscan style was not necessarily •5 Strabo, wlio was personally acquainted imported from the Nile ; for it is a style with the antiquities of the respective lands, which nature in the infancy of art taught remarks the resemblance between the alike to the Egyptians, Greeks, and Etrus- sculptured works of Egypt, Etruria, and cans, as it was not so much art, as the early Greece. XYII. p. 806. It is by want of art. Ixxii POUE STYLES OF ETEUSCAN AET. [ixteoduction. acknowledged the transcendency of Hellenic genius, that Etruria became its humble disciple, and imitated, often with much success, the grand works of the Greek chisel and pencil. A distinctive national character is, however, generally preserved, for the tendency to realism, as oj^posed to Greek ideality, betrays itself even in the best works of Etruscan art.^ The four styles into which Etruscan art may be divided are — 1st, The Asiatic, which has Babylonian as well as Egyptian affinities ; 2nd, The Etruscan, or Tyrrliene, as it is sometimes called; 3rd, The Hellenic, or Grseco-Etruscan ; 4th, That of the Decadence, which more resembles the Ptoman. The peculiarities of style, indeed, which distinguish Roman art from Greek, appear in great measure to have been borrowed from Etruria, This classification pertains to all the imitative arts of the Etruscans. Though we may not agree with those who affirm that Etruscan art was but a variet}' of Greek, we may admit that in their infancy, Avhile contemporaneous, they bore a con- siderable resemblance. Greek art, as Avell as Etruscan, was born on the shores of Asia Minor; both received strong im- pressions from Egypt and Assyria ; but as they progressed the}' began to diverge, and this period of divergence is marked by the distinctive national style of Etruria. Subsequently tliej^ again approached, but it was no longer as equals. Etruria, confessing her inferiority, became the docile, earnest pupil of Greece, and was indebted to that influence for all that was most excellent and refined in her art-productions. She Avanted, how- ever, the genius, the inspiration of her master. She imitated his form, his manner, style, and general character, but failed to catch his spirit. The Etruscan artist carefull}' studied details, and strove to copy nature with fidelit}', but failed to perceive that the distinguishing excellence of a Greek work of art lay in the harmony of all its parts, which rendered them all sub- servient to the expression of one leading idea ; and that mere skill in working out details would not compensate for the absence of the spirit of unity and harmony x^ervading the Avhole. '' Tlie specimens of Etruscan art tliat indeed these lie not Etruscan, eitlier impor- have come down to ns confirm the assertion ted, or executed wlien the land of the of Quintilian (XII. 10), that the statues Volsci was subject to Etruria. Witness of P^truria differed from those of Greece in the singular painted reliefs in terra-cotta, kind, just a.s the eloquence of an Asiatic found at Velletri in 1784, and now in the differed from that of an Athenian. Very IVIuseum of Naples, illustrated by Inghi- similar in style to those of Etruria are the rami, Mon. Etrus. VI. tav. T 4 — X 4 ; cf. early plastic works of.Latium and the few Micali, Ant. Pop. Ital. tav. LXI. i-eniains of Volscian art preserved to us, if INTRODUCTION.] WOEKS IX TEEEA-COTTA AND BRONZE. Ixxiii Like the craftsman described by Horace, the Etruscan could express with accuracj' the nails, or imitate the flowing hair of liis model, but he was an inferior artist after all — Infelix operis sumraa, quia ponere totum Nesciet. Of the imitative arts of Etruria the working in da}- was the most ancient,"^ as modelling naturally precedes casting, chiselhng, or painting. For their works in terra-cotta the Etruscans were renowned in ancient times, ^ and early Rome contained numerous specimens of tliem.^ The Yeientes in particular were famed for their works in clay. Then followed the arts of casting and chiselling in bronze, for which the Etruscans were greatly renowned ; ^ and their statues in metal not onh' hlled their own cities, and the temples of Rome,' but were also exported to other lands.'' In truth the Etruscans have the renown of being the inventors of this art in Italy. "^ In- numerable are the specimens of Etruscan toreutic statuary that have come down to us, and widely diff'erent are the degrees of excellence displayed, from the rudest, most uncouth attempts at ' Plin. XXXIV. 16 : XXXV. 45. * PrKterea elaboratam hanc artein Italite, et maxime Etriu-ise. Varro, ap. Plin. XXXV. 45. The most ancient specimens of Etruscan glyptic art yet disinterred are pronounced Ly Dr. Helhig to be three female figures in terra-cotta, draped in chiton and pcplos, which were discovered a few years since in a tomb at Cervetri, sitting on a chair hewn from the rock. Bull. Inst. 1866, p. 177. '■* The most celebrated were the fictile statue of the god in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, executed by Turianus of Fregenw, the qaadrifja on the fasti'jiuiii of that temple, and the fictile statue of Hercules on the Capitol, all by the same artist (Plin. XXXV. 45; Vitruv. III. 3); though the quadriija is said to have been executed at Veii (see vol. I., p. 40). There was also a terra-cotta statue of Summanus on the fustujium of the same temple, which was struck down by light- ning. Cic. de Divin. I. 10. 1 Athenreus (XV^ c. 60) speaking of the .skill of the Etruscans in making lamps, calls them (piXoTix^oi, and mentions their mani- fold art-productions — -rruiKiXai tpyaaiat. They obtained copper from their own mines of Montieri — 3fons yErls — near Massa ; tin also from mines near Camijiglia ; and worked in bronze earlier than in iron, which as Lucretius (V. 1-286) tells ns, vi-as a later discovery. Et in-ioY seris erat, quam ferri, cognitus usus. They had also an abundance of iron in the mines of Elba. - Volsinii alone is said to have con- tained 2000 statues. Plin. XXXIV. 16. Tuscanica omnia in jedibus. Varro, aj). Plin. XXXV. 45. Tertullian (Apologet. 25) says they inundated the City. Etrus- can bronze statues gilt also adorned the fastiyia of the temples at Rome. Vitruv. III. 3, 5. ^ Plin. XXXIV. 16. Anti'iuaries are now generally agreed that all the ancient lironzes found in various lands north of the Alps, from Switzerland to Denmark, and from Ireland to Hungary and Walla- chia, are of Etruscan origin. Lindenschmit, Desor, Schuermans, Virehow, Worsaae, (ienthe, cited liy Gozzadini, ]\Iors de Cheval Italiques, p. 40. •" Cassiodor. Var. VII. 15. Clem. Alex. Strom. I. p. 306. Ixxiv THE TOEEUTIC, AET IN" ETEUEIA. [ixtroduction. representing the Imman form, to the glorification of its beauties, wrought with much of, if not all ' ' The cunning- they who dwell on high Have given unto the Greek." In size the}' varied no less : from the minute figures of deities, or lares J' to statues of colossal dimensions, like that of the Apollo on the Palatine, which was fifty feet in height, and was as wonderful for its beauty as for its mass of metal.'' One of the most interesting monuments of this art extant is the she-wolf of the Cax)itol, which has a historical renown." Not only in the representation of life, but in instruments for domestic and warlike purposes, did the Etruscan metal-workers excel. ^ Even in the time of Pericles, the Athenian poet Phere- crates sang of the Etruscan candelabra ;'"' "and what testimony," asks Miiller, " can be more honourable for Etruscan art than the words of the cultivated Athenian, Kritias, the son of Ivalla?schros, a contemporary of Mys, who reckons as the best of their sort the Etruscan gold-wrought cups, and bronzes of every sort for the decoration and service of houses ; ^ by which we must understand candelabra, krateres, goblets, and even weapons?"" Even Pheidias himself gave to his celebrated •'• Tliese are the "Tyrrliena sigilla" of priating to liimself (Plutarch, Camil. 12), Horace, Ep. U. 2, ISO ; though MicaU were probahly adorued with reliefs. (Ant. Pop. Ital. II. p. 243) thiuks the Miiller, Etrusk. IV. 3, 4. Even as late as 205, term refers to gems and scarabei. The n.c, under the Roman domination, Arre- "Tuscanica signa " of Pliny (XXXIY. 16), tium, which seems to have been the Bir- whicli were exported to many lauds, were mingham of Etruria, furnished the fleet probably figures of larger size. which Scipio was fitting out for the invasion G Plin. XXXIY. 18. of Africa, with 30,000 shields, as many ' There is no doubt that it is either tlie helmets, and 50,000 javelins, pikes, and figure mentioned by Dionysius (I. c. 79) as spears, besides axes, falcliions, and other XaAK€o^ -noirifjia -KaAauis ipyacrias, and by implements sufficient for forty ships of war, Livy (X. 23) as existing in the year of and all in tlie space of forty-five days. Rome, 458, or that recorded by Cicero as Liv. XXVIII. 45. having been struck by lightning. De '•' Ap. Athen. XV. c. 60. ¥or candelabra . Divin. II. 20 ; in Catil. III. 8. See Vol. see Vol. II. pp. 190, 479. II. p. 492. ' Tupcrrjr?; Se /cporet XP'"^°'^^^'^^ (pidXri, PHny (XXXV. 45)tells us, on the autho- Kal vas x^^kos otjs Koff/uLu S6f/.ov iv rivi rity of Varro, that under the Kings, and XP^'"?- for some years after, all tlie temples at Athen. I. c. 50. Rome were decorated by Etruscan artists, - Miiller, Etrusk. IV. 3, 4. Gerliard hut that two Greeks, Damophilus and (Ann. Inst. 1837, 2, p. 143), however, is Gargasus, painters as well as sculptors, of opinion that these bronze works of were employed for the first time to em- the Etruscans had their origin in Greece, hellish the temple of Ceres in the Circus Ikit the fact that Greek inscriptions have Maximus, which was l)uilt about 493 B.C. never been found on any of the Etruscan ^ The brass gates from the spoils of bronzes, seems opposed to this opinion. Vcii, which Camillus was accused of appro- The inscriptions on the painted vases, on INTRODUCTION.] THE SCULPTUEE OF ETRUPJA. Ixxv statue of Minerva sandals of the Etruscan fashion.'' From all this we learn, that if Etruria was indebted to Greece for the excellence she attained in the re- presentation of the human form, the latter was ready to admit, and to avail herself of the native skill and taste of her pupil. And well may it have been so ; for it were impossible that the Greeks should not admire such works as the bronze lamp in the Museum of Cortona, the casket from Yulci, and the exquisite specimens of gold filac'ree-work in the INIuseo Gre- goriano, and in the collection of Signor Augusto Castellani. The art of statuary was very ancient in Italy, It was either in wood or stone, the first being ap- plied in very remote times to the images of the gods.^ The Etrus- cans made use of this primitive ma- terial; for a very ancient Jupiter, carved from the trunk of a vine, was worshipped at Populonia.' Of their works in stone numerous spe- cimens have come down to us, some on the facades or walls of their rock- hewn sepulchres, others in detached statues, but chiefly on sarcophagi and cinerary urns : for it was their custom to decorate these monuments with the efiigies of the deceased, and with reliefs of various descriptions. The extant ETUUSCAN CANPKLABRUM. the other hand, which confessedly have a (xreek origin, are almost invariably in that language. •* Pollux, VII. 22 ; cf. Plin. XXXVI. 4, 4. The Etruscans paid particular- attention to their feet — much more than tlie Greeks, who often went barefooted, Avhereas the former wore shoes or sandals, richly em- bossed and gilt, or fastened by gilt thongs (Pollux, loc. cit. ; Plin., loc. cit. ; Ovid. Amor. III. 13, 26), or high buskins (Ovid. loc. cit. I. 14). Thus Etruscan figures are often represented naked in every other liart but the feet. As in other articles of costume, the Etruscans here set the fashion to the Romans. It is i)rol)al)le that the sort of Etruscan calccug, which Servius (ad .En. YIII. 4.5S) saj's was worn by Roman senators, was the boot or Iniskin repre- sented on the figures in the wall-paintings of Tarquinii. For fui-ther notices on this subject, see Miillei-, Etrusk. I. 3, 10-11. •* Plin. XXXI Y. 10. 5 Plin. XIV. 2. Ixxvi AVOEKS SCULPTUEAL AND SCALPTUEAL. [introduction. sculpture of Etruria is indeed almost wholly sepulchral. It is not in general so archaic or so peculiarly national in character as the works in metal, and betra3"s rather the influence of Greek than of Eg3'ptian art. The most archaic productions of the Etruscan chisel are the cijjjji, or so-called " altars," of fetid limestone, from (Jhiusi and its neighbourhood, whose bas-reliefs show a purely native style of art ; together with a few large figures in relief, like the wnrrior in the Palazzo Buonarroti at Florence, and the other in tlie Museum of Volterra.'' The latest are the cinerary urns of Yolterra and Perugia, which have often more of a Poman than a Greek character, and were probably executed in the period of Poman domination."'^ Yet it is from Avorks of this description that we learn most of the manners, customs, inner life, and reli- gious creed, as well as of the costume and personal characteristics of this smgular people. There is often great boldness and expres- sion in Etruscan sculpture, and generally much truth to nature ; but it rarely attains the beauty and grace which are found in the pictorial and toreutic works of this people, and never the perfec- tion of this art among the Greeks, to whom alone did heaven reveal the full sentiment of human beauty.^ It maj" be well here to notice those works of the Etruscans whicli have been distinguished as scalptural, or graven, such as gems or scarahei in stone, and sjk'cuIh or mirrors in bronze. SCARAB.EI. Numerous as are Etruscan gems, none of them are cameos, or with figures cut in relief ; all are intaglios ; and all are cut into the form of the scarahceus or beetle. Nothing seems to indicate a closer analogy between Etruria and Egypt than the multitude of these curious gems found on certain sites in this part of Italy. The use of them was, doubtless, derived from the banks of the Nile ; but the}- do not seem to stand in the same archaic relation '' For the ''/j)^);' of Cliiusi, see Vol. II. alaliaster and travertine, neither used iu p. 300. For the warrioi-s in tlie Palazzo very early times, was too coarse or too Buonan'oti of Florence and in the Museu)u friable to do justice to the skill of the of Volten-a, see Vol. II. jip. 106, 188. artist. The marble of Carrara, to which '' Micali (Ant. I'oii. Ital. II. ]). 246) Rome was so much indebted, does not takes the Volterra urns to be, some of the appear to have been known to the Etrus- scventh or eighth century of Home, others cans at an early period, though that of the as late as the Antonines, and others of still Maremma and of the Circrean promontory later date. See Vol. II. p. 187. was used by tliem ; yet comparatively few ® The inferiority of Etruscan sculpture works of the Etruscan chisel in marble have may perhaps in part lie attributed to the come down to us. See Vol. II. p. 67. local stone, which except in the case of INTRODUCTION.] ETEUSCAN SCAEAB^I. Jxxvii to Etruscan art as the other works wliich betra}' an Egyptian analogy. They appear, however, to have served the same purpose as in Eg3''pt — to have been worn as charms or amulets, generally in rings; yet it is probable- that the Etruscans adopted this relic of foreign superstition without attaching to it the same religious meaning as the Egyptians did, who worshipped it as a god — as a symbol of the great Demiurgic principle.^ The Etruscan sca- rah(ci have a marked difference from the Egyptian, in material, form, and decoration ;^ and the frequent representations they bear from the Greek mythology seem to prove them of no very early date,- for such subjects rarely appear on works of archaic Etruscan art. From the heroic or palsestric subjects on these scarabs, it is thought that they were symbols of valour and manly energy, and were worn only b}' the male sex." Scarahai have rarely been found on more than two sites in Etruria — Chiusi and Vulci. At the latter they are always in tombs, but at Chiusi they are found on the soil in a certain slope beneath the cit}-, called, from the abundance of such discoveries, " The Jewellers' Field," where they are turned up by the plough, or washed to light by the rains.^ 9 Pliny (XXX. 30) tells us the beetle received this adoration Ijecause it rolled balls of dirt, alluding to its habit of push- ing backwards with its hind feet small bits of dung or earth — verily the most grovelling idea of Deity that the human mind ever conceived. Pliny adds that Apion, the Egyptian, who soiight to excuse the de- graded rites of his countrymen, explained the worship of the beetle by some similarity in its operations to those of the sun — "a curious interpi'etation," as Pliny remarks. ^ The genuine Egyptian scarabs are of smalt, porphyry, basalt, or some very hard stone ; the Etruscan are of carnelian, sar- donyx, and agate, rarely of chalcedony ; a few have 1 >een found of smalt. The Egyptian are truthful repi"esentations of the insect ; the Etruscan are exaggerated resemblances, especially in the back, which is set up to an extravagant height. The flat or under part of the stone, which is always the side engraved, in the Egyptian bears hierogly- phics, or representations of deities ; in the Etruscan, though it sometimes shows imi- tations of Egyptian subjects, it generally bears figures or groups from the Greek mj-thology ; the deeds of Hercules, and of the heroes of the Tlieban and Trojan wars, being tlie favourite subjects. More rare are figures of the gods, and of the chimrera.=< and other symbols of the Etruscan creed. And not a few have pahestric representa- tions. These scarabs often bear designatory inscriptions in Etruscan characters. - Grreat diflerence of opinion has been entertained as to the date of these gems. Gori (Mus. Etrus. II. p. 437) supi)osed them to be coeval with, or even anterior to, the Trojan War. Winckelnian, though maintaining their high antiquity, took more moderate views. But it is now the general opinion, founded on a more in- timate acquaintance and a wider range of comparison, that they cannot be referred to a very archaic period of Etruscan art. Mr. Alexander Murray, in an able article in the Contemporary Revie^^■ for October, 1875, points out tJie striking analogy these scarabs of Etruria bear to the early silver coins of Thrace, to which he assigns the date of at least 500 b. c. •* One, however, which I have seen in the possession of the Canon Pasquini of Chiusi, was found set in an earring of gold. Bull. Inst. 1837, p. 40. •* See Vol. II. p. 297. Scarahan are also found, though rarely, in other pai'ts of Ixxviii ETEUSCAX MIEEOES OF BEOXZE. [introductiox. Specula, or mirrors, are round or iiear-shaped plates of bronze, often gilt or silvered, with the edge turned up, or slightl}' concave, having the outer side highly polished, and the inner adorned Avith figures engraved upon it. To the plate is attached a handle, often carved into some elegant form of life. The disk is seldom more than six or seven inches in diameter ; it is generally encircled h}'' a wreath of leaves, as slioAvn in the specimen en- graved for the frontispiece of this volume.^ For a long time these instruments went by the name of patene, and were supposed to have served as ladles for flour, or other light dry substances, used in sacrifices. Inghirami was among the first to reject this idea, and show them to be mirrors'^' — a fact now established beyond a doubt." It is proved b}^ representations of them, either on their own disks or on painted vases, in the hands of women, who are using them as mirrors — b}' the high polish they often retain, so bright indeed, as sometimes to fit them for their original purpose, — and bj" the discovery of them in caskets, with other articles of the female toilet.^ Italy, as at Palestiina in Latium ^Abeken, Mittelitalien, p. 325). Tliey have also been discovered in (Ircece, e.f/. a celebrated one, bearing a Greek inscription, found among the ruins of .Sgina (Bull. Inst. 1840, p. 140), and one from Attica, now in the Museum of Athens (Ann. Inst. 1837, 2, p. 144). In the British Museum are two found at Leiicas in Acarnania. Gerhard is even of ojjiniou that these gems may have had their origin in Greece. They have been found also in Asia Minor, at Tharros in Sardinia, and at Curium in €yprus, where some have decided marks of A I'hcenician origin. For the distinction between Egyi;)tian and Phrenician scaralis, ,see an article by Mr. C. W. King in Cesnola's Cyprus, p. 353. * A few mirrors have been found with- out handles, but these are liable to be con- founded with the capsuke, or cases for these instruments, which are formed of two round jjlates ornamented in a similar manner, or .sometimes with reliefs, and hinged together like the valves of an oyster-shell. Ko in- .stances have lieen found of Etruscan mir- rors in the precious metals, or adorned with precious stones, or of so vast a size as were used by the luxurious Romans. Seneca, Kat. Qua;st. I. 17. '"' Inghir. Mon. Etrus. II. pp. 1-77. '' ]\licali alone, to the last of his life, lield to the old doctrine of 2Mttrce, a word now so completely superseded by specula, that he who would use it in reference to these instruments would scarcely be in- telligible. s Ann. Inst. 1840, p. 150 ; see also Gerhard's Etruskische Spiegel, pp. 82 — 4, for proofs of these instruments being mirrors. It has been supposed fx-om certain scenes on painted vases, where women washing themselves at fountains are represented with these instruments in their hands, that they served a secondary purpose of casting water over the body, the concave side serving as a bo\N 1 to hold the liquid. Ann. Inst. 1840, p. 150 — Braun. These mirrors are genei-ally de- signated "mj-stic" by the Italians; and verily if mystic be synonymoiis with every- thing imreal, unnatural, and incompre- hensible, the term is often not niisjipplied, for never were there more grotesque and ludicrous distortions of form and feature than are to be found on many of them. INTRODUCTION.] CLASSIFIED ACCOEDING TO SUBJECTS. Ixxix Etruscan speech] may be divided into three classes. Fii-st — those without an_y design on the inner surface. ]More than ordinary decoration is in these cases generally expended on the handles. Such mirrors are very rare. Secondl}^ — those with figures in relief. These are also met with but seldom.'^ Thirdly — those with designs incised on the inner surface. These may be subdivided according to the subjects which they bear. First, and most numerous, are those which have scenes taken from the cycle of Greek mythology, or heroic fable, fre- quently illustrated by inscriptions, which are invariably in the Etruscan character, and often nationalised by the introduction of Etruscan demons. Next, those which bear representations or symbols of the divinities of the national creed, from the Nine Great Gods who wielded the thunder, through all the grades of their wild and multiform demonologv, to the lowly Penates, the protectors of the individual hearth.^ The last class portrays scenes of Etruscan life and manners ; but of this a few instances only are known. The art exhibited on these disks is not of primitive character, although a few have been found with archaic features, yet, though often extremely rude and feeble, it partakes less of the short- comings of the x^eriod of infancy than of the carelessness of the Decadence ; and it must be confessed that, except in compara- tively few cases, such as that represented in the frontispiece to this volume, the elevation and perfection of the high st^de are not displayed.^ These mirrors then cannot lay claim to a remote antiquity. Their date indeed is pretty well determined b}^ the fact that they are very rarely found in the same tomb with Greek painted vases, or if a vase by chance be found with them, it is in- He wLo turns over Gerhard's illustrated times called "Lasa" (Vol. I. i). 28S), i)r of volumes will find amusement, as well as tlie Dioscuri. instruction. That learned antiquary proves " The beautiful mirror in the frontis- satisfactorily that these mirrors were in- piece represents " Phnphluns," or Bacdius, .struments of personal rather than of sacred embracing his mother ' ' Semla, " or Semele. use, and served no othej- mysteries than It was found at Vulci, and is in the pos- those of the female bath and toilet (p. 76). session of Professor E. (rerhard of IJerlin, '■* A beautiful specimen of this class is who has illustrated it in his Etruskische in the Museo Gregoriano, representing Spiegel, taf. LXXXIII ; cf. Jlon. Ined. Aurora carrying Memnon. See Vol . II. Inst. I. tav. LVI. A. The illustration here p. 481. Another, in the British Museum, presented to the British public is di-awn represents Minerva overcoming Hercules. by Mr. George Scharf, from a cast of the An exquisite example is in the possession original, reduced to half its size. It is of the Marchese Strozzi, of Florence. See one of the most beautiful specimens of Vol. II. p. 107. Etruscan design on metal that have come ' The most frequent representation is down to us. that of the winged goddess of Fate, some- Ixxx MIRROES AND CASKETS. [introduction. variaLly either of the Decadence, or of local origin.'^ And this fact proves that the importation or manufacture of Greek vases must have ceased, before these engraved mirrors came into use in Etruria. These monuments cannot be earlier than the fifth century of Ptome,^ and are probabl}' later. Yet there is no branch of Etrus- can antiquities more genuinely' native — none more valuable to the inquirer, for the information it yields as to the m^'sterious language and creed of that ancient race ; for the inscriptions being always in the native character, and designator}' of the individual gods or heroes represented, these mirrors become a sure index to the Etruscan creed, — "a figurative dictionary," as Bunsen terms it, of Etruscan mytholog}' ; while at the same time they afford us the chief source and one of the most solid bases of our acquaintance with the native language.^ Akin to the mirrors are the ciste, or caskets, of bronze, Avitli incised designs, which are occasionall}' found in Etruscan tombs, and chiefly at Yulci. They are more abundant at Palestrina, the ancient Prseneste, but whether of Etruscan or Latin origin is not easy to say, for the bronzes, and particularly the engraved works of the two lands, bear so close a resemblance that they often appear to be the productions of the same people, and even of the same master. The cistc of Palestrina, however, like the mirrors, sometimes bear inscriptions in early Latin. The art exhibited on these caskets is in so3ne cases purely Greek, proving them to have been either imported, or the work of Greek artists resident in Italv. The most beautiful cista yet discovered is that known as the Ficoronian, from Palestrina, now in the Kircherian INIuseum at Pome,^ and the best from Etruria is one from Yulci ^ Tills is the experience of Signor interred tlieni also in Greek tombs in the Tommasi di Merighi of Canino, after long Cyrenaica, but all without designs or in- continued excavations at Viilci. Bull. scriptions. Gerhard (Ann. Inst. 1837, Inst. 1369, p. 174. It is the experience 2, p. 143) supposes them to have had a also of those who have dug at Chiusi and Greek origin ; but it is remarkable that Cometo. Bull. Inst. 1870, p. 59 ; 1871, though they have often Greek myths, and p. 93.— Helbig. Greek names, not one has ever been found '» From the association of these mirrors in Etruria with a Greek inscription, though with the ctKtc mistkhc in the tombs of the inscriptions on the painted vases are Palestrina as well as of Yulci, it may be almost invariably in that language. The concluded that they came into use as sepul- same may be said of the other Etruscan chral furniture, at least as early as the works in bronze. Ann. Inst. 1S34, p. 57 latter half of the third century B.C. — Bunsen. Several mirrors, however, have 3 Bvdl. Inst. 1836, p. 18. Hitherto been found with Latin epigraphs. These these miri'ors have been considered as pe- are generally from Palestrina. Gei-hard, culiarly Etruscan, but of late years others Etrusk. Spieg. taf. 147, 171, 182 ; like them have been found in the tombs of Inghirami, Mon. Etrus. II. tav.41. Athen.s, Jlgina and Corinth. I have dis- '' Vol. II. p. 497. INTRODUCTION.] JEWELLEEY FOUXD IN ETRURIii. Ixxxi in the Gregorian Museum.'' In date these caskets correspond with the mirrors, with Avhich the}' are generally found, and to them the term "mystic" has also been applied with as little reason. Jewellery. In these volumes the jewellery of Etruria is frequentl}' men- tioned in terms of high admiration. It has been assumed that all the beautiful objects in gold and silver found in Etruscan tombs were the workj^of that ancient people. But Signer Augusto Castellani, the eminent jeweller of Rome, is of a different opinion, and as his authority on such matters is jiaramount, I make no apolog}' for brieflj' stating his views, as communicated to me personally, and as published in his pamphlet entitled " Orificeria Italiana," Roma, 1872. The most ancient jeweller}- of Italy has hitherto generally been ascribed to the Etruscans, but Signor Castellani dis- tinguishes from the special style peculiar to that people two earlier styles proper to races who preceded them. First, the Pre-historic — a simple and semi-barbarous style, recognised in ornaments found in the earliest tombs of Yeii, Cervetri, Corneto, Chiusi, Palestrina, and Bologna, of extremely rude workmanship and primitive forms, wrought with little gold, more silver, and an abundance of amber. To this style belong necklaces and bracelets of those three materials mixed, or of coloured glass, often with pendants in the shape of axes, vases, or other utensils ; Jibuhe of eccentric forms in gold, silver, or bronze, adorned with amber or variegated glass ; thin jilates of gold marked with straight or hatched lines ; amulets of amber in the shape of monkeys, and other animals not found in Italy. It is a remarkable fact that articles of jewellery of similar character and style have been discovered also in Norway and Sweden, and even in Mexico. Signor Castellani does not attempt to determine to wdiat particular race among the early inhabitants of Italy this primitive style should be ascribed, but is content to pronounce it Pre-historic. After this comes a style of widely different character, not a development of the preceding, but so remarkable for the exquisite taste and elaborate workmanship it exhibits that there can be no doubt of its distinct origin. This style Signor Castellani attributes to the people who immediately preceded 7 Vol. 11. p. 480. A'OL I. / Ixxxii PPvE-HISTOEIC A:^^D TYEEHENE STYLES, [ixtrodlxtion. the Etruscans in Italy, i.e. the Pelasgians, whom he jn-efers to designate as "Tyrrhenes." He refuses to recognise this jewellery y -v..*--M^s Etruscan, because it is found not only in Etruria, but at ^', c' Palestrina, Cumtie, Ruyo, and other sites in Italy, and also in ~ Egypt, Assyria, Phoenicia, and the Crimea, showing that the people who produced it were widely scattered throughout the ancient world, and particularly on the coasts of the Mediter- ranean and Black Sea;"* while the jewellery of the Etruscans has a distinct and peculiar character, not common to other people, and is found only on Etruscan sites. The materials employed in this " Tyrrhene " style are gold, silyer, bronze, amber, ivory, and variegated glass. The style is easily recognised by its elegant forms, the harmony of its parts, and the purity of its design, but chiefly by the marvellous fineness and elaboration of its workmanship. The jDatterns, which are ahvays simple yet most elegant, and admirably harmonious, are wrought by soldering together globules or particles of gold, so minute as hardly to be jierceptible to the naked eye, and by the interweaving of extremely delicate threads of gold ; and are sometimes, but sparingly, interspersed with enamels.'' Tiny figures of men, animals, or chim^eras, exquisitely chased in relief or in the round, foim another and fiivourite featiu'e in the ornamentation. On a close inspection this jewellery astonishes and confounds by its wonderful elaboration ; at a little distance it charms the eye by its exquisite taste, and " Some of the gold ornaments found by 415 ; cf. Ezek. xxvii. 16, 22). That tliej Dr. Schliemann at Mycenne Lave much of excelled also in the art of jewellery, is the character of this style, although the evident from Homer's description of a designs are effected not by granulated, or Phcenician necklace of gold set with amber funiform, but by irpousne or intaglio work. beads. Odys. xv. 459. See Mycenae illustrations, Nos. 281-292. ^ It is undoubted that both the Greeks IJut many of those discovered by General and Etruscans were acquainted with the- Cesnola at Curium in Cyprus, are unqnes- art of enamelling, but they used it spar- tionably of the so-called "Tyrrhene" ingly in. their jewellery, being unwil- style, and are not to be distinguished from ling, thinks Signor Castellani, to cover too the best jewellery found in Etruscan tombs. much of the beautiful hue of jnire gold. See Cyprus, plate xxv. And this fact then extremely rare, with coloured vitreous, favours the view held by some that this m:;tter, which was comparatively common. early yet beautiful jewellery is to be as- Among the most remarkable works extant cribed to the Phtcnicians, who at a very in enamelled gold of Greek and Etruscai> remote period were renowned as skilful origin, he specifies a crown in the Campana workers in metal (iruXv^aiSaXoi — Iliad. Museum, a necklace exhibited by himself xxiii. 743; Odys. xv. 424; cf. 2 Chron. in the Loan Collection at South Kensington 2, 14; 1 Kings, 7, 14), and manufac- in 1862, some earrings with swans found turers of trinkets — aQvpixara — in which at Yulci, and others with 2)eacocks and they traded to foreign lands (Odys. xv. doves in the Campana collection. ixTRODUCTiON.] ETEUSOAN STYLE OF JEWELLERY. Ixxxiii the graceful character and harmony of its outlines. In fact it is the perfection of jewellery, far transcending all that the most expert artists of subsequent ages have been able to produce. To this style belongs the most beautiful jewellery discovered in Etruria, and elsewhere in Italy, such as the gold ornaments from the Regulini-Galassi tomb, now in the Museo Gregoriano, and those, still more beautiful, recently found at Palestrina, and now exhibited at the Kircherian Museum at Home. Signor Castellani points out that tlie Hindoo jewellery, even of the present day, bears no slight resemblance to this ancient style. Though inferior in execution, and betraying a decline of taste, the method adopted of soldering minute grains or fine threads of gold, mixed Avith enamels, to the object, is precisely that employed b)' the T^Trhenes of old. The genuine Etruscan jewellery, says Signor Castellani, is very inferior both in taste and execution to that of the Tyrrhene style, of which it is a corruption. There is the same sort of rela- tion between these styles that the works of the great painters of the cinquecento bear to those of the following centuries. The mode of workmanship is the same, yet the style has so degene- rated that it may be pronounced harocco. No longer the minute granulations, the delicate thread-work, the charming simplicit}- in form and design which mark the earlier style. These are ex- changed for forms of greater breadth and fulness ; the purit}^ of the lines gives place to the artificial and turgid, and the whole, though it makes a more striking aj)pearance, has far less elegance, harmony, and elaboration. Etruscan jewellery is of two descriptions, domestic and sepul- chral : the former most substantial and durable, the latter very light and flimsy — witness the wreaths of gold leaves found encircling the helmets of illustrious warriors. The amber, coloured glass, enamel, and ivory used in the preceding style are rare in this, and give place to gems — chiefly garnet, onyx, and carnelian. Among the ornaments for personal use are earrings of various forms and dimensions, large fhulce and brooches, massive gold rings, lentoid or vase-shaped hullcs, agate scarahcei; but in all these productions an inflated and artificial style, marking the decline of the art, is conspicuous. The chief productions of this style come from the tombs of Corneto, Vulci, Chiusi, and Orvieto. This ancient style of jewellery has come down traditionally to our own day. In a remote corner of the Umbrian Marches, at the f2 Ixxxiv THE PICTORIAL AET OF ETRUEIA. [introduction. little town of St. Angelo in Yado, hidden in the recesses of the Apennines, far from every centre of civilization, there still exists a special school of jewellery hy which some of the processes emploj'ed by the Etruscans have been traditionally preserved; The beautiful peasant-girls of that district at their wedding feasts wear necklaces of gold filagree beads, and long earrings of the peculiar form designated a navicella, inferior in taste and elegance of design to the works of ancient art, 3'et wrought in a method which Signor Castellani does not hesitate to pronounce Etruscan.' The art in which Etruscan genius and skill have achieved their greatest triumphs is Painting. This art is of very ancient date in Italy ; for we hear of paiiitings at Csere in Etruria, which were commonly believed to be earlier than the foundation of Eome." The pictorial remains discovered in Etruria are of two kinds : — the scenes on the walls of sepulchres, and the paintings on potter}'. Painted Tombs. This is a most important class of monuments, for the variety and interest of the subjects represented, and the light the}' throw on the customs, domestic manners, and religious creed of the Etruscans, as well as on the progress and character of the pictorial art among them. AVe find these "chambers of imageiy" chiefly in the cemeteries of Tarquinii and Clusium, though two have also been found at Cervetri, Yulci, and Orvieto, and a solitary one at Yeii, Bomarzo, and Yetulonia respectively, — all of which will be described in the course of this work. They show us Etruscan art in various periods and stages of excellence, from its infancy to its perfection ; some being coeval, it ma}' be, Avith the foundation of Home, others as late as the Empire ; some almost Egyptian, others peculiarly native ; some again decidedly Greek in character, if not in execution ; others resembling the Grteco- Roman frescoes of Pompeii and Pfestum. There is the same ' Tlie extraordinary earrings worn by the temples at Anlea and Lanuvium, of nearly women of Forio in the Island of Ischia, equal antiquity. He remarks on the may possibly have a simihir traditional speedy perfection this art attained, as' it origin. seemeci not to have been practised in ' Plin. XXXV. (). Tiiesc paintings Trojan times, were extant in Pliny's day; so also some in iNTRODUCTiox.] THE PAINTED TOMBS. Ixxxv wide range as exists between the works of Giotto or Cimabue, and those of RaiFaele or the Caracei. In the Campana tomb of Yeii, Avhich is the most ancient yet discovered, we liave the rudeness and conventionalit}' of xevy early art — great exaooera- tion of anatomy and proportions— and no attempt to imitate the colouring of nature, but only to arrest the eye by startling contrasts.-' Xext in point of antiquity are the painted tiles which lined the walls of certain tombs at Cervetri, where the human figure is drawn with more truth to nature, though in bald outline, and an attempt is even shown at the expression of sentiment, the character of the Avhole remaining purely and specifically Etrus- can.* In the earliest tombs of Tarquinii, though of later date, the Egyptian character and physiognomy are strongly pronounced. Of better style are other tomb-paintings on the same site and at Orvieto,' which, though retaining a native character, with much conventionality of form and colouring, show more correctness of design, and a degree of elegance and refinement which betrays the influence of Hellenic models. Earlier it may be, yet more free and careless, are most of the wall-paintings at Chiusi, which show us what Etruscan art with its strong tendenc}^ to realism could effect, before it had felt the refining influence of Greece." Later, and far better, are some of the scenes at Tarquinii which breathe the spirit and feeling of the Hellenic vases, where there is a grace of outline, a dignity and simplicity of attitude, and a force of expression, Avhich prove the limner to have been a master of his art, though this was not wholl}- freed from conven- tional trammels. Still later, with yet more freedom, master}', and intelligence, are some of the paintings on the same site, and those found at Yulci, where rigidity and severity are laid aside, Avhere fore-shortening, grouping, composition, and even chiaroscuro are introduced ; which display, in a word, all the ease and power of Graeco-Roman frescoes of the close of the Republic or commencement of the Empii'e. There was little variety ^n the colours used in Etruscan wall- paintings. In one early tomb at Chiusi, and in another of later date at Bomarzo, the colouring is bichromatic — black and red alone — "rubricfi picta et carbone." At Cervetri an early tomb shows black, red, and white ; the Campana tomb at Veii, black, red, and yellow ; the painted tiles of Cervetri, these four colours burnt in with the tile. It was with these four colours alone that 3 Vol. I. p. 34. * ^'ol. II. pp. 55, 58. * Vol. I. pp. 260-263. " Vol. H. pp. 320, 332, 333. Ixxxvi PAINTED UENS AND SAECOPHAGI. [introduction. the greatest painters of antiquit}'-, Polygnotus, Zeuxis, Apelles and others, produced their immortal works.' Pliny dates the decline of the pictorial art from the introduction of jourple and other hues, and laments that in his day there was not a picture worth looking at — " nunc nulla nobilis pictura est." In the tombs of Tarquinii, however, even in those which show the most archaic design, blue was used, and in one of the earliest, a decided green. The colours were invariably laid on in fresco. The Etruscans painted not only the walls of their tombs, but often their coffins and cinerary urns. The latter, being generally of the Decadence, show crude and strongly contrasted hues on their reliefs, which are coloured in accordance with native con- ventionalities, and without any pretensions to pictorial skill. And although a better taste is occasionally displayed, there is too frequently a total disregard of harmony in the polychrome sculpture of Etruria. On the marble sarcophagi, however, in a few rare instances, we find some of the most exquisite productions of the Etruscan pencil, as regards both design and colouring, or it should more strictly be said, of the pictorial art in Etruria. Such paintings are executed on the flat surface of the marble. The most striking example of this monumental decoration hitherto brought to light, is the Amazon sarcophagus in the Etruscan Museum of Florence, which some critics claim as a purely Greek work, while others pronounce it to be the produc- tion of an Etruscan, deeph' imbued with the spirit of Hellenic art. In this instance the colouring, though soft and harmonious, is less conspicuous for beauty, than the composition and design.^ Paixted Vases. The painted vases form the most comprehensive subject con- nected with art in Etruria. The vast multitude that have been brought to light, the great variety of form, of use, of story and myth, of degree of excellence in workmanship and design, the many questions connected with their origin and manufacture not yet satisfactorily answered, the diversity of ojiinions respecting them, render it impossible to treat fully of so extensive a sub- ject in a narrow compass. ^NI}' remarks, then, must necessarily be brief, and are, offered for the sake of elucidating the frequent references to ancient pottery made in the course of this work : 7 Plin. XXXV. 32 ; Cicero, Brutus, 18. » See Vol. II. p. 9G. iXTKODUCTioN.] PPJMITIVE POTTERY OF ETPtURIA. Ixxxvii and rather with the hope of exciting interest in the subject than with the expectation of satisfying inquiry-. , The most ancient vases found in Etruria are not painted, but rudely shaped by the hand, often not baked, but merely dried in the sun, without glaze, and either perfectly plain, or marked with bands of dots, zig-zags, hatched lines, meanders and other geometrical patterns, clumsily scratched on the clay when soft. Such is the pottery found in the " well-tombs " of Cliiusi and Sarteano, and a few other sites in Etruria, and of the same character are the pots discovered in the necropolis of AlbaLonga, buried beneath a stratum of pcperino, or consolidated volcanic ash, and those found on the Esquihne, lying beneath the walls of Servius TuUius. Indeed, this very primitive pottery is by some regarded as pre-Etruscan, and is attributed to the Urn- brians, Siculans, Oscans, or whatever early Italic race occupied the land prior to its conquest by the Etruscans.^ The decora- tions on these vases were after a time drawn with more regularity and variet}', and ultimately came to be stamped instead of incised, the geometrical designs giving place to imitations of animal life, birds, especially ducks, snakes, and rude attempts at representing the human form. Such was the earliest pottery of Veil and Caere ; but on those sites we find a development of the art in large jars (pitJtoi), in stands, of brown or red ware, with heads or Egyptian-like figures in compartments or bauds encircling the vase, and in flat relief, stamjjed on the clay when moist. Still later apparently was the hucchcro ware of Chiusi and its neighbourhood, with figures in promment and rounded ^ As the geometrical style of decoration tliat of the northern necropolis of Alba is the most ancient, and as it is found on Longa, where the singular hut-urns have the primitive pottery of Greece, the Greek Leen disinterred ; nor on the fragments of islands, Italy, and also of Central and vases discovei'ed within the precincts of Northern Europe, Professor Conze broached the temple of the Dea Dia, in the grove of the opinion that it must have been intro- the Arvales ; nor on those found in the duced into Italy as well as into Greece by lowest vegetable stratum under the walls the first Aryan invaders from beyond the of Servius Tullius. It was only after Italy Alps. This view is combated by Dr. Wolf- had been inhabited for some time that gang Helbig (Ann. Inst. 187.5, pp. 221- this system of decoration was developed or 253), who shows that the earliest inha- introduced ; when we find it on the later bitants of Italy, to judge from their re- pottery of Poggio Renzo, and of the All>an mains — the people of the ttrvemare, or necropolis, and in tlie cineniry urns from fortified \'illages in the districts of Parma, the Benacci and Yillanova diggings at Modena, and Reggio, had no such decora- Bologna. Helbig, finding the &\me style tions on their pottery, or works in bone, of decoration on pottery discovered at horn, or bronze. Nor are such decorations Nineveh, Jerusalem, Gaza, and Ascaloii, found on the very earliest pottery of Sar- assigns to it an Asiatic, and specifically teano, or of Poggio Renzo at Chiusi ; nor on a Semitic origin. Ixxxviii TAINTED YASES— FIEST, OE ASIATIC STYLE, [introduc, relief, representing deities, chim£eras, and other symbols of the Etruscan creed, more rarely myths and scenes illustrative of native life and customs.^ Though very archaic and Oriental in st3'le, this pottery is not necessarily in ever}- instance so early us it api:)ears ; for the peculiarities of a remote period and primitive stage of art may have been conventionall}'- preserved, especially in sepulchral or sacred vessels, from one age to another." The earliest vases of genuine!}' Etruscan character, with painted decorations, which are extremely rare, bear archaic figures of men and animals rudely drawn in opaque white on the natural red of the clay, or in red on a creamy ground ;^ and in style they generally resemble the painted vases of the First or Doric style, with which they are probably contemporary. Such vases have been found chiefly at Cervetri.^ The painted vases found in multitudes in the cemeteries of Etruria, and commonly called Etruscan, are not for the most part of that origin, but Greek, though to some extent, it may be, of local manufacture. They do not, therefore, strictly come under our notice. Yet as they have been disinterred in even greater abvmdance in Etruscan cemeteries than in those of Greece and her colonies, as they were sometimes imitated by native artists, and as they exerted a powerful influence on Etruscan art, it is impossible to exclude them from our consideration. They may be divided into three great classes. First, the Egyptian, Phoenician, or Babylonian, as it is variously termed from the oriental character of its ornamenta- tion, which has led some to ascribe its origin to those several l)eoples ; but it is now more correctly regarded as primitive Greek, and particularly Doric.'' Yet the term " Asiatic " may not unaptly be applied to it as indicating the distinctive charac- ' A tlescription of this ware is given in cavations at Orvieto ; but as sucii tombs tlie chapters on Florence and Chiusi, Vol. always contain more than a single body, they II. ijp. 76, 307. These vases are very rarely may have served for interment at different found in the same tomb with those that periods ; or tlie bucrJievo may have been are painted, or if so accompanied, it is interred as an antique relic, usually with those of the First or Corin- ^ See Vol. II. pp. 47, 489, 490. thian style. Bull. Inst. 1 875, p. 99. They * Some of these vases from Cervetri are generally found with archaic bronzes, have been found with jjolychrome decora- and invarial)ly in tombs where the corpse tions, in opaque colours, blue, white, and has Ijeen interred, not burnt. * vermilion, laid on in fresco, as on the - This wai'e has in some very rare cases walls of the painted tombs, Micali, Mou. been found in the same tond) with i)ainted Ined. tav. 4, 5 ; Birch, \). 447. vivses with black figures, and with red in * (ierliard, Ann. Inst. 1831, pp. 15, the early severe style, as in Mancini's ex- 201 ; Bunsen, Ann. Inst. 1834, pp. 03-70. iKTKODucTioN.] PEIMITIVE OR lONIO VASES. Ixxxix teristics of its style. 'J'his class of vases is of liigli antiquity, bv some supposed to date as far back as twelve centuries B.C., and it cannot be later than 540 B.C., the epoch of Theodoros of Samos, whose improvements in metal-casting marked a new era in ancient art. The most primitive vases of this class rarely show representa- tions of animal life, but are adorned Avitli aniudar bands, zig-zags, waves, meanders, concentric circles, hatched lines, suastikas, and other geometrical, patterns, often separated into compartments by upright lines, like digiyphs or triglyphs; indeed the general style of ornamentation closel}' resembles that on some of the fragments of painted pottery found by Dr. Schliemann at ]Mycenround of the clay, which is yellow, warming to red. The flesh of women, the hair of old men, the devices on shields, and a few other objects are painted white ; the armour is some- times tinted purple, and crimson is occasionally introduced on the drai)erv. The outlines, the muscles, and folds of drapery are marked by incised lines. Though the faces are invariably in pro- file, the eyes of the men are always round, of the women long and almond-shaped, of that ver}' form usually represented in Egyptian l^aintings. In this class the human figure forms the principal subject of the design, which in the earlier works is hard, severe, and conventional ; the attitudes rigid and constrained, often impossible ; the forms angular, the muscular develoi^ment exag- gerated, the extremities of the limbs unnaturally attenuated, the hands and feet preposterously elongated. Yet with the progress of art these defects were in great measure remedied, and the design graduall}' became more natural and free, especially in the later works of this style, which sometimes show much truth and expression, and even spirit, with vigour of concei^tion, and a conscientious carefulness and neatness of execution quite sur- prising. Yet none of this class are entirely free from the severity of archaic art. The figures bear the same relation to the sculp- tured reliefs of ^Egina, that those on the Third class of vases do to the marbles of the Parthenon ; indeed, these may be said to be of the .Eginetic school, for they correspond not only in style, but in date. And though it may be questioned if all the extant pottery with black figures can claim so remote an antiquit}', and if some of it be not rather a more recent imitation, the type of it belongs indisputably to the archaic period of Greek art. It will be understood that Avhenever vases with black figures are men- tioned in the course of this Avork, a certain degree of archaicism of design is always implied. This style is found in connection with vases of more beauty and variety of form than the earlier class; the most common shapes being the amphora, or wine-jar; the lii/dria, or water-jar ; the kelehc, or mixing-vase ; the olnochoc, or wine-jug ; the lyl'ix, or drinking-bowl ; and the lehythos, or oil-flask. The subjects depicted on vases of this class are generally taken from the Heroic Cycle — the deeds of Hercules or Theseus, events of the Trojan War, or the wanderings of Ulysses, combats of the Greeks Avith the Amazons, of the Gods with the Giants, and similar fables from the Hellenic mythology. Very numerous also are scenes from the Dionysiac thiasos, — Sileni and Maenads INTRODUCTION.] THIRD OR PERFECT STYLE. xciii dancing round the jolly god, avIio sits or stands in the midst, crowned with ivy, and holding a vine-hranch or thi/vsos in one hand, and a kantJiaros in the other. Another class of subjects, not so common, is the Panathenaic. On one side of the vase the great goddess of Attica stands brandishing her lance between two Doric columns, crowned with cocks ; on the reverse are foot, horse, or chariot-races, or the wrestling, boxing, or hurling- matches, which took place at her annual festivals. Such vases, from the inscriptions they bear — " One of the prizes from Athens " — are proved to have been given to the victors on those occasions,^ These subjects are peculiar to vases of the Second class. That the period to which this class of vases belonged overlapped that of the following class, and that for some time in the fifth century, i5.c., the tNvo styles were contemporary, is clear, not onl}^ from the advanced art of the later vases of the Second class, and from the hard, dry design of the earliest of the Third class, but also from certain instances where both styles are found on the same vase. Thus on a large kyllx, found at Chiusi, but now in the Museum of Palermo, one half of the bowl is adorned with black figures on a red ground, the other with red upon black. The Third class of Greek vases has justl}' been denominated " Perfect," as it partakes of the best art of tliat wonderful people. In these vases the ground is painted black, the figures being left of the natural reddish yellow of the clay, and the details are either marked Avith black lines, or with brownish red in the more delicate parts of the figures and draper3\ These vases belong to the finest period of Greek art, but as some of the earliest with red figures retain the severe and archaic character of the preceding st3de, we may carry their age back to about 460 B.C. or even earlier.' ^ The inscription is TONA0ENE0EN- Lear various dates, the latest being 313 A0AON — rSiv''AOi]vr]Qiv &6\cei' — sometimes B.C. Two of those in the Britisli ]\Iuseuni with the prefi.x of EMI for elfii, as in the dated in the archonship of Pytliodemos, ■earliest known vase of this class, found by 336 B.C., -".vere found at Cervetri. For Mr. Burgon at Athens, and now in the notices of the Panathenaic vases see Bijckh, British Museum. Pseudo-archaic vases of Bull. In.st. 1832, pp. 01-98 ; Ambrosch, this class have also been found in the Ann. Inst. 1833, pp. 64-89; Secclii, Bull. Cyrenaica, recognised as such by the affected Inst. 1843, p. 75. archaicisms of style, and by the dates with - Birch states that recent discoveries ■which they are inscribed. The earliest show some of these vases to be as old as dated vase yet known is one of six I dis- 480 B.C., and certainly prior to the age of covered at Teucheira in that land, and it Pheidias. p. 202. Bunsen assigns the dates from the archonship of Polyzelos, or vases of this style to a period between tlie 367 B.C. Others, in the British Museum, 74tli and 94th t)lj-mpiads (484-404, B.C.). the Louvre, and the Museum of Leyden, Ann. In.st. 1834, p. 62. xciv CHAEACTEEISTICS OF THE PERFECT STYLE, [inteoductiox. Tliey continued to be manufactured down to about 336 B.C., or to tbe accession of Alexander tbe Great, from wbicb period dates the decline of tbe ceramic art. Tbe best vases of this class are pre-eminent in elegance of form, in fineness of material, brilliancy of varnisb, and in exquisite beauty of design, divested of that archaic severity and conventionality which distinguish the earlier classes. The sub-styles into which this class may be divided, are the Strong style, or the earliest, already mentioned, which belongs to the days of Pericles and Polygnotus ; the Fine style, or that contemporary with Pheidias, Zeuxis, and Parrhasius ; and the Ilorid or latest style, "which marks the transition from the Perfect class to the Decadence, and was contemporary with Scopas, Praxiteles, and Lysipi)us. The subjects illustrated are very similar to those on vases of the Second class, with the exception of the Panathenaic scenes ; those of Bacchic character are also of less frequent occurrence, the predominating subjects being Greek myths, or representa- tions of Greek manners. Little or nothing is to be learned from any of tliese painted vases of the customs, habits, traditions, or creed of the Etruscans. With very few exceptions all are purely Greek. The forms with which this style is associated are the amphora, the Jcratcr, or mixing-vase, the kalpis, an elegant variety of water-jar, the a'nocJioc, the olpe, the LijUx, and the Iclnjthos. There is a class of vases belonging to this Third style, which have polychrome figures on a white ground, the colours beings red, yellow, blue, jiurple, brown, and sometimes gold. Tliese vases are generally of the lekythos form. They are rare every- where, but particularly so in Etruria, though one of the very finest of this class was found at Yulci — the Initcr in the Gregorian Museum which represents Mercur}^ handing the infant Bacchus to Silenus.' Beautiful specimens of this style have been found at Athens ; a few also at Cameirus in Pihodes : and I have brought a few to light in my excavations in Sicily and the Cyrenaica. No one can view the best works of this Third class without delight, and an intimate acquaintance with them begets in the man of taste an unbounded admiration. They are the source whence Elaxman drew his inspiration, and Avell would it be for the student of art to follow that master's example, and imbue his mind deeply with their excellences and beauties. The dignity of the conception and force of exi)ression, at times rising •■' See Vul. II. p. 461. INTRODUCTION.] THE DECADENCE. xcv into the sublime, the chaste taste, the truth to nature, the i)uritv and simplicity of the design, and the force as well as the delicacy of the execution, well entitle the best vases of this class to the appellation of " Perfect." Never, perhaps, do they attain the perfection of art displayed in the highest works of the Greek chisel, yet there is a mastery, a spirit of beauty about them Avhicli marks them as of the happiest and purest period of Hellenic art. Though the Greek vase-painters were held of small account in their own day, yet if the excellence of art consist in conveying ideas by the fewest and most simple touches, the merit of these artists is of a ver}- high order. The conquest of Asia by Alexander, by introducing metal vases in the place of those of terra-cotta, was the cause of the decline of Greek ceramic art. The period of Decadence dates then from about 330 i;.c., and was continued to about 150 u.c., when metal had quite superseded earthenware. Vases of this class continued to show red figures on a black ground, but white Avas abundantly introduced, colour more sparingly, and gold also occasionally in the ornaments and other accessories. They may be recognised chiefi}' by the design, which, though often masterly in the earlier vases of this style, is injured by aftectation, mannerism, and excess of ornament, and in the later vases is coarse and careless in the extreme, with figures stumpy and in- elegant. The most striking vases of this class are found in the tombs of Puglia and Basilicata. They are often of enormous size and exaggerated proportions, and of shapes unknown in the purer days of ceramic art. The multitude of figures introduced, the complexit}'- of the composition, the general inferiority and mannerism of the design, the llourish of the drapery, the lavish- ment of decoration, in a word, the absence of that chasteness of taste which gives the Perfect style its chief charm, indicate these vases to belong to the period when Greek art Avas beginning to trick herself out in meretricious embellishments, forgetful of her sublime and god-like simplicity. The vases of the Decadence found in Etruria are of more modest dimensions, but disi:>lay a sad decline from the beauty of the earlier styles. They are almost always of local manufacture. Those from Volterra are of pale cla}-, coarse forms, dull varnish, most careless and rustic design ; large female heads en sHJioucttc, and scenes in which nude women are introduced, are the fiivourite subjects. At Orvieto, where vases of somewhat similar cha- racter are found, there is also a peculiar pottery belonging to this •xcyi WHY VASES WEEE, DEPOSITED IN TOMBS, [introduction. period, adorned, not with paintings, bnt with reUefs silvered, in imitation of vases of that metaL^ AVhat use can this multitude of vases have served ? Though now found only in tombs, it must not be supposed that they Avere all originally of sepulchral application. Those with Panathenaic subjects were given, probabl}' full of oil, as prizes at the national games, as in (Ireece. Others may have been given as prizes at the pahiestric fetes, or as nuptial presents, or as pledges of love -and friendship ; and these are generally marked by some appro- priate inscription. Many were doubtless articles of household furniture, for use or adornment ; ■' and a few seem to have been expressly for sepulchral purposes, either as decorations of the tomb, or to contain the wine, honey, and milk, left as oft'erings to the mancs,'^ or to make the customary libations, or more rarely to hold the ashes of the dead.^ There can be little doubt, what- ever purposes they may have originally served, that these vases were placed in the tomb by the ashes of the deceased, together with liis armour and jewellery, as being among the articles which he most prized in life. ** Vol. 11. p. 48. A choice collection of these peculiar vases is in the possession of Signer Augiisto Castellani, at Rome. The fact of them all wanting a bottom shows them to have been made merely for deco- rative purposes. Bull. Inst. 1871, p. 18. Ann. Inst. 1871, pp. 5-27 ; Klugmann, ■tav. d'agg. A — C. ^ Yet many of them are only varnished outside, and iRit partially— not at all within ; «o that they could hardly have served for liquids. Ann. Inst. 1831, p. 97. Many may have been used by the relatives at the jparcntalia, or funeral feasts, and left as sacred in the tomb. <* The notion of feeding the souls of the <^leparted was very general among the ancients. In Egypt the tomb of Osiris, in the isle of Phihe in the Nile, contained 360 libatory vessels — x""' — which were daily -filled with milk by the priests. Died. Sic. I. p. 19, ed. llhod. In (jreece the souls were supposed to be fed by the libations and feasts held at the sepulchre. Lucian, de Luctu, p. 809, ed. 161,^. And so in Italy, where the iiwncs were appeased by libations of wine, milk, and blood ; and the wailing-women therefore beat their breasts to force out the milk, and tore their flesh to make the blood flow ; all for the satisfaction of the departed. Serv. ad Mn. V. 78. A similar custom, jiossibly of equal antiquity, prevails in China, of making an annual "feast for the hungry ghosts." It was the custom of the ancients to burn on the funeral pyre the vases con- taining oil, honey, or other offerings to the dead. Hom. Iliad. XXIII. 170 ; Virg. Mn. VI. 225 ; Serv. in loc. Vases are often found in the tombs of Etruria, as well as of Greece, and her colonies in Italy and Sicily, which retain manifest proofs of subjection to fire. ' This is sometimes the case with those of Sicily and Magna Groecia, especially of Apulia and Lucania, and frequently with the vases of La Oertosa at Bologna ; more rarely Avitli those of Etruria Proper. A quaint but beautiful conceit on certain of these cine- rary vases is uttered by Sir Thomas Browne, in his Hydriotaphia, chap. III. "Most* imitate a circular figure, in a spherical and round composure ; whether from any mystery, best duration, or capacity, were but a conjecture. But the common form with necks was a jiroiier figure, making our last bed like our first ; nor much un- like the urns of our nativity, wliile we lay in the nether jiart of the earth, and in- ward vault of our microcosm." INTRODUCTION.] TOMBS EIFLED IN PAST AGES. xcvii That these vases are found in such multitudes in Etruria is the more astonishing when we remember that ahiiost all the tombs which contain them have been rifled in bygone times. It is extremely rare to find a virgin sepulchre. At Vulci, where the painted vases are most abundant, not one tomb in a hundred proves to be intact. It is obvious that those who in past ages violated these sepulchres were either ignorant of the value of the vases, or left them from superstitious motives — most probably the former, for they are often found broken to pieces, as though they had been dashed wantonly to the earth in the search for the precious metals. We know that the sepulchres of Corinth and of Capua were ransacked by the Ptomans in the time of Julius Caisar, for the sake of these painted vases, which were called necro-Corinthian, and were then highly prized and of immense value ; the art of making them having been lost ; ^ but how it came to pass that the Komans never worked the vast mines of the same treasures in Etruria, some almost within sight of the Seven-hilled City, it is difticult to comprehend. They could hardly have been ignorant of the custom of the Etruscans to bury these vases in their sepulchres, and religious scruples could not have deterred them from spoliation in Etruiia more than in Greece or the south of Italy. Such, however, is the fact, and the abundance of these vases in Etruscan tombs forbids us to believe that the extensive system of rifling, to which they have evidently been subjected, was by Roman hands. It was more probably carried forward at the close of the Empire, or by the barbarian hordes who overran Italy in the early centuries of our era.- Plunder 1 Sueton., J. Cajs. 81. Strabo (VIII. p. sanctioned tlie spoliation of ancient scpul- 381) says the Romans did not leave a tomb clires, yet restricted it to the precious untouched at Corinth in their search for metals, commanding the ashes to be left— the vases and bronzes. Robbers of tombs "quia nolumus lucra qiireri, qua?, per were not uncommon in ancient times, in funesta scelera possunt reperiri ; " iuid he Egypt and Greece as well as in Italy, and justified his decree on the ground that that were execrated, as body-snatchers are at was not stolen which had no owner, and the present day. Pliny states that in his that that ought not to be left with the time fictile vases, by which he probably dead, which would serve to keep the liv- means those that were painted, fetched ing— " Non est enim cupiditas eripere quai more money than the celebrated Murrh.ine - nuUus se dominus ingemiscat amisisse." vases, the cost of which he records (XXXV. Cassiodor. Var. IV. 34. The same feeling 46; XXXVII. 7); and which are supposed was shown in the laws of the Twelve to have been of porcelain. That these Tables, which forbade the burial of gold painted vases were very rare in his day is in sepulchres, — " Neve aurum addito,"— confirmed by the fact that not one has yet unless the teeth of the corpse happened to I>e been discovered among the ruins of Pompeii fastened with it. " Quoi auro dcntes vincti or Herculaneum. Bull. Inst. 1871, p. 95. cscunt, ast im cum illo sepclirc urercve, 2 It is known that Theodoric, the (ioth, se fraude esto." Cicero, de Leg. II. 24. VOL. I. I y xcviii WEEE THE VASES FOUND IN ETRUEIA [introduction. was obviousl}' the sole object, for the tombs of the poor, though opened, are left untouched ; while those of the rich have been despoiled of the precious metals, the vases have been thrown down, the sarcophagi and urns overturned, and everything left in confusion, as though no corner had been unransacked. In the middle ages, traditions of subterranean treasures were rife in this land, and sorcerers were applied to for their discovery,^ but it does not aj^pear that any systematic researches were carried forward, as in earlier times, and again in our own day. In the consideration of these vases the question naturally arises — if they are mostly of foreign character, either oriental or Greek, how came they in Etruscan tombs ? This is a ques- tion which has puzzled many a learned man of our age. At the hrst view of the matter, when the purely Hellenic nature of the design and subjects, and especially the inscriptions in the Greek language and character, are regarded, the natural response is that they must have been imported ; a view which receives confirmation from the recorded fact of an extensive commerce in pottery in ancient times.* Yet when, on the other hand, we bear in mind the enormous quantities of these vases that have been found in the Etruscan soil, that these spoils of the dead which within the last fifty years alone have been reaped by the excavator, ma}^ be reckoned, not b}' thousnnds, but by myriads, and that what have hitherto been l\)und on a few sites only, can bear but a very small proportion to the multitudes still entombed — v;hen the peculiarities of st3-le attaching to particular localities are considered, the pottery of each site having its distiuguishing characteristics, so that an experienced e3'e is seldom at a loss to pronounce in what part of the ancient world any given vase was found— it must be admitted that there are strong grounds for regarding many of them as of local manufacture.'' Antiquaries, ^ Mirali, Man. Ined. p. 362. iustauce, occur in juxtajjosition. Ann. •» Plin. XXXV. 46.— Hajc per maria Inst. 1831, pp. 72, 122, 171, et seq. terrasque ultro citroque portantur, iusigni- This unknown tongue, which is frequently bus rotce ofBcinis. The pottery of Athens found on vases of the Archaic style, may, was carried by the Phccnician traders to in some cases be Etruscan in Greek letters. tlie far western coast of Africa, and bar- Ann. Inst. 1831, p. 171. In the place of tcred for leopard-skins and elephant-teeth. characters a row of dots is sometimes found. Sec Grote's Greece, III. p. 361. as though tiie copyist would not venture * There are, moreover, facts which con- to imitate what he did not conipreliend. firm this view. The inscriptions, though Yet from the extensive commercial inter- in Greek characters, are not unfrequently course of Etruria with Greece and her utterly unintelligible — such collocations of colonies, many of the Etruscans must have letters as arc foreign to every dialect of known Greek. Sometimes a genuine in- Greek. Half a dozen consonants, for scription appears to have been incorrectly ixTRODLXTioN.] OF LOCAL on FOEEIGN MANUFACTUEE? xcix however, are much divided in opinion on this point, some main- taining all these vases to be importations from Greece or her colonies ; others, to be of Etruscan manufacture, in imitation of Greek ; and others, again, endeavouring to reconcile con- flicting facts by imagining an extensive population of Greeks settled for ages in Etruria, or at least bodies of Hellenic artists, like the masonic corporations of the middle ages. But after all vdiat are the speculations of most antiquaries worth, where there are no historic records for guidance, and few other palpable data from which to arrive at the truth — where, in a word, the question resolves itself into one of artistic feeling, as much as of archaeological erudition P*^ Not to every man is it given to penetrate the mysteries of art — to distinguish the copy from the original in painting or sculpture. Long experience, extensive knowledge, and highlj^- cultivated taste, are requisite for the discernment of those minute, indefinite, indescribable, but not less real and convincing differences between the original and the imitation. So it is with the ceramographic art. When men, who to vast antiquarian attainments add the experience of many years, whose natural taste has led them to make ancient art in general, and Greek vases in particular, their exjiress study — who have visited every collection in Europe, and have had thousands of specimens year after year submitted to their inspection and judgment — when such men as Gerhard, J3raun, and Brunn, renowned throughout Europe for their profound knowledge of the archaeology of art, give their opinion that there is something about many of the vases of Etruria, some- thing in form, design, or feeling, which stamps them as imita- tions of those of Greece, distinguishable, by them at least, from the genuine pottery of Attica — we may be content to accept their opinion, though unable personally to verify it. This view does not preclude the sui^position that most of the vases found in Etruria are of Greek manufacture, either imported from copied, the blunders being such as could Frenchman, " peuvent difficilemcnt se hardly have been made by Greeks. Many reduire en regie, et, sous ce rapport, of the vases also have Etruscan monograms beaucoup d'aniateurs pi-esque igiiorans beneath the foot, scratched in the clay Femporteraient sur les plus celebres anti- apparently before it was baked. On the quaires, parceque, pour ranti([uite figurde, vases of Nola such monograms ai'e also les livres et les jjIus vastes etudes suppleent found, but in Oscan characters. Gerhard, moins au gout, que le gout et rintelligence Ann. Inst. 1831, pp. 74, 177. no pcuvcut suijplecr a rcrudition." Due '' "Des jugemeus qui emaneut du senti- do Luyues, Ann. lust. ISSii, p. 14G. mcnt," observes a shrewd and learned 7 - c ATTIC CHAEACTEE PEEYALENT. [introduction. Greece or lier colonies, or made b}' Greek residents in the former land. Gerhard, indeed, divides these vases into three classes. I. Those purely Greek in character. II. Those also Greek, but modified as if b}' Greek residents in Etruria. III. Those of Etruscan manufacture, in imitation of Greek. It is clear that though the art of painted pottery originated in Greece, it was more highly developed in Etruria and other parts of Italy. For there is a much greater variety of form and style in the vases of these countries than in those of Greece, and the descriptions common to both lands are carried to a much larger size in ItalyJ It is worthy of remark that most of the painted vases of Etruria — all those of the Second and Third styles — have an Athenian character. The deities represented are chiefly Attic —Athene, Poseidon, Phoebos, Artemis, Hermes, Dionysos, and Demeter. The myths also are generall}' Attic ; so are the public games, and the scenes taken from ordinary life. Even the inscriptions, with a few exceptions, are in Attic Greek, ^ and belong, sa3^s Gerhard, to a period of short duration, and which can be determined with precision, being confirmed by the forms of the vases, by the design, and the subjects represented. It was not prior to the 74th Olympiad (484 e.g.), nor later than the 124th (284 B.C.) — or between the third and fifth centuries of Pome, when the Greek colonies of Italy were in the height of their poAver, and before Etruria had lost her independence.^ The Attic character of these vases is the more remarkable, for from the only record we have of Greek artists emigrating to Etruria — namely, with Demaratus, the Corinthian — we might 'Gerhard, Bull. Inst. 1332, p. 75; in tlie feminine, it probahly marks a nuptial Ann. Inst. 1837, 2, p. 134, et seq. present. Otlier salutatory expressions ai-c ** The inscriptions are for the most part sometimes found, such as XAIPE 2T "hail designatoi7 ; the several figures having to thee ! " or H020NAEnOTEET*PON their appellations attached. The names of " happy as possible ! " On the vases for the potter and painter are also not unfre- domestic use we often find XAIPEKAmiEI qucntly i-ccorded ; the former Leing imited — "hail, and drink!" or sometimes with EHOIEI or EHOIESEN ; the latter HIEIME "drink me!" as though the with ErPA2E. Other inscriptions refer goblet itself were speaking. The inscrip- to the possessor of the vase, and either tions on the Panathenaic vases have alrea. 11), maintained the analogy in and the Tiber which once belonged to her, physical and craniological development, ' there would be very few illu.strious Italian between the ancient Etruscans and the names, cither of ancient or modern times, modern inhabitants of Tuscany, which would be excluded from the category. Nu. 1. ETKUSCAN UINOOHOE, OF BUCCHERO. APPENDIX TO THE INTRODUCTION. ON THE FOEMS AND USES OF GREEK AND ETRUSCAN VASES. The Vases found in Etruscan tnmbs are of various forms, and served different purposes ; therefore to enable the reader to understand the frecpient mention made of them mider their technical names in the course of this work, I projjose to arrange them under their resijective classes. It must be borne in mind that the greater part of the figured vases foimd in Etruria are not Etruscan, although often so designated, but are Greek, whether imported from Greece and her colonies, or of local manufacture by Hellenic colonists, is a question not yet satisfactorily determined. But the subjects on the painted vases, the inscriptions they bear, and the art they display, are so unmistakably Greek as to determine their origin beyond a doubt, and to distinguish them markedly from the ware proper to Etruria. Etruscan imitations of Greek vases are occasionally brought to light, but the genuine pottery of Etruria is quite Oriental in character, without a trace of Hellenic influence. It is never painted, but is decorated witli simple geometrical patterns, scratched or stamped on the clay, or with figures in relief, as sliown in the woodcut No. 1, at the head of this Appendix. It is of brown or black ware, made with the hand and not with the lathe, sun-dried cvi TOE FORMS AND USES OF [appendix to and uiiglazed, of rude workmanship, and often of clumsy form, and its adormnents betray none of the elegance and refinement which breathe more or less from all the works of the Greeks. Yet in foiiii these Etruscan vases do not differ so widely from the Greek, that they cannot be classified Avith them, and I shall therefore ai^ply to them the nomenclature of the latter, so far as it can be ascertained. The generic name by which this early Etruscan ware is now known is " hucchero,^'' and by this term it will be mentioned in the following pages. The term applied by the Greeks to black sepulchral pottery was Libi/es, or " niggers." The names of these ancient vases have been ascertained, in a few in- stances, from monumental sources, being attached to pots of certain forms introduced into scenes on painted vases ; as the word " hydria " is written over a water-jar, on the celebrated Frangois vase at Florence (Vol. II., p. 114) ; but more generally we have only the descriptions given of Abases by certain ancient authors, especially Athengeus, which descriptions being in many instances vague, ambiguous, or contradictory, are far from throwing a satisfactory light on the subject. It must be confessed that, even after the critical researches of Panofka, Gerhard, Letronne, Ussing, and Thiersch, into this subject, the nomenclature of many of the shapes of ancient vases is in great measure arbitrary or conventional. As to the forms of numerous vases mentioned by Atbenreus we are still utterly in the dark. We are, however, able to recognise the characters of the most common shapes and to classify the vases according to the purposes they were intended to serve. Of the illustrations here given of the forms of ancient vases I would observe, that having been taken from various sources, and drawn at different periods, they are on no uniform scale, so that a large vase will often appear from the woodcut to be smaller than another to which it is really very supe- rior in size, e.g. Nos. 6 and 7. The woodcuts indicate, therefore, the form and character of the several descriptions of vases, not their relative size. Many of these woodcuts will probably be familiar to my readers from having appeared in the two editions of Dr. Birch's work on " Ancient Pottery," but availing myself of my right to claim my own thunder, I must mention that they originally illustrated the first edition of tliis work, ten years before they did duty for Dr. Birch. The following classification will, I think, comprise all the modt common forms of Greek vases. Class I. Vases for holding or storing liquids, fruits, &c., — pithos, amphora^ pelike, stamnos, lelcane. II. Vases for carrying water,— hydria, Jcalpis. III. Vases for mixing or cooling wine, — krater, Icelehe, oxyhaphon, lehes, psykter. IV. Vases for drawing and pouring out wine, &c., — oinochoe, olpe, proclioos, kyathos, situla. V. Vases for drinking, — kantharos, karchesion, skyphos, niastos, depas, kyathos, kylix, lepaste, jjellu, holklon, ksras, rhyton, j^hiale, kothon. VI. Vases for ointments or perfumes, — lekythus, aryhallos, homhylioa, askos, kotyllskos, alabastos, pyxis. Class I. — Vases for Holding or Preserving Liquids and Food. The largest vase of this class was the jnthox, or wine-jar, a tall jar with a full body and wide mouth, with a lid, and generally witiiout haudles. It THE INTRODUCTION.] GREEK AND ETRUSCAN VASES. No. 2. PITUOS, FROM VEIL served also to hold oil, fruit, and other solids, and resembled in size and shape the large oil-jars of Southern Europe. The visitor to Pompeii may * ^\i'.^ remember in the street of Mercury three oil-shops, full of these ]a.\-ge pithoi,''}>'^ti'-'* of coarse red ware, several of them mended of old with rivets of lead. The y ^ ' pithos was used also as an urn to contain burnt human ashes, and in the early days of Etruria, was often decorated with bands of small Egyptian-like figures in relief, and was also ribbed. An illustra- tion of this jar as a cinerary urn is given in the woodcut annexed. No. 2. It was sometimes used also to hold the corpse, for two such jars being placed mouth to mouth, served as a rude cofFm, and tluis arranged they are not unfrequently found in the tombs of the Troad. It was this form of vase which served as the habitation of Diogenes, for his " tub " is thus represented on ancient monuments, — hence the Greek proverb " the life of a pithos''' to express a mean and miserable existence. It was a brazen vase of this form, in which Eurystheus, in his terror at the bristly monster of Er3nnanthus,which Hercules was bringing him on his shoulders, endea- voured to hide himself — a subject often depicted, and with infinite humour, on the early Attic vases. The amphora, called by the Greeks amphoreus, is a two-handled vase of various forms, but generally tall and full-bellied. This is the most common of all ancient vases, and is found in connection with every period and style of art. The more ordinary description was of coarse vmglazed but very hard ware, with a long cylindrical body and long neck, and with two angular handles, on the shoulders of which was generally stamped the name of the magistrate for the year, with some- times the month in addi- tion, and the device of the town where the vase was made. The foot always tapered to a point for pe- netrating the earth, as the ]>ot could not stand with- out support. Amphorce of this form are rarely found with decorations. AmphorcB, even when decorated with paintings, are occasionally fovmd with a pointed base, of which a beautifid ex- ample is preserved in the Museum of Perugia. See woodcut. No. 3. In the early reheved ware of Cliiusi, the amphora was of a quaint and peculiar form, of wliich the annexed woodcut (No. 4) is an illustration. 3. AMl'HORA WIl'H POINTED BASE. No. 4. EIKUSCAN AMPHOKA OP BUCCHERO. CVUl THE FORMS AND USES OF [appendix to The ampltora used in the earliest style o£ painted A'ases, is often, like the stj^le itself, designated " Egyptian." It has plain handles, and the shoulders of the vase are rounded so as to meet the neck almost at right angles. Amphorce of the Second or Archaic Greek style, are commonly called " Tyrrhene." They have a fuller body and a thicker neck, and the greatest diameter of the vase is at about half its height. They are generally distinguished by squared handles, ornamented with floral decora- tions, and their shoulders, instead of meeting the neck abruptly, form with it a graceful curve. See woodcut No. 5. To this same period belongs the " Dionysiac " amjihora, which differs gene- rally from the former in having ribbed or reeded handles, and in having a taller and narrower neck ; though it is chiefly distinguished by the Bacchic character of its subjects. Good examples of the Dionysiac ampliora are given in the woodcut at p. 3G1 of this volume, which represents a scene in the " Tomb of the Painted Vases" at Corneto. The " Panathenaic " amphorce, or the vases given, filled with oil, as prizes at the pala?stric games lield at Athens in honour of the patron-goddess, are No. 5, TYRRHENE AMPHORA. No. G. LATE I'ANATHENAIC AMl'HOKA. No. 7. KOLiAN AMPUuKA. also distinguished by their snl>jects rather than hy tlieir shape ; the archaic vases, like the Durgon amphora in the British Museum, whieli is thought to be the earliest specimen of this class extant, being fuU-bellied, while tbose of later date are taller and more elegant, as in the woodcut No. G, which is THE INTRODUCTION.] GREEK AND ETRUSCAN VASES. cix taken from one of six of these vases I found at Teuclieira in the Cyrenaica, and which are now in the British Museum. All these vases have on one side a figure of Athene Promachos, with helmet, shield, and spear, in the attitude of attack, flanked by two Doric columns, generally surmounted by cocks, and usually bear the inscription — " Of the prizes from Athens." The reverse always shows one of the contests of the pentathlon, probably that for which the vase was awarded as a prize. Comparatively few of these vases have been discovered in Etruria. The Panathenaic vases have invari- al)ly black figures on a yellow ground, although the later ones, like that represented in the woodcut, being of the Macedonian period, are pseudo- archaic, or mere imitations of the earlier stj'le. The " Nolan " amphora is always of the Third style, with red figures, rarely more than one or two on each side, on the black ground of the vase. In shape it is slighter and more elegant than the forms already described ; its handles are either reeded or twisted. Vases of this kind arc found not only at Nola, but in Sicily, and also in Etruria, principally at Vulci. For elegance of form, surprising brilliancy of lustre, simplicity and purity of design, and beauty of execution, these Nolan amphoroi stand pre-eminent among the ceramic productions of antiquity. See woodcut No. 7. To the same period and style belongs the pelike, a description of amphora shaped like a pear, with its greatest diameter near the base, and tapering upwards to the neck. It is of comparatively rare occurrence in Etruria, and almost always has red figures, though in Sicily it is sometimes found with black. See woodcut No. 8. No. 8. PELIKE. No. 9. STAMNOS. Other varieties of the ampltnra are found, chiefly in Puglia and P>asilicata, of much larger size, with taller and more slender forms, and liandles elabo- rately moulded and decorated, in harmony with the more florid character of the paintings which adorn these vases. Numerous examples of them may be seen in the INIuseum at Naples, where they are designated according to the decorations of their handles, as vaso a girelle, a rotelle, a mascheroni, a volute, or, fi-om some peculiarity of form, as vaso a langella, a tromha. This nomenclature, be it observed, is almost confined to Naples. It is not recog- nised in the higher parts of Italy, still less in the countries north of the Alps. Connected with this same class, though by Gerhard referred to that of mixing-jars, is the stamnos, a very high-shouldered, short-necked, plethoric vase, with two small handles, not upright as in all the other varieties of the amphora. Vases of this form are generally found with red figures. They are still called by the same name in modern Greece. They were used to hold wine, oil, or fruit. See woodcut No. 9. The Apulian stamnos is a THE FORMS AND USES OF [ArrENDIX TO small and late variety of the same form, with tall upright handles and a lid, and is oceasionally, though seldom, found in Etruria. It probably served to hold honey or sweetmeats. See woodcut No. 10. The lelcane was another vase for preserving food, and was somewhat of the form of a tureen or sugar-basin, having a full deep body, with a wide mouth, a lid, and two handles generally upright. The woodcut No. 11 shows an example. Vases of this form, when of large size, were used for wash- ing the feet, as well as for other domestic but less cleanly purposes ; and also for playing the Sicilian game of the kottabos. Another form of the IcJmne, shown in the wood- No. 10. AMi'ULiAN KTAMNos. eut No. 12, is Called by Panofka the lojms. It was probably this variety which was given full of sweets or savoury meats, as a nuptial present, and which the bride carried No. 11. LKKANK. No. 12. LEKANK. to the house of the bridegroom. The Ichanis and lekanisJcos were smaller varieties, and jirobably served for fruits or sweets at the table. Class 11. — Vases for Carrying Water. The characteristic feature of water-jars is that they liaA^e three handles, two small horizontal ones at the shoulders, and one large vertical one at the neck. The generic term is Jnjdria, but when used spe- cifically, this name is applied to those of the earliest style which have a squareness about the shoulders, as shown in the woodcut No. 13, while a later and more elegant variety, with the shoulders rounded off, is generally called Icalpis. See woodcut No. 14. But this distinction is conventional. The hydria is gene- rally found in connection with the earlier styles, with black figures, the hdpis with red figures, though the latter is also occasionally found bearing archaic de- signs. Another point of difference is that the hydria has its principal subject on the body, and another with smaller figures on the shoulder ; the designs on the Icalpis are always confined to tlie body of the vase. The hydria is more conunonly found in Etruria, the Icalpis in the South of Italy. These water-jars were used by women alone, for whenever men are No. 13. JlVDllIA. THE iNTEODUcTiox.] GREEK AND ETRUSCAN VASES. represented carrying water, it is invariably in an ampliora. On certain early Attic vases, maidens are depicted on their way to and from the fountain. Each carries a Injdria on her head, which when emjity is lying on its side, just as the women of Central Italy carry their water-pots at the present day. But the hydria, when of bronze, was also used as a cine- rary urn, and the Ixdpis was often given as a nuptial present to Athenian brides, filled with the water of the celebrated fountain of Callirrhoe. It was also used for perfumes, probably when too small to serve any other purpose, for vases of all forms are frequently found in miniature in Greek and Etruscan tombs, which can have been mere toys, or have served only for the toilet. Class III. — Mixing-jars. These are characterised by their wide mouths, for the convenience of dipping the cups or ladles ; for the wine having been brought in the amphora to the banquet, was there poured into the Icrater^ mixed with water, and handed round to the guests. Krater is the generic term, its name being expressive of its use ; but it is applied specific- ally to the elegant form shown in the woodcut No. 15, which is No. 15. KRATER. No. 16. LATE KllATER, OKVIETO. confined to the third style of vase-painting. In Naples it is known as a " vaso a camjjana." A late but elegant variety of the /crater is shown in the woodcut No. 16. The more archaic style is generally connected in Etruria with the kelebe, which is known by its peculiar pillared handles, THE FOEMS AND USES OF [appendix to although the earlier vases of this form have often curved handles, as in the woodcut No. 17. Vases of this shape are more commonly found in Sicily and Southern Italy than in Etruria, and are there termed " vasi a colo7iette." They were frequently used as cinerary urns. The vase represented in the woodcut No. 18, is sometimes called an am- phora with volute handles, but con- sidering the width of the mouth it should more properly be classed among the krateres. In this instance, it is an Etruscan imitation of a Greek vase. See Vol. I., p. 463. This form is not usual in Etruria, though connnon Nu. 17. KELEBE. enough in Magna Gnecia, where it No. 18. ETRUSCAN KEATER. iSfo. 19. LATE K.KATEU, PEKUtilA. No. 2U. OXYUAl-UON. would be designated as " vaso a volute." It is exemplified, however, in the Francois vase, the monarch of Attic vases, found at Chiusi, and now in the Museo Etrusco at Florence. See Vol. II., pp. 81, 113. A late but highly decorated variety of this form from Perugia is shown in the annexed woodcut, No. 19, which at Naples would be called a " vaso a maHcheroni." The oxyhdjjJion is another mixing-jar, of bell-shape (see woodcut No. 20), not of frequent occurrence in Etruria, though conimon in Magna Griecia and THE INTRODUCTION.] OEEEK AND ETRUSCAN VASES. cxiii Sicily. By some tlio name lias been supposed to mark it as a viiieufar-ciii) — being derived from o^i's and /3rj7rrto ; but as its form and size establisli an analogy to the krater, the "sharpness" in its ctj'mology must refer rather to time than to taste, and its name must be signilicaut of " dipping quickly." It is found only in connection with the later styles. Another vase of this class was the lebes, a large vessel of caldron-shape, erroneously confounded with the holmos, or mortar. This form of vase is of very early date, and is frequently mentioned by Homer (e.g. II. XXIII. 259) as awarded for a prize in the public games. It was often of metal, and stood on three feet ; but it was also of earthenware, a very primitive specimen of which, from Athens, is given in the woodcut No. 21, with three horses on No. 21. IMIIMITIVE GKEEK LEBKS. No. 22. ARCHAIC LEBES. the lid, and the mysterious''-*M-«*^*» among its adornments. A later, but still very archaic example from Athens, of large size, with a foot, and two handles, is in the British Museum, showing two large lions, facing each other, and each holding a paw over a flower ; the ground of the vase being studded with rude geometrical patterns instead of flowers, among which the suastika is also prominent. An illustration of this singular vase is given at p. xci., of the Introduction. The bottom of the lebes is sometimes pointed or rounded to fit into a stand, like a huge cup and ball, as in the vase illustrated in the woodcut No. 22, which though of the archaic Doric period, is of later date than the preceding examples. The holmos, or mortar, with which the Iches has often been confomuled, was in the shape of a horn probably truncated, and about a cubit in height. Menesthenes, ap. Athen. XL 86. It had straight sides, like many mortars at the present day. In this class must be included the psiihler, or wine-cooler, which was a large vase resembling a hrater in form, but containing an inner pot for the wine, and a mouth or spout in its neck for the introduction of snow be- tween the inner and outer walls of the vase, and an orifice in the foot to let A VUL. I. THE EOEMS AND USES OF [appendix to the water off. The purpose of this vase is oLvious, and is indeed impHed in its name ; aHhoiigh the description of it given by Athenasus (XL 108) is applicable rather to a large goblet, from which Plato, in his Symposium, represents Socrates quaffing liberal potations all night long. It is a form of very rare occurrence, and generally found with black figures. There is an example in the British IMuseum of amphora-like form, having a Bacchic sub- ject on one side, and Theseus slaying the Minotaur on the other. Another psylder exists in the Etruscan Museum of Florence, where the form is that of a Tcraier, and the figures are yellow on a black ground. See Vol. II., p. 83. Class IV. — Vases for drawing and pouring out Liquids. The ewer or jug, of whatever form, in which the wine was transferred from the hrater to the goblets of the guests, was generically called oinochoii, but this term is applied specifically, though conventionally, to a jug with a trefoil spout, while that with a round even mouth without a spout is called an ol/pe, or ol^ns, a term strictly ajiplicable to the leathern bottle or flask, containing the oil with which the athletes anointed themselves in the palcestra. The ordinary form of the olpe is shown in the woodcut No. 23. An earlier variety from Chiusi, with a cock-crowned lid, illustrated in the wood- cut No. 24, is of bucchero, the early black ware of Etruria. The next cut shows another variety from Orvieto, with ribbed body, ivy foliage ]iaintod on the neck, and handle decorated with a No. 23. OLVE. No. 24. KTllUSOAN OLPE. No. 26. OINOCHoii, No. 27. oiNocHoii, dokic style. liead in relief. No. 25. This vase is of late date, but the olpe form is gene- rally associated with the most archaic styles of vase-painting, an example of which is given in the woodcut, No. 80, at the end of this Appcjulix. THE ixTRODucTiox.j GREEK AN ETRUSCAN VASES. cxv Tlie ordinary form o£ oinoclwii is seen in the woodcnt. No. 2G. Varieties in the early hiack relieved ware of Etrnria are shown in woodtiit No. 1, and at p. 318, Vol. ir. Of the archaic Doric or Corinthian style an example is given in woodcut No. 27, which shows quaint animals and flowers in brown and purple on a pale yellow ground. A more elegant variety is exhibited in the Nolan jug. No. 28 ; a still later and beautiful variety in the ribbed vase, with ivy foliage and ribbons painted on its neck. No. 29 ; a charming though fantastic specimen at page 404 of this volume ; and examples in bronze in woodcuts Nos. 30, 31. 28. oixocHoii, from NOLA. No. 29. LATK UINOCHOK, SICILY. No. 30. BRONZE OINOCIlOJi. No. 31. OINOCHOJi OF BRONZE. The 2>rorJinnn is but a smaller variety of the oi?iocIioe, being used for the same purpose, or as a jug from which water was poured on the hands of h 2 THE FORMS AND USES OF [appendix tu guests. It is generally supposed to have the form of the woodcut, No. 32. A variety of it, with a long spout, was termed 2^rnc,hoos mahrostomos, of which an example is seen in the woodcut, No. 33, although Dr. Birch prefers to designate that form epichjsis. These long Leaked pots seem adapted to the pouring out of oil at the pahestric exercises. No. 32. PKOCHOUS. EH No. 33. PRociious. No. 34. KYATHOS. No. 35. SITULA OF BUONZK. The terms oinocJioe, olpe, nnd procJioos are of generic application, and as we liave but doid)tt'ul authority for attaching them to any specific shape of ewer, the above distinction may be regarded as conventional, and as adopted for the sake of convenience. Tiie l-jjuthos, though generally classed among the goblets, was also used as a ladle for drawing the wine from the mixing-jar. See Avoodcut, No. 34. The situla, or pail, for drawing water, was almost always of metal, and was so similar to the bucket of modern times, as hardly to require a descrip- tion. An example of a bronze situla in the Etruscan Museum at Florence is given in woodcut No. 35. This form is sometimes rounded at the bottom, and, in archaic examples, is decorated externally with incised or relieved figures, as in two other situke in the said Mus;:>um (Vol. II. p. 104), and in another beautiful specimen in that of Bologna (Vol. II. p. 523). Class V. — Curs and Gublkts. The drinking cups (>£ the ancients were of various forms ; indeed the Athenians alone are said to have had no less than 72 different descriptions of goblets. The most common forms, especially in Etruria, were the kan- tharos and the shjphns. The k.mtharos was a two-handled cup, sacred to Dionysos (Plin. XXXIII. 53 : Macrob. Sat. V. 21) in whose hands it is THE iNTRODUCTiox.] GEEEK AND ETRUSCAN VASES. cxvii generally represented on painted vases. The cnp itself is rarely found decorated with paintings, at least in Etruria, where it is generally of plain black ware. This vase is supposed to take its name from some resemblance in form to that of the beetle — Kav6apos — but it more probably took it from the boat or vessel of the same name (Athen. XL 47, 48), though it is also said to have been called from the potter who invented it (Philet;vrus, ap. Athen. loo. cit.). The usual form is shown in the woodcut No. 3G ; a late variety with handles differently arranged, in the woodcut No. 37. No. 36. KANTHAROS. No. 37. KANTHAUOS. The Karchesion, which was also a Bacchic cup, " capo ]M;eonii carchesia Bacchi" (Virg. Gcorg. IV. 380) appears to have resembled the Kaiitharos, but to have been . larger, heavier, slightly compressed in the middle, and with long " ears " or handles reaching to the bottom. It is a form A-ery rarely met with. Macrobius (V. 21) tells us it was extremely rare among the Greeks, and never found among the Latins. Athena'us says it is an extremely old form of vase. It was traditional that Jupiter gave a golden A^ase of this shape to Alcmena, as a loA^e-token, which cup was supposed to have been preserved at Sparta (Athen. XL 49). The form is found in the early black ware of Chiusi, and the finest specimen I have seen is in that No. 38. KARCHESION, OF BUCCIIERO. No. 31). KARCHKSION, OF BUCCHERO. ware and in the possession of Signor Luigi Terrosi of Cetona. It is repre- sented in the woodcut. No. 38. A still more quaint example with a lid, and relieved decorations, is given in the accompanying illustration of a vase from Chiusi, taken from the work of M. Noel Des Vergers ; sec woodcut No. 3'J. A very common cup among the ancients was the shjphos^ which seems to THE FOEMS AND USES OF [appendix to have been a generic name, but the term is apjilied, conventionally, to a full- bellied bowl with two horizontal handles. It was the cup of the peasantry, and was originally of wood and served for milk or whey, but afterwards was made of terra-cotta or silver. The name is derived from aKn(})is, a little boat (Anglicc, skiff, and ship). The shjpJios was the cup of Hercules, as the Icantharos was that of Dionysos (IMacrob. V. 21). The usual form is shown in the woodcut No. 40, a shape which Panofka calls the kott/Ios, and Dr. Birch takes to be also that of the koiJwn, or cujt of the Spartan soldiers. A later and more elegant example is given in a cup in my own possession, No. 41, with painted decorations ; the incurved handles indicating an imita- No. 40. SKYl'HOS. No. 41. SKYl'UOS. tion of metal. Vases of this description have sometimes a pointed bottom, so that to be laid down they must be emptied. A A'ariety of this goblet, from its resendilance to a woman's brc*ast, Avas called a viaalos, a name given to it by the Paphians (Apollod. Cyren. ap. Atlien. XI. 74). It was generally decorated with Bacchic figures, as in the woodcut No. 42 ; and was some- times shaped like a head crowned with ivy, as in the cut No. 43. Both these examples are from Vulci. No. 42. MASTOS. No. 43. MASTOS. The Icothon was another form of cup carried by the Spartan soldiers on their expeditions, on account of its convenient form. For the brim being curved inwards the cup retained whatever sediment there nn'ght be in the water, while the jmre iluid alone was imbibed. It is described as a circular, short-cared, and thick-mouthed cup, having a single handle, and being of strip.'d colours (Allien. XL G6, G7). P.iivli ajipcars to coiifouiid it with the shjplios^ and altaches the name of kolliun U) llie form illustrated in woodcut No. 40. V>n{ there can be no doubt that the name applies to a flat, thick. THE iNTKODucTioN.] GREEK AND ETRUSCAN VASES. No. a. DEPAS. and rounrl-lipped bowl, with a single short handle, apparently for sus- pension, of which 1 possess several specimens, live and a half inches in diameter, and two inches high, all marked with black and red stripes on the hard yellow clay. The depas, or aleison, was a cup with two ears or handles (Asclepiades ap. Athen. XI. 24, who quotes Homer, Od. XXII. 9). P.ut the term depas appears to be generic, and to be often used, without any specific application, like the word poferion, yet as the name was ap- plied to the cup of the Sun, in which liercides crossed the sea to Erj-thcia (Athen. XI. 38, 39), it was probably proper to cups of a bowl-shape. I am inclined to believe, with Panofka, that when used specifically the term i.s ap- plicable to the form given in the annexed woodcut, No. 44, which is copied from a vase in my possession. The form of the Homeric derras dixcjuKVTreWov has given rise to much difference of opinion. Aristotle (Hist. Anim. IX. 40) uses the term to illustrate the forms of bees' cells, with a common base. There can be no doubt that he referred to certain cylindrical vases, like dice-boxes, with a bottom half-way up, so as to form a double cup, examples of which have been recently found in the cemeteries of Bologna, and which answer to the description of the dacti/lotos given by Philemon, ap. Athen. XI. 34. But the Homeric vase had two handles, and this has none. Dr. Schliemann thought he had found the SeTraj of Homer in tall, straight-sided cups, "like cham- pagne glasses with enormous handles," which he unearthed at Hissarlik (Troy, pp. 86, 158, 171) ; but that form is evidently the liolmos described by Athentv'us, XI. 86. The golden cup the Doctor found among " Priam's Treasure " (p. 326), of boat-shape, with a handle on either side, to enable it to be passed easily from hand to hand, has a far better claim to be the Homeric biiras- So also the golden cups he disinterred at Mycen;e (see the illustrations at pages 231, 234, of his " Mycenae "), are undoubted in- stances of this celebrated form. But we learn from Athena^us (XL 24, Go) that opinions dift'ered as widely as to the form of this vase among the ancient Greeks as among modern archaaologists. Another elegant form of vase, which is a hrater in miniature, is the krateris- kos or krater{d)on,v,'hic\i from its small size must be classed among the cups. The woodcut. No. 45, is from a vase in my collection. The hjutlws was a cup with a single handle, and like the kaiitharos, is often represented in the hands of Dionysos on the painted vases. Unlike the iMidkaros, however, it is frequently found in painted pottery, an No. 45. 1CKATEU1SK.0S. THE FOEMS AND USES OF [APPEJfDIX TO instance of wliicli is given in the woodcut, No. 46. The h/a(hos, though used as a cup, also served as a hidlc to draw wine from the krafer (Plato, ap. Athen. X. 23), as already mentioned. The hjathos was also a measure, equal to ^% of a pint. In the Etruscan black ware this form is not uncommon, and is shown in the cut, No. 47, which represents an early vase in the relieved ware of Chiusi. No. •it). K-YATiioS. No. IS. EARLY KYLIX. Very like the l-yaihos was the holylos or hoiyle, a small deep cup with one handle, said to be the most beautiful of all cups, and also the most con- venient to drink from. Its precise shape has not been ascertained. It must have been in very common use, for there was an old Greek proverb, quoted by Athena^us (XI. 57), which said, — " There is many a slip Between cotyle and lip." No. 49. KAKLY KYLIX. The lyli>\ tlie most elegant of all ancient goblets, is a wide flat bowl on a slender stem. The most primitive form resembled a rude bowl of wood on a clumsy stand, and was decorated with meanders, and other geometrical patterns ; an example of it is given in the woodcut at page Ixx.xix of the Introduction. Tlossess greater interest. Veii lives in the page of history rather than in extant monuments ; she has no Colosseum, no Parthenon, no P^'ramids — few fragments even from which the antiquarian Cuvier may reconstruct her frame. The very skeleton of Veii has crumbled to dust — the city is its own sepulchre — si monumentum requiris — circumspice ! Yet is there no want of interest in a spot so hallowed by legend and history. The shadow of past glory falls as solemnly on the spirit as that of temple or tower. It is something to know and feel that " here was and is " not. The senses may desire more relics to link the present to the past ; but the imagination need not here be " gravelled for lack of matter." Since there are such scanty remains at Veii, few will care to make the entire circuit of the city, yet there are three or four spots of interest which all should visit — the Arx — the Colum- barium — the Ponte Sodo — and the Painted Tomb. Bej^ond this there are but scattered fragments of walls — the sites of the gates, determined onl}^ by the nature of the ground — and the remains of several bridges. I shall detail the track I took on my first visit, and the reader, with the aid of the Plan, will be enabled to trace the site of every object of interest within and around the walls of Veii. My guide led the way into the glen which separates Isola from the ancient city, and in which stands a mill — most jjicturesquely situated, with the city-clifi's towering above it, and the stream sinking in a cascade into a deep guUey, over-shadowed by ilex. The road to the mill is cut through tufo, which j^resents some remarkable features, being composed of very thin strata of calcined vegetable matter, alternating with earth}' layers, showing the regular and rapidly intermittent action of some neighbouring B 2 4 VEIL— The City. [chap. i. volcano — the now extinct crater of Baccano or of Bracciano. The bed formed by an igneous deposit had been covered with vegeta- tion, which had been reduced to charcoal by a subsequent eruption, and buried beneath another shower of earthy matter, which in its turn served for a hotbed to a second crop of vegetation. That these eruptions occurred at very short intervals is apparent from the thinness of the charcoal layers. The whole mass is very friable, and as this softness of the rock precluded the formation of a water-trough on one side, so frequently seen in Etruscan roads, to carry off the water from above, small pipes of earthen- ware were here thrust through the soft tufo in one of the cliffs, and ma}' be traced for some distance down the hill.* From the mill a path leads up to the site of one of the ancient gates (A in the Flan). Near this, which commands the view of Isola, given in the woodcut, which is from a sketch by the author, are some remains of the walls, composed of small rectangular blocks of nenfro.^ Following tlie line of the high ground to the east, I passed several other fragments of the ancient walls, all mere embank- ments, and then struck across bare downs or corn-fields into the lieart of the city. A field, overgrown with briers, was pointed out by my guide as the site of excavations, where were found, among other remains, the colossal statue of Tiberius, now in the Vatican, and the twelve Ionic columns of marble, which sustain the portico of the Post-oftice at Home. This was probably the Forum of the Homan " Municijnum Augustum Veiens,'' which rose on the ruins of Etruscan Veil. The coliunharium, or Roman sepulchre, hard by, must have been without the limits of the vumicipium, which occupied but a small portion of the site of the original city ; when first opened, it contained stuccoes and paintings in excellent preservation, but is now in a state of utter ruin. I next entered on a wide down, overrun with rank vegetation, where tall thistles and briers played no small devilry with one's lower limbs, and would deny all passage to the fair sex, save on horseback. On I struggled, passing a Roman tomb, till I found traces of an ancient road, slightly sunk between banks. This ■» These pipes may be Roman, for tnhidi tnfo of tlic Campagna by its colour, a fict'dts were often used by that people for dark grey, and by its sujierior hardness the conveyance of water. and compactness — a difference thought to * A volcanic stone, a species of tufo, dis- be owing to its having cooled more slovily. tinguished from the ordinary red or yellow CHAP. I.J EOMAN YEII.-THE ARX. Avas the road from Rome to the municijyiKni, and after crossing the site of the ancient cit}- in a direct line, it fell into the Via Cassia. I traced it a long distance southwards across the briery down, and then into a deep hollow, choked with thickets, where I came upon large polygonal blocks of basalt, such as usually compose Eoman pavement. This was Avithout the limits of the Etruscan city in a narrow hollow, which separated the city from ISOLA KAllNESE, FROM THU WALLS OV VEII. its Arx. At this spot is a fragment of the ancient walls. The road ran down the hollow towards Rome, and was probably known as the Via Veientana. There are no remains of the gate. The Arx is a table-land of no great extent, rising precipitously from the deep glens which bound it, save at the single point Avhere a narrow ridge unites it to the city. Such a position would mark it at once as the citadel, even had it not traditionally retained its ancient designation in its modern name, Piazza d'Armi ; and its juxta-position and connection with the city give it much superior claims to be so considered, than those which can be urged for the height of Isola Farnese, which is separated from the city by a wide hollow. There is also every reason to believe that this was the site of the earliest town. Here alone could the 6 YEII.— The City. [chap. i. founder of Yeii have fixed liis choice. The natural strengtlj of its position, and its size, adapted it admirably for an iniant settlement. In process of time, as its population increased, it would have been compelled to extend its limits, until it gradually embraced the whole of the adjoining table-land, which is far too extensive to have been the original site ; so that what was at first the whole town became eventually merely the citadel. Such was the case with Athens, Rome, .Syracuse, and many other cities of anticiuity. There may possibly have been a second settlement at Isola, which may have united with that on the Arx to occupy the site of the celebrated city ; just as at Eome, where the town of Romulus, confined at first to tlie hill of the Palatine, united with the earlier town on the Capitoline, to extend their limits as one city over the neighbouring heights and intervening vallej's. I Avalked round the Piazza d'Armi, and from the verge of its clifis looked into the beautiful glen on either hand, through which, far beneath me, Avound the two streams which girded Yeii, and into the broader and still more beautiful hollow, through which, after uniting their waters, they flowed, as the fjir-famed Cremera, now known as La Yalca, to mingle with the Tiber.*^ Peculiar beauty was imparted to these glens b}" the rich autumnal tints of the Avoods, which crowned the verge or clothed tlie base of their red and grey clifis — the dark russet foliage of the oaks, the orange or brilliant red of the mantling vines, being heightened by the contrast of the green meadows below. Scarcely a sign of cultivation met the eye — one house alone on the opposite cliff — no flocks or herds sprinkled the meadows beneath — it Avas the Avild beaut}' of sylvan, secluded nature. Far different was the scene that met the eye of Camillus, when he gazed from this spot after his capture of Yeii.^ The flames ascending from the burning city" — the battle and slaughter still raging — the shouts of the victors and shrieks of the vanquished — here, his victorious soldiers pi-essing up through the hollow wa3-s into the city, eager for spoil — there, the wretched inhabi- tants fl3'ing across the open country — yon height, studded with the tents of the Roman ami}' — the Cremera at his feet rolling reddened down the valley towards the camp of the Fabii, whose slaughter he had so signally avenged — all these sights and somids 7 The larger and more northerly stream nienta ]\Iai, XII. 13. is the Fosso di Forniello, the other tlie " The city was not consumed, but Livj' Fosse de' due Fossi. (V. 21) states that the Roman soldiers set " Plut. Camillus. Dionys. Hal. Frag- it on fire. CHAP. I.] THE CUNICULUS OF CAMnXUS. 7 melted the stern warrior to tears of mingled pit_y and exultation. Yeii, so long the rival of Rome, had fallen, and her generous conqueror mourned her downfall. Like Troy, she had held out for ten long years against a beleaguering arni}^ : and like Troy I i she fell at last only b}" the clandestine introduction of an armed J foe. The story of the cuuicuhis, or mine of Camillus, is well known; how he carried it up into the temple of Juno within the citadel — how he himself led his troops to the assault — how the}' over- heard the Etruscan arus2)c\v, before the altar of the goddess, declare to the king of Veil that victory would rest with him who completed the sacrifice — how thej' burst through the flooring, seized the entrails and bore them to Camillus, v/lio ofi"ered them to the goddess with his own hand — how his troops swarmed in through the mine, opened the gates to their fellows, and obtained possession of the cit3% Verily, as Livy sapientl}' remarks, "It ■ were not worth while to prove or disprove these things, which are better fitted to be set forth on a stage which delighteth in marvels, than to be received with implicit faith. In matters of such anti- quity, I hold it sufficient if what seemeth truth be received as such." I wandered round the Arx seeking some traces of this temple of Juno, which was the largest in Veii. The sole remains of antiquity visible, are some foundations at the edge of the plateau, opposite the city, which may possibly be those of the celebrated temple, though more probabl}'', as Gell suggests, the substruc- tions of towers which defended the entrance to the citadel. Several sepulchral monuments have been here discovered ; among them one of the Tarquitian famil}-, which produced a celebrated writer on Etruscan divination,^ and which seems from this and other inscriptions to have belonged to Veii. As none of these relics were Etruscan, they in no wa}' militate against the view that this was the Arx, but merely show that it was without the bounds of the Roman mumcipium. Of the cuniculus of Camillus no traces have been found. Not even is there a sewer, so common on most Etruscan sites, to be seen in the cliff beneath the Arx, though the dense wood which covers the eastern side of the hill may well conceal such open- ings; and one cannot but regard these sewers as suggestive of the cuniculus, if that were not a mere enlargement of one of them to admit an armed force. Researches after the cuniculus are not 1 Plin. N. H. I. lib. 2, Macrob. Saturn. III. 7. cf. II. 16. VEIL— The City. [chap. I. likely to be successful. Not that I agree with Niebuhr in doubt- ing its existence ; for though it were folly to give full credence to the legend, which even Livy and Plutarch doubted, yet there is nothing unnatural or improbable in the recorded mode of the city's capture. When a siege of ten years had proved of no avail, resort might well have been had to artifice ; and the soft volcanic rock of the site offered every facility for tunnelling.- But if the cuniculus were commenced in the plain at the foot of the height, it would not be easy to discover its mouth. The entrance would probably be by a perpendicular shaft or well, communicating with a subterranean passage leading towards the Arx. Eeturning into the hollow, through which runs the Via Veientana, my eye was caught b}' a curious flight of steps, high in the cliff on which the city stood. I climbed to them, and found them to be of uncemented masonry, too rude for Roman work, and similar in character to the walls of the Etruscan city ; Nielmhr (ii. p. 481, Eng. trans.) re- jects the account, given by Livy, of the capture of Yeii : first, as bearing too close a resemblance to the siege and taking of Troy, to be authentic ; and next, because "in the whole history of ancient military operations we shall scarcely find an authen- tic instance of a town taken in the same manner." He thinks that the legend of the cuniculus arose out of a tradition of a mine of the ordinary character, by which a jiortion of the walls was overthrown ; be- cause the besiegers would never have re- orted to the arduous labour of forming a cunictdvs into the heart of the city, "when, by merely firing the timbers, by which, at all events, the walls must have been propt, they might have made a breach." Now, though there are many circumstances at- tending the capture, of too marvellous a character to be admitted as authentic his- tory, I must venture to difli'er from that great man when he questions the formation of the cuniculus. The fact is stated, not only by Livy (V. 21), but by Plutarch (Camil.), Diodorus (XIV., p. 3u7), Florus (I. 12), and Zonaras (Ann. YII. 21). The capture of Fidenso by means of a similar mine (Liv. IV. 22), Niebuhr thinks not a whit better attested than that of Veii; but Dionysius mentions a similar capture of Fidense, as early as the reign of Ancus Mai-tius (III. p. 180) ; and Livy records the taking of Nequinum or Narnia in a similar manner, in long subsequent times (X. 10). ^Tllen Niebuhr states that the walls of Yeii.,might have been breached by firing the timlters of the mine, it is evident that he had not visited the site, and wrote in perfect ignorance of its cha- racter. Such a remark would apply to a town built in a jdain, or on a slight eleva- tion ; but in a case where the citadel stood on a cliflf, nearly two hundred feet above the valley (if Isola were the Arx, the height- was yet greater), it is obviously inapplic- able ; and this Niebuhr, in fact, admits, when he says that "in Latium, where the strength of the towns arose from the steep rocks on which they were built, there wa.s- no opportunity of mining." His argument, then, against the cuniculus of Camillus falls to the ground, because founded on a misconception of the tme situation of Veii. His error is the more surprising as he had the testimony of Dionysius (II., p. 116), that Veii "stood on a lofty and cliff- bound rock." Holstenius, who regarded Isola Farnese as the Arx of Veii, speaks of the cuniculvs of Camillus being " manifestly apparent " in his day (Adnot. ad Cluv., p. 54), but he probably mistook for it some sewer which opened low in the cliff. CHAP. 1.1 LA SCALETTA. therefore, I doubt not that this was a staircase leading to a postern gate of ancient Veii. The lower part having fallen Avitli the cliff, these eight uj^per stej^s alone are left, and they will not remain long, for the shrubs which have interlaced their roots with the imcemented blocks, will soon precipitate them into the ravine. 150CK-CUT TOjrii AT VEII. This curious staircase, La Scaletta, as it is called by the peasants, came to light in 1840, in consequence of the earth which con- cealed it having been waslied away by unusually heavy rains. It is marked P in the Plan. From the Arx the line of the walls ran northward, as indi- cated by the cliffs. I passed a few excavations in the rocks, and the sites of two gates,'^ and at length reached a wood, below •' The road from the second gate (F. in the Plan) ran past the Tumnlus of Vaccareccia towards Pietra Pertnsa, a remarkable cut through a rock near the Via Flaminia and four miles from Veii. The rock presents the appearance of an island rising out of a plain, which seems to have been originally a lake (Gell, Memor. Instit. I. p. 13). 10 VEIL — The City. [chap, i which, on the hanks of the, stream, is a piece of broken ground, which presents some curious traces of ancient times. It is a most picturesque spot, sunk in the bosom of the woods, and strewn with masses of gre}' rock, in wihl confusion, full of sepulchral excavations — literally honey-combed with niches ; whence its appellation of ''II Colombario." In one place the rock is hol- lowed into a chamber of unusually small size, with room for only a single sarcophagus (see the woodcut on p. 9, which is from a sketch by the author). The niches are of various forms, some not unlike Etruscan, but all, it seemed to me, of Iloman construction. The most ancient Etruscan tombs of Veii are chambers excavated in the rock, Avitli rock-hewn couches for bodies or sarcophagi. As the city was deserted soon after its capture in the year of Eome 358, all its Etruscan sepulchres must have been prior to that date, and many of the niches within tombs are probably of high antiquity, as in them have been found vases, mirrors, and other objects of a purely Etruscan character. The smaller niches served to hold lamps, perfume vases, cinerary urns, or votive oiferings, and those of elongated form contained the bodies of the dead.^ But the niches in the face of these cliffs have pecu- liarities, which mark them as of Roman origin, especially the hole sunk within the niche for an olla or cinerary pot, as in the Iloman columbaria, instances of which are very rare in Etruscan cemeteries.^ Many of them are cut in the walls of rock, which flank an ancient road sunk through a mass of tufo to the depth of from twelve to tAventy feet. Such roads are common in the neighbourhood of Etruscan cities ; several other instances occur around Veii. In this case part of the polygonal pavement is remaining with its kerb-stones, and the ruts worn by the ancient cars are visible. On the top of the rock, on one side, are remains of walls, which prove this to be the site of one of the city-gates. (G. in the Plan.) The road led directly from the Formello up to the gate, and had evidently crossed the stream by a bridge. This is no longer standing ; but several large hewn blocks of tufo lie in the water ; and a little further up the stream, on the side opposite the cit}', is a piece of walling, which has undoubtedly been the -pier of the bridge.^ '' See the Aiipendix to this Chapter, of the inscriptions found on the spot. J^ote I. G Marked R. on the Fhin. It is 20 feet * Abeken (Mittelital. p. 258) regards wide, now only about 5 or 6 feet high, of these niches as Iloman from the evidence small blocks of tufo cemented, in 6 courses. CHAP. I.] COLUMEAEIUM.— PONTE SODO. 11 I continued to follow the upward course of the Formello towards the Ponte Sodo. The banks of the stream, on the inner or city side, rose steep, rocky, and fringed with wood — the ash, beech, and ilex springing from the grey rocks, and hanging in varied hues over the torrent. Here and there, at the verge of the steep, portions of the ancient walls peeped through the foliage. Among them was a gTand fragment of walling filling a natural gap in the clifl:".^ On the other hand were bare, swelling mounds, in which the mouths of caves were visible, the tombs of ancient Veii, now half choked with earth. One tomb alone, the Grotta Campana, which will be particularly described in the following chapter, now remains open. Here are also several vaults of Roman reticulated work. It would be easy to pass the Ponte Sodo without observing it. It is called a bridge ; but is a mere mass of rock bored for the passage of the stream. Whether whollj' or but partly artificial may admit of dispute. It is, however, in all probability, an Etruscan excavation — a tunnel in the rock, two hundred and forty feet long, twelve or fifteen wide, and nearly twenty high. From above, it is not visible. You must view it from the banks of the stream. You at first take it to be of natural formation, yet there is a squareness and regularity about it which prove it artificial. The steep cliffs of tufo, yellow, grey, or white, over- hung by ilex, ivy, and brushwood — the deep, dark-mouthed tunnel with a ra}" of sunshine, it may be, gleaming beyond — the masses of lichen-clad rock, which choke the stream — give it a charm apart from its antiquity.*^ and much more neat and modern in appear- some nine or ten centuries before Christ. imce than the usual Etruscan masonry. ^ Sodo, or solid, is a term commonly Yet it is imlike late Roman work, and applied to natural bridges, or to such as more resembles the remains of the cif/ijer in their massive character resemble them, of Servius Tullius, in the gardens of Sallust Gell (II., p. 328) thinks that the deep at Rome. Canina, who gives a drawing hollow through which the Formello hei'e of this pier (Etruria Marittima, tav. 28), flows was not its original bed, but I could rex>resents it as of a kind of masonry very see no traces of a former channel, and am common on early Etruscan sites, and which inclined to believe in the natural character of I take to be the emplecton of Vitruvius. the hollow, by which the stream approaches See Chapter V. , p.' 79. the Ponte Sodo, and to think that there ' Canina gives an illustration of tliis ^\■as a natural channel through the rock piece of wall (op. cit. I., p. 120, tav. 26), enlarged by art to obviate the disastrous and represents it as of IS courses in height, consequences of winter floods. Canina Mu\ of emi^lectoii, at least in that stjde of (Etr. Marit. I. p. 121) believes the Ponte masonry to which that name is apijlied to be artificial. throughout this work, although he does Nibby (III., p. 432) calls the Ponte not so apply it. He takes it for part of Sodo 70 feet long. He could not have the earliest fortifications of Veii, dating measured it, as I have, by wading through 12 VEIL— The City. [chap. i. Upon this natural bridge is a shapeless mound in the midst of an ancient roadwaj'. Gell sees in it the ruins of a square tower, though it requires a brisk imagination to perceive such traces in this overgrown mass ; yet from its position, and from fragments of walling hard b}', it is evident that this was the site of a double gateway.^ (H in the Plan.) These fragments are traceable on both sides of the gate. To the left they rise high, and form the facing to an agger or embankment which extends along the verge of the slope for a considerable distance. The blocks are smaller than usual in Etruscan cities, being only sixteen inches deep, and eighteen to twenty-four in length ; 3'et there can be little doubt that these were the once renowned fortifications — cgregil viuri^ — of Etruscan Veii. A portion of the wall hereabouts has been described and delineated by Gell, as being composed of immense tufo blocks, ten or eleven feet long, based on courses of thin bricks, a yard in length. Again and again have I beat the bush far and wide in quest of this singular fragment of masonry, but have never been fortunate enough to stumble on it ; nor have I met with any one who has seen it. Of late years the wood has been greatly cleared on this side the city, but the fragment is still souglit in vain ; and whether it has been torn to pieces by the peasants, or lies hid in some of the thorny brakes it is impossible to penetrate, I cannot say. it. It is not cut with uicetj', though it iluct, and the shafts for wells liy which tlie is possible that the original surface of the citizens drew water (II., p. 331). At this rock lias been injured by the rush of end of the tunnel, the roof is cut into a water through the tunnel, for the stream regular gable form, and is of much greater at times swells to a torrent, filling the elevation than the rest ; it is continued entire channel, as is proved by trunks of thus only for thirty or forty feet, as if the trees lodged in clefts of the rock close to original plan had been abandoned, the roof, which remind one that this is '•* Double gates such as this were com- the Cremera rapax of Ovid (Fast. II. mon in Italy — the Porta Carmentalis of 205). There are two oblong shafts in the Rome, the gates at Pompeii and Segni, ceiling, with niches cut in them as a for instance — • and not unknown to the means of descent from above, precisely Greeks, being i-ej)resented on monuments such shafts as are seen in the tombs at and mentioned by their writers. It may Civita Castellana, Falleri, and other ])e doubted, however, whether the plural Etruscan sites. Here they must have number applied to gates, as to the cele- Ijeen formed for the sake of carrying on brated Scajan gates of Troy (irvXai 2/cataJ), the work in several places at once. There had reference to a gate like this, or to is a third at the upper entrance to the one with a double portal connected by a tunnel, but not connected with it, as it passage, as the Porta all' Ai'co of Volterra. is sunk into a sewer which crosses the Canina (Arch. Ant. V. p. 96) thinks the mouth of the tunnel diagonally, showing latter. The plural term would also apply the latter to have been of subsequent for- to a single gate with folding doors — portcc mation to the system of drainage in the hipatentes — Virg. ^n. II. 330. city. Gell mistook the sewer for an aque- ' Liv. Y. 2. CHAP. I.] THE WALLS OF VEIL 13 A little above the Ponte Sodo, Avliere the ground sinks to the edge of the stream, and where many troughs in the rocky banks indicate the spots whence blocks have been quarried for the con- struction of the citv, I observed, on the left bank, a fragment of walling with the same peculiarities as that described by Gell, and more massive than an}^ other I had seen at Veii. From its posi- tion with regard to tlie gate, which may here be traced on the cit}^ side of the stream, it had evidently formed the pier of a bridge. Its width was ten feet. The largest block was only three feet nine inches by two feet four^ but this was massive in comparison with those of the city walls. The absence of cement jn'oved its antiquity. The whole rested on three layers of long sun-burnt bricks, or tiles." Yet their position was no proof of the antiquity of their collocation, for tliey might have been inserted in after- times to repair the foundations, just as the massive walls of Volterra are here and there underbuilt with modern masonry. There is nothing, however, in the material which militates against the antiquity of the structure. Bricks were used in the remotest ages, and in most parts of the ancient world.^ The Etruscans, so skilled in pottery, must have been acquainted with their use ; Arretium, one of the cities of the League, is said to have been walled with brick ; and we know that the Yeientes in particular were famed for tlieii* manufactures of baked earth.* If the bricks in this masonry really formed part of the original structure, they lead one to suspect that the walls of other Etruscan cities ma}' have been formed in part of the same materials, which, when the cities fell into deca^^ would have formed a quarry for the con- struction of villages. Tlie destruction of Etruscan fortifications, however, in the volcanic district of the land, may be accounted for without this supposition — the small size, lightness, and facility of cleavage of the tufo blocks composing the extant fragments, must in all ages have proved a temptation to aj)ply them to other purposes. About three quarters of a mile above the Ponte Sodo is another " This site is marked S. in tlie plan. their early use in Egypt, corroborated by On a subsequent visit, I was grieved to extant monuments ; and Herodotus in- see that this pier had been almost de- forms us that the walls of Babylon were stroyed. Canina gives a drawing of this built of brick. For their use in Greece, pier. Etr. Marit. tav. 29. see Pausanias (I. 42, II. 27, V. 5, X. •* According to Sanchoniatho, bricks were 35); and in other counti'ies, see Vitruvius invented before mankind had learned to (II. viii. 9) and Pliny (N. H. XXXV. 49). construct villages, or to tend flocks. The ■• Pint. Piiblicola. Serv.ad^n. A^II. 188. Tower of Babel was built of bricks. We Festus rocc Ratumena. have the testimony of Moses also as to 14 YEII.— The City. [chap. i. bridge, called Ponte Forniello, whose piers are of nenfro, un- doubtedly ancient, possibly of Etruscan construction, though not of the earliest period ; but the existing arch is of mediaeval brick- work. The road which crosses the Formello b}^ this bridge runs to the village of Formello and to Monte Musino, six miles distant. Crossing this bridge, and following the line of the ancient walls as indicated by the nature of the ground, I presently came to a cross-road, cut through tufo banks, and leading into the cit}^ (Gate K.) It is clearly an ancient way; fift}" years ago its pave- ment was entire,' but, owing to the pilferings of the peasantry-, scarcely a block is now left. The road that crosses the Formello runs direct, for half-a-mile, to the Ponte dell' Isola, a bridge over the Fosso de' due Fossi, the stream which washed the southern walls of Veii. The city walls followed the line of bank on the left, which turns off towards the mill, while the road leads directly to the Ponte d' Isola. This is a picturesque bridge of a single arch, twenty- two feet in span.^ Antiquaries have pronounced it to be of very ancient date — connected with the original plan of the city. But to my eye the very small size of the blocks, and the cement used in its construction, are opposed to so high an antiquity. A doubt may arise as to the antiquity of these bridges at Veii, as well as of any others which claim an Etruscan origin, seeing that no stone bridge was erected at Eome before the year 575, the date of the Pons Jilmilius,^ long after the entire subjugation of Etruria, and more than two centuries after the capture of Veii. Is it possible that the Homans, if they found such structures existing in the conquered land, could have refrained from intro- ducing such additions to the beauty and convenience of the City ? — how could t\\ey have remained satisfied for centuries with a single bridge, and that of wood ? But it must be remembered that the Tiber was one of the ramparts of Rome ; that the Pons Sublicius was equivalent to a draw-bridge, being so constructed as to be readily taken to pieces on an emergency ; that it was maintained, in its wooden state, as a religious duty, and com- mitted to the especial care of the priests, who hence derived their ' Niljby, III. ji. 433. is not unlike that of the Ponte Formello, ^ The piei-s are 14A feet wide ; the and of the pier of the ruined bridge near lower courses are of nenfro ; the rest of the Columbarium gate. tufo ; all alike cemented. Tlie masonry *" Plut. Nuiua. CHAP. I.] ANCIENT BRIDGES.— FORMER GRANDEUR. 1.3 name of pontijiccs ; and it was not till after the conquest of Etrui'ia, the downfall of Hannibal, and when all fear of a foe at the gates of the City was removed, that a permanent bridge was constructed. The Eomans of that day had no need to go beyond their own walls for the model of a stone arch ; the}' had had it for ages in the Cloaca Maxima. From the Ponte d'Isola, a pathway leads to the mill. Here I had completed the circuit of Veii. Gell calls it more than four miles in circumference, but his own map makes it of much greater area. Nibb}' seems nearer the truth, in calling it seven miles round, which more nearly agrees with the statement of Dionysius that Veii was equal in size to Athens," said to have been sixty stadia in circumference, i.e. seven miles and a half,'' or at the lower estimate of ten stadia to the mile, the common itinerary stadia of Greece, six miles in circuit. The Home of Servius Tullius, Avhich Dionysius also compares to Athens, was about the same extent.' Such then is Veii — once the most powerful,* the most wealthy city of Etruria,' renowned for its beauty," its arts and refinement, which in size equalled Athens and Eome, in military force was not inferior to the latter,* and which for its site, strong by nature and almost imi^regnable by art,^ and for the magnificence of its buildings and the superior extent and fertility of its territory, was preferred by the Eomans to the Eternal City itself, even before the destruction of the latter by the Gauls,'' — now void and desolate, without one house or habitant, its temples and palaces level with the dust, and nothing beyond a few fragments of walls, and some empty sepulchres, remaining to tell the tra- veller that here Veii was. The plough passes over its bosom, and the shepherd pastures his flock on the waste within it. Such ^ Dionys. II. p. 116. of the conquerors. Eutrop. I. IS. ^ So says the Scholiast ou Thucydides, * Liv. V. 24. II. 13 ; but the great historian himself ^ Plut. Camillus. merely states that the extent of that part ® Urbe valicla muris ac situ ip'io mu- of the city which was guarded was 4-3 nita, Liv. I. 15, V. 2. Dionys. loc. cit., stadia ; and the Scholiast adds that the and IX. p. 593 ; Plut. Roraul. and Camil. unguarded i)art, or the space between the ^ Liv. V. 24. Arnold (I. j). 212) questions Long Walls, which united the city with the the authority of Livy on this head, and Pirfeus, and the Phaleric Wall, was 17 also the sincerity of the Romans, if they stadia in breadth. said it ; without good grounds, it seems 1 Dionys. IV. p. 219 ; and IX. p. 624. to me. Dionysius (Frag. Mai. XIL 14) ^ Dionys. II. p. 116 ; Liv. IV. 58. in fome measure confirms Livy by saying ^ Liv. II. 50; V. 20, 21, 22. Floras Veii was in no way inferior to Rome as a (I. 12) and Plutarch (Camil.) attest its residence. wealth by the spoil that fell into the hands 16 VEIL— The City. [chap. i. must it have been in the earUer years of Augustus, for Propertius pictures a similar scene of decay. Et Veil veteres, et vos turn reg'na fuistis ; Et vestro posita est aurea sella foro ; Nunc intra muros pastoris buccina lenti Cantat, et in vestris ossibus arva metunt. Veii, thou hadst a royal crown of old, And in thy forum stood a throne of gold ! — Thy walls now echo but the shepherd's horn, And o'er thine ashes waves the summer corn. Lucan also speaks of its desolation : — Gabios, Veiosque, Coramque Pulvere vix tectaj poterunt monstrare ruinse. How are we to account for this neglect ? The cit}' was certainly not destroyed by Camillus, for the superior magnificence of its public and private buildings was a temptation to the Romans to desert the Seven Hills. But after the destruction of Eome by the Gauls, Veii was abandoned, in consequence of the decree of the Senate threatening with the severest punishment the Roman citizens who should remain within its walls ; and Niebuhr's conjecture may be correct, that it was demolished to supply materials for the rebuilding of Rome, though the distance Avould jilmost preclude the transport of more than the architectural ornaments. Its desolation must have been owing either to the policy of Rome which proscribed its inhabitation, or to malaria ;^ otherwise, a city which presented so many advantages as almost to have tempted the Romans to desert their hearths and the sepulchres of their fathers, would scarcely have been suft'ered to fall into utter decay, and remain so for nearly four centuries. The Romans most probably ceased to maintain the high cultiva- tion of its territory, and it became unhealthy, as at the present •tla3\ This Avas the case with the Campagna in general, which in very early times was studded with towns, but under Roman •domination became, what it has ever since remained — a desert, Avhose wide surface is rarely relieved b}' habitation. After tlie lapse of ages the site Avas colonised afresh by Augustus ; but the glor}- of Veii had departed — the new colonj^ " Dionysius, liowever (Excerpta Mai, it now-a-days ; some of the inhabitants of XII. 14), tells us the air of Veil was very Isola being constant suiferers from the healthy, which is more than can be said of malaria fever. CHAP. I.] PEESENT DESOLATION. 17 occupied scarcel}" a third of the area of the ancient city, and struggled for a centur}^ for existence, till in the days of Adrian it again sunk into decay. Yet it is difficult to credit the assertion of Florus, that its very site was forgotten. ** This, then, was Veil ! — who now remembers its existence ? What ruins ? — what traces of it are left ? Hardly can we credit our annals, which tell us Veii has heen."^ For the inscriptions found on the spot prove that the colony continued to exist to the fourth century of our era. I have now described my first walk round Veii ; but many a day, and in all seasons, have I spent in wandering over the site and around the walls of this once renowned city. I was wont to take up m}' quarters at La Storta, and step over at day- break; and, with a luncheon in nw pocket and a draught from the Cremera, I cared not to retm-n till the landscape was veiled in the purple shadows of evening. Every time I visit Veii I am struck with the rapid progress of destruction. Nibby and Gell mention many remains which are no longer ^dsible. The site has less to show on every succeed- ing year. Even masonry, such as the pier of the bridge over the Fosso di Formello, that from its massiveness might seem to def}^ the pilferings of the peasantry, is torn to pieces, and the blocks removed to form walls or houses elsewhere, so that, ere long, it may be said of Veii, " Her very ruins have perished " — etiam perire tuuke. Occasionally, in my wanderings on this site, I have entered, either from curiosit}^ or for shelter, one of the capanne scattered over the downs. These are tall, conical, thatched huts, which the shepherds make their winter abode. For in Italy, the low lands being generally unhealthy in summer, the flocks are driven to the mountains about May, and as soon as the great heats are l)ast, are brought back to the richer pastures of the plains. It is a curious sight — the interior of a capanna. A little boldness is requisite to pass through the pack of dogs, white as new-dropt lambs, but large and fierce as wolves, which, were the shepherd not at hand, would tear in pieces whoever might venture to approach the hut; but, with one of the pccoraj for a Teucer, ' Flor. I. 12. The Roman colony — the Strabo, who wrote in the reign of Tiberius, Municipium Auyustum Veiens of the in- speaks of it as an insignificant place in his sci-ijitions — could never have been of much time — as one of the Tro\l)(yaL av)(yal of importance, though the inscriptions mention Etruria (V. p. 226). several temples, a theatre, and baths; for VOL. I. 18 VEIL— The City. [chap. i. nothing is to be feared. The capannc are of various sizes. One I entered not far from Veii was thirty or fort}^ feet in diameter, and nearly as high, propped in the centre b.y two rough masts, between which a hole was left in the roof for the escape of smoke. "Within the door lay a large pile of lambs — there might be a hundred — killed that morning and already flayed, and a number of shepherds were busied in operating on the carcasses of others ; all of which were to be despatched forthwith to the Roman market. Though a fierce May sun blazed without, a huge fire roared in the middle of the hut ; but this was for the sake of the 7'icotta, which was being made in another part of the capanna. Here stood a huge caldron, full of boiling ewes'-milk. In a warm state this curd is a delicious jelly, and has often tempted me to enter a capanna in quest of it, to the amazement oi the pecoraj , to whom it is " vilior alga." Lord of the caldron, stood a man dispensing ladlefuls of the rich simmering mess to his fellows, as they brought their bowls for their morning's allowance ; and he varied his occupation by pouring the same into certain small baskets, in which it is conveyed to market ; the serous parts running off through the wicker, and the residue caking as it cooled. On the same board stood the cheeses, pre- viously made from the cream. In this hut lived twentj^-five men,, their nether limbs clad in goat- skins, with the hair outwards,, suggestive of the satyrs of ancient fable ; but they had no nymphs to tease, nor shej)herdesses to w^oo, and never " sat all day Playing on pipes of corn, and versing love To amorous Phillida." They were a band of celibats, without the vows. In such huts: they dwell all the 3'ear round, flaying lambs, or shearing sheep, living on bread, ricotta, and water, very rarely tasting meat or wine, and sleeping on shelves ranged round the hut, like berths in a ship's cabin. Thus are the dreams of Arcadia dispelled by realities ! To revert to the early history of Veii.^ That she was one of the most ancient cities of Etruria ma}^ be inferred from the pitch ^ It has been suggested by Orioli (Ann. " another, Mantus (Serv. ad Mn. X. 198). Inst. 18:j3, p. 22) that Veii maybe derived According to Festus (ap. Paul. Diac.)Veia from Vedius, or Yejovis, one of the Etrns- is an Oscan word, signifying 2:>laustrum, a can deities, just as Mantua was derived from waggon ; hence probably felio. CHAP. I.] SHEPHERD LIFE IN THE CAMPAGXA. 19 of power she had attained in the time of Romuhis.^ That she was one of the Twelve of the great Etruscan Confederation cannot be doubted. Her vast size, superior to that of every other Etruscan city whose limits can be ascertained — the great extent of her territory, and the numerous towns dependent on her^ — her power, opulence, and magnificence — w^ould make it sufficiently evident, without the express testimony of Livy and Dionysius to the fact.^ Of the history of Veii we know no more than her contests with Rome. She is one of those numerous cities of antiquity, whose records are mere tissues of wars — bloody trails across the field of history. While regretting that our knowledge of them is confined to such events, we should remember that, had not such wars been chronicled, the very names of these cities would most probabl}' never have come down to us. Whatever mention of Veii we find in ancient writers is as the antagonist of Rome. No less than fourteen wars with that power are on record. The Veientes indeed are called by Floras "the unceasing and annual enemies of Rome " — assidui vero et anniversarii hostes. The first six wars were Avitli the Kings of Rome, and as in all this history the man, and not the lion, drew the picture, we are told that the Roman monarchs were always triumphant, whether against Veii alone, or the united forces of Etruria.^ ^ Dion. Hal. II. p. 116. She is called opinion that Sabate, on the Lake of Brac- " antiqiiissima et ditissima civitas " by ciano, was in the Veientine teriitorj'; and Eutropius (I. 18). Veii is not mentioned that even Sutrium and Nepete wei-e also by Virgil among the cities of Etruria in the included. On the north, it met the Agei' time of ^neas, but nothing can be fairly Faliscus. On the east, it must have em- deduced from this against her antiquity, braced all the district south of Soracte and seeing that the poet is equally silent of eastwai'd to the Tiber, or, in other words, Arretium, Periisia, Volsinii, Euselloe, and the Agcr Cajmnatis, because Capena was Volaterra, some of which most assuredly a colony of Veii (Cato ap. Serv. ad JEn. VII. existed at that period, as Perusia, tra- 697. Niebuhr, I. p. 120; Mliller, Einl. 2, ditionally very ancient (Serv. loc. cit.) and 14; and II. 1,. 2); and Feronia, under So- Volaterra, of whose colony (Poijulonia) racte, was also in the Ajer Capenatis, Virgil makes mention (Jin. X. 172). FideuEe was another colony of Veii. Of '^ Plut. Romul. Dion. Hal. III. p. 181; the Ager Veiens, we further know that also Frag. Mai, XII. 14. The territory it produced a red wine of inferior quality, of Veii, before it was curtailed by the too bad to be drunk on festive occasions : Romans, extended on the south and east Herat. II. Sat. 3, 143; Pers. Sat. V. 147; to the Tiber (Plin. III. 9), and on the Mart. I. epig. 104, 9; II. 53, 4; III. 49. south-west to the sea, embracing the Pliny (XXXVII. 69) and Solinus (I. Salinre, or salt-works, at the mouth of the p. 16) speak of a precious stone found at river (Dion. Hal. II. p. 118 ; Plut. Romul.). Veii, — Veientana gemma — which was black On the west, it adjoined the ten-itory of bordered with white ; perhaps onyx. Crere, though the frontier line is not de- "* See the Appendix, Xote II. fined. Mtiller (Etrusk. II. 2, 1) is of * Tarquinius Priscus, indeed, is said '20 VEIL— The City. [chap. i. Seventh War.— In the y-ear 245, Yeii jomed Tarquinii in the attempt to repkce Tarqiiinius Superbus on his throne. They encountered the forces of the young Eepublic near the Arsian Wood ; Aruns, the son of Tarquin, and Brutus, the first Consul, fell by each other's hands, and the victory remained undecided. In the following niglit an unearthly voice, thought to be that of the god Silvanus, was heard proceeding from the wood — " The Etruscans have lost one more man in the fight ; the Romans are therefore the victors."'' This w\ar terminated with the cele- brated march of Porsenna on Eome. Too well known are the romantic events of that campaign to need recording. " How -well Horatius kept the bridge In the brave days of old," — how Scfevola braved the fire, and Cloelia the water — and how the (Jlusian chieftain strove to emulate these deeds of heroism by his chivalrous magnanimity — all these events are familiar to us as household words. In the year 272 broke out the ninth war with Home, during which occurred the most interesting incident in the annals of Veii. In the year 275, the war still continuing, the Veientes at one time even threatening the City itself, which was pressed upon at the same time by the ^Equi and Volsci, an instance of patriotic devotion was called forth, such as few ages have produced. Cseso Fabius, the consul, and chief of the noblest and most powerful of Roman gentcs, rose in the Senate, and said — " Well know je, Conscript Fathers, that to keep the Veientes in check there is need of a fixed garrison, rather than of a powerful army. Look ye to our other foes ; leave it to the Fabii to deal with Yeii. We will engage to uphold the majesty of the Roman name. The Republic hath need of men and money elsewhere ; be this war at our own cost." The next day the whole gens of the Fabii, three to have conquered the whole of Etruria, account for the introduction of the Etnis- ^vhich in token of submission sent him can symbols of royalty — the twelve lictors the Etruscan insirjnia of authority, thence- Avith their fasces, the golden cro^^^l, the forth adoi^ted by the Romans. Dionys. ivory chair, the purple robe, the eagled Hal. III. pp. 193, 195; Flor. I. 5. Nei- sceptre — which were traditionally adopted buhr (I. p. 379) justly questions the triith about this time. But it were more reason- (if this tradition of the entire conquest of able to account for their introduction by I'tmria by Tarquin, which is not noticed the accession c f an Etruscan prince to the by Livy or Cicero; yet thinks the union throne of Rome. of Rome with Etruria may be seen in it. " Liv. II. 6, 7; Dion. Hal. V. p. 288^- It seems probable that this conquest was 290 ; Plut. Publicola. an invention of the old annalists, to CHAP. I.] WAES OF VEII AVITH EOME. 21 hundred and six in number, all of patrician blood, marched forth from Eome, the consul himself at their head, amid the admiration, the prayers, and jo3'ful shouts of the citizens. One single family; to meet an entire people, the most powerful of Etruria ! "Never," sa3'S Livy, "never did an army so small in number, or so great in deeds, and in the admiration of their countrymen, march through the streets of Rome."'^ AVhen they reached the Cremera, they, pitched their camp on a precipice-girt hill, and further protected CASTLK OK THE I'ALilI. it by a double fosse and numerous towers. There they main- tained themselves for a year against all the efforts of their enemies to dislodge them, ravaging the lands of Veii far and wide, and routing the forces sent against them — till in the j^ear 276 the Consul ^Emilius Mamercus defeated the Veientes, and forced them to sue for ])eace.^ 7 Uv. II. 48, 49; Dion. Hal. IX. p. 571 — 573. Dionysius says there were fully 4000 in the band, most of them weXdroi re Kol tTOipoi, and 306 only of the Fabian ffens. Festus also says (voce Scelerata Porta) that there were some thousands of clientes. Both these statements Niebuhr (II. p. 195) thinks greatly exaggerated. A. Gellius (XVII. 21), says there were 306 "with their families." 8 Liv. II. 49 ; Dion. Hal. IX. p. 573 - 576. 22 YEII.— The City. [chap, i. Tenth AVar. — In the following j^ear, 277, the Yeientes again declared war against Rome, and commenced b}' attacking the Fabii, who had not withdrawn from their camp. Knowing that open force was of little avail against these heroes, they had re- course to stratagem. Thej^ sent out flocks and herds, as if to pasture ; and the Fabii beholding these from the height of their castle, sallied forth, eager for the spoil. As they were returning •udth it the Etruscans rushed from their ambush, and over- whelming them by numbers, after a long and desperate resistance, cut them to pieces, not one escaping save a boy, who lived to I)reserve the race and be the progenitor of Fabius Maximus.® The slaughter of the Fabii was but the prelude to a signal victory of the Veientes ; and, had they follow^ed up their ad- vantage, Eome itself might have fallen into their hands. As it was, they took possession of the Janiculan, where they main- tained themselves for many months, till they were routed by the Pioman Consuls, from whom they obtained a truce for forty years. ^ Twelfth War. — In the year 316 the Fidenates threw off the yoke of Rome, and declared for Veii. The Veientes espoused their cause, and put to death the ambassadors sent by Rome to demand an explanation. The Etruscan army encountered their foes on the banks of the Tiber, below Fidenfe, the scene of so many former defeats, and were again routed by the Dictator Mam. ^milius ; their king, Lars Tolumnius, being slain by the sword of A. Cornelius Cossus;^ j^et two 3'ears after, the allied army of Veii and Fidenfe marched up to the xevy gates of Rome, but were routed by the Dictator A. Servilius, who captured Fidenre.^ So again in the thirteenth Avar which broke out in 326, the Veientes and the Fidenates crossed the Tiber, and struck terror into the City of Romulus. Their course, however, was soon » Liv. II. 50 ; Dion. Hal. IX. p. 577— (II. p. 202), nor by Arnold (I. p. 217), who 580. Floras, 1. 12. Dionysius gives another prefers it to the other tradition. Ovid (Fast, version of this slaughter, which, however, II. 195 — 242) recounts the story as given he discredits as improbable. It is that the in the text. See also Diodor. Sic. XL p. whole body of the Falui left their camp to 40, ed. Rhod. A. Gelliiis, XVII. 21. offer up a sacrifice at their family shrine in Dion. Cass. Excerpta Mai, XXI. Rome; and, journeying along, heedless of ' Liv. II. 51, 53, 54. Dion. Hal. IX. danger, they were suddenly attacked by the pp. 582—5, 592-4. Veientes, who rushed from their ambush, ^ Liv. IV. 17— 19. Propert. IV. Eleg. 10 and cut them to pieces. Dionysius' reasons Dion. Hal. Excerpta Mai, XII. 2. (IX. p. 578) for regarding this version as ^ Liv. IV. 21, 22. apocryphal are not deemed valid by Niebuhr •CHAP. I.J THE TEN TEAES SIEGE. 23 checked ; for they r/ere again utterly routed by Mam. JEmilius and Cornelius Cossus, on the very field of their former triumph. Fidence was taken and destroyed, and Veii obtained a truce for twenty years.'^ Fourteenth War. — In 347, the truce having expired, war broke out afresh ; and in 349 the Eomans laid seige to Veii,^ a fate which would earlier have befallen her, had it not been for the great strength of her position and fortifications, which ren- dered her conquest almost hopeless ; but Rome being at peace elsewhere, was now enabled to pour out all her strength against her ancient foe.^ In 352 Veii obtained the assistance of the Falisci, and Capenates, who saw that she was the bulwark of Etruria against Borne, and should she fall, the whole land would be open to invasion, and they, as the nearest, would be the next to sufi'er. The diversion thus created, together with dissension in the Roman camp, operated greatly in favour of the Veientes, :so that at one time they had possession of the Roman lines ; but they were ultimately driven out, and their allies put to the rout.'^ In 356, when the siege had already endured eight years, ■ii remarkable phenomenon occurred, which was considered a portent of some fearful event. In the height of summer, when elsewhere the streams Avere running dry, the waters of the Alban Xiake, without an}^ evident cause, suddenly I'ose to an extraor- dinary height, overflowing their barrier — the crater-lip of an extinct volcano — and threatened to burst it and devastate the Campagna. Sacrifices were offered up, but the gods were not appeased.^ Messengers were despatched from Rome to consult the oracle at Delphi as to the meaning of this prodigy. In the mean time, at one of the outposts of the camp before Veii, the soldiers, as often happens in such situations, fell to gossiping with the townsfolk instead of fighting ; and one of them, a Roman centurion, who had made acquaintance with an old citizen, renowned as a soothsayer, began one day to lament the fate of his friend, seeing that when the city was taken, he would be involved in the common destruction. But the Veientine laughed thereat, saying, "Ye maintain an unprofitable war in the vain hope of taking this city of Veii, knowing not that it is revealed by the Etruscan Discipline, that Avhen the Alban Lake shall swell, the gods will not abandon Veii, unless its waters be 4 Liv. IV. 30—35. « Liv. IV. 61; V. 1. » Liv. IV. 5S, 61. Diod. Sic. XIV. p. ' Liv. V. 8, 1'2, 13. 247. ^ Dionys. Frag. Mai, XII. 8. 24 YEII. — The City. [chap. i. drained off, so as not to mingle with the sea." The centurion pondered these Avords in his mind, and the next day met the old soothsayer again, and under pretext of consulting him on certam signs and portents, led him far from the walls of Veil; then suddenly seizing him in his arms, bore him off to tlie Roman camp. Thence he was taken before the Senate, to whom he repeated his prophecy, saying that the gods would not have it concealed, for thus it was wiitten in the books of Fate. The Senate at first distrusted this prophecy ; but, on the return of the messengers from Delphi, it was confirmed by the oracle of the god — "Romans, beware of letting the water remain in the Alban Lake : take heed that it fiow not to the sea in a natural channel. Draw it off, and diffuse it through j'our fields. Then shall ye stand victors on the walls of Veii." In obedience to the oracle a tunnel was bored through the rocky hill, which still, as the Emissary of Albano, calls forth the admiration of the traveller; and veril}- it is a marvellous work for that early age — the more so, if completed, as Liv}' asserts, within the short space of one year.^ In 357 the Veientes received further suc- cour from Tarquinii, by which their prospects of deliverance Avere raised ; more especially when their allies obtained a victory, which struck terror into the citizens of Rome, who hourly ex- pected to see a triumphant foe beneath their walls. ^ But the tables were soon turned ; for Camillus, now appointed dictator, first routed the forces of the alHes, and then, taking a hint, it may be, from the Alban Emissary, which was by this time com- pleted, began to work his celebrated cuniculus, " a very great and most laborious undertaldng," into the citadel of Veii. Then were the oracle and the prophecy of the soothsayer accomplished, and Veii fell, proving her power even in her final overthrow — ■ Vincere cum Veios posse laboris erat — ' "for, though beleaguered," as Livy states, "for ten long j'ears, with more injury to her foe than to herself, she was at last over- come by stratagem, not by open force." ^ It is instructive to observe how similar are the fruits of super- stition in all ages, and under various religious creeds. The scene " For an account of the Alban i)ro(ligy, ' Liv. V. 16, 18. see Dionys. Frag. Mai, XII. cap. 8—11; - Propert. , Lib. IV. Eleg. X. 24. Liv. V. 15, 16, 17, 19; Cic. de Divin. I. 3 Li^, y, 19^ 2I, 22; Flor. L 12; Plut. 44, and IL 32 ; Val. Max. I. 6, 3 ; Pint. Camil. Carail. ; Zonaras, Annal. VII. c. 20. CHAP. I.] TIIE FALL OF VEIL 25 l)etween Camillas and the statue of Juno, the patron goddess of Veii, which he wanted to remove to Rome, is precisely such as has heen reported to occur in similar circumstances in more recent times. Said Camillus to the goddess, " Wilt thou go to Eome, Juno?" The image signified assent by bowing her head; and some of the bystanders asserted that they heard a soft voice whispering assent.* Ancient writers frequently report such miracles — that statues broke into a sweat, groaned, rolled their eyes, and turned their heads — precisely such miracles as are related by modern enthusiasts or impostors. The relation which the height of Isola Farnese bore to the ancient city has been the subject of much difference of opinion. Some have regarded it as the Arx of Yeii, which Camillus entered through his cmi'iculus. That it may have been inhabited and fortified at an early period is not improbable ; but there are strong reasons for believing that it was not so in the time of Camillus. Others, with still less probability, have considered it the site of the Castle of the Fabii.^ To me it seems evident that at the time of the conquest it was nothing more than part of the necropolis of Veii. The rock is hollowed in every direction into sepulchral caves and niches, most of them apparently Etrus- can ; not only in the face of its cliffs, but also on the table-land above. Noav it is clear that such must have been its character in the days of Camillus, for the Etruscans never inhabited nor walled in a site that had been appropriated to burial; and though it ma}' originally have been fortified, yet once made sacred to the dead, it must ever have remained so. The 2>rincipal necropolis of Yeii laj' on the opposite side of the city, but the Etruscans did not confine their cemeteries to any particular side of their cities, but availed themselves of any ground that was convenient for the purpose of burial. To see the Ponte Sodo, the Columbario, and the Painted Tomb, which are within a short distance of each other, will not occupy more than two hours ; the Arx, lying in another direction^ will require another hour ; and the entire circuit of the city, in- cluding the above lions, can be accomplished in four or five. The cicerone will provide asses, if required, — possibly saddles. Visitors should bring their own provender with them, or, the guide will provide refreshment, which may be eaten without * Liv. V. 22. Plut. Caniil. Dionysius According to Livy, it was not Camillus. (Excerp. Mai, XII. 17) says the goddess Avho put the question, repeated her assent in an audible voice. ' See Appendix, Note III. 26 YEII.— The City. [chap. i. alarm, in spite of the suspicion expressed b}^ a lady writer that Isola is a sort of Cannibal Island.^ All fear of bandits, suggested in the same quarter, ma}' be dispensed with, and " mounted con- tadini, covered with togas and armed with long iron-shod poles," may be encountered without trepidation as honest drovers in quest of cattle. Veii is of such easy access that no visitor to Rome should fail to make an excursion thither. It is not more than a couple of hours' drive from the gates, and though there be little of attraction on the road beyond views of the all-glorious Camj^agna, and though the site of the ancient city be well-nigh denuded of its ruins, yet the intense interest of a spot, so renowned in liistor}', — ' ' And where the antique fame of stout Camill Doth ever live — " ^nd the tomb now open with its marvellous paintings and strange furniture, which carry the mind back with realising force to the earliest days of Rome, render a trip to the site of Veii one of the most delightful excursions in the neighbourhood of the Eternal Citv. APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I. Note I. — SEruLCHRAL Niches, and Modes of Sepulture. See p. 10. Sepulchral niches are found in the rocks in the neighLourljood of other ancient cities in the southern district of Etruria, but nowhere in such abun- dance and variety as at Veii. Hollowed rocks like these, with their faces full of small sepulchral niches, are almost unique in Etruria, though abun- dant at Syracuse, and other Greek sites of Sicily. Tombs full of niches are not unfrequent in Etruria, but as they are almost alwaj's found in exposed situations, rifled of all their furniture, it is difficult to pronounce on their antiquity. Their similarity to the columbaria of the Eomans, is suggestive of such an origin, while the want of the oUa hole, already mentioned, and the fact of being hollowed in the rock, instead of being constructed with masonry, distinguish them from the Eoman columbaria. It is not improbable that these pigeon-holed tombs of Etruria are of native origin, and that the Romans thence derived their idea of the columbaria, most likely from those of Veii, the nearest city of Etruria. Canina (Etr. ]\Iarit. I. p. 123) is of this opinion, and takes these niches at Veii to be all prior to the lloman conquest. By some the pigeon-holed tombs in Etruscan cemeteries are regarded as of late date, indicating a period when burning had superseded burial. Micali " Sepulclires of Etruria, p. 109. ciiAP. I.] ANCIENT MODES OF SEPULTUEE. 27 (Mon. InecL, pp. 163, 370), who is of this opinion, thinks all such tombs on this site posterior to the fall of Veii. But cremation was of far higher antiquity. The Greeks, in the earliest times, certainly buried their dead ; such was the custom in the time of Cecrops, and of fable (Cic. de Leg. II. capp. 22, 25), yet in Homeric times burning was practised, as in the case of Patroclus and of Hector, The expense of the pyre, however, as we find it described by Homer (II. XXIII. 164, et seg. ; XXIV. 784, et seq.), and by Virgil (^n. XL 72, et seq.^, must have put it out of the reach of the com- munity. My own excavations in various Greek cemeteries convince me that, with that people, burial was the rule, burning the exception. De Jorio, a practised excavator, maintains that burial among the Greeks of Magna Grtecia was to burning as ten to one — among the Eomans as one to ten (Metodo per frugare i Sepolcri, p. 28 ; cf. Serradifalco, Ant. di Sic. IV. p. 197). Philosoijliic notions of purification or of resolving the frame into its original elements, may have had to do with the practice of burning. My own ex- perience as an excavator in Greek cemeteries convinces me that both methods were practised coevally. Cinerary urns were generally deposited in a hole at no great depth and covered with a slab or tile. So at least I have invariably found them in Greek necropoles, mixed with tombs hollowed in the rock, or constructed of masonry. The practice of the Eomans also in the earliest times was to bury, not burn their dead (Plin. Nat. His. VII. 55), the latter mode having been adopted only when it was found that in protracted wars the dead were disinterred. Yet burning also seems to have been in vogue in the time of Numa, who, *ns he wished to be interred, was obliged to forbid his body to be burned (Plut. Numa). Perhaps the latter custom had reference only to great men. Ovid represents the body of Eemus as burnt (Fast. IV. 853-6). In the early times of the Eepublic, interment was the general mode ; cremation, however, seems to have gradually come into use — the Twelve Tables speak of both (Cic. de Leg. II. 23) — yet certain families long adhered to the more ancient custom, the Cornelian gens for instance, the first member of which, Avho was bmut, was Sylla the Dictator, who, having dishonoured the corpse of Marius, feared retaliation on his own remains (Plin. loc. cit. Cic. de Leg. II. 22). Burning, at first confined to heroes, or the wealthy, became general under the Empire, but at length fell out of fashion, and was principally applied to the corpses of freedmen and slaves, and in the fourth century after Christ Avas wholly superseded by burial. ]\Licrob. Sat. VII. 7. With the Etruscans it is difficult to pronounce whether inhumation or cre- mation was the earlier, as instances of both together are found in tombs of very remote antiquity. With them, as with the Greeks and Eomans, both methods seem, in later periods of their histoiy, to have been practised con- temporaneously. In certain sites, however, one or the other mode was the more jirevalent. At Volterra, Chiusi, Perugia, and the northern cities gene- rally, cremation was the fashion ; at Tarquinii, Ca?re, and the other cities of the great southern plain, it was rare, and interment was almost universal. The antiquity of cremation is confirmed by the cinerary hut-urns of Albano, which analogj^, as well as the position in which they were found, indicates to be of very ancient date — by the well-tombs of Poggio Eenzo, the earliest sepulchres of Chiusi — and by the very archaic character of some of the "ash-chests" and cinerary pots found in Etruscan cemeteries. 28 YEII.— The City. [chap. i. Note II. — Veii one of the Twelve. See p. 19. Tliat Veii was one of the Twelve principal cities of Etruria is implied by 'Livy (II. G), and by Dionysiiis (V., p. 288), when they state that it luiited Avith Tarqiunii, the metropolis of Etruria, in assisting Tarquinius Superbus to recover his throne, and again, where the example of Veii, in throwing off the yoke of Servius TuUius, was followed by Ca^re and Tarquinii (Dion. Hal. IV., p. 231), undoubtedly cities of the Confederation. It is stated explicitly, where Tullius grants peace to the Twelve Cities, but mulcts the aforesaid three, which connnenced the revolt, and instigated the rest to war against the Eomans. It is clearly shown by Dionysius (Frag. Mai, XII. 13), when he calls it " a great and flourishing city, not the least part of Etruria ; " and also (VI., p. 3'J8), when he calls Veii and Tarquinii " the two most illustrious; cities of Etruria;" and again (IX., p. 577), when he says that the Veientes, having made peace with Eome, " the eleven Etruscan people who were not parties to this peace having convened a council of the nation, accused the Veientes, because they had made peace without consulting the rest." It is also clearly shown by Livy (V. 1), in that the king of the Veientes was dis- appointed because another had been chosen by the suffrages of the Twelve Cities to be high-priest of the nation, in preference to himself. Livy elsewhei'e (IV. 23) states, that Veii and Falerii sent ambassadors to the Twelve people to demand a council of the nation, at the Voltumnte Fanum. This might, at first sight, be interpreted as indicating these two cities as not of the Twelve ; but on further consideration it will be seen that the term '' Twelve Cities" was a common, or as Midler (II. 1, 2, n. 20) calls it, " a standing ex- pression," and is not opposed to the idea of the two cities being included. They sought for a convention of the Twelve, of which they formed a part. Had it not been so they could scarcely have acted an independent part : the cities to wliich they were subject would have made the demand. When, at a later date, Capena joined Falerii in a similar request (Liv. V. 17), it should be remembered that Veii was then closely beleaguered, and Cajiena being her colony, might aptly act as her representative. Where Livy mentions. the Twelve Cities, after the fall of Veii (VII. 21), it can only mean that the ninnber being a fixed one in each of the three divisions of Etruria, like the Thirty Cities of Latium, and the Twelve of the Acha?an League, the place of the city that was separated was immmediately supplied by another (Niebuhr. I., p. 119). But were all these historical proofs wanting to show Veii to have been one of the Twelve, her large size, as determined by existing re- mains — an extent second to that of no other Etruscan city — would be evidence enough. Note III. — Isola Farnese, and the Cartle of the Facii. See p. 25. Tliough at first view it would seem that a site so strongly fortified liy nature as the rock of Isola, would naturally have been chosen for a citadel, yet there is good ground for rejecting the supposition. Its isolation — sepa- rated as it is from the city by a broad glen of considerable depth, is strongly opposed to the idea. Nibby, indeed, who regards Isola as the Arx, takes a hint from Holstenius (Adnot. ad Cluv., p. 54), and thinks it may have been connected with the city by means of a coA-ered way between parallel Avails,' as Athens Avas Avith the Piranis ; but no traces of such a structure are A'isible, CHAP. I.] ISOLA FARNESE.— CAMP OF THE EABII. 29 and it probably never existed save in tlie worthy Professor's imagination. Livy (V. 21) makes it clear that the Arx adjoined the city, for, on the former being captured by Camillus, the latter immediatelj'' fell into his hands, which could not have been the case had Isola been the Ai-x, for its possession by an enemy, in those days of non-artillery, would have proved an annoyance, but could have little affected the safety of the city. There is every reason to believe, as already shown, that Isola was only a portion of the necropolis. If nothing more than Roman columbaria, and Roman funeral inscriptions, had been found on the spot, there would be room for doubt, seeing that sapulchral remains of that nation have also been found on the Piazza d'Armi, the true Arx, as well as within the walls of Etruscan Veil ; which fact, how- ever, only proves tlie small size of the Roman municipium. But the numerous Etruscan tombs on the height of Isola, and the absence of every trace of such sepulture on the Piazza d'Armi, seem alone, independently of their jiosition with regard to the city, to afford a strong argument in favour of the opinion that the latter, and not Isola, was the Arx of Veii. It is surprising that Isola should ever have been mistaken for the Castle of the Fabii. The objectipn raised by Gell, that it is not on the Cremera, scarcely seems valid, for who is to pronounce with certaintj^ which of the two con- iluents bore the ancient name ? It seems incredible, however, that the band of the Fabii should have been allowed to take up a position at so short a distance from Veii, overlooking its very walls, and that they should have succeeded in raising a fortress here, and strengthening it with a double fosse and numerous towers (Dion. Hal. IX., p. 573). Dionysius says they fixed their camp on an abrupt and precipice-girt height on the banks of the Cremera, which is not far distant from the city of Veii ; a description which will apply to any such site between Veii and the Tiber, though scarcelj^ to the hill of Isola, hardly two bow-shots from the walls. Ovid (Fast. II. 205), as well as Dionysius, seems to imply that their camjj was between Veii and Rome, and Livy (II. 49) indicates a similar position, when he says, that they were on the frontier between the Etruscan and Roman territories, protecting the one from foes, and devastating the other ; and again more decidedly, when he asserts that the Veientes, on attacking the castle of the Fabii, were driven back by the Roman legions to Saxa Rubra, where they had a camiD. Now, Saxa Rubra was on the Via Flaminia,! some miles distant, and it is evident that had Isola been the Castellum Fabiorum, the nearest place of refuge for the Veientes would have been their own city, and it is not to be beheved tliat they could not have reached some one of its many gates even though attacked in flank by the Roman horse, as Livy states. The site claimed for the Fabian Camp Ijy Xibby and Gell, but first indicated by Xardini (Veio Antico, p. 180), is on the right bank of the Cremera, near its junction with the Tiber, on the steep heights above the Osteria della Valchetta, and over- hanging the Flaminian Way, about half-way between Veii and Rome, on which height are still remains of ancient buildings, though not of a style 1 Cluverius(ItaI. Antiq. 11. .25. .527) places 79), but from the Peutingerian TaLle and Saxa Rubra at Boi-ghetto, ten miles fi-om Jerusalem Itinerary, wliicli agree in placing Rome; Holsteniiis, Cramer, and Gell, .some- it on this Via, nine miles from Rome. That what nearer the City, at Prima Porta, live it was not far from the City is clear from miles from Veii. That it was on or near Cicero (Phil. II. 31). Martial (IV., ep. tlie Flaminian Way is e\'iilent, not only from 64. 15) shows that it could be seen from a passage in Tacitus, "Antonius per Fla- the Janiculan, and that it was a jjlace of miniam ad Saxa Rubra venit " (Hist. III. small importance — breves Rubras. 30 VEIL— The City. [chap. i. which can be referred to so earlj' a period. The Fabii could not have chosen a more favourable spot than this for holding the Veientes in check, because it dominated the whole valley of the Cremera, then the boundary-, as Livy implies, between the Eoman and Etruscan territories, protected the former from incursions, and also held in check the Fidenates, should they have rebelled and attempted to form a junction with their kinsmen of Veii. See the woodcut at p. 21, made from a sketch by the author. The ruins on the summit of this height are of late Roman and of mediajval times — there is not a fragment that can be referred to the Republican era ; only in the face of the clifE is a sewer cut in the rock, like those on Etrus- can sites, showing the spot to have been inhabited at an earlier period thart the extant remains would testify. On the height on the opposite side of the glen, are some Roman ruins of opus incertum, of prior antiquity. Neither of these eminences has more than situation to advance as a claim to be considered the site of the " Presidium Cremerfe." If we look for an objection, we might suggest that the distance, six miles, from Veii, seems too great, but, till a stronger claim is urged for some other site, we may be content to regard this as the Thermopylaj of the Fabii. GROTPA CAMl'ANA, AS IT WAS DISCOVERED. CHAPTER 11. VEIL— The Cemetery. Non e il monclan romore altro cli' un fiato Di vento, ch' or vien qmnci, ed or vien quindi, E muta nome, perclib iiiuta lato. — Dante. The noise Of worldly fame is but a blast of wind That blows from diverse points, and shifts its name Shifting the point it blows from. — Cauy. It is to be regrettecT that so little is to be seen of the long-for- gotten dead of Veii. It was the largest, and, in Eomulus' time,, the most mighty of Etruscan cities, and 3'et in scarcel}^ another cemetery are there so few tombs to be seen. The hills around the city without doubt abound in sepulchres, all hewn out of the rock according to the universal Etruscan custom, but with the exception of those around the hamlet of Isola, which from the exposure of ages have lost almost all form and character, one alone remams open to give the traveller an idea of the burying- places of the Veientes. Yet excavations are frequently, almost, yearly, carried forward, mostl}^ by dealers in antiquities at Rome ; but as lucre is their sole object they are content to rifle the tombs of everything convertible into cash, and cover them in immediately with earth. Many tombs, it is true, have no peculiar features — nothing to redeem them from the common herd of 32 VEIL— The Cemetery. [chap. ii. sepulchres, of which, ex uno discc omnia ; but some discrimma- tion should be exercised as to this, and the filling up sliould not be left to caprice or convenience. Surel}', among the multitude that have been opened, some containing treasures in gold, jewellery, and highl}'- ornamented bronzes, not a few must have been found remarkable enough for their form or decorations to have demanded preservation. Of tumuli there is no lack, though they are not so abundant as at Cervetri and Corneto : some of them have been proved to be lioman. That on the east of the city, called La Yaccareccia, with its crest of trees so prominent an object in the Campagna, has been excavated, but without success. Like the rest, it was probably raised over some Lucumo or distinguished man among the Veientes, but whether it be the tomb of Propertius, king of Veii, or of Morrius, the Veientine king who instituted the Sahan rites and dances, as Gell suggests, or of some other prince unknown to fame, is mere matter of conjecture. This tumulus is worthy of a visit for the magnificent view which it commands of the Campagna. There are several otlier tumuli or barrows in the valley of the Cremera below the Arx, and also on the heights on the right bank, which may have been raised over the slain in some of the bloody combats between the citizens and Ilomans during the ten years' siege, or they may be individual or family sepulchres. On these heights Gell thinks Camillus must have pitched his camp in the last siege of Veii. At their base is a singular archway in the rock, whether natural or artificial is not easy to say, called L' Arco di Pino, which, Avith its masses of 3'ellow and grey tufo, overhung with ilices, forms a most picturesque object in form and colouring, and claims a place in the visitor's sketch-book. Several other large tumuli lie on the west and north of the city, and may be observed on the right of the modern road to Baccano. The solitary tomb remaining open in the necropolis of \e'\i was discovered in the winter of 1842-43 by the late Marchese Cam- pana, so Avell known for his unrivalled collection of Etruscan vases and jewellery. It is of very remarkable character, and has fortunately been presented for the gratification of the traveller, .with its furniture untouched, almost in the exact condition in Avhich it was discovered. AVhen I first knew Veii, its necropolis possessed no interest ; .though a thousand sepulchres had been excavated, not one re- mained open, and it was the discovery of this tomb that led me CHAP. II.] GEOTTA CAMPANA. 33 to turn my steps once more to the site. As I crossed the ancient city, I perceived that the wood which had covered the northern side had heen cut down, so as no longer to impede the view. The e^'e wandered across the valley of the Formello, and the bare undulations of the necropolis opposite, away to the green mass of Monte Aguzzo northwards, with the conical and tufted Monte Musino behind it, and the village of Formello on a wooded slope below — a wild and desolate scene, such as meets the eye from many a spot in the Campagiia, and to which the baying of the sheep-dogs in the valley beneath me, and the sharp shriek of the falcon wheeling above my head, formed a harmonious accompani- ment — and yet, whether from the associations connected with this region, or the elevating effect of the back-ground of glorious Apennines, it is a wildness that charms — a desolation that, to me at least, jdelds a delight such as few scenes of cultivated beauty can impart. From this point I descried the site of the tomb, in a hill on the other side of the valley of the Formello, where deep furrows on the slopes marked recent excavations. The tomb, in compliment to its discoverer, has been termed La Gkotta Campaxa. Half way up the slope of a mound, the Poggio Michele, is a long passage, about six feet wide, cut through the rock towards the centre of the hill. At the entrance on each side crouches a stone lion, of that quaint, singular style of sculpture, that ludicrously clumsy form, which the antiquary recognises as the conventional mode among Etruscan sculptors of representing the king of beasts. At the further end of the passage crouch two similar lions, one on each side of the door of the tomb — all intended as figurative guardians of the sepulchre.^ The passage ^ Ingliirarai (Mon. Etiiis. I., p. 216) re- Thus, Solomon set lions around his throne jects this notion, on the ground that they (1 Kings X., 19, 20), and the Egyptians and could not frighten violators, who, if they Hindoos placed them at the entrance of their had overcome their dread of the avenging temples. That they were at a very early Manes, so as to attemj^t to plunder a period used by the Greeks as figurative sepulchre, would not be deterred by mere giiardians, is proved by the celebrated gate figures in stone. But he argues from a of Mycenje. The monuments of Lycia, now- modern point of view, and does not allow in the British Museum, and the tombs of for the eflect of such palpable symbols of Phrj'gia, delineated by Steuart (Ancient vengeful wrath, upon the superstitious Monuments of Lydia and Phi7gia), show minds of the ancients. Figures of lions, as this animal in a similar relation to sepul- images of power, and to insjiire dread, are chres ; and moreover establish a strong point of very ancient use, and quite oriental. of analogy between Etruria and the East. VOL. I. D 34 VEIL — The Cemetery. [chap. II. is of ancient formation, and lias merely been cleared out by the spade of the excavator. The door, of which the custode keeps the key, is a modern addition — the ancient one, which was a slab of stone, having been broken to i)ieces by former excavators ; for it is rare to find an Etruscan tomb which has escaped the spoilers of every previous age, though the earliest riflers, after carrying off the precious metals and jeweller^', often left every other article, even the most beautiful vases, untouched. It is a moment of excitement, this — the first peep within an Etruscan painted tomb ; and if this be the first the visitor has beheld, he \\il\ find food enough for wonderment. He enters a low, dark chamber, hewn out of the rock, whose dull greyish hue adds to the gloom. He catches an imperfect glance of several jars of great size, and smaller pieces of crockery and bronze, lying on benches or standing on the floor, but he heeds them not, for his eye is at once riveted on the extraordinary paintings on the inner wall of the tomb, facing the entrance. AVere there ever more strangely devised, more grotesquely designed figures ? — was there ever such a harlequin scene as this. Here is a horse with legs of most undesirable length and tenuity, chest and quarters far from meagre, but barrel pinched in like a lady's waist. His colour is not to be told in a word — as Lord Tolumnius' chestnut colt, or Mr. C. Vibenna's bay CHAP. II.] SINGULAE PAINTINGS IN THE TOMB. 35 gelding. His neck and fore-hand are red, witli yellow spots — liis head black — mane and tail yellow — hind-quarters and near leg black — near fore-leg corresponding with his body, but off-legs 3'ellow, spotted with red. His groom is naked, and his skin is of a deep-red hue. A bo}- of similar complexion bestrides the horse ; and another man precedes him, bearing a hammer, or, it may be, a hipennis, or double-headed axe, upon his shoulder ; while on the croup crouches a tailless cat or dog, parti-coloured like the steed, with one paw familiarly resting on the boy's shoulder. Another beast, similar in character, but with the head of a dog, stands beneath the horse. This is but one scene, and occupies a band about three feet deep, or the upper half of the wall. In the band below is a sphinx, standing, not crouching, as is usual on ancient Egyptian monuments, with a red face and bosom, spotted with white — straight black hair, depending behind — wings short, with curling tips, and striped black, red, and yellow — body, near hind-leg and tail of the latter colour, near fore-leg black, and off-legs like the bosom. A panther, or large animal of the feline species, sits behind, rampant, with one paw on the haunch, the other on the tail of the sphinx ; and beneath the latter is an ass, or it may be a deer, of smaller size than the pan- ther. Both are painted in the same curious parti-colou^'s as those already described. D 2 3(3 VEIL — The Cemetery, [chap. it. On the opposite side of the doorwt\y (for there is a door in this wall, opening into an inner chamber), in the upper band, is a horse, with a boy on his back, and a "spotted pard " behind him sitting on the ground. In the lower band is another similar beast cf great size, Avith his tongue lolling out and a couple of dogs beneath him. All these quadrupeds are of the same curious patchwork of red, yellow, and black.^ To explain the signification of these figures I pretend not. In quaintness and peculiarity of form they strongly resemble the animals represented on the vases of the most archaic st3'le, and like them had probably some mystic or symbolic import; but who shall now interpret them ? who shall now read aright the hand- writing on these walls ? Panthers are frequently introduced into the painted tombs of Etruria, as figurative guardians of the dead, being probably sacred to Mantus, the Hades of the Etruscans. The boys on horseback I take to be emblematical of the passage of tlie soul into another state of existence, as is clearly the case in many cinerary urns of later date ; and the figure with the hammer is probably intended for the Charon of the Etruscans. There is nothing of an Egyptian character in the faces of the men, as in some of the oldest monuments of Etruria, where the figures have more or less of the Egyptian physiognomy, according ^ These havlequin figures are not unique. They have been found also in a painted tomb at Cervetri, and to a lesser extent are to be seen in the tombs of Tarquinii, where, however, they cannot pretend to so high an antiquity. CHAP. II.] INTEEPEETATION OF THESE PAINTINGS. 37 to their degree of antiquity. The features here on the contrary are very rudely drawn, and quite devoid of any national i^ecu- liarity, seemmg rather like untutored efforts to portray the human face divine.^ Indeed, in this particular, as well as in the uncouth representations of flowers interspersed with the figures, and of the same parti-coloured hues, there is a great resemhlance to the paintings on early Doric vases— nor would it he diflEicult to find points of analogy with Assyrian reliefs on the one hand, and with Mexican paintings on the other. The sphinx, though with an Egyptian coiffure, has none of that character in other respects, for the Egyptians never represented this chimsera with wmgs, nor of so attenuated a form. The land of the Nile how- ever may be seen in the ornamental border of lotus-flowers, emblematical of immortality, which surmounts the figures. On either side of this tomb, and projecting from the walls, is a bench of rock about two feet and a half high, on each of which, when the tomb was opened, lay a skeleton ; but exposure to the air caused them very soon to crumble to dust. One of these had been a warrior, and on the right-hand bench you still see portions of the breast-plate, and the helmet entire, which once encased his remams. Observe the helmet — it is a plain bronze casque of the simplest form. On one side of it is a hole, which seems by the indentation of the metal to have been caused by a hard blow. Turn the casque about and you will observe on the opposite side a gash, evidently formed by the point of a sword or lance from within ; proving this to have been the fatal Avound which deprived the wearer of life. " Through teeth and skull and helmet So fierce a thrust was sped, The good sword stood a hand-breadth out Behind the Tuscan's head." On the same bench you see the iron head, much corroded, and the bronze rest of a spear — it may be the very weapon which inflicted the death-wound. And how long since may that be ? If it were not subsequent to the decorations 'of the tomb — and the fact of this warrior being laid out on one of the rock-hewn benches, goes far to prove him one of its earliest occupants— it must have been in very remote antiquity. The most untutored eye can perceive at a glance that the paintings belong to a very early age of the world. After having carefully studied every 1 The woodcut on p. 34 fails to give the strange rudeness of the features. O O n 1 1 38 YEII. — The Cemetery. [chap. II. other painted tomb now oj^en in Etruria, I have not a moment's hesitation in asserting, that this is in point of antiquity pre- eminent ; and, I believe, that few other tombs in Italy, though unpainted, have any claim to be considered anterior to it. Its great antiquit}' is confirmed by its contents, all of which are of the most archaic character. Campana was of opinion that if it did not precede the foundation of Eome it was at least coeval with that event. I am not inclined to assign to it an inferior antiquity." The wall within the doorway is built up with masoniy of very rude character, uncemented, belonging to an age prior to the invention of the arch ; for the door is formed of blocks gra- dually converging towards the top, as in the oldest Euroj)ean architecture extant — in the st3de of the Cj'clopean gateways of Greece and Italy — those mysteries of unknown antiquity. On one side of the door indeed there is some approximation to the arch — cuneiform blocks like voussoirs, and one also in the place of a key-stone; but if this be not mere accident, as might be supposed from the blocks not holding together as in a true arch, it shows merely a transition period, when, though somewhat of - It is now universally admitted that the decorations of this tomb are the earliest works yet kno\^^l of Etruscan wall-paint- ing. It is more easy, however, to deter- mine their relative antiquity, than to fix their precise date. Though there are features unquestionably oriental, there is here no imitation of the Egyptian, all is genuinely national, and characteristic of the primitive Etruscan school. Dr. Helbig, of the Archteological Institute of Eome, says of these paintings, ' ' The design is rude, and shows a want of deci- f;iou almost childish. The bodies of the beasts are all out of ijroportion. The artist could not express the finer parts of the human form, such as the fingers, and the eye, which is represented without a pupil, and in two of the figures is out of its proper place ; nor in the countenances is there any variety of form and expression. The influence of archaic Greek art is clearly distinguishable. The bodies of the men are delineated according to the same laws of style which we find in the Corinthian and Attic vases." Ann. Inst. 1863, pp. 337—341. Dr. H. Brunn, of Munich, cannot admit that these paintings show the tnie archaic Greek style, and is of opinion that the nideness and defects of the design, which he would ascrilje rathei- to the unskilfulness of the individual artist, than to the imperfect develojDment of the art, give them an appeai-ance of higher antiquity than really belongs to them. He does not, however, dispute that they are the earliest works of pictorial art yet discovered in Etruria. Ann. Inst. 1866, p. 418. Few painted tombs have been discovered in Greece. One in the island of iEgina has only four figures sketched in charcoal on the walls of rock, representing a Bacchic dance. The style is free and masterly. Several i^ainted tombs also have been found at Psestum, a few at Cyrene in Libya, and some also in Lycia. Pausanias (VII. c. 22) describes one near the city of Tritfea, l^ainted by Nicias, the Athenian, "On an ivory chair sits a young woman of great beauty ; before her stands a maid-servant, holding an umbrella, and a youth quite beardless is standing by, clad in a tunic and a purple cJdamys over it, and by him stands a slave with some javelins in his hand, leading dogs such as are used by hunters. We were not able to divine their names ; but we all alike conjectured that here a husband and wife were interred in the same sepiulchre. " CHAP. II.] GEEAT ANTIQUITY OF THIS TOMB. 39 the principle of the arch was comprehended, it was not brought to perfection. Now as there is every reason to believe that the arch was known to, and practised by, the Etruscans at a very early period, prior to the reign of the Tarquins, when the Cloacas of Kome were constructed, it is obvious that the masonry in this tomb indicates a very high antiquit}^ The skeleton on the other bench was probably that of the wife of this warrior, as no weapons or armour were found on the couch. But these were not the sole occupants of the tomb. The large jars on the floor were found to contain human ashes, probably of the dejDendents of the family ; if so, they would indicate that, among the Etruscans of that age, to bury was more honourable than to burn — or at least they prove that both modes of sepulture were practised at a very early period. There are four of these jars (see the annexed woodcut), about three feet high, of dark brown earthenware, and ornamented with patterns in relief or colours; also several smaller jars of quaint, squat form, with archaic figures painted in the earliest style of Greek art, representing in one instance a dance of Bacchanals.'^ A bronze i:)rafericidum or ewer, and a light candclahrmn of ver}' simple form, stand on the bench, by the warrior's helmet. Several bronze speech], or mirrors, and small figures of men CINERARY JAK, GROTTA CA3IPANA. •^ This is some of tlie earliest painted pottery of Veii, and is very similar to that found at Caere. That of purely Etruscan mauufacture, peculiar to Yeii, consists of vases and jars of similar description, of l^lain black or brown ware, but with figures scratched upon the clay when wet, or else moulded in very low relief. Such plain ware is the most abundant on tliis site ; painted vases are comparatively rare. Those in the archaic style with animals and chimceras are sometimes of extraor- dinary size, larger than any Pauathenaic vases. There ai'e also some with black figures in the archaic style, and even with red figures on a black ground, sometimes of a noble simplicity ; yet, in spite of the beauty of conception and design, the ri- gidity and severity of the early school are never wholly lost. We may hence infer that vase-painting had not reached its per- fection when Veii was captured. This is a fact worthy of attention as tending to fix the era of the art. For as Veii was taken in the year of Rome 358, and re- mained uninhabited and desolate till the commencement of the Empire, we have sure gi'ounds for ascribing all the pottery found in its tombs to a period prior to 396 B.C. For a description of the vases of Veii, see " Descrizione de' Vasi dell' Isola Farnese, &c., di Secondiano Campanari, Roma, 1839," with a review of the same in Bull. Inst, 1840, pp. 12—16. Also Micali, Mon. Ined., p. 156, et seq. tav. XXVII. ; and p. 242, tav. XLI. 40 VEIL — The Cemeteet. [chap. II. or gods in terra- cotta, and of animals in amber, were also found in the tomb. Of similar description is the furniture of the inner and smaller chamber. The ceiling has two beams carved in relief ; showing that even at a very early period Etruscan tombs were imita- tions of the abodes of the living. A low ledge of rock runs round three sides of the chamber, and on it stand as many square cinerary urns or chests of earthenware, about eighteen inches long and a foot high, each with an overhanging lid, and a man's head projecting from it, as if for a handle ; probably intended for a i^ortrait of him whose ashes are stored in the urn^ (see the annexed woodcut). On the same ledge are eight tall jars, some plain, others painted — banded red and j^ellow. Two stand in pans of terra-cotta, with a rim of animals of archaic form, beautifully executed in relief. There are other smaller jars or vases, all probably of cinerary character. In the cen- tre of the apartment stands a low brazier of bronze, nearly two feet in diameter ; which must have served for burning per- fumes to destroy the effluvium of the sepulchre. The walls of this inner chamber are un- painted, save opposite the doorway, where six disks or "crowns," as]Campana calls them, are represented as suspended. They CINERARr URN, GROTTA CAMPANA. ■* Such urns as tliis are almost the only specimens yet found of the fictile statuary for which Veii was of old renowned, though a few a ntefixai and decorated tiles have been brought to light. The fictile quadrlfja made at Veii by order of Tar- quinius Superbus was, like the Palladium, one of the seven sacred things, on the preservation of which the power and safety of Rome were believed to depend — the others being, Cybele's needle, the ashes of Orestes, Priam's sceptre, Ilione's veil, and the Salian bucklers. Serv. ad ^n. VII. 188. The legend of the quadriga is worth recording. Tarquin had bespoken one or more such cars of earthenware to adorn the i)edinient of his new temple on the Capitoline, according to the Etruscan fashion in architecture ; but the clay, nstead of shrinking as usual, swelled so as to burst the mould, and not to be extracted from the furnace ; and the Etruscan sooth- sayers interpreting this as betokening in- crease of dominion to the jDossessor, the chariot was retained at Veii. Shortly after, however, a chariot-race Avas held at this city, and the victor having received his crown was leaving the arena, when his horses suddenly took fright, and dashed off at full speed towards Rome ; nor did they stof) till the,v arrived at the foot of the Capitol, where they threw out and killed their driver at the gate, afterwards called from his name, Ratumena. Whereon the Veientes, terrified at this second portent, gave up the earthen quadrUja to the Romans. Plut. Publicola. Festus v. Ra- tumena. Plin. H. N. VIII. 65. XXVIII. 4. XXXV. 45. CHAP. 11.] ANALOGY BETWEEN TOMBS AND HOUSES. 41 are fifteen inches in diameter, and are painted with a mosaic- work of various colours, bLack, blue, red, yellow, and grey, in such small fragments, and with such an arrangement, as if they were copies of some kaleidoscopic effect. Thej^ are too small for shields ; and the whole disk being filled with colour, precludes the idea of crowns or chaplets. They were probably intended for 2)atcr(ii or drinking-bowls, and the colour may indicate some style of ornamentation of which no examples have come down to us." Above them are many stumps of iron nails, formerly supporting vases, the originals, it ma}^ be, of these painted disks ; and around the door between the two chambers are many similar traces of nails. It was a common custom to suspend vessels, and jugs of terra-cotta or bronze in this manner in Etruscan tombs ; but, as no fragments of such were found at the foot of the wall, it is probable that something of a more perishable nature, or so valuable as to have been removed by previous spoilers, was here suspended. At the entrance of this double-chambered tomb, and opening on the same passage, is another small tomb, evidentl}^ an appen- dage to the family-vault, and apparently of more recent formation. It is the porter's lodge to this mansion of the dead — and not metaphorically so, for Etruscan tombs being generally imitations of houses, the analogy may be concluded to hold throughout ; and these small chambers, of which there are often two, one on each side of the ostium, or doorway, answer to the celluhe janitoris, or ostiarii — not here within the entrance, as usual in Roman houses, but just outside— ^anito)' ante fores — and it is highly probable that the lions here found were in place of the dog in domestic houses — ciistos liminis — Cave caneml Here were probably interred the slaves of the family, who were fre- quently buried at the doors of their masters' sepulchres. This little chamber has a bench of rock on one side, on which are rudely carved the legs of a couch, Avith a liypopodium or long low stool beneath it; representing respectively the banqueting- couch and accompanying stool, so often pictured on the walls of Etruscan tombs. The body was probably extended on its rocky bier without coffin or sarcophagus. No vestiges of it, or of its habiliments, now remain— nothing beyond sundry small articles of pottery, perfume-vases, drinking-cups, plates, ^ The analogy of a plilala with similar Corneto, leaves no doubt that these disks decorations, depicted in the hands of a were intended to represent drinking-ciips. banqueter in the Grotta della Pulcella, at 42 VEIL — The Cemetehy. [chap. ii. bowls, and bronze miiTors — the usual furniture of Etruscan sepulchres. The rock out of -which these tombs are hewn is not tufo, but an arenaceous clay, of greyish-brown hue, indurating by exposure to the ail'. This is a fair specimen of the Etruscan tombs found at Veii, though in general they have not more than a single chamber. Sometimes they are formed with a rounded, sometimes with a gabled ceiling, always alike hewn out of the rock. One peculiarity' of this sepulchre remains to be noticed. In most Etruscan tombs there is some inscription, either on sar- cophagus, or urn, on cippus, or tile, or it may be on the inner walls, or external facade ; but to whom this belonged, no epitaph, no inscription whatever, remains to inform us. Here was interred some bold but unfortunate chieftain, some Veientine Lucumo, not less brave, not less worthy, it may be, of having his name pre- served, than Achilles, Ulysses, ^neas, or half the heroes of antiquity ; but he had no bard of fame to immortalise his deeds. " Vain was the chief's, the hero's pride 1 He had no poet — and he died ; In vain he fought, in vain he bled ! — He had no poet — and is dead." More than this we know not of him. His deeds may have been sung by some native Homer — some compatriot may have chronicled his valour with the elegance and poetic lire of a Livy, or the dignified pen of a Tacitus, but they and their works have alike perished with him. It might be that his renown was so great that it was deemed a vain thing to raise a monumental stone — his deeds spoke for him — they were such as his friends and admiring countrymen fondly imagined could never die ; so they laid him out on his rocky bier, fresh, it would seem, from the battle-field, with his battered panoply for a shroud, and there "They left him alone with his glory." THE ANIO A.NB PONTE SALARO. CHAPTER IIL CASTEL GIUBILEO.— i^/i)^:^^£'. .... tot vacuas iirbes ! — Lucan. Revolving, as we rest on tlie gi-een turf, The changes from that hour when He from Troy "Went up the Tiber. Rogkks. If from Yeii the traveller follow the course of the Cremera for five or six miles it will lead him to the Tiber, of which it is a tributar3\ In the cliffs of the lonely but beautiful ravine through which it flows he will observe in several places sepulchral caves, particularly at the end nearer Veil ; and on reaching the mouth of the glen, he will have, on the right, the ruin-capt heights which are supposed by Nibby and Gell to have been the site of the Castle of the Fabii. Exactly opposite the mouth of this glen, and on the other bank of the Tiber, rises the hill which was once crowned bj^ the city of Fidense. This, though beyond the bounds of Etruria Proper, being on the left bank of the Tiber, was an Etruscan cit3%^ and in all probability a colony of Veil ; for Livy speaks of the consanguinity of the inhabitants of the two cities, though ' Liv. I. 15. Strab. V., p. 226. Plutarch lUomul.) says Frdeuffi was claimed by Veii. 44 FIDEN^. [chap. hi. some writers assign to it a Latin origin.- It seems at least to liave been dependent on Yeii, and was frequently associated with lier in opposition to Rome. Its history, indeed, save that on several occasions it fell into the hands of the Eomans, is almost identical witli that of Veii. The traveller who AS'ould visit the site of Fidenae had better do so from Rome ; for unless, like Cassius, he be prepared to '• leap into the angry flood And swim to j^onder point,"' he will find no means of crossing " the troubled T3^ber ; " and rapid and turbulent is the current at this point, as it was in ancient times.^ It is but a short excursion — only five miles — from Rome, and the road lies across a very interesting part of the Campagna. There are indeed two roads to it. One, the carriage road, runs direct from the Porta Salara, and follows the line of the ancient Via Salaria. But the traveller on foot or horseback should quit the Eternal City by the Porta del Popolo, and leaving the Florence road on the left, take the path to the Acqua Acetosa. Here a green hill — one of those bare, square table-lands, so com- mon in the Campagna — rises on the right. Ascend it where a broad furrow in the slope seems to mark the line of an ancient road. You are on a plateau, almost quadrangular in form, rising steeply to the height of nearl}?^ two hundred feet above the Tiber, and isolated, save at one angle where it is united to other high ground bj*^ a narrow isthmus. Not a tree — not a shrub on its turf- grown surface — not a house — not a ruin — not one stone upon another, to tell j'ou that the site had been inhabited. Yet here once stood Antemnte, the city of many towers — turrigerae An- temnre," — one of the most ancient of Ital}'. — • Antemnaqiie prisco Crustumio prior.^ - Dionysius (11., p. 116) says that ordinary confusion between the Tuscans and Fidcnte was originally a colony of Alba, Tyrrhenes. Miiller (Etrus. Einl. 2. 14) formed at the same time as Nomentuui thinks there must have been in the and Crustumeria. Virgil, Mn. VI. 773. population of Fidenaj the same three Steph, iJyz. sub voce. Solinus (Polyhistor, elements as in that of Rome — Etruscans, II., p. 13) says it was .settled by Ascanius Latins, and Sabines. Livy (I. 27) makes himself. According to Plutarch (Romu I.), it clear that tlie native language of the Fidenas, in the time of Romulus, wjis Fidenates was not Latin, possessed by the Sabines. Niebuhr (IL, ^ Dionysius (IIL p. 165) notices this fact. p. 455, trans.) thinks the Fidenates were * Viig. ^n. VII. 631. originally Tyrrheni, and that when Livy ° Sil. Ital. YIII. 37. cf. Dion. Hub calls them Etruscans, it is through the II., p. 103. CHAP. III.] COIPAGNA SCENES AND SOUNDS. 45 Not a trace remains above ground. Even the broken pottery, that infallible indicator of bygone civilisation, which marks the site and determines the limits of habitation on many a now deso- late spot of classic ground, is here so overgrown with herbage that the e3'e of an antiquary would alone detect it. It is a site strong by nature, and well adapted for a city, as cities then were ; for it is scarcely larger than the Palatine Hill, which, though at first it embraced the whole of Rome was afterwards too small for a single palace. It has a peculiar interest as the site of one of the three cities of Sabina, whose daughters, ravished by the followers of Eomulus, became the mothers of the Roman race.^ Antemnee was the nearest city to Rome — only three miles distant — and therefore must have suffered most from the inhospitable violence of the Romans. It was a bright spring morning when I first visited the spot. All Rome Avas issuing from its gates to Avitness the meeting of the huntsmen at the tomb of Ctecilia Metella. Shades of Flaccus and Juvenal ! can ye rest amid the clangour of these modern Circenses ? Doth not the earth weigh heavy on 3'our ashes, Avhen "savage Britons," Avhom ye Avere Avont to see "led in chains down the Sacred AVay," flaunt haughtily among your hearths and altars ? — Avhen, spurning the sober pleasures of the august and solemn cit}', in the pride of their wealth and poAver, they startle all Rome from its propriety by races and fox-hunts, awakening miAvonted echoes among the old sepulchres of the Appian Way, and the ruined aqueducts of the Campagna ? Here, beyond the echo of the tallj'-ho, I lay down on the gTeen SAvard and gave myself up to enjoj^ment. Much Avas there to afford delight — the brightness and beaut}" of the scene — the clear blue sk}' — the genial Avarmth of the sun, by no means oppres- siA^e, but just giving a foretaste of his summer's might — there Avas the interest of this and other sites around — and there Avas Livy in my hand. No one can thoroughly enjoy Italy Avithout him for a companion. There are a thousand sites and scenes which might be passed by A\dthout interest, but which, once touched b}' the Avand of this magician, rise immediately into life and beauty. Be he more of a romancer than historian — I care not ; but prize Mm as among the first of Roman ijoets. To read him thus, reclining on the sunny sward, with all the infiu- ^ Liv. I. 9, 10; Dionys. II., p. 101 ; Plut. Romul. The other two were Csenina and Crustumium. 46 FIDEN^. [CHAP. III. ences of nature congenial, and amid the scenes he has described, was perfect luxury. Here no sound — Conf usee sonus virbis et illEetabile murmur — told of the proximity of the city. Eome seldom, save on great festive occasions, raises her voice audibly. Never does she roar tempestuously like London, nor buzz and rustle like Paris or Naples — at the most she utters what Carlyle would call, " an inarticulate slumberous mmnblement." " The City's voice itself is soft, like Solitude's." She is verily more " blessed " in the want than in the x)ossession of the "noise and smoke" of Horace's time. — Omitte mirari beataj Fumum et opes strepitumque Eomte. Far beneath me, at the foot of the steep cliff which bounds Antemnre to the north, flowed the Anio, not here the "head- long" stream it shows itself at Tivoli, and higher up its course/ but gliding soberly along to lose itself in the Tiber." Beyond it, stretched a long level tract of meadow -land, dotted with cattle ; and, bounding this, a couple of miles or more distant, rose another eminence crested b}^ some building and jutting out from the adjoming heights till it almost overhung the Tiber. This was Castel Giubileo, the site of the ancient Fidenffi. On the low hills to the right, Eomulus, when at war with that cit}', laid his successful ambush.^ But in the intervening plain was fought the desperate conflict between the Romans and the allied forces of the Veientes and Fidenates, in the reign of Tullus Hostilius. "With Livy's vivid page before me, it required little imagination to people the scene anew, and to picture the Romans encamped at the confluence of the streams at my feet, and the ai'mj of Yeii crossing the Tiber, and joinmg the troops of Fidense in yonder plain. Tullus Hostilius marches his forces along the Tiber to the encounter. Mettus Fuffetius, his alh', the leader 7 "PrsEceps Anio." Hor. I. Od. 7, qui Anio infliiit in TiVierim." cf. Serviiis 13. Statins, Silv. I., 5, 25. (ad Mn. VII. 631) and Festiis (v. Am- ^ Varro (de Ling. Lat. V. 2S) says the nenses). name of tlie city was derived from its " Li v. I. 14. Dion. Hal. IT., p. 117. I>osition. "Antemnffi, quOrl ante amnem Pint. Romul. Frontin. Strat. II. 5. 1. CHAP. III.] SITE OF ANTEIklN^. 47 of the Albans, msditating treachery, and willmg to throw his weight into the heavier scale, is creeping up the hills on the right, where with his army he remains a spectator of the combat, till fortune befriends the Romans. Here I see the Fidenates flying back to defend their city; and there the Veientes are driven into the Tiber, or cut down in numbers on its banks. And I shudder to behold in imagination the terrible vengeance inflicted by the victorious Roman upon his treacherous ally.' On the same field was fought many a bloody fight between the Romans and Etruscans. Here, in the year of Rome 317, the Fidenates, Avith their allies of Veil and Falerii, were again defeated, and Lars Tolumnius, chief of the Yeientes, was slain. ^ And a few j^ears later, Mamilius ^Emilius and Cornelius Cossus, the heroes of the former fight, routed the same foes in the same plain, and captured the cit}' of Fidenre.^ Here too, Annibal pitched his camp when he marched from Capua to surprise the City.^ I turned to the right, and there, at the foot of the hill, the Ponte Salaro, a venerable relic of antiquity, spanned the Anio. It may be the identical structure which, in the year of Rome 393, was the scene of many a fierce encounter between the Romans and Gauls encamped on opposite banks of the stream, and on which Manlius Torquatus did combat with the gigantic Celt who had defied the Roman host, and like another David, smote his Goliath to the dust.'^ I turned to the left, and the ruins on the further bank of the Tiber marked the supposed site of the Castle of the Fa^ni ; nearer still several crumbling towers indicated the course of the Flaminian Way ; and yon cave at the base of a cHif was the cele- brated tomb of the Nasones. Further down the Tiber was the Ponte MoUe, the scene of Constantine's battle with Maxentius, and of the miracle of the flaming cross. On every hand was some object attracting the eye by its picturesque beauty, or exciting the mind to the contemplation of the past. The Ponte Salaro is on the line of the ancient Yio, Salaria, the high road to Fidenpe. It is a very fine bridge, of three arches ; the central one, eighty feet in span, and about thirty above the 1 Liv. I. 27, 28. cf. Dion. Hal. III., ^ Liv. IV. 32, 33, 34. p. 161—172. Flor. I. 3. Val. Max. * Liv. XXVI. 10. VII. 4. 1. Eunius, Ann. II. 30, et seq. * Liv. VII. 9, 10. Serv. ad JEn. VI. A. Vict., Vir. III., IV. 825. Aul. Gell. IX. 13. cf. Dio Cassias, - Liv. IV. 17, 18, 19. Excerp. Mai, torn. II. p. 530. From Sir jr. Gell. PLAN OF FlDENiE. CHAP. III.] SITE OF THE ANCIENT CITY. 49 stream ; tlie side ones stilted, and not more than twelve feet in span. The structure is faced with travertine ; but this indicates the repairs made by Narses in the sixth century after Christ ; the original masonry, which is uncovered in parts, is of tufo, in the Etruscan st3'le, and may possibl}^ be of Etruscan con- struction ; as it may be presumed were man}- of the public edifices of Rome and her territory for the first few centuries of her existence. Its masonr}'^ is rusticated, and in the arrangement and dimensions of the blocks precisely similar to that of the ancient Avails at Sutri, Nepi, Civita Castellana, Bieda and other Etruscan sites in the southern district of the land.^ Just beyond the bridge is an osteria, in Avhat was once a Roman sepulchre, where he Avho foots it to Fidenffi may refresh himself with decent wine. The road runs through the meadows for a couple of miles to Castel Giubileo. In the low hills to the right are caves, which have been tombs. Just before Fidenae, at a bend in the road, stands the Villa Spada, the height above which is supposed to be the site of the Villa of Phaon, the scene of Nero's suicide. The first indications of the ancient city are in the cliffs on the right of the road, in Avhich are remains of tombs with niches, and a sewer, all excavated in the rock beneath the city-walls — walls, I say, but none exist, and the outline of the city is to be traced only b}' the character of the ground and the extent of tlie fragments of pottery. The height above the tombs bears these une(iuivocal traces of bygone habitation ; and at certain j^arts on the edge of the cliffs are remains of opus incertum, probably of some Roman villa. The hill of Castel Giubileo, on the other hand, has also formed part of the city, and its steep, lofty, and isolated character leaves little room to doubt that here Avas the Arx of Fidenae. A larm-house now crests its summit, raised to that elevation for protection, not from man's attack, but from a more insidious foe, the malaria of the Campagna. The ancient Via Salaria, Avhose course the modern road follows, passed between these tAvo eminences, as does the railroad, that is, through the very heart of Fidense. In the cliff beneath the farm-house is another tomb. The whole face of the steep, \Then I first visited it, was frosted over with the bloom of Avild pear- trees, and tinted Avith the flowers of the Judas-tree — *■ This briilge was? bloNvn up in 1867, portion now remaining of the ancient when Garibaldi was threatening Rome, and structure, has been rebuilt, the i^iers being the only AOL. I. T? .50 FIDEN^. [chap. in. '• One white empurpled shower Of mingled' blossoms." Had the whole of the city been comprehended on this height^ it would be easy to understand Livy's description; "the city^ lofty and well-fortified, could not be taken by assault; " ^ but as. it also covered the opposite eminence, the walls which united them must have descended in two places, almost to the level of the plain. These were the vulnerable points of Fidenje, and to them was i:)erhaps owing its frequent capture. It seems probable, from the nature of the position, that the earliest town was confined to- the height of Castel Giubileo. Yet, in this case, Fidense would scarcely answer the description of Dionysius, Avho says, " it was a great and populous city " in the time of Eomulus.^ This was doubtless meant in a comparative sense, in reference to the neigh- bouring towns. Fidenae, however, could never have been of great size or importance. It was little more than two miles in circuit.. Its vicinity to and frequent contests with Rome gave it a jn-o- minence in history, to which, from its inferior size and power, it was hardly entitled. Making the circuit of Castel Giubileo, you are led round till you meet the road, where it issues from the hollow at the northern angle of the city.^ Besides the tombs which are found on both sides of the southern promontory of the citj', there i& a cave, running far into the rock, and branching off into several chambers and passages. Fidenre, like Veii, is said to have been taken b}' a mine ; ^ and this cave might be supposed to indicate the spot, had not Livy stated that the cituiculus was on the opposite side of Fidenje, where the cliffs were loftiest, and that it was carried into the Arx. The chief necropolis of Fidens was probably on the heights to the north-east, called Poggio de' Sette Bagni, where are a number of caves ; and here, also, are traces of quarries, perhaps those of the soft rock for Avhich Fidense was famed in ancient times." The ruin of Fidenpe is as complete as that of Antemnse. The hills on which it stood are now bare and desolate ; the shepherd tends his flocks on its slopes, or the plough furrows its bosom. Its walls have utterly disappeared ; not one stone remains on ^ Liv. IV. 22. more expres.«ly by Li^-y (IV. 22). ^ Dion. Ilal. II., p. IK). ' Liv. loc. cit. Dionysiu.s (III., p. ISO) *• This is the steepest and most im- mentions a prior capture of Fidenro by pregnable side of Fiilente, and as such is Ancns Martins by means of a rmiiciiltis.' referred to by Dionysius (V., p. 310), and - Vitiuv. II. 7. Tlin. XXXVI. 4S. CHAP. iii.J HISTORY OF FIDEX.E. of anotlier, and the broken pottery and the tombs around are the sole evidences of its existence. Yet, as Nibby observes, " few ancient cities, of which few or no vestiges remain, have had the good fortune to have their sites so well determined as Fidense." Its distance of forty stadia, or five miles from Rome, mentioned by Dionysius,^ and its position relative to Yeii, to the Tiber, and to the confluence of the Anio witli that stream, as set forth by Livy,* leave not a doubt of its true site. The history of Fidenje is a series of struggles with Rome, of captures and rebellions, if the efi'orts of a people to free them- selves from a foreign and unwelcome yoke may be thus designated. We have no less than eight distinct captures of it recorded.^ Livy sneeringly remarks, "it was almost more often captured than attacked." ° It was first taken by Romulus, and by him made a Roman colony; and such it continued, save at intervals when it threw off the yoke, till its final capture and destruction in the 3'ear of Rome 328.'^ Its destruction was an act of policy on the part of Rome. She had experienced so much annoyance from the towns in her immediate neighbourhood, especially from Fidense, which she had subdued again and again, and re-colonised Avith Romans, but which, from the hostility of the Etruscan inhabi- tants, was ever a thorn in her side, that to rid herself of these foes at her very gates, she destroyed or suffered to fall into decay Fidense, Antemnse, Veii, and other towns of the Campagna. The destruction of Fidense was complete, and in after ages its desolation became a bye-word. Gabiis desertior atque Fidenis vicus.** Yet its site seems to have been inhabited in the time of Cicero,'^ and still later it was a village, or more probably onl}- the site of some private villa.^ Under the Empire it seems to have risen in ' Dion. Hal. II., p. 116; III., p. 167; neigliboni-ing people, suddenly rising, and and X., p. 648. Strabo V., p. 2-30. striking such terror into the Romans, that ■• Liv. I. 14, 27; IV., 17, 21, 31, 32, they commemorated the event ever after by 33, 34; see also Dionysiiis III. pp. 165, a public festival on the Nones of July, called 181,191,193. ' ' Poi ulif ugia " or " Poplifugia." Varro * See the Appendix to this Chapter. de L. L. VI. 18. Macrob. Saturn. III. 2. * Liv. IV. 32, — prope saepius captas Dionysius, however (II., p. 118), gives a quam oppugnatas. different version of the origin of this 7 Floras (I. 12) speaks of it as having festival. been burnt by its inhabitants. Yet not ** Hor. I. Epist. XL 7. many years after, shortly after the Gauls ^ Cic. de Leg. Agrar. II. 35. had evacuated Rome, we hear of the Fide- ^ Strabo V., pp. 226, 230. nates, in conjunction with some of the E 2 o2 FIDEN^Ii]. [CHAP. III. importance, for an amphitheatre of wood was erected there, in the reign of Tiberius, which gave way during the performance, and twenty, or as some accounts say, fifty thousand persons were mutilated or crushed to death by its ruins. It must not, how- ever, be su]3posed that such was the population of Fidenae in those times, for Tacitus states that a great concourse had flocked thitlier from Rome, the more abundant from the propinquity of the place." Though there are few local antiquities — little more than asso- ciations of the olden time — remaining at Fideme, the scenery should alone be sufficient to attract the visitor to the spot. From these heights j^ou look down on "the yellow Tiber" winding through the green valley — rafts floating down its stream, and buffaloes on its sandy banks, slaking their thirst, or revelling in its waters. That opening in the cliffs on its opposite bank is the glen of the Cremera, whose waters, oft dyeing the Tiber with crimson, told the Fidenates of the struggles between their kins- men of Veii and the common foe. Those ruins on the cliff above the glen are supposed to mark the site of the Castle of the Fabii, that band of heroes, who, like Leonidas and his Spartans, devoted themselves to their country, and fell in her cause. Further, in the same direction, yon distant tree-capt mound points out the site of Veii ; it is the tumulus of Vaccareccia. On the high ground to the left may be recognised the palace at Isola Farnese, and the inn of La Storta ; and the solitar}^ towers at intervals between this and Rome, mark the line of the Via Cassia. There you see the undulating heights around the lake of Bracciano ; and the grey head of the Ciminian beyond ; the tufted cone of Monte Musino ; and that pyramid of Nature's raising, Soracte, rarely now snow-capt as in da3"S of yore, but towering in dark and lonely grandeur from the plain. Do you seek for snow ? — turn to the range of Apennines, whose frozen masses are glittering like ice- bergs in the sun, piled above nearer and darker heights, among which Monte Gennaro, the "Lucretilis amoenus" of Horace, stands prominent ; and at its feet Tivoli, ever dear to the poet — " Sit mca3 sedes utiuam senectoj I "' — sparkles out from the dense olive-groves. There, where the purple range sinks to the i)lain, "cool Prseneste " climbs the steep with lier Cyclopean walls. Here, as 3'our eye sweeps over - Tacit. Ann. iv. C2, 63 ; cf. Siicton, Tiber. 40. CHAP. III.] PANOEAMA OP THE CAMPAGXA. 53 the bare Campagna, it passes the site of maii}^ a city, renowned in the early history of Italy, hut now, like Fidenae and Antemnse, in utter desolation, and lost to the common eye.^ And there, on the slope of the Alban, that most graceful of mountains, with its soft flowing outlines and long drawn swells, still brightened by towns — once stood Alba, the fostermother, and rival of Kome ; Tusculum with its noble villas and its Academy, where the greatest of Romans lived, wrote, debated, taught, and where " Still the eloquent air breathes, burns, with Cicero ; '' — and from its highest peak shone the Temple of Jove, the common shrine of the Latin cities, a worthy altar to the King of Heaven. Then, after again sweeping the surface of the wide Campagna, strewn in this quarter with league-long lines of ruined aqueducts, with crumbling tombs, and many a monument of Roman gran- deur, your e3'e reaches at length the Imperial City herself. She is in great part concealed by the intervening Pincian, but you catch sight of her most prominent buildings — the pinnacled statues of St. John Lateran, the tower and cupolas of Sta. Maria Maggiore, and the vast dome of St. Peter's ; and you look in imagination on the rest from the brow of Monte Mario, which rises on the right, crested with dark cypresses and snow-white villas. APPENDIX TO CHAPTER III. Not]-:. Fidenae was taken, 1st, by Koniulus, who pursued the routed citizens within the gates. Liv. I., 14 ; Dion. Hal. IL, p. 116 ; Pint. Ronnil. The 2nd time by Tullus Hostilius, who reduced it by famine. Dion. Hal. III., p. 172. The 3r(l byAncus Martius, by means of a cuniculus. Dion. Hal. III., p. 180. The 4th by Tarquinius Priscus, by storm. Dion. Hal. III., p. 194. The 5th in the year of Pome 250, by the Consuls Valerius Poplicola, and Pucretius Tricipitinus, also by storm, Dion. Hal. V. p. 310. The Gth in the year 256, by the Consul Largius Flavus, by famine. Dion. Hal. v., p. 325. The 7tli in the j^ear 319, by the l)ictator A. Servilius Priscus, hy means of a cuniculus. Liv. IV., 22. The 8th, and last time, in the year 328, by the Dictator Mam. ^milius Mamercinus, in the same manner as it was first taken by Komulus (Liv. IV., 34), though Florus (I., 12) says it was set on fire by its own citizens. •'' Pliny (III. 9) enumerates fifty-three maining — interiere sine vcstiyiis ; among towns of ancient Latium, which in his day ' them were Antemnre and Fidense. Lad utterly perished, without a trace re- CHAPTER IV. MONTE MUSINO AND LAGO DI BEACCIANO. Nor rough nor barren are the winding ways Of hoar antiquity, but strewed with flowers. — T. Wauton. On Lough Neagh's banks as the fisherman strays, When the clear cokl eve's declining, He sees the round towers of other days In the wave beneath him shining. — Mooee. The next Etruscan town of an}' note in liistoiy northward from Veil was Sutrium, but there is an intervening district, containing several sites of that antiquit}', which merit the traveller's atten- tion. Moreover, this district possesses much geological interest, for it contains no less than four extinct craters, three of them now lakes, and one, the Lago Bracciano, the largest sheet of water in Etruria after the Thrasymene and the " great Volsinian mere." The high-road northwards from Storta pursues the line of the ancient Via Cassia, of which I was unpleasantl^y reminded by the large blocks of basalt which had formed the ancient pavement, and were now laid at intervals b}' the side of the road — jj?-o/i jniclor ! — to be Macadamised for the convenience of modern travellers. This is, alas, too often the case in Italy, where the spirit of utihtarianism is fully rife. If a relic of antiquity be convertible into cash, whether by sale or by exhibition, it meets with due attention ; but when this is not the case, nobod}- cares to preserve it — the very terms in Avhich it is mentioned are those of contempt — it is il pontaccio — or, le muraccia — and *' worth nothing ; " or, if it can be turned to any account, however base, the most hoary antiquit}' will avail it nought. Stones are torn from the spots the}-- have occupied twenty, or five-and-twenty centuries, where they served as corroborations of history, as elucidations of national customs, as evidences of long extinct civilisation, and as landmarks to the antiquary' — they are torn 'CUAP. IV.] GALEEA— BACCANO. 55 thence to be turned to some vile i)urpose of domestic or general convenience. This is not an evil of to-day. It existed mider the old governments of the Peninsula as fully as under that of Victor Emmanuel. Let us hope that a government which pro- fesses to reverence and prize memorials of the past, will put a stop to such barbarous spoliations and perversions ; or the ancient monuments of Italian greatness will ere long exist in Jiistory alone. Just after leaving La Storta, a road branches to the left towards Eracciano and its Lake. It follows nearly the line of the ancient Via Clodia, which ran through Sabate, Blera, and Tuscania, to €osa. The first station on that Way beyond Veil was Careise, fifteen miles from Kome, represented by the ruined and utterly deserted, but highly picturesque, village of Galera, which stands on a clifi^-bound rock, washed by the Arrone, about a mile off the modern road. The only mention of Careife is made by i'rontinus and the Itineraries, and there is no record of an Etruscan population here, yet there are said to be remains of ancient walls on the west of the town, and Etruscan tombs in the clifts around,^ The modern town dates from the eleventh century, and was a possession of the Orsini famil}^ whose abandoned castle with the tall camjyanile form the most pro- minent features in this scene of picturesque desolation. Two miles beyond La Storta bring j^ou to the Osteria del Fosso, a lonely waj^-side inn. The stream here crossed is that of I due Fossi, which washes the western walls of Veii. In the wood-hung clifts around are traces of Etruscan tombs, part of the necropolis of that city. Seven miles more over the bare undulating Campagna to Eaccano, the ancient Ad Baccanas, a place like many others in Italy, known to us only through the Itineraries, once a Eoman Mutatio, and now a modern post-house, situated in a deep hollo w% originally the crater of a volcano, and afterwards a lake, but drained in ancient times, b}' emissaries cut through the encircling hilLs. At the eighteenth milestone is one, cut through the rocky soil to the depth of about twenty feet, which Gell seems to think may have been formed in ancient times, but I believe it to be modern, and the w^ork of the Cliigi family, the territorial lords of Baccano.^ ^ Front, de Aquaed. II., p. 48. Gell, found that after receiving one or two II. r. Galeria. Nibby II., p. 92. streamlets, it loses altogether its artificial ^ I followed it for some distance, and character, and so continues till it finds oG MONTE MUSINO AND LAGO DI BEACCIANO. [chap. iv. Nothing like the Alban .Emissary now exists in the hollow. On the height however towards Home there are several cuniculi, which drain the water from an upper basin of the crater. They are carried through Monte Lupolo, a lofty part of the crater rim. Here are also a number of holes in the upper part of the hill, said to be of great depth, and called by the peasants " jJozzi," or wells ; probably nothing more than shafts to the emissaries. It was these passages that were mistaken by Zanchi for tlie cuuiculiis of Camillus, and which led him to regard this as the site of ancient Veil. The lake is now represented by a stagnant pond in the marshy bottom of the crater, which makes Baccano one of the most fertile spots in all Italy — in malaria. Fortunately for the landlord of La Posta, summer is not the travelling season, or his inn would boast its fair reputation in vain. This neighbourhood in the olden time was notorious for robbers, so that the " Diversorium Bacchanfe " passed into a proverb.'^ Let the traveller still be wary; though he be in no peril of assault, he may 3'et fall a victim to some 2>crjidus caupo, Avho thirsting for foreign spoil " expects his evening prey." In the ridge of the surrounding hills are several gaps, marking the spots by which ancient roads entered the crater. On Monte Bazzano, the hill above Baccano, are some ruins called, on dubious authority, Fanum Bacchi — though it is probable that the Roman mutatio derived its name from some such shrine. There is a large cave on the said Mount, which is vulgarh^ believed to contain hidden treasures. From the hills of Baccano, travellers coming from Florence are supposed to get their first view of Home. But the dome of St. Peter's may be distinctly seen in the Campagna horizon, from the Monte Cimino, a distance of forty miles, or twice as far as Baccano. Two miles to the north of Baccano, and to the right of the road to Florence, lies Campagnano ; the first view of which, with Soracte in the back-ground, is highl}' picturesque. It is a place of some size and importance, compared to other villages of the Campagna, and its position, and some caves in the neighbour- hood, seem to mark it as of Etruscan origin. A few Iloman remains are to be seen in the streets. a natural vent froiii tlie crater at Madonna but, as they all sink towards the lake, del Sorbo, three miles to the south-east of they cannot be emissaries : they are either Baccano, where it forms one of the sources natural clefts, or they have been sunk for of the Cremera. I observed other deep roads. clefts opening upon it, and running ^ Dempster, dc Etrur. Reg. II., p. 161. towards the mountains in the same quarter ; . cifAP. IV.] MONTE MUSING. 57 From Campagnano a path runs eastward, first througli vine- yards, and then across a wide valley of corn, to Scrofano, five miles distant. This is a small secluded village, also of Etruscan origin, for the cliffs around it, especially to the west, are full of tombs ; among them are several coluinharia. It lies at the foot of Monte Musino, that curious tufted hill which is seen from every part of the Campagna, and is thought to have been the site of ancient religious rites. The name Musino is generally supposed to be a corruption of the Ara Mutice, which was in the territory of Veii,* though some place the Ara at Belmonte, nearer the Flaminian Way.^ The hill is conical, of volcanic formation, the lower slopes being composed of ashes and scoritB, strewed with blocks of lava. It is ascended by broad terraces leading spirally to the summit, on which are the remains of a large circular structure, which, Gell suggests, may have been the Altar. There is also a large cavern near the summit, reported, like that of Monte Razzano, to contain great treasures ; access to which is said to be debarred by an iron grating — so far within the mountain, however, that no one can pretend to have seen it. The clump of oaks and chestnuts which tufts the hill-top, is sacred from the axe, though the wood on the slopes is cut from time to time ; and the only explanation of this which I could obtain, was, that the said clump preserves Scrofano from the sea-wind, which is deemed unhealthy. and that, were it cut, the Avind, instead of pursuing its course at a great elevation, would descend upon the devoted village.*^ This seems so unsatisfactory, that I cannot but regard it as a modern explanation of an ancient custom, the meaning of which has been lost in the lapse of ages and the change of religious faith. The immunity of the clump is in all probability a relic of the ancient reverence for a sacred grove. Gell justly remarks of the artificial terraces round this hill and the building on the sum- mit, that this extraordinary labour can only be accounted for by concluding the jilace was sacred. The analogy, indeed, of the winding road still extant, which led to the temple of Jupiter * Plin. 11. 98. Dempster (Etr. Reg. II. to the same writer (II. 98) the soil at the p. 140) thinks it should have been spelt Ara; Mutite was so xiecxiliarly tenacious, " Murcire," Murcia or Murtia being that whatever was thrust in could not be another name for the Etruscan Venus. extracted. Nardini (Veio Autico, p. 260) TertuUian, de Spect. cap. VIII. Pliny asserts that the same phenomenon is to be (XV. 36) derives the name of Murcia from observed on the slopes of Monte Musino. the myrtle, which was sacred to that * Westphal, Riim. Kamp., p. 135. Oroddess — ara vetus fuit Veneri Myrtew, ^ Gell (I,, p. 166) gives another version quam nunc Murcium vocant. According of this belief. ^8 MONTE MUSIXO AND LAGO DI BEACCIANO. [chap. iv. Latialis on the summit of tjie Alban Mount, is sufficient authoritj^ for such a conclusion. The terraces here, however, are too broad for simple roads ; the lower being sixty, the upjier forty feet in breadth. Gell imagines them to have been formed for the Salii, •or for the augurs of Veii — the rites of the former consisting in •dancing or running round the altar. The local tradition is, that the Monte was the citadel of Veii,^ though that city is confessed to be at least six miles distant, and it has hence received its vulgar appellation of La Fortezza ; and the cave is believed to be, the mouth of Camillus' cuniculus. The said ciinicidus is also to be seen — so say the village oracles — at a spot two miles distant, on the way to Isola Farnese, called Monte Sorriglio (or Soviglio), in a subterranean passage, wide enough for two waggons to pass, ■which runs eight miles under gi'ound to Prima Porta, on the Flaminian AVay, where Camillus is pronounced to have com- menced his mine. These things are onl}' worthy of mention as indicative of the state of local antiquarian knowledge, which the traveller should ever mistrust. In summer it is no easy matter to reach the summit of JNIonte Musino, on account of the dense thickets which cover its slopes. The view it commands, however, will repay any trouble in the ascent, which is easiest from Scrofano, whence the summit may he a mile distant. The most direct road to Scrofano from Pome is hy the Via Flaminia, which must be left to the right about a mile or more beyond Borghettaccio, where a path j^^^i'sues the banks of a stream up to the village. It may also be reached through Formello, either directly from the site of Yeii, whence it is six miles distant, or bj' a path which leaves the modern Via ■Cassia at the Osteria di Merluzzo, near the sixteenth milestone. From this spot it is about six miles to Scrofano. The ancient name of Scrofano is quite unknown. Its present appellation has no more dignified an origin than a sow (scrofa — l)ossibly from an ancient family of that name), *^ as appears from the arms of the town over one of the gateways, which display that unclean animal under a figure of San Biagio, the "Protector" ' Tliis tradition is proliably owing to tlie their dictum is naturally accepted by their recorded opinion of Cliiverius (Ital. Ant., Hocks, ^yho, indeed, should gainsay it ? 11., p. 530), that Scrofano was the site of "In a nation of blind men, the one-eyed 4incient Veii. Such traditions generally man is king, " says the Spanish ijroverb. originate with the priests, who often dabble '' Nibby (III. p. 77) records a derivation, in antiquarian matter.s, though rarely to which, as he says, " is not to be despised^" the advancement of science, being too —certainly not, if Monte Musino were much swayed by local prejudices, — and hallowed ground — Scrofano, « sao-o/nno. CHAr. IV.] SCROFANO— SABATE. 59 of the place. Almost the only relic of early times is a Roman <:i2)pus of marble under the Palazzo Serraggi. From Baccano, two tracks, cut in ancient times in the lip of the crater-lake, and retaining vestiges of Roman pavement, run westward to the lonesome little lakes of Stracciacappa, and Mar- tignano (Lacus Alsietinus), and thence continue to the spacious one of Bracciano (Lacus Sabatinus); branching to the riglxt to Trevignano and Oriolo, and to the left to Anguillara and Brac- ciano.^ The lake of Bracciano (Lacus Sabatinus), like every other in this district of Ital}', is the crater of an extinct volcano. It is nearly twenty miles in circuit, and though without islands, or other very striking features, is not deficient in beaut}'. Sabate, which gives its name to the lake, is not mentioned as an Etruscan town, though it was probably of that antiquit}-.^ It must have stood on or near the lake, though its precise site has been matter of disjnite. Bj' some it has been thought to have occupied the site of Bracciano, but at that town there are no vestiges or even traditions of antiquity, the earliest mention of it in histor}'' being of the fourteenth centur3\ Some have supposed it to have stood on the eastern shore, while others take it to be the city mentioned b}' Sotion as engulfed of old beneath the waters of the lake.^ It has been reserved for M. Ernest Desjardins, a learned and enterprising Frenchman, who has taken great pains to trace out the stations on the Viae Clodia and Cassia, to determine its true site. This is at Trevignano, a little village on the northern shore of the lake, lying at the foot of a rock of basalt, now crested b}' a mediaeval tower.'"^ M. Desjardins has arrived at this conclusion, both b}^ carefully working out the position of Sabate from the Itineraries, and by finding earl}' Etruscan remains on the spot. He noticed, on issu- ^ The"Sabatia stagna"of Silius Italicus Holstenius (aJ Cluver. p. 44) and West- (VIIL, 492) probably inchided the neigh- jjhal (p. 156) point out some ruins at a touring lakelets of llartignano and Strac- spot more than a mile beyond Bracciano, ciacappa. near S. Marciano or S. Liberate, as those 1 The earliest mention of it is in the year of Sabate, but Nibby declares them to be 367, after the fall of Yeii and Falerii, when the remains of a Roman villa of the early the conquered territory was given to the Empire. Etruscans who had favoured Rome in the Sotion (de Mir. Font.) saj's a town was contest, and four new tribes, one called swallowed up by this lake, and that many Sabatina, were formed. Liv. VI. 4, 5. foundations and temples and statues might Fest. V. Sabatina. The town, in fact, is be seen in its clear depths, not named except in the Peutingei'ian Table ; •* The discovery is recorded in the Ann. but there can be no doubt of its existence. Inst. 1859, pp. 34 — 60. 2 Cluver II. p. 524. Nibby I. p. 325. GO MONTE MUSINO AND LAGO DI 15EACCIAN0. [cHAr. iv. ing from the gate of the viUage facing the west, the only gate now remaining, a large fragment of walling of squared hlocks of rather regular masonry, which he declares to be in perfect conformity with the Etruscan fortifications of Cortona and Perugia.* This masonry, which is probably of basalt or other hard volcanic stone, proves the existence of an Etruscan town on this spot, and as there are no other such remains on the shores of the lake, there can be no doubt that here stood Sabate. At the Bagni di Vicarello, three miles beyond, there are abundant remains of Imperial times, villas and baths, which mark the site of the Aquie Apollinares.'^ Here in 1852, in clearing out the reservoir of the ancient baths, a most interest- ing discovery was made of a large collection of copper coins from the earliest ces rude and (cs sirinattini of Etruria down to the money of the Empire ; as well as of sundry silver vases — all votive offerings, now preserved in the Kircherian Musemn at Kome. The Forum Clodii is generally supposed to have stood at Oriuolo, but M. Desjardins places it on the hill above S. Liberato, on the west of the lake, where are some extensive lloman remains. On the ancient road, between this and Bieda stands the ruined town or castle of Iscliia, suj^posed, but on no authority, to be one of the Novem Pagi of antiquity.^ I retain pleasurable reminiscences of a midsummer ramble on the shores of this lake. My path ran hrst over Hats of corn, then falling beneath the sickle — next it led through avenues of mulberries, whitening the ground with their showered fruit, while ■• Nibby (III. p. 287) Lad previously cemeut, like those in the walls of Volterra, suspected this to be an Etruscan site from Populonia, Cosa, or llusellae. I measured this fi-agment of ancient masonry, which some of these blocks, which are as mucli he described as composed "of irregularly as 3 metres in length." Noel des Vergers, squared blocks, joined together as in the Etrurie, I., p. 182. walls of Collatia, Ardea, and other very * Desjardins, Ann. Inst. 1859, pp. 34: — ancient cities. " M. Desjardins (oj). cit. p. 60. The fact is determined beyond a doubt 48) finds fault with this description, and by a number of dedicatory in-scrijitions in declares there is not the least resemblance honour of Apollo found on the spot, between this fragment and the walls of •> Westphal (p. 157) thinks the Novem the Latin towns on the south of the Tiber. Tagi are represented by the neighbouring I cannot add my testimony in this instance, sites of Viano, Ischia, Agliola, Barberano, the walling having escaped my observation &c. But this is mere conjecture. The when I i>assed that way ; but 1 can recon- only mention of them is by Pliny (N. H. cile these conflicting descriptions by the III. 8), who places them in his list of authority of another French antiquary, Etruscan towns between Nepet and Trae- who describes the walls of Ardea as com- fectura Claudia Foroclodii, but as his li.st posed " of enormous blocks cut in regular is alphabetical, it gives us no clue to their parallelograms, and put together without position. CHAP. IV.'' LAKE OF BKACCIANO. 61 the whole strip of shore wa.^ covered with the richest tesselhition of wheat, liemp, maize, flax, melons, artichokes, oversliadowed hy vines, olives, figs, and otlier fruit trees, intermingling with that " gracious prodigality of Nature," which almost dispenses with labour in these sunny climes — and then it passed the hamlet of Trevignano and the wrecks of Roman luxury at Bagni di Vicarello, and climbed the heights above, where cultivation ceases, and those forest aristocrats, tlie oak, the beech, and the chestnut, hold undisputed sway. From this height the eye revels over the broad blue lake, the mirror of Italian heavens, — " It was the azure time of June, "When the skies are deep in the stainless noon—" reflecting, on one shore, the cliff-perched towns of Anguillara and Bracciano — the latter dominated by tlie turretted mass of its feudal castle — and on the other, the crumbling tower of Trevig- nano, backed by the green mountain-pyramid of Rocca Romana. But the glassy surftice of the lake does not merely mirror remains of the olden time, for in its clear depths, it is said, may still be seen the ruins of former days, on certain parts of its shores. There is no doubt that the waters are now higher tlian in ancient times — proof of which may be seen in a mass of Roman reticu- lated work off the shore near Vicarello ; and in the fact recorded by Nibby and Desjardins, that the ancient road between that place and Trevignano is now submerged for a considerable distance. APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IV. Note. The stations and distances on tlie Via Clodia are tluis given by the Itineraries. ANTONINK ITIXERAUY. PEUTINGERI.VN TABLE. Roma Roma Cai-eias . M.P. XV. Ad Sextum , iALP. vr Aquas Apollinaris .xviir. Care i as . villi Tarquinios . . XVII. Ad Nonas . . Villi. Cosam . XV. Sabate Foro Clodo . Blera .... '. XVI Tuscana . . . vim Materno . xir Saturn ia XVIII Succo.sa . VIII Cosa .... THE AMPHITHEATRE UF SUTIII, FROM THE ENTKAXCE, CHAPTER V. SVTHl.—SUTBIUif. Gramineum campum, quern collibus xmdiqiie curvis Cingebant silv£e ; mediaque in valle theatri Circus erat. Virg. Imaginave amphitheatrum . . quale sola rerum natura xiossit effingere. Plin. Epist. It was a bright but cool morning in October, when I left the comfortless inn of Baccano, and set out for Sutri. The wind blew keenl}' in my teeth ; and the rich tints of the trees wherever they appeared on the undulating plain, and the snow on the loftiest peaks of the Apennines, proved that autumn was fast giving place to winter. About four miles from Baccano on the Via Cassia is Le Sette Vene, a lonely inn in the midst of an open country. It is one of the largest and most comfortable hotels between Florence and Rome, on the Siena road. Close to it is an ancient Eoman. bridge of a single arch, in excellent preservation. The next place on the Via Cassia three miles beyond Sette Vene, is Monterosi, which does not appear to have been an Etrus- can site. It is commanded bv a conical height, called Monte di CHAP, v.] MOXTEIROSI— RONCIGLIOXE. 03^ Lucchetti, crested with some ruins of the micklle ages. The view from it well repays the small difficulty of the ascent ; for it commands the wide sea-like Campagna — Soracte, a rocky islet in the midst, lorded over b}' the snow-capt Apennines — the sharp wooded peak of Rocca Romana on the one hand, and the long^ sweeping mass of the Ciminian on the other. Monterosi has two inns, both wretched. L'Angelo is said to be the better. Of La Posta I have had mipleasant experience, — animus meininisse liorrel I Hence there is a carriageable road fol- lowing the line of the old Via Cassia to Sutri, the ancient Sutrium,. seven or eight miles distant;^ but as very inferior accommodation is to be had there, the traveller Avho would take more than a passing glance at that site had better drive on to Eoncigiione,. and visit it thence. Soon after descending from Monterosi, and after passing a small drear}' lake and crossing a stream of lava, the road divides ; the right branch leading northward to Nepi, Narni and Perugia ; the other, v,diich is the Siena road, running in a direct line to- Ronciglione, which, as it lies on the lower slope of the Ciminian, is visible at a considerable distance. In truth, it bears quite an imposing appearance, with its buildings stretching x\.\) the slope, and its white domes gleaming out from the wooded hill. The celebrated castle-palace of Capraruola, the cJief-cVceurre of Vignola, also adorns the slope of the Ciminian a few miles to the right. But the beauties of Eonciglione are not to be seen from a distance. The town is romantically situated on the brink of a deep ravine, with precipitous cliifs, in which many caverns, originally sepulchres, mark the site of an Etruscan town." Its memor}^ and name, however, have utterly perished. Ronciglione^ has very tolerable accommodation ; even a choice of hotels — the Aquila Nera and the Posta — and the traveller will do Avell to- ^ The distance of Sutrium from Rome Its present distance is thirty-two miles,, was thirty-three miles. Imt the measurement is taken from the Via Cassia. modern gate, a mile from the Forum, whence the distances were anciently calculated. Itinerary of Peutingerian 2 t^^^i f^^ from Capraruola," says Antoninus. Table. Bonarroti (Michael Angelo's nephew), " I Rima Roma saw an Etruscan inscription in letters Baccanas M.P. XXI. Ad Sextum M.P. YI. almost three feet high, carved in the rock, Sutrio XII. Veios VI. through which the road to Sutri (as I Forum Cassi XI. Vacanas Villi. understood) is cut, hut on account of the Sutrio XII. loftiness of the site distrusting my copy, Vico Matrini ( F//. ) I do not venture to give it," p. 98, ap^ Foro Cassii IIII. Dempst. II. G4 • SUTEI. [chap. v. make it his head-quarters for excursions to Sutri, which lies ahout three miles to the' south. It must he confessed, how- ever, that the road to it is wretched enough, and if it resemhlc the ancient approaches to the town, it Avould incline us to believe that the proverb ire Sntrhim (to be prompt) was applied ironically. Like most of the ancient towns in Southern Etruria, Sutrium stood on a plateau of rock, at the j^oint of junction of two of the tleep ravines which furrow the plain in all directions,*^ being united to the main-land of the i)lain only by a narrow neck. The extent of the town, therefore, was circumscribed ; the low but steep cliffs which formed its natural fortifications forbade its extension into the ravines. Veii, whose citadel occupied a similar position, crossed the isthmus, and swelled out over the adjoining table-land, just as Home soon ceased to be confined to tlie narrow plateau of the Palatine. But the same principle of growth seems not to have existed in Sutrium, and the town appears never to have extended beyond tlie limits prescribed by nature. It was thus precluded from attaining the dignity of a first-rate city, yet on account of its situation and strong natural position it was a place of much importance, esiiecially after the fall of Yeii, when it was celebrated as one of " the keys and gates of Etruria;" (claustra portfeque Etruriffi) ; Nepete, a town similarl}' situated, being the other.* As a fortress,, indeed, Sutrium seems to have been maintained to a late period, long after the neighbouring Etruscan cities had been destro3'ed. The modern town occupies the site of the ancient, and is pro- bably composed of the same materials. Not that an}' of the ancient Sutria tecta are extant, but the blocks of tufo of which the houses are constructed, may well have been hewn by Etruscan hands. Every one who knows the Italians, is aware that they never cut fresh materials, when they have a quarry of read^'-hewn stones to their hands. The columns and fragments of sculpture here {ind there imbedded in the walls of houses, prove that the remains of Roman Sutrium at least were thus applied. There are some fine fragments of the ancient walls on the south side of the town, and not a few sewers opening in the cliffs beneath them. ■* The grounil in the iicighhourhood of however, classes it among the cities of Sutri is much broken, and some parts Etruria with Arretium, Perusia, and Volsinii, answer to the descri])tion given by Livy and Tlutarch (Camil.) calls it "aflourish- (IX. 35)— aspreta strata .saxis. ingand wealthy town," evSaifxava Kal irXoi- * Liv. VI. 9 ; IX. 32. Strabo (V. {)), aiav ■K6\iv. ■ CHAP, v.] THE WALLS OF SUTRIUM. 65 As the walls of Sutri are similar to those of most of the Etruscan cities in the southern or volcanic district of the land, I shall describe the peculiarity of their masonry. The blocks are arranged so as to present their ends and sides to view in alternate courses, in the style which is called by builders " old ROUGH PLAN OF SUTRI. A. Porta Menona. J3. ,, Romaua. C. , , di Mezza. J). , , Vecchia. E. ,, Furia. F. Catliedral. G. If. Piazze. a. Etruscan wall, nine courses. b. J J , , seven , , c. ,, ,, four ,, d. „ ,, seven ,, e. J, Sewers, cut in rock. f. Mediieval bastion. eared a very suitable oblation to the Manes among a people who so long retained human sacrifices." " The existence of theatres is strongly implied by the passage of Nicolaus Dama- scenus above cited, who says, "The Ro- mans held their gladiatorial si^ectacles not only at public festivals and in theatres, receiving the custom from the Etruscans, but also at their banquets." " As we know there was no amphi- theatre erected in Rome before the time of Csesar, when C. Curio constructed one of wood, in separate halves, which could be brought together into an amphitheatre, or sw^mg round at pleasure into two distinct theatres (Plin. Nat. Hist., XXXVI. 24, 8) ; and as we know that the first stone building of this description was erected by Statilius Taurus in the reign of Augustus (Dio Cass. LI. 23 ; Sueton. Aug. 9-9), and that the Colosseum, and all the other am- Xjhitheatres extant, were constructed during the Empire ; — the question naturally arises, How, if such edifices previously existed in Etruscan cities, there were none erected at Rome, or in her ten'itories, before the time of Caesar ? for we know that until the amphitheatre was introduced, the Romans were content to hold their wild-beast fights and nauiiuich'ai: in the Circus, and their gladiatorial combats in the forum, at the banquet, or at the funeral pyre. It may be that in the construction of amphi- theatres, Etruria did not long precede Rome, and that this of Sutri, if it be really of Etruscan origin, is not to be referred to the remote days of the national independence, but rather to a period befoi'e all native peculiarities in art and customs had been completely obliterated. ^ Nibby {voce Sutrium) considers it of the time of Augustus ; Canina (Etr. I\Iarit. I. p. 56) thinks it an imitation of Roman structures of this description, while Micali (Ant. Pop. It. I. p. 145) regards it a Etruscan. 72 SUTEI. [CHAP. V. the structure has certain characteristics of a native origin, which may be observed in the cornice of the j^odium which surrounds the arena — in the doors in the same, narrower above than below, and above all in its mode of construction which is decidedly un- Boman, and peculiarly Etruscan ; while the irregularity of the structure — the seats and passages being accommodated to the natural surface of the rock — and its singular, nay rustic, sim- plicity, distinguish it widely from the known amphitheatres of the Homans." In one sense it is undoubtedl}' Homan, for it can- not claim an antiquity prior to the conquest of Sutri. This curious relic of antiquity is an ellipse — the arena being,, according to my measurement, one hundred and sixt3'-four feet in length, by one hundred and thirty-two in its greatest breadth.. The doors in the podium open into a vaulted corridor which surrounds the arena. This corridor, with its doors, is of very rare occurrence ; found elsewhere, I believe, only at Capua and Syracuse.'^ Above the podium rise the benches ; at the interval of every four or five is a i:)rcBcinctio or encircling passage, for the convenience of spectators in reacliing their seats. There are several of these _2^?vea»(?fio«es, and also a broad corridor above- the whole, running round the upper edge of the structure ; but. such is the irregularity and want of uniformity throughout, that their number and disposition in few parts correspond. Above the upper corridor, on that side of the amphitheatre which is over- hung by the garden Savorelli, rises a wall of rock, with slender half-columns carved in relief on its face, and a cornice above, but both so ruined or concealed by the bushes which clothe the rock,, as to make it difficult to perceive their distinctive character. In the same wall or cliff are several niches or recesses, some upright,, high enough for a man to stand in ; others evidently sepulchral,, of the usual form and size of those in which bodies were interred.. The upright ones, being elevated above the level of the in-a;- cinctio, were probably intended to hold the statues of the gods, in whose honour the games were held.'^ Such a thing was unknown, ^ The only other amphitlieatres I know, tlie Imodium I have observed in the stadium which are in parts rock-hewn, are those of at Ephesus. Syracuse, Ptolemais in the Cyrenaica, and "* Xil)by conjectures these to liave been Dorchester. for the designatorcs, or pensons whose- •' The podium, or parapet, now rises office it was to assign posts to the .sjiecta- only three or four feet aliove the ground, tors ; in other words, masters of the cere- l)ut the arena has not been cleared out to monies. But Plautus (Pasn. prol. 19) in- its original level. The corridor that sur- timates, as indeed it is more natural to. rounds it is between five and six feet high, suppose, that the desifjnatores walked' and the same in width. Similar doors in about, and handed people to their seats. CHAP, v.] THE AMPHITHEATEE. 73 I believe, in Roman amphitheatres ; but I remember something like it in Spanish bull-rings — a chapel of the Virgin in a similar position, in the very roof of the gallery, before -which the matador kneels on entering the arena, to beg her protection in his en- counter with the bull. The horizontal recesses, on the other hand, have clearly no connexion with the amphitheatre, but are of subsequent formation, for in almost every instance they have broken through the half-columns, and destroyed the decorations of the amphitheatre, proving this to have fallen into decay before these sepulchral niches Avere formed, which are probably the work of the early Christians. Another peculiarity in this amphitheatre is a number of re- cesses, about half-way up the slope of seats. There are twelve in all, at regular intervals, but three are vomitories, and the rest are alcoves slightly arched over, and containing each a seat of rock, wide enough for two or three persons. The}' seem to have some reference to the municipal economy of Sutrium, and were probably intended for the magnates of the town.'^ At the southern end is a vomitory on either sid3 of the principal entrance ; at the northern, on one side only of the gateway. The latter vomitory is now a great gap in the rock, having lost the flight of stejis within it, which must have been supplied with wood or masonry. The other vomitories are perfect.'' They have gi'ooves or channels along their walls to carry off the "water that might percolate through the porous tufo ; and similar channels are to be seen in other parts of the amphitheatre, and furnish an argu- instead of shouting to tlieni from a fixed the suggestion of the ehler Africanus, and station on the top of the buikling. If it set aside this custom bj- appointing separate were a theatre instead of an amphitheatre, places to the senators and the people, which we might suspect them to be for the r/x*'" estranged the minds of the populace, and or brazen pots which were used for throwing greatly injured Scipio in their esteem" out the voice, though Vitruvius tells us (Val. Max. II. 4. 2 ; Liv. XXXIV. 54). (Y. 5) that these wei-e placed among the Augustus assigned to every rank and each seats of the theatre ; but there could have sex a distinct place at the public shows been no need of this in an amphitheatre, (Suet. Aug. 44). where all appealed to the eye, nothing to '' They are seven or eight feet high at the ear. the mouth, and the same in width, with * The number twelve may not be with- a well-formed arch ; but within the jiassage out a meaning, as there wei-e twelve cities the arch is depressed, almost like that of in each of the three divisions of Etruria. the later Gothic. They contain flights of The only parallel instance is in the theatre steps relieved by landing-places. The of Catania, in Sicily, which had four simi- entrance-passage is hewn into the form of lar recesses. (Serrad. Antich. Sicil.v. j). 13. ) a regular vault, sixteen or seventeen feet "Till the year 558 of Rome, the senators high, and about the same in width. Its had always mingled indiscriminately with length is sixty-eight feet, which is here the the people at jjublic spectacles. But Atilius thickness of the rock out of which the Serranus and L. Scribonius, sediles, followed structure is hewn. 74 SUTEI. [CHAP. V. ment for its Etruscan origin; as this is a feature ver}- frequently- observed in the rock-hewn sepulchres and roads of Etruria. The sharpness of the steps in some parts is surprising, but this is explained b}^ the fact that this amphitheatre, only within the last thirtj'-five years, has been cleared of the rubbish which had choked and the trees which had covered it for centuries, so that its existence was unknown to Dempster, Gori, Buonarroti, and the early writers on Etruscan antiquities^ We are indebted for its excavation to the antiquarian zeal of the Marquis Savorelli, its present proprietor. Its worst foe seems to have been Nature, the tufo being in parts split b}- the roots of trees, remains of its forest covering, now reduced to mere stumps, which are too deeply imbedded to be eradicated. The exterior of this structure exhibits no "arclies upon arches," no corridors upon corridors — it is in keeping Avitli the simjjlicity and picturesque character of the interior. Cliffs of red tufo in all the ruggedness of nature, coloured with white and grey lichens, hung with a drapery of iv}^ or shrubs, and crowned with ii circling diadem of trees, with the never-to-be-forgotten group •of ilices and cypresses on the table-land above — Sutri itself, at a little distance on another rocky height, the road running up to its open gate, and its church-spire shooting high above the mass •of buildings — the deep dark glens around, with their yawning sex3ulchral caverns, dashing the scene with a shade of mystery and gloom. A little down the road, beyond the amphilheatre, in a range of tufo cliffs, are man}' sepulchral caverns ; some remarkable for their sculptured fronts. Not one of these facades remains in a perfect state ; but there are traces of pediments, pilasters, and half-columns, with arches in relief, and fragments of mouldings of a simple character. In their interiors, some are small and .shallow, others deep and spacious ; some have flat ceilings, others are vaulted over, now with a perfect, now with a depressed arch; and some have simple cornices in relief surrounding the chamber. In some there are benches of rock for the support of sarcophagi ; in others these benches are liollowed out to receive the body — and in many are semi-cu'cular cavities recessed in the walls for a similar purjiose. All these features are Etruscan characteristics, but most of these sepulchres bear traces of an after appropriation to Roman burial, in small upright niches, simihir to those in ^ It is simply mentioned by Miillcr (Etnisk. II. p. 241, n. 49). CHAP, v.] TOMBS ]X THE CLIFFS. 77 Eoman culumharia, which have the same variety of form as in those in the rocks at Veii, and like them, contain sunken holes for the oU(B, of which there are from two to six in each niche. In one instance the niches are separated hy small Doric-like inlasters, hewn out of the tufo. A feature that distinguishes them from the niches of a genuine Etruscan character is that they want the usual groove running round the back of the recess and opening in two holes in front, to carry olf the moisture that might percolate the rock. The facades of man}^ tombs on this site have similar grooves, which some limes form a sort of graven pediment over the doorway. Not one of these open sepulchres remains in a perfect state. The Spaniards have a proverb, " An open door tempts the devil to enter." Such has been the fate of these sepulchres — in all ages they have been misapplied. The Romans, both Pagan and Christian, introduced their own dead. In the dark and turbulent ages succeeding the fall of the Empire, they were probably in- habited by a semi-barbarous peasantry, or served as the lurking- places of banditti; and now they are commoidy used as wine- cellars, hog-sties, or cattle-stalls, and their sarcophagi converted into bins, mangers, or water-troughs. Beyond the sculptured tombs, in a field by the road-side, I found a sepulchre differing from any I had yet entered. It was divided into several chambers, all with recesses excavated in their walls to contain bodies, with or without sarcophagi — in tiers of shelves one above the other, like berths in a steamer's cabin. Such an arrangement is often observed in the catacombs of Italy and Sicily, and would lead one to sus])ect these tombs to hiive had a Christian origin, were it not also found in connection with Etruscan inscriptions at Civita Castellana, and Cervetri. Some distance beyond is a cave called the Grotta d" Orlando, a personage, who, like his Satanic Majesty, has his name attached to many a marvel of nature and of art in the southern countries of Europe. He it was who cleft the Pyrenees with one stroke of his sword, Durandal, with the same ease with which he had been wont to cleave the Saracens from crown to seat. This Grotta may have been an Etruscan tomb, of two chambers, the outer and larger supported by a square pillar. But what has it to do with Orlando ? Tradition represents that hero, while on his way to Piome in the army of Charlemagne, as having lured avvaj' some maid or matron of Suti'i, and concealed her in this 78 SUTEI. [CHAP. V. cave, which woukl scarcely tempt an ^Eneas and Dido at present.^ On the same cliff with the Villa Savorelli is a ruin, pointed out as the house in which Charlemagne took up his abode, when on his way to Eome, to succour Adrian I., but it is evidently of much later date. Nor is Orlando the only hero of former times of whom Sutri has to boast. She lays claim to the nativity of that much execrated character, Pontius Pilate, and a house is still shown as the identical one in which he was born ; though the building is ob%'iously of the middle ages. There are other curious traditions hanging about this old town of Sutri. At the angle of a house in the main street is an ass's or sheep's head of stone, minus the ears, which, like the Moorish statues in the vaults of the Alhambra, is believed to have been placed there as the guardian of hidden treasure. Not that any stores of wealth have yet been brought to light, for no one has been able to determine on what spot the eyes of this mysterious ass are fixed ; but its existence is not the less implicitly believed, and not by the vulgar only. The artist who accompanied me round Sutri, and his father, who is one of the principal inhabitants, had jointly made researches for the said treasure. Thinking they had discovered the direction of the asinine regards, they hired an opposite house, commenced delving into its foundations, and doubted not to have found the object of their search, had they not been stopped by the authorities, who, wishing to keep the spoils to themselves, had forbidden all private enterprise in this line. He had made however more profitable excavations. He had opened tombs in the ground above the sculptured cliffs, and had brought to light vases, bronzes, and other valuable relics of Etruscan date. Sutri has been so little explored, that it is probable many treasures of antiquity are yet to be found in its neighbourhood. The tombs hollowed in the cliffs have been rifled ages since, but those below the surface, with no external indications, have in some cases escaped the researches of former plunderers. It is among these alone that art-treasures are to be expected. The traveller will find no inn at Sutri ; and even for refresh- ment he must be dependent on the good-vv'ill of some private townsman, who will dress him a meal for a consideration. In the glen to the west of the town, on the road to Capranica, ^ It is not improbalilo that this legend meeting the fair Isabella in a cave : — originated in those stanzas of Ariosto (XIl. " Era bella si, che facea il loco 88-91), in which he represents his hero as Salvatico, parere un paradiso." CHAP, v.] CAPEANICA— VICUS MATEINI. 79 there is a cavern of large dimensions, but of natural formation, at the mouth of which is a church called, La Madonna della Grotta. The cave is extremely picturesque, its roof stalactited with pendent ferns. The Via Cassia runs beyond Sutri through this wooded ravine to Capranica, another Etruscan site Avith a few tombs and sewers, but nothing of extraordinary interest. It is now a j^lace of more importance than Sutri, having 3000 inhabitants — excellent fruit and wine — mineral waters beneficial in disorders of the kidneys, bladder, and spleen, (ask for the Fonte Carbonari, for so the sj^ring is dubbed by the peasantr}', instead of Carbonato) — and, what is of more importance to the traveller, possessing a Jiospitium formerly kept b}' a butcher, Pietro Ferri, where, if he will not find comfort, he may be sure of its best substitute, un- bounded civility and readiness to oblige. The women here wear the skirt of tlieir gowns over their heads for a veil, like Teresa Panza and other Manchegas, and being very brightly arrayed, are alwa3's picturesque. I could perceive no Eoman remains at Capranica, the ancient name of Avliich has not come down to us. It is three miles distant from Sutri, eight or more from Vetralla also on the Via Cassia, three from Bassano, four from Ronciglione, and nine from Oriuolo. On this latter road I found in several spots remains of Eoman pavement, and about halfway from Oriuolo, or near Agliola, I observed a long portion of the road entire, running directly between the two towns, and j^robably a cross road connecting the Claudian and Cassian Waj^s. The church of San Vincenzo, on a height above Bassano, is a con- spicuous object in this district, and is the great shrine of the neighbourhood, where, on the first fortnight in November, a general "2)e;Y?o»o " is dispensed, and the countryfolks flock in thousands to obtain remission. Be3'ond Capranica, some three or four miles, and a little off the road to the left, are the ruins of Vicus Matrini, a station on the Via Cassia, still retaining its ancient name, but having little to show beyond a few crumbling to^vers and sepulchres, all of Boman date ; and a mile or so beyond it, is a way-side ostcria, called Le Capannaccie, which has sundry relics from the said ancient station embedded in its walls. This is the highest point of the road, Avliich here crosses the shoulder of the Ciminian, but its rise is so gradual as to be scarcely perceptible. The first part of the road from Capranica passes through shadv lanes, orchaixls, and vineyards ; then it traverses wide tracts of 80 SUTEI. [CHAP. V. corn-land — the most wearisome scenery to the summer traveller, when the sun's glare is I'-eflected with sickening intensity from the ever-restless, ever-dazzling surface. He who has crossed the torrid plains of the Castilles, La Manclia, or Estremadura, under a dog-day sun, will readily acknowledge that segetes are Icetcs only in poetr}' or to the eye of the proprietor. A gradual descent of four miles, mostly through orchards, leads to Yetralla, on the A-erge of the great central plain of Etruria, which here bursts upon the view. The road from Piome to this place, a distance of forty-three miles, follows as near as may be the line of the ancient Via Cassia. It is still carriageable throughout; indeed, a " diligence " runs to Vetralla once or twice a week, professedly' in nine hours, which are increased indefinitely at the convenience of the driver. APPENDIX TO CHAPTER V. XoTE. — EjirLECTON ^Iasonky, vide p. Go. I AM aware that tliis interpretation of emplecion differs from tliat generally adopted, especially by Italian writers on ancient architecture, who take it to he descriptive of masonry formed of two fronts of squared blocks, with the intervening space tilled with rubbish and mortar; thus forming "three crusts," as VitruAaus says, " two of facings, and a middle one of stutfing." This, however, was the mode employed by the Romans, as an expeditious •substitute for tlie more solid construction of the Greeks, as YitruA-ius (II., 8) expresslj- asserts ; but the application of the term emjylerton to it, was evidently an abuse. Tlie Italians err in taking the word to be significant of filling in, sfiiffing, as though it were derived fi-om (finiTrXtj^i or ifnrXyjdo}, to fill up, instead of ifnrXeiia), to weave in — a word expressive of the peculiar arrangement of the blocks. ]Marini, in his edition of Vitruvius (Rome, 183G, I., p. 97) commits the error of rendering eyxrrXe'xa) by impleo. Orsini, in his Dictionary of Vitruvius, makes emplecton to mean " something full or to be filled." Baldus, in his Lexicon, makes the same blunder, Avhich De Laetus, in his, quarrels with, but does not correct, though he quotes Salmasius (Exercit. Phn., }). 1231), who comes nearer the mark, and acknowledges its derivation from TrXeKco ; but only jierceives an analogy with the dressing of women's hair, where the outside is made smooth, while the inside remains rough, as this masonry is described. Canina also (Arch. Ant. V., p. 1.80) explains empleclon as signif^'ing the stuffed masonry above mentioned, but thinks it applicalile to constructions of small stones like bricks (VIII., p. 1U4). This stuffed masonry was used extensively b}' the Romans, especially in small work, and it was even emploA'ed by the Greeks on a larger scale, as the remains of their cities testify. It maA' be seen also in part of the Cyclopean walls of Arpinum, and even in the Etruscan ones of Volterra. Pliny (Nat. Hist., XXXVI. .";!) says it was called diamicton, i.e., mixt-work. CHAP, v.] EMPLECTON MASONRY. 81 The Greeks, liowever, sometimes, as at Pajstum, Syracuse, and elsewhere in Sicily, bound the facings of their walls together by solid masonry. So Pliny remarks, in his description of emplecton, though he says, where it was not possible, they built as with bricks, which evidently means, as bricks were used in facings merely, the rest being filled in with rubbish. The point aimed at, according to the same writer, was to lay the blocks so that their centres should fall immediately over the joinings of those below them. Vitruvius, however, is the best authority for the application of emplecton to solid masonry, for, after mentioning it as descriptive of a style used by the Greeks, and after distinguishing the Eoman variety, he says, " Gra3ci vero non ita ; sed plana (coria) collocantes et longitudines chororum alternis coagmentis in crassitudinem instruentes, non media farciunf, sed e suis frontalis perpetTuim et in unam crassitudinem parietem consolidant. Prajterea interponunt singulos perpetuii crassitudine utraque parte frontatos, quos ^LaTovovs appellant, qui maxime religando confirmant parietum soliditatem." This is a just description of the walls of Falleri, which, not being mere em- bankments, display the blocks in some parts " stretching through " fi'om side to side. I would not maintain that the term emplecton should be confined to this sort of masonry. It is also apjilicable to that where the cliatoni or cross blocks, instead of occurring in alternate courses, and continuously, are found only from time to time ; it is applicable, in short, to any niasonry where the principle of interweavimj is preserved. I use it throughout this work to designate that species of opus quadratum, which is so common in ancient structures in the southern district of Etruria, as well as in Rome and its ueighbourhood. There are difficidties, I own, in this passage of Vitruvius, describing Greek masonry ; in fact, the text is generally admitted to be corrupt, as the variety of readings prove ; but it is still clear that the term emplecton, however misapplied by the Romans, or their descendants, was properly con- fined by the Greeks to masonry, of which an interweaving of the blocks was the principle. The analogy to brick-work, indicated by Vitruvius (cf. II. 3), is confirmatory of this. Abeken (Mittelitalien, p. 151) is the only writer besides myself, so far as I am aware, who takes this view of emplecton. An excellent example of Greek emp)lecton masonry is presented by the Castle of Euryalus in Epipohu at Syracuse, where the four towers above the fosse, and the piers for the drawbridge within the fosse, are of this masonry rusticated, but it is on a rather smaller scale than is usual in Etruria. A'OL. I. CHAPTER VL 'NEm.—NEFETE. "Where Time hath leant His hand, hut broke his scythe, there is a power And magic in the ruined battlement, For which the palace of the present hour Must yield its pomp, and wait till ages are its dower. — Byron. If on reaching the Guglia, or sign-post, beyond Monterosi, instead of taking the road to Ronciglione and " Firenze," the traveller follow the more holy track of "Loreto," three short miles will carry him to Nepi. Let him remark the scener}' on the road. He has left the open wastes of the Campagna and entered a wooded district. It is one of the few portions of central Italy that will remind him, if an Englishman, of home. Those sweeps of bright green sward — those stately wide- armed oaks scattered over it, singl}', or in clumps — those neat hedge-rows, made up of maples, hawthorns, and brambles, with fern below, and clematis, dog-roses, and honeysuckles above ; the}' are the very brothers of those in Merr}' England. The whole forms a lively imitation of — what is most rare on the Continent — English park-scenery; and it requires no stretch of fancy to conceive oneself journeying through Surrey or Devon- shire. The first view of Nepi dispels the illusion. It is a quaint- looking town. A line of crumbling wall, laden with machi- colated battlements, and a massive castle within rising high above it, would give it the appearance of a fortress, were it not for the square red tower of the cathedral Avith its white pATamid of a sph'e, shooting high and bright into the deep blue sky. Behind it soars Soracte, its serrated mass blued by distance ; and far away in the horizon is the range of snow-capt Apennines. On entering the gate the e3'e is caught by a fine piece of ancient walling, in nineteen courses, or about thirty-six feet and a half in height, and of considerable length. Its crumbling CHAP. VI.] THE ETRUSCAN WALLS. 83 weatlier-worn condition proclaims its antiquity, and tlie size and arrangement of the blocks mark its Etruscan character. Just within the inner gate is another fragment of less extent, only ten courses high, and still more decayed. These are probably the very walls which Camillus and his soldiers scaled when they stormed the town, 386 j-ears before Christ.^ But instead of entering the town, cross the court-yard to the right, and pass through another gate in the fortifications.^ Here 3^ou are on the brink of the ravine which bounds Nepi on the south. The view of the cliff-bound city — of the profound, lonel}' ravine — of the lofty venerable walls of the keep, with their niachicolated battlements towering above you — of the lowly mill at their feet, vying with them in picturesque effect, as it shoots out a jet of foam which sinks in a cascade into the glen — would alone claim admiration. But there is yet more for the attention of the antiquary. At the verge of the cliff, to which, indeed, it forms a facing or embankment, and onh' a few steps from the gate of the town, is another bit of the ancient walling of Nepete, and the most perfect specimen remaining. It is of four courses ■only, in an excellent state of preservation. Like the two other portions mentioned, it is of evqjlecton, precisely similar to the walls of Sutri. The wall, of which this is a fragment, seems to have extended along the face of the precijoice. Much seems to remain imbedded in a mass of Roman ojnis incertum, which apparently once faced the whole structure, showing the priority of the emplecton.^ If this formed part of the walls of Nepete, the ancient must have been somewhat larger than the modern town. This is all I could perceive of the ancient walls of Nepete. These portions, be it observed, are on the weakest side of the town, where it receives no protection from nature. On ever}^ other ^ Liv. VI. 10. But it is also precisely similar to the ^ The road from this gate is a Iiy-path masonry of the ancient walls at Civita to Sette Vene, shorter by several miles, but Castellana, which they admit to be Etrus- said to be a wretched track, utterly im- can. There is no reason to suppose that practicable for vehicles. these walls at Nepi are of less ancient eon- ^ Nibby (II. p. 400) thinks these relics struction. The discovery since their day of the ancient walls of Nepi are of Roman of the walls of Roma Quadrata proves construction, and of the time of the colony that this style of masonry was used in formed here A. U. C. 381, because their the earliest days of Rome, and as we find it masonry is analogous with that of the walls also in very primitive cities and tombs in of the new Falerium (Falleri) raised not Etruria, there can be no doubt that it was long after that date. Canina (Etruria originally employed by the Etruscans, and Marittima I., p. 72) takes the same view. imitated by the Romans. G 2 84 NEPI. ■ [CHAP. VI. side, as it is situated on a long cliff-bound tongue of land between two ravines that meet at its tip, there was little need of walls. But at the root of the tongue, where the ground on which the city stands meets the unbroken level of the Campagna, it w^as most strong!}' fortified in ancient times ; and this necessit}'^ con- tinuing throughout the troubled period of the middle ages, the walls were preserved as much as might be, or replaced, where dilapidated, by the strong line of fortifications and flanking bastions, which still unite the ravines. From the analogy of other Etruscan cities, it is probable that the inhabitants were not satisfied with the natural protection of their precipices, but surrounded the city with walls, which, in after times, were demolished, probably for the sake of materials to build or repair the edifices of the town. My aim being simply to point out objects of antiquarian interest, I shall say little of the modern representative of Nepete. It is a small town, not larger than Sutri ; and its position is very similar, though the plateau it occupies rises much higher from the ravines, and the cliffs are in most parts more j^re- cipitous. As regards its natural strength it has certainl}' no less claim than Sutri to the title of '* key and portal of Etruria."* In strolling around the place, I was surprised at the small number of tombs. The opposite cliff' of the ravine to the south, has not a single cave ; and on the other side of the town there are far fewer than usual in the immediate vicinity of Etruscan sites, which present facilities for excavation. The Nepesini seem to have preferred bmying their dead beneath the surface of the ground, to hollowing out tombs or niches in the cliffs ; and the table-lands around the town are probably burrowed thickly with sepulchres. In the rock on which the modern walls are based, close to the gate that opens to Civita Castellana, are traces of sepulchral niches ; and here also a sewer, like those at Sutri, opens in the cliff. The ravine is spanned by a bridge,^ and also by an aqueduct with a double tier of arches, the work of the sixteenth century. No one should cross this bridge without a pause. The dark ravine, deepening as it recedes, leading the eye to the man}-- peaked mass of Soracte in the distance, by the towers and battle- * Liy. VI. 9. vated aiipellation than " La Buttata della 5 The stream below is said by Nibby to Mola," or the ]Mill-force. The stream in the: retain the classic name of Falisco, though opposite ravine is called " Cava-terra '" — all my inquiries called forth no more ele- t. e., Earth -digger. CHAP. VI.] HISTOEY OF NEPETE. So nients of tlie town on one hand, and by a stately stone-pine raising its spreading crest into the blue sky on the other, is set off like a picture in its frame. It is one of those scenes in which you could scarcely suggest an improvement — in which Nature rivals the perfection of Art. There is little to detain the antiquarian traveller in Nepi. In the Piazza, beside a fine fountain of large size, are several Roman altars and statues found in the neighbourhood, one of them having reference to the goddess Feronia ; and a mutilated bas-relief of a winged lion. Of the old inn, *' La Fontana," no one speaks well; and I retain a most uncomfortable remembrance of it. A new locanda, "Hotel de la Paix," has since been opened, in Avhich the tra- veller will fere well enough — but let him look to his bill — susjnce Jin cm ! Nei:»ete never took a prominent part in history' ; at least, we find little more than incidental mention of this town. It early fell under Roman dominion, for in the year 368, a few years after the capture of the City by the Gauls, we find it mentioned with Sutrium, as an ally of Rome ; both towns seeking assistance against the Etruscans, b}^ whom they were attacked. Nepete surrendered to the Etruscans, because a portion of the inhabi- tants were better affected towards their countrymen than towards their recent allies ; but it was retaken at the first assault by Camillus ; and the rebellious citizens met their punishment from the axes of the lictors.^ It was made a Roman colony ten years later than Sutrium, or seventeen years after the Gallic capture of the Cit}^'^ Both these towns enjoyed municipal honours of the highest class, that is, while retaining their own internal adminis- tration, the}^ were admitted to the full rights and privileges of Roman citizenship.^ There seems to have been some particular bond of union between Nepete and Sutrium ; for they are frequently coupled together by ancient writers.^ Similar bonds seem to have existed among other Etruscan cities, even those of the Confederation ; for instance, Arretium, Cortona, and Perugia appear to have had a minor league among themselves-^ — a vinculum in vinculo — a bond arising, as in this case, from proximity and community of interest. ^ Liv. VI. 9, 10. ^ Festus, voce Municipiiim. 7 Veil. Pat. I. 14. Livy (VI. 21) makes » Liv. VI. 9 ; X. 14 ; XXVI. 34 ; XXVII. it to be the same yearas Sutrium, or A. U. 9; XXIX. 15. Festus (loc. cit.). 571. » Liv. IX. 37 ; Diod. XX. p. 773. 86 NEPI. [CHAP. VI. Nepete, like Sutrium, fias retained its name/ and maintained an existence from ancient- times. Under the Empire, it seems to have been of inferior consequence ; ^ but in the middle ages it rose greatly in importance, and at one period exercised no little influence over Rome herself.^ It is now an insignificant town, with about 1500 inhabitants. Nepi is five miles distant from Monterosi, eight from Civita Castellana, five from Falleri by a path through the woods, the line of the ancient Via Amerina ; seven from Sutri by a short cut, and nine by the carriage-road. - It is called Nepete by Livy, ami by tioned among the smaller towns {iroXlxvai). inscriptions, but Nepita by Strabo (V. p. * This was in the eighth century, -when 226), Nepe by Paterculus and the Peu- Totone, Duke of Nepi, created his brother tingerian table, Nepet by Pliny (III. 8), Pope, under the title of Constantine II., Nepeta by Ptolemy (Geog. p. 72), Nepis by and maintained him in the seat of St. Frontinus (de Col.), Nepetus by Dionysius Peter for thirteen months. "Nepi seems (XIII. ap. Stejjh. Byz.). at that epoch to have risen like a meteor, ^ Strabo (V. p. 226) classes Sutrium with and rapidly to have sunk to her former Arretium, Perusia, and Volsinii, as cities condition." — Nibby, voce Nepi, irJAets) of Etruria ; while Nepete is men- PLAN OF KALERII. From Canina. CHAPTER VII. CIVITA GASTEIAjA.'NA.—FALERir {VETERES). Faliscis, Mcenia contigimus victa, Camille, tibi. — Ovid. Amor. Poi giunsi in una valle incolta e fiera, Di ripe cinta e spaventose tane ; Che nel mezzo su iin sasso havea un castello, Forte, e ben posto, e a maraviglia bello. — Ariosto. From Nepi, which is thirty miles from Rome, the high road runs direct to Civita Castellana, a distance of nearl}' eight miles ; but to the traveller on horse or foot I would recommend a route, by which he will save two miles. On passing the bridge of Nepi, let him turn immediately to the right ; a mile of lane-scenery with fine views of Nepi will carry him to Castel di Santa Elia, a small village, which looks much like an Etruscan site, and was perhaps a castellwn dependent on Nepete. The road to it and beyond it seems in parts to have been ancient, cut through the tufo ; there are few tombs by its side, but here and there portions of masonry, serving as fences to the road, may be observed, which are of ancient blocks, often found in such situations. He then enters on a bare green down, rich in the j^eculiar beauties of the Campagna. A ravine yawns on either hand. That on the right, dark with wood, is more than usually deejj, gloomy, and grand. Beyond the other runs the high road to Civita ; and in 88 CIVITA CASTELLANA. [chap. vii. that direction the plain — in winter an uniform sheet of dark rich brown from the oak-woods which cover it, studded here and there with some tower or spire shooting up from the fohage — stretches to the foot of the Ciminian Mount. Ronciglione and Capraruola gleam in sunshine on its slopes, each beneath one of its dark wooded peaks. The towers of Civita Castellana rise before him. Towns shine out from the distant mountains of Umbria and Sabina. The plain on the right is variegated in hue, and broken in surface. Soracte towers in lonely majesty in the midst ; and the chain of Apennines in grey or snow-capped masses billows along the horizon. A goatherd, shaggy with skins, stands leaning on his staff, watching the passing traveller ; and with his flock and huge baying dogs, occupies the foreground of the picture. Just so has Dante beautifulh^ drawn it — " Le capre Tacite all' ombra mentre che '1 sol ferve, Guardate dal pastor che 'n su la verga Poggiato s' h, e lor poggiato serve.'' — Purg. xxvii. 70. All in the shade The goats lie silent, 'neath the fervid noon. Watched by the goatherd, who upon his staff Stands leaning ; and thus resting, tendeth them. A stone-piled cross by the way-side, recording that here " Some shrieking victim hath Poured forth his blood beneath the assassin's knife," seems strangel}' at variance with the beauty and calm of the scenery. To reach Civita Castellana by this road, you must cross the wide and deep ravine which forms its southern boundary. The high-road, however, continues along the ridge, approaching the town by level ground, and enters it beneath the walls of the octagonal fortress — the masterpiece of Sangallo, and the political Bastille of Eome, when the Pope retained his temporal sove- reignty. AVhat traveller who has visited Rome, before the days of rail- roads, has not passed through Civita Castellana? There is scarcel}^ anj^ object in Ital}' better known than its bridge — none assuredly is more certain to find a place in every tourist's sketch- book; and Avell does it merit it. Though little more than a, century old, this bridge or viaduct is worthy of the magnificence CHAP, vii.] FRAGMENTS OF THE ETRUSCAN WALLS. 89 of Imperial Borne ; and combines with the ravine, the town on its verge, the distant Campagna, Soracte, and the Apennines, to form one of the choicest unions of nature and art to be found in that land where, above all others, their beauties seem most closely wedded. Yet bej'ond this, little or nothing is known of Civita Castellana. Not one in five hundred who passes through it, and halts awhile to admire the superb view from the bridge, or even descends from his carriage to transfer it to his sketch-book, ever visits the tombs by the Ponte Terrano. Still fewer descend to the Ponte di Treia ; and not one in a thousand makes the tour of the ravines, or thinks of this as a site abounding in Etruscan antiquities. jNIy aim is to direct attention to the objects of antiquarian interest with which Civita Castellana is surrounded. Very near the bridge, and on the verge of the cliff on wliich the town is built, is a portion of the ancient walls, of tufo, in cmplecton, seventeen courses in height, and precisely similar in the size and arrangement of its blocks, to the walls of Sutri and Nepi, alread}-- described. It forms an angle at the verge of the precipice, and is nothing more than a revetemcnt to the ground within.^ If you here enter the town, and continue down the long street on the left, you will arrive at the nunner}' of St. Agata, at the north-east angle of the plateau, on which Civita is built. Bj' its side is a road cut in the rock, Avhich a very little experience will tell 3'ou is Etruscan. It has on one side a water-course or gutter sunk in the tufo, Avhich, after running high above the road for some distance, discharges its waters over the precipice. There are tombs also — genuine Etruscan tombs — on either hand, though the forms of some are almost obliterated, and others are sadly injured by the purposes they are now made to serve — shepherds' huts, cattle-stalls, and hog-sties. They are mostly in the cliff, which, as the road descends rapidl}- to the valle}', rises high above your head. Here, too, opening in the cliff, are the mouths of several sewers, similar to those at Sutri and the Etruscan sites described." * Canina gives illustrations of three Llocks in alternate coui'ses. pieces of the walls ou this north side of - These sewers are aLout 6 ft. in height, the ancient city, and represents them all 2 ft. 6 in. wide at the bottom, tajiering to as showing the ends only of the blocks. 1 ft. 6 in. at the toi?. One runs into the Etruria Marit. tav. 6. All the fragments rocks some little distance, and then rises which I saw were certainly of that masonry in an upright square chimney, into which ■which I have designated as cmjilccton, and another passage opens horizontally above, which shows the ends and sides of the 90 CIVITA CASTELLANA. [chap. vii. It was probably these subterranean passages being ignorantly mistaken for the ciiniculus of Camilkis that gave rise to the notion of this being the site of Veii; but such sewers are to be found beneath the walls of ever}^ Etruscan city in the tufo district of the land, where the rock would admit of easy excavation, and are found also on all the ancient sites of the Campagna, even in the Capitoline, Palatine, and Aventine hills of Home. Here you are at the extreme angle of the plateau of Civita Castellana ; the ravine spanned by the celebrated bridge opens on one hand, v\hile another and wider glen lies on the other, bounding the plateau to the east.^ The road passes two ruined gateways of the middle ages, and winds down into this valley, through which flows the Treia, spanned b}' a neat bridge of three arches. Here stands a large building in ruins ; the table-land of Civita rises above your head in a range of steep, lofty cliffs of red tufo, based on a stratum of white sandy breccia. At the brow of the cliff, just above the bridge, is a long line of wall of the middle ages, in one place based on more ancient masonry of larger blocks, evidently part of the Etruscan walls, the very "moenia alta " sung by Ovid.* A sewer in the cliff' beneath them rivals them in anti- quity. This line of cliff runs due north and south for some distance — it then suddenly turns at right angles, where a glen opens to the west, and the streamlet of the Saleto, or, as it is also called, the Ilicano, issues from it to unite its waters with those of the Treia. It is a lonely and wild, but attractive spot. No sign of man save in the stej)ping-stones over the stream, or in the narrow track through the meadows or brushwood. Not a sound to remind you of the neighbourhood of the town over your head. The lofty cliffs on either hand bare their broad faces with a contrasted expression — smiling or scowling as they catch or lose the sun. Here it is advisable to cross the stream to get a better view of the cliffs of the cit}-. Soon after entering this glen you may per- ceive a portion of ancient wall sunk in a hollow of the cliff", and •* Gell points out this angle of the cliff distant, proving that it was not confined pierced by tombs and sewers as the site of to a mere corner of the plateau, but ex- the ancient city (which he supposes to have tended over the whole area, whose limits, been Fescennium), intimating his ojunion are defined by natural boundaries, and was. that the city occui)ied this corner of the thus one of the largest cities in the south plateau only (I. p. 292). Had he made of Etruria. This peninsular platform, the tour of the height of Civita Castellana, which he mistook for the site of the entire he would have observed unequivocal traces city, was probably that of the Arx. of the ancient city in several places widely ■* Ovid. Amor. III., Eleg. xiii. 34. CHAP. VII.] FEAGMENTS OF THE ETRUSCAN WALLS. 91 filling a natural gaj). You may count as nian}^ as twelve courses. A little be3'ond you meet with another piece in a similar situa- tion, and of five or six courses. You cannot inspect the masonry as 3'ou could wish, on account of the height of the cliff, which rises more than two hundred feet above your head, and, as the wall is at the very brink of the precipice, it is obviously not to be viewed from above. A practised eye, however, has no difficulty in determining its character — the difference between it and the mediaeval masonry, a long line of which presently follows, is most decided. Below this wall, and half-way up the cliff, are many tombs, with traces also of sewers. At the Ponte Saleto, where you meet the short cut from Civita to Nepi, you cross the stream, and take the road to the city, passing many tombs hollowed in the rock, resembling those near the Ponte Terrano, which will j^resently be described. The cliff here turns to the north-west, and a path runs along its brow, out- ride the modern walls. On this side there is rarther a natural fosse than a ravine, for the cliff rises nearl}"- one hundred feet above the lower part of the isthmus which unites the plateau of Civita Avith the plain of the Campagna. It is probable that wherever the cliffs were not sufficiently steep they were scarped by art, to increase the natural strength of the position — no diffi- cult task, as tufo has a tendency to split vertically. Remains of the ancient walls may be obseiTed in the foundations of the modern, from which they are easily distinguished by the superior massiveness of the blocks, by their different arrangement, and by the absence of cement. It will be remarked that all these frag- ments of ancient w^alling either exist in situations at the verge of the precipice, most difficult of access, or serve as foundations to more modern walls ; whence it may be inferred that the rest of the ancient fortifications have been applied to other purposes ; and a glance at the houses in the town suffices to show that, like Sutri, Civita is in great measure built of ancient materials. Passing round the castle of SangaUo, you re-enter the town by an adjoining gate, where are traces of an ancient road cut in the rock at the verge of the precipice, which bounds the city on the north ; its character marked by the tombs at its side. The Avail of the city must here have been on the top of the rock in which the tombs are hollowed and the road sunk ; and it seems most probable that here was the site of a gate, and that the modern fortress stands without the walls of the ancient city. It is curious to observe how close to their cities the Etruscans buried their 92 CIVITA CASTELLAXA. [chap. vii. dead — even up to the very gates ; though very rarely within the walls, as was the custom in 'some of the cities of Greece, and occasional!}" permitted at Rome.^ These tomhs are large conical niches or pits, eight or nine feet high, hy six in diameter. They are very common in the tufo district of Etruria, and are also met with in the neighbourhood of the ancient cities of Latium, in the Campagna south of the Tiber, and at Syracuse and other ancient sites in Sicily. Some have supposed them depositories for grain, ^ and were they found only as close to ancient cities as in this case, this would be probable enough ; but around Civita there are others in very different situations ; and having seen them on other Etruscan sites, far outside the ancient walls, and in the midst of undoubted tombs, I have not the smallest doubt of their sepulchral character. Besides, they have, almost invari- ably^, above the cone a small niche of the usual sepulchral form, as if for a cippus, or for a votive offering. I think it not unlikel}' that they contained figures of stone or terra-cotta, probably the effigies of the deceased, which were at the same time cinerary urns, holding their ashes, — such figures as have been found in several cemeteries of Etruria. Instead of entering the town, follow the brink of the precipice to the Ponte Terrano — a bridge which spans the ravine, where it contracts and becomes a mere bed to the Rio Maggiore. It has a single arch in span, but a double one in height, the one which carries the road across being raised above another (fit' more ancient date. Over all runs an aqueduct of modern construction, which spares the Civitonici the trouble of fetching water from the bottom of the ravines. The cliffs above and below the bridge are perforated in every direction with holes — doorways innumerable, leading into spacious tombs — sepulchral niches of various forms and sizes — here, rows of squares, side by side, like the port-holes of a ship of war — there, long and shallow recesses, one over the other, like an open cupboard, or a book-case, where the dead were literally laid upon ^ For tliis custom in Greece, see Becker, 1iy the Greeks of Cappadocia and Thrace. Cliaricles. Excurs. so. IX. At Rome it Varro, de Re Rust. I. cap. 57. But these was forbidden by the Twelve Tallies to bury Pollux (Onomast. IX. cap. 5. s. 49) or burn the dead within the walls, but the mentions among the parts of a city, with privilege was occasionally granted to a few, cellars, wells, bridges, gates, vaults ; illustrious for their deeds or virtues. Cic. whence we may conclude they were within de Leg. II. 23. Pint. Publicola. the walls. Such pits are still known in '' The corn-pits for which these tombs Sicily by the name of Silt. Lave been taken were called crtipoi or cnpoi CHAP. VII.] THE ETEUSCAN CEMETERY. 93 the shelf, — now a,cjain, upright like pigeon-holes, — or still taller and narrower, like loop-holes in a fortification. This seems to have been the principal necropolis of the Etruscan city. If you enter any of the tombs in the faces of the low cliffs into which the ground breaks, you will find one general plan prevailing, characteristic of the site. Unlike those of Sutri, where the door opens at once into the tomb, it here leads into a small ante- chamber, seldom as much as five feet square, which has an oblong hole in the ceiling, running up like a chimney to the level of the ground above. The tomb itself is generally spacious — from twelve to twenty feet square, or of an oblong form — never circular — mostly with a massive square pillar in the centre, hewn out of the rock, or, in many cases, with a thick partition-wall of rock instead, dividing the tomb into two equal parts. The front face of this, whether it be pillar or projecting wall, is generally hollowed out, sometimes in recesses, long and shallow, and one over the other, to contain bodies, sometimes in upright niches, for cinerary urns or votive offerings. Around the walls are long recesses for bodies, in double or triple tiers, just as in the catacombs and tombs of the early Christians. The door-posts are frequently grooved to hold the stone slabs with which the tombs were closed. The chimney in the ceiling of the ante- chamber probably served several purposes — as a splramen, or vent-hole, to let oif the effluvium of the decaying bodies or burnt ashes — as a means of pouring in libations to the jManes of the dead — and as a mode of entrance on emergency after the doors were closed. That they were used for the latter purpose is evident, for in the sides of these chimneys may be seen small niches, about a foot or eighteen inches one above the other, manifestly cut for the hands and feet. These chimneys were probably left open for some time, till the effluvium had passed off, and then were covered in, generally with large hewn blocks. Similar trap-doorways to tombs are found occasionally at Corneto, Ferento, Cervetri, and elsewhere in Etruria, but nowhere in such numbers as at Civita Castellana and Falleri, where they form a leading characteristic of the sepulchres.'^ A few of these tombs have a vestibule or open chamber in front, sometimes with a cornice in relief, benches of rock against " I have opened tombs with such entrances had similar trap-doors, b they had no atTeuchira in theCyrenaica; and the tombs other mode of entrance, the fagade having of Phrygia, described by Stenart (Ancient merely a false doorway, as in the tombs of Monuments of Lydia and Phrygia, pi. vii. ), Castel d'Asso and Norchia. 94 CIYITA CASTELLANA. [chap. vii. the walls for the support of sarcophagi, and niches recessed above, probabl}^ for votive offerings. In one instance there is a row of these niches, five on each side the doorway, high and narrow, like loopholes for musketry, save that they do not perforate the rock. Sometimes a large sarcophagus is hollowed out of a mass of rock. It is not uncommon to find graves of the same form sunk in the rock in front of the tomb, probably for the bodies of the slaves of the family, who, in death as in life, seem to have lain at their masters' doors. In the front wall of the tomb next to that with the row of niches, is an inscription in Etruscan letters, — " Tucthnu " — which I do not recognise as an Etruscan name. It is probable that this is but part of the original inscription, the rest being •obliterated. The letters retain traces of the red paint with which, as on the sarcophagi and urns generally, they were filled, to render them more legible. No other tomb could I find on this site with an Etruscan inscription on its exterior; it does not seem to have been the custom in this part of Etruria, as in some iiecropoles north of the Ciminian, to engrave epitaphs on the Tock-heAvn facades of the sepulchres. On the inner wall of a large tomb, close to the Ponte Terrano, is an Etruscan inscription of two lines rudely graven on the rock, and in unusually large letters, about a foot in height.® It is over one of the long bodj'-niches, which are hollowed in the walls of this tomb in three tiers, and is of importance as it proves these niches to be of Etruscan formation, and not always early Christian, as many have imagined. Further proof of this is given by the tombs of Cervetri — that of the Tarquins, for example.^ From the tombs on this site we learn that it Avas the custom liere to bury rather than to burn the dead — the latter rite seems to have been more prevalent at Sutrium. These differences are worthy of notice, as every Etruscan city had its peculiar mode of sepulture ; though there is in general much affinit}' among those in the same district, and in similar situations. The Ponte Terrano is a modern structure on an ancient basement. The northern pier, to the height of ten courses and to the width of twenty-three feet, is of emplecton masonrj- — s It is given by BuonaiToti (ap. Dempst. '■* Patlre Garrucci (Ann. Inst. 1860, p. IT., tav. 82, p. 26), who visited it in 1691, 269, tav. (i.) gives several other inscriptions and hy Gori and Lanzi. Mr. Ainsley gives from tomhs on this spot, which he pro- a different reading. Bull. Inst. 1845, p. nounces to be in the ancient Faliscan 139. character and language. CHAP. VII.] BEIDGE.S AND RAVINES. 95 Etruscan in style and in the size and arrangement of the blocks. Above it is small irregular masonry of modern times. The opposite pier is of rock, overhung with ivy and ilex. The lower arch is of the middle ages, so that the bridge unites in itself the work of three distinct epochs. Its antiquity has scarcely been noticed by former writers.^ Whoever would see the chief beauties of Civita Castellana, should descend into the deep ravine on this side of the town. The most convenient path is near the great bridge or viaduct. It is a zigzag track, cut through the tufo, and of ancient forma- tion, as is proved by the water-troughs at its side, and by the tombs in the rocks. From the bottom of the descent the bridge is seen to great advantage, spanning the ravine with its stupendous double tier of arches, Avith a grandeur that few viaducts, save the Pont du Gard, can surpass. A mimic cataract rushes down the cliff to join the stream — a rustic mill or two nestling beneath the bridge, are the only other buildings visible, and contrast their humilit}' with its majesty, as if to show at one glance the loftiest and meanest efforts of man's constructive power. Whoever has seen the magnificent Tajo of Ronda, in the south of Spain, will recognise immediately some resemblance here ; but this ravine is by no means so profound — the bridge is of a different character, wider, lighter, less solid, and massive — and here are no cascades, and lines of ivy-grown mills, as on the Rio Verde. Nevertheless, there is much in the general features of the ravine to recall to the memor}^ the glorious Tajo de Konda. The cliffs, both above and below the bridge, are excavated into tombs and niches of various forms, but few have retained their original shape. It must be confessed that the Etruscans often displayed great taste in selecting the sites of their sepulchres. AVhere could be found a more impressive, a more appropriate cemetery, than a ravine like this — a vast grave in itself, sunk two hundred and fifty feet below the surface — full of grandeur and gloom ? The ravine, moreover, is fertile in the picturesque. Ascend the course of the stream, and just above a rustic bridge you obtain a fine view of the Ponte Terrano spanning the glen in the distance, the Castle cresting the precipice on the left, and a ruined tower frowning down upon you from the opposite height. The * Gell and even Nibby seem to have overlooked it, Westphal alone (Romisclie Kam- pagne, p. 139) mentions it as ancient. 96 CIVITA CASTELLANA. [chap. vii. cliffs rise on either hand, of j-ellow and red tufo, dashed with gre3% white, or brown, with occasional ledges of green ; the whole crested with ilex, and draped here and there with ivv, clematis, and wild vine. Below the great bridge you have still more of the picturesque. The walls of warm yellow cliff, varie- gated with foliage, here approach so close as to make this a mere chasm — the fragment of Etruscan walling crowns the precipice on the right — huge masses of cliff fallen from above, lie about in wild confusion, almost choking the hollow — tall trees shoot ap from among them, by the banks of the stream, but are dwarfed into shrubs by the vast height of the all- shadowing cliffs. There is no lack of accommodation at Civita Castellana. The principal inn. La Posta, has received a bad name on account of the alleged extortion and insolence of the landlord. At La Croce Bianca, however, the traveller will find comfortable accommoda- tion, civility and attention. Sausages are not now famous here, as in ancient times. ^ Civita Castellana contains scarcel}^ more than two thousand souls, and extends over but a small part of the area occupied by the Etruscan city ; which is now for the most part covered with gardens and vineyards. This city, from its size, must have been of considerable importance among those of Southern Etruria. It was formerl}' supposed to be Veii, and there is an inscription in the cathedral, callmg the church " Yeiorum Basilica;" but this opinion has not the slightest foundation — its distance from Rome being three times gi'eater than that of Veii, as mentioned b}^ Dionysius.' Gell supposes it to have been Fescennium, but gives no reason for his opinion, in which he follows INIiiller and Nardini.^ There is much more probability that it is the ancient Falerium, or Falerii, so pro- minent in the early history of the Koman Bepublic. My reasons for holding this opinion will be given in the next chapter, Avhen I treat of the ruined town, a few miles distant, now called Falleri. - Varro (L. L. V. Ill) says they were 35. called Faliscl ventres. So also Martial. ^ Dion. Hal. 11. p. H6, ed. Sylb. IV. epig., 46. 8. ; cf, Stat. Silv. IV. 9. ^ Gell, I. p. 290. PORTA DI OIOVE, FALLERI. CHAPTER VIII. FALLEm.—FALEEII [NOVI). Ebbi improvviso un gran sepolcro scorto, . . . E in brevi note altrui vi si spouea II nome e la virtu del guerrier morto. lo non sapea da tal vista levarmi, Mii-ando ora le lettre, ed ora i marmi. — Tasso. Gaudent Italia3 sublimibus ojipida muris. — Claudian. The road from Ponte Terrano leads to Santa Maria di Falleri, or Falari, a ruined convent on another ancient site, about four miles from Civita Castellana. After two or three miles over the heath, you reach the Fosso de' Tre Camini, and where you cross the stream are traces of an ancient bridge. Just before coming in sight of Falleri, you reach a tomb, which, as you come suddenly- upon it, cannot fail to strike you with admiration. A wide recess in the cliif is occupied by a spacious portico of three large arches, hewn out of the rock, and with a bold cornice of masonry above, VOL. I. a 98 PALLEEI. [chap, viit. of massive tufo blocks, now somewhat dislocated, and concealed by the overhanging foliage. A door in the inner wall of the portico, of the usual Etruscan form, slightl}^ narroAving upwards, opens into the sepulchre. Sepulchre ! to an unpractised eye the structure looks far more like a habitation ; and in truth it is an imitation of an ancient abode. The portico is surrounded by PORTICOED TOMB WITH COKNICE OF MASONRY, FALLEKI. an elegant cornice, carved in the rock ; the door, to which you ascend by steps, is ornamented with mouldings in relief. Within it, is a small antechamber, with the usual chimney or funnel in its ceiling; and then you enter a spacious, gloomy sepulchre. Its flat ceiling is supported in the midst by a massive square pillar, in the face of Avhich are three long,, shallow niches, one over the other ; and in the walls of the tomb are smaller niches foj- urns or votive offerings. Under the portico the rock is cut into benches for sarcophagi, and long holes are sunk in the ground for the reception of bodies, which, with the exception of being covered over with tiles, must have been exposed to the passers- b}', as the arches of the portico could hardl}' have been closedo CHAP, viii.] ETEUSCAN TOMB WITH A PORTICO. 99 The cornice around the portico and the mouklings of the door are ahnost Roman in character ; yet in form and arrangement the tomb is too nearly allied to the Etruscan tombs of this district to be of Roman construction. It is probable that the Romans appropriated it to their own dead ; and possible that they added these decorations ; but, though an architectural adornment be proved to have been used by that people, it by no means follows that they originated it. Had not history in- formed us that the Corinthian capital Avas of Greek origin, the frequency of it in the ancient buildings of Rome and Ital}', and its rarit}^ in Greece, might have led us to a different conclusion. Now, we know almost nothing of Etruscan architecture from written records ; and therefore when Ave find, in a position which favours an Etruscan origin, architectural decorations analogous to those used by the Romans, it Avere illogical to pronounce them necessarily to be the Avork of the latter. On the contrar}^ it Avere quite as reasonable to regard them as Etruscan, knowing that, before the time of the Empire at least, the Romans Avere mere imitators of the Etruscans and Greeks in the arts, servile enough in that respect — imitatorcs, scrinm iiecus /—however they may have taken the lead of the Avorld in arms. Nevertheless, Avhether Etruscan or Roman, the tomb is probably of a late period. This is the only instance known of an Etruscan tomb Avith a •cornice of masonry, and it Avas thought to be unique also as regards its portico ; but I Avas fortunate enough to discover a .group of tombs of similar charcter, \'ery near this, Avhicli were before unknoAvn.^ Among them is one Avhich seems also to have had a portico, Ijut the cliff out of Avhich it Avas lieAvn is broken awa}^ What noAV forms its front, has been the inner wall, if not of a portico, •of an antechamber or outer tomb, and on it, to my astonishment, I found a Latin inscription, in very neatl}^ formed letters, about four or five inches high, graven deep in the tufo. L. VECILIO. VI. F. E PO . . AE. ABELES. LECTV. I. DATV . . VECILIO. L. F. ET. PLENESTE . ECTV. I. AMPLIVS. NIHIL INVITEIS. L. C. LEVIEIS. L. F. EX. QVEI. EOS. PARENTARET NE. ANTEPONAT ' One has two arches in its portico ; seems to liave had two more ; and a third .another has only one standing, though it is a mere portico of two arches, without 11 2 100 FALLEEI. [chap. viii. The last line was buried in the earth, and having no instru- ment at hand, I could not uncover it ; but I communicated the discover}' to the Ai-chseological Institute" of Rome ; and my friend. Dr. Henzen, one of the secretaries, proceeded imme- diately to Falleri to inspect the inscription. To him is due the discovery of the last line, which explains the whole. To him also am I indebted for the correction and explanation of the inscription. " To Lucius Vecilius, son of Vibius and of Polla (or Pollia) Abeles, one bed (sepulchral couch) is given — to ... Vecilius, son of Lucius and of Plenesta, one bed. — Let no one i)lace anything before (i.e., another body in) these beds, save with the ])ermission of Lucius and Caius Levius, sons of Lucius, and (with the permission) of whoever may perform their obsequies (i.e. their heirs)." The beds are the long niches in the walls of the tomb, of which there are eleven. The inscription is curious for its ancient Latinity alone ; but most interesting as an evidence of the fact that the Homans made use of the tombs of the Etruscans, or else constructed sepulchres precisel}' similar. No one can doubt the Etruscan character of this particular tomb, and yet it belonged to the Roman family of the Levii, who gave it or let it out to the Vecilii, as we know to have been frequently the case with the oll(S of Roman columhar'ia. The mention of the mother's name after the father's is a genuine Etruscanism.^ It is general in Etruscan epitaphs, and was retained even under Roman domination, for some sarcophagi bear similar epitaphs in Latin, with '* natus " affixed to the mother's name in the genitive or ablative. But those sarcophagi were found in Etruscan tombs, in the midst of others with Etruscan inscrijitions, and are only the coffins of the- latest members of the same families, belonging to a period when< the native language was being superseded by that of the con- querors. This may be the case here also — the Levii may have been an Etruscan family ; as indeed seems highly probable. If not, we have here a Roman usurpation of an Etruscan sepulchre, or it may be an imitation of the Etruscan mode of burial, and an inner chamber, the portico itself being the Lycians always traced their descent the tomb, as is shown l)y the rock-benches tlirough the maternal line, to the exclu- within it. sion of the jjaternal — a fact recorded by 2 SccBull Instit. 1844, p. 02. Herodotus (f. 173), and verified by ^ This custom the Etruscans must modern researches. Fellows' Lycia, ■ p. liave derived from the East, as it was not 276. The Etruscans being less purely practised by the Greeks or Romans ; but Oriental, made use of both methods. CHAP. VIII.] THE CITY- WALLS. 101 also an instance of the adoption of the customs of that people by the Romans.''' Just beyond these tombs the city of Falleri comes into view. And an imposing sight it is— not from its position, for it is on the very level of the plain by which you approach it — but from THE WALLS OF FALLERT, FROM THE EAST. its lofty walls and numerous towers, stretching awa}- on either hand to a great distance in an almost unbroken line, and only just dilapidated enough to acquire a pictm-esque effect, which is heightened by overhanging foliage. You approach it from the east, at an angle of the wall where there is an arched gateway on either hand — one still open^, t^he other almost buried in the earth. ■• Dr. Henzen, who is facile princeps in the archeology of inscriptions, refers this to a remote period, undoubtedly to the time of the Republic, and before the establishment of the Colonia Junonia by the Triumvirate, and considers the tomb as one of the most ancient on this site. Bull. Inst. 1844, pp. 129, 161-8. In the neighbourhood of this tomb Signor Guidi, in 1851, Oldened five others which contained a number of inscriptions in a character •and language neither Etruscan nor Latin, and therefore pronounced to be Faliscan. They were painted on sepulchral tiles. Eight were written like the Etruscan, from right to left, and two in Roman letters, from left to right. The chai'acters of the ten differed from the Etruscan iu the forms of the A. E. P. R., and in the use of the 0, assimilating more to the Greek. But the language was much more akin to the Latin. Copies of these inscrip- tions are given in Ann. Inst. 1860, tav. d'Agg. G. H., and they are explained by Padre Garrucci (op. cit., pp. 272-9), who refers them to the sixth century of Rome. ^ This gate, as will be seen in the woodcut, has a tower immediately to the left of him who approaches it, which is contrary to the precepts of Yitruvius (I. 5), who recommends that the ap- proach to a city-gate be such, that the right side of the foe, which is unpro- tected by his shield, may be open to attack 102 FALLEEI. [chap. viii. The walls liere are about seven feet thick, and in thirteen courses, or about twenty-five feet high ; they are of red tufo blocks, of the size usual in the emplccton masonry of Etruria, fitted together without cement and with great nicety. In parts the tufo has lost its surface, but in others the masonry looks as sharp and fresh as though it had been just constructed, without a sign of age bej^ond its weather-stained coating of gre}'. Both walls and towers are perpendicular or nearly so ; the latter, which are at unequal distances, but generally about one hundred feet apart, are square — about seventeen feet wide, and projecting ten feet. They are external onl}' ; the inner surface of the wall, which rises high above the level of the ground Avithin, is unbroken by pro- jections; it is similar in appearance to the outer surfiice, though not so neatly smoothed and finished. Following the northern wall of the city, after passing ten towers, you reach a small arched gate or postern. Outside it are remains of Roman tombs of opus incertuin, on mounds bj^ the side of the road which issued from this gate ; blocks of basalt, now uj)turned by the plough, indicate its course. It was the Via Amerina, which ran northward to Horta and Ameria. Passing a breach which Gell takes for a gateway, you next cross a long wall or embankment stretching away at right angles from the city ; it is of ancient blocks, probably taken from the city walls. A little be3^ond is what seems a window, high in the wall and partly blocked up, but it is a mere hole cut in later times. On turning the corner of the wall j^ou reach the Porta di Giove, a fine gate in excellent preservation, flanked by towers. The arch-stones and encircling moulding are of peperino ; and in the centre over the key-stone, is a head in bold relief. AVhy called Giove I do not understand ; it has none of the attributes of Jupiter, but in its beardless j'outh and gentleness of expression, seems rather to represent Bacchus or Apollo." See the woodcut from the ramparts. The angular form of posts is more than seven feet, which is this city, and of the towers in its walls, also the thickness of the city wall. The is also at variance with the rules laid imposts are also of peperino — above them down by the same author, who denounces the arch is blocked up with brickwork, angles, as protecting the foe rather than Canina is inclined to regard this gate the citizen. as Etruscan. He says (Archit. Ant. VI. ^ Canina takes the head to lie that of p. 54), from a comparison of it with those Juno, rather than of Jupiter, as she was of Frestum and Volterra, that it cannot be the great goddess of the Falisci. Etruria otherwise than of early date, and not Marit. I. p. 70. The gate is nearly wholly Roman, as some have sujiijosed ; eighteen feet in height, and ten feet eight and again (Ann. Inst. 1S35, p. 192) he inches in span. The depth of its door- cites the head on the keystone as a jiroof CHAP. VIII.] THE CITY- WALLS.— POETA DI GIOYE, 103 at the head of this chapter. Within the gate is a douhle line of ancient wall, flanking a hollow way or road, which now leads to the ruined convent of Santa Maria di Fallen, the only building stand- ing within the walls." The wall soon turns again and follows the course of the valley through which flows the Miccino. Here it is based on low tufo cliff's, in which are the inouths of several sewers. On this side it is for the most part greatly dilapidated : sometimes you lose sight of it altogether for a considerable distance, then again trace it by TO-MKS IN THE CLIFFS AT FALLERI. detached portions or by towers only, which jet boldly into the valle}^ on projecting masses of cliff". The rock beneath the walls is in many places hollowed into niches or caves, once evidentl}' tombs ; and on the other side of the stream are tall cliffs, full of long sepulchral niches one above the other, where the Falerians of old stored up their dead — shown in the above woodcut On of this sort, of decoration being Etruscan. It was also extensively iised by both Greeks and Romans. ^ Just within the gate, to the right as you enter, is a sewer-like hole, now blocked up, which seems to have been a window. It is not visible from without, because the ancient wall just in that jjart is faced with niedi£eval masonry ; but its form is distinguishable. 104 FALLEEI. [chap, viii that side also are the remains of several Roman tombs — massive piles of opus incertum, towering high above the light wood that covers that bank of the stream. This necropolis has been little explored, and I regret that I have not been able to give it due examination. Dr. Henzen found one tomb here with a Christian inscription.^ One of the city-towers stands on a projection of the cliff where the wall makes a semicircular bend inwards. Beneath this tower is a tomb of unusual size, square and loft3\ It would seem at first sight to have been formed as a cellar to the tower, but further observation shows that it was of prior formation, for its original doorway is blocked up by the masonry of the tower itself. AVhence it may be inferred that the city was of subsequent con- struction, and that the tomb had been profaned by the founders. Near this is another instance of the citj'-wall blocking up an ancient tomb. Facts of importance, as bearing on the question by whom and in what age the city was built. A little beyond this you reach another deep recess in the line of cliff, with a magnificent mass of walling rising to the height of twenty-eight courses, or fift3'-four feet, and stretching completely across the hollow. In the centre is a gate, the Porta del Bove, fine in itself, but appearing quite insignificant — a mere drain-hole in the vast expanse of wall.'' Towers, bannered with oak-saplings, and battlemented with ivy, crest boldly the i^rojecting clifi's at the angles of the recess. "Desert caves, Avitli wild thyme and the gadding vine o'ergrown," yawn around. Soracte soars bluelj' in the distance above the wooded glen. The whole scene is one of picturesque grandeur, rendered more impressive b}' the silence, loneliness, and desolation.^ ** Bull. Inst. 1844, p. 168. liigher gi-ound of the city. It must have ^ Tliis is perhaps the loftiest relic of been a very steep ascent, as the gate opens ancient city-walls extant in Italy, save the at the bottom of a deep gulley, and the Bastion in the polygonal walls of Nox-ba gi'ound within is almost on a level with in Latium, which is aliont the same height. the top of the wall. A large tree, now The wall of the Forum of Augustus at reduced to charcoal, lies prostrate on the Rome, in the same style of masonry, is, ramparts, which, when it flourished high however, considerably higher. above the wall, miist have greatly in- ^ The gate derives its present appella- creased the picturesque effect from below, tion from something carved in relief on The gate is 8 feet in span, and the depth its key-stone, which may once have been of the arch, or the thickness of the wall a bull's skull, a favoui-ite ornament of in this jiai-t, is 9 feet. There are 13 gateways among the Romans. Another voussoirs in the arch, 3 feet 9 inches deep, appellation, Porta della Puttana, is yet fitted together with great neatness — all more difficult of explanation. Within are are of tufo, and are rusticated in the traces of a vaulted passage, much wider return facing of the arch, than the gate itself, leading up to the CHAP. VIII.] THE CITY-WALLS—PORTA DEL BOVE. 105 Opposite the Porta del Bove are the remains of a bridge over the Miccino, the piers on both banks being still extant. The southern wall of the city extends but a short way beyond the Porta del Bove. It then turns to the north ; and after pass- ing nine towers in excellent preservation, 3'ou come to the site of another gate, now destro3'ed. Outside it, a Roman tomb rises to a considerable height. From this spot, a short distance TO FABBRIC. TC . fiO/VC/Cl lONE PLAN OF FALLERI A to //. Gates in the city-walls. L. a Porta del Bove. M. E. Grate represented in woodcut, p. a. 101. h. H. Porta di Giove. Sse woodcut, p. 97. c. I. Theatre. dd. K. Ruins. c e. Adapted from Gcll. Supposed .site of Forum. Church of Sta. Maria di Falleri. Window in the wall. Small gate, almost buried. Pyramid, and other Roman tombs. Loftiest portions of the walls. Sewers cut in the rock. carries you to the gate at the north-eastern angle, where 3'ou complete the tour of the city. According to Gell, the circuit of the walls is 2305 yards, or more than one English mile and a third.^ The form of the city is a right-angled triangle, with the angles truncated. About fifty towers are standing, and eight or nine gates may be traced. "Perhaps," as Gell remarks, "no place presents a more perfect specimen of ancient military architecture." 2 Gell, I. p. 421. 106 FALLEEI. [chap. viii. Within the walls there nve but few remuins. On the spot where the theatre was found nothing can now be traced of the seats or arches. A high bank, encircling a hollow, marks the outline. Here, as on the other spots where excavations have been made, are fragments of cornices and columns of travertine and marble, and other traces of the Romans. Several fine statues have been found on this spot.^ The only building now standing within the walls is the convent of Sta. Maria di Falleri, but even this shares in the ruin of the spot, and, instead of chaunt and orison, resounds with the bleat- ing of sheep and lowing of oxen. It is of the Lombard style, so common in the ecclesiastical architecture of Italy, but of a more simple character than usual. It is constructed of the ma- terials of the ancient city, and apparentl}' is of the twelfth century. We have now to consider the origin and ancient name of this city. That an Etruscan population occupied this or a neigh- bouring site is evident from the multitude of tombs and niches excavated in the cliffs, undoubtedly of that character, and too remote to belong to the city which occupied the site of Civita Castellana. The walls are certainly in the Etruscan style as regards the masonry ; but this is not decisive of their origin, for precisely the same sort of masonr}^ was employed in the earliest walls of Rome, and is to be seen in other places south and east of the Tiber; in almost every case, however, prior to the Empire. Nibby" is of opinion from the method of fortification, from the arching of the gateways, and from the sculpture and mouldings, as well as from the fact that the theatre and other ancient relics within the walls are unequivocall}" Roman, that the remains now extant belong to a Roman city. Canina, on the other hand, a superior authority on architectural matters, sees much Etruscan character in the gateways.' As before her intercourse with Greece, Rome was indebted to Etruria for all her arts, as well as for most of her institutions, religious, political, and social; it may well be that this city Avas built under the Roman domination, but that Etruscan artists and artisans were employed in its construc- tion. The name of the original town, moreover, seems preserved in its modern appellation, wliich it possessed through the middle ^ Tlie theatre is said to liave been cut lated statues of C. and L. Cajsar, which in tlie rock, like the amphitheatre of Sutri were found among its ruins. A fine (Bull. Inst. 1829, p. 57). It was exca- statue of Juno has also been excavated vated in 1829 and 1830. It seems to within the walls of Falleri. have been of the time of Augustvis, from a '* II. p. 27. statue of Livia as Concord, and some muti- ^ See note 6, p. 102. CHAP, viii.] THE THREE CITIES OF THE FALISCI. 107 ages, and which mdicates it as the Falerii of the Etruscans. Let us consider what is said of that town hy ancient writers. At an early period, says tradition, shortly after the Trojan war, a body of Greeks from Argos, led by Halesus, or Haliscus, son of Agamemnon, settled in this part of Ital}^,* drove out the Siculi, who then possessed it, and occupied their towns of Falerium and Fescennium.'' AVhether they were subsequently conquered by the Tyrrheni or Etruscans, or entered into alliance Avith them, does not appear, but it is certain that they were incorporated with that people, and under the name of Falisci" continued to possess this part of Etruria till its conquest by Rome. Yet they were alwaj's in some respects a distinct people ; their language was said to differ from the Etruscan f and even as late as the time of Augustus, they retained traces of their Argive origin, in their armour and weapons, and in various customs, especially in what regarded their temples and religious rites. The temple of fFuno at Falerii is said to have been the counterpart of that dedicated to the same goddess at Argos, i.e. the Herseum, and her worship to have been similar.' There seems to have been a third cit}-, Faliscum, similar in origin to tiie other two, and deriving its name from the chief of the original colonists.^ We see then that there Avere three cities, probably not far removed from each other, inhabited by a race, which, tliougl) 6 Dion. Hal. I. p. 17. Ovid. Fast. '■' Stralio, V. p. 22(i. IV. 73, and Amor. III. Eleg. 13, 31. i Dion. Hal. loc. cit. Ovid. Amor. HI. Cato ap. Plin. III. 8. Sen-, ad ^n. VII. Eleg. 13, 27, et seq. : see also Fasti, VI. 695. Stepli. Byzant. v. ^a\i(TKos. Solinus 49. This Juno had the epithet of Curitis II. p. 13. All ogree as to the Argive or Quiritis, as we learn from Tei'tnllian origin of the Falisci, save Justin (XX. 1), (Ajjolog. 24) —and from inscriptions found who derives them from the Chalcidenses on the spot (Holsten. ad Cluv. j). 57. — an origin which Niebulir (III. p. 179) Gruter, p. 308, 1). In the Sabine tongue rejects. Quiris signifies "lance," she was therefore ' Dionys. Hal. I. pp. 16, 17. Neither the "lance-Juno," and is represented Dionysius, Cato, nor Stephanus makes holding that weapon. Pint. Romul. Mi- mention of Halesus as the founder. nerva also was worshipped at Falerii. Ovid. Servius (ad ^n. VII. 695) points out the Fast. III. 843. Mars seems to have been change of the initial H. into F., the another god of the Falisci, as they called the adoption by the Romans of the JEolio fifth month in their calendar after his name, digamma to express the Greek aspirate^ Ovid. Fast. III. 89. A four-faced Janus — sicut Formia?, quje Hormife fuerunt — was also worshipped here, whose statue awb TTJs opfMrjs. was carried to Home, where the temple of ^ Dionysius (loc. cit.) calls this Argive Janus Quadrifrons was erected to receive it. colony Pelasgi, and the similarity, almost Serv. ad Mn. VII. 607. Festus (v. Strop- amounting to identity, of this word to pus) speaks of a festival kept by the Falisci Falisci is remarkable ; in fact it is not under the name of Strupearia, but in improbable that the appellation Falisci honour of what deity he does not mention, was one simply indicative of their Argive - See Note I. in the Ajipendix to this i. e. Pelasgic) descent. Chapter. 108 FALLEEI. [chap. viii. of Greek origin, was, at the period it is mentioned in Eoman liistor}^ to all intents and purposes, Etruscan ; amalgamated, like the inhabitants of Agylla, Cortona, and other Pelasgic cities of Etruria, with the mixed race of the Tyn-henes, and bearing, from the general testimony of ancient writers, the generic name of Falisci. Of these three cities, Falerii, or Falerium, as it is indifferently called, was evidently the most important. There is every reason to believe it one of the Twelve cities of the Confederation.* Plutarch says it was so strong by nature and so admirably prepared to sustain an attack, that the citizens made light of being besieged by the Komans,' even though led by Camillus ; and according to Livy the siege bid fair to be as tedious as that of Veil ; ' which could not have been the case had not the city occupied a site strong by nature as well as by art. Ovid speaks of the steepness of the ascent to the celebrated temple of Juno within the city.^ Zonaras also mentions the natural strength of its position on a lofty height." All descriptive of a site widely different from that of Falleri, and perfectly agreeing with that of Civita Castellana, Avliich, in accordance with Cluve- rius, Holstenius, Cramer, and Nibby, I am fully persuaded is the representative of the Etruscan Falerium. There it is we must place the scene of the well-known story of the treacherous schoolmaster. The Falerians, trusting in the strength of their town, regarded with indifference the Roman arni}^ encamped about it, and pur- sued their ordinar}^ avocations. It was the custom of the Falisci, derived probably from their Greek ancestors, to have a public school for the tuition of the male children of the citizens. The schoolmaster during the siege took his boys out of the city for exercise, as usual in time of peace, and led them daily further from the walls, till at length he carried them to the Eoman camp, and delivered them up to their foes. As among them were the children of the principal citizens, he thought by this act to transfer to the Eomans the destinies of the city itself, and thus purchase for himself the favour of Camillus. But the Eoman general, with that noble generosity and inflexible virtue which characterised many of his countr^'men of earl}^ times, •* See Note II. in the Ax^penJix to this ^ Liv. V. 26. Chapter. « Amor. III., Eleg. 13, 6. * Phit. Camil. : see also Yal. Max. VI. ' Zonar. Ann. YII. 22 ; and VIII. 18. 5. 1. — mcenia expugnari non i^oterant. CHAP, viii.] CIVITA AN ETEUSCAN, FALLEEI A EOMAN SITE. 109 scorned to profit by such baseness, and sternly replied, — "Not to such wretches as thyself art thou come with thy base offers. With the Falisci we have no common bond of human making ; but such as nature hath formed, that will we ever respect. War hath its laws as well as peace ; and its duties we have learnt to execute, whether they demand our justice or our valour. We are arrayed, not against that tender age wliicli is sacred even in the moment of successful assault, but against those who, though neither injured nor annoyed by us, took up arms and attacked our camp at Veii. Them hast thou surpassed in iniquity ; and them will I overcome, as I have the Veientes, by Roman skill, determination, and valour." Then commanding the wretch to be stript, and his hands to be bound behind his back, he delivered him to the boys, who with rods and scourges drove him back to the city. The anxiety and terror of the inhabitants at the loss of their children was turned to joy on their return, and they conceived such admiration of the Roman general that they forthwith surrendered the city into his hands." This was in the year of Rome 360 ; but the Falisci, as a people, are mentioned in Roman history as early as the year 317 f from which time, to the capture of the city, they several times warred against Rome, in alliance with either the Veientes, Fidenates, or Capenates. The Falisci remained subject to Rome till the year 397, when they revolted, and joined the Tarquinienses, but were subdued b}" the dictator, Marcius Rutilus.' In 461 they joined the other Ftruscan cities in the final struggle for independence.^ In 513, after the first Punic war, they again revolted; but were soon reduced.' Zonaras, who has given us an account of this final capture, says that " the ancient city situated on a steep and lofty height was destroyed, and another built in a place of easy access."* The description of the latter, which will not apply at all to the site of Civita Castellana, agrees precisely with that of Falleri, which,, as already shown, stands on two sides on the actual level of the plain, and on the third, on cliffs but slightly raised from the valley — such a situation, as, by analogy, we know would never have been chosen by the Etruscans, but is not at all inconsistent » Livy, y. 27. Plut. Camil. Dion. 432. Hal. Excerp. Mai, XII. c. 16. Val. Max. - Liv. X. 45, 46. VI. 5, 1. Florus. I. 12. Frontin. Strat. '-^ Polyb. I. 65. Val. Max. YI, 5. IV. 4. Zonaras, VII. 22. Eutrop. II. 28. Zonaras, Ann. VIII. 18. " Liv. IV. 17. Orosius, IV. II. 1 Liv. VII. 16, 17. Dioil. Sic. XVI. p. •* Zonar. loc. cit. 110 FALLEEI. [chap. viii. with a Ptoman oi'igin.' Regarding Fallen, then, to be the city rebuilt at this period, all difficulty witli regard to its name is removed. It is not necessary to suppose it the Etruscan Falerii; for the name of the original cit}' was transferred with the inhabit- ants to this site, which has retained it, while the ancient site lay desolate, it is probable, for many ages,'' till long after the fall of the Empire, in the eighth or ninth century of our era, the strength of its position attracted a fresh settlement, and it was fortified under the name of Civitas Castellana. That Civita was the site of the original, and Falleri of the second city of Falerii, is corroborated b}' the much superior size of the former, and by the fact that no Roman remains have been discovered there, while they abound at the latter place." This is the opinion regarding Falerii held by most antiquaries of note, and it seems clear and consistent.^ Some few, as Nardini, Miiller, Gell, and Mannert, led astray b}' the resem- blance of the name, view Falleri as the original Falerii, and without just grounds regard Civita Castellana as the site of Fescennium. Regarding, then, the remains of Falleri as belonging to Roman times, the resemblance of its walls and gates to Etruscan masonry and architecture is explained b}' the date of their con- struction, as they belong to a period when the Romans were imitators of the Etruscans in all their arts ; besides, the inhabit- ants were still of the latter nation, though they had received a Roman colony. This may also, to some extent, explain its tombs, Avhich, with a few exceptions, are purely Etruscan. Neverthe- less, as alread}^ shown, there is ground for believing that such tombs existed here long prior to the erection of the walls of Falleri, and therefore that a genuine Etruscan town occupied a neighbouring site — but where that town may have stood, or ^ See Note III. in the Appendix to tliis rounded every temple. It is proLalde, liow- Chapter. ever, that there was still some small i^opu- ® The "apple-bearing Falisci " men- latiou on this spot, as usual in the imme- tioned by Ovid (Amor. III., Eleg. 13), as diate neighbourhood of celebrated shrines, the birthplace of his wife may have been and to that Ovid may have referred under Falleri ; but the temple of Juno continued the name of Falisci. The Oolonia Junonia, in his day to occupy the original site, as is referred to by Frontinus (de colon.) — quae proved by his mention of the walls con- appellatur Faliscos, quas a III viri.s est quered by Camillus, and the steep ascent assignata — and in an inscrii^tion found at to the town, — difticilis clivis via — there Falleri, must apply to the second city, biing nothing like a steep to Falleri. The '' Nibby, II. v. Falerii. dense and venerable grove, too, around the '"* See Note IV. in the Apjiendix to thi.s. temple, may perhaps mark the desolation Chapter. 'Of the site, though a grove generally sur- .CHAP. VIII.] THE HYKSOS OF ETRUEIA. Ill what its name may have been, I pretend not to determine. It was probably some small town dependent on Falerii, the name of which has not come down to us. Falleri was on the Via Amerina which branched from the Via Cassia at Le Sette Yene, and ran northward through Nepi to Todi and Perugia. It is five miles from Nepi, as set down in the Table, and three from Corchiano on the same line of ancient road. In this direction, or northwards from Falleri, the road ma}^ be traced by fragments more or less perfect almost as far as Orte, on the Tiber.^ For my guide to Falleri I took a man from Civita Castellana, named Domenico Mancini, a most civil fellow, simple but intelligent, and, what is more than can be said for Italian guides in general, satisfied with a just remuneration. Having tended cattle or sheep all his life-time in the neighbourhood, he knows the site of every grotta or tomb, and in fact, pointed out to nie .those with the porticoes and Latin inscription, which were pre- viousl}' unknown to the world. The antiquit3'-hunter in Italy can have no better guide than an intelligent shepherd; for these 'men, passing their da^-s in the open air, and following their .flocks over the wilds tar from beaten tracks, become familiar •with every cave, every fragment of ruined wall, and block of hewn stone ; and, though they do not comprehend the antiquity of such relics, yet, if the traveller makes them aware of what he is seeking, the}' will rarely fail to lead him to the sites of such remains. The visitor to Falleri who would engage the services of the said Domenico, must ask for "Domenico, detto Figlio del Re," or the King's Son; which is no reflection on any crowned head in Europe, but is a sobriquet belonging to him in right of his father, who was generally called " The King," whether from his dignified bearing, or from out-topping his fellows, like Saul, I know not. These cofinomhia are general among the lower orders in Italy — a relic, doubtless, of ancient times — and no one seems ashamed of them ; nay, a man is best known by his nick- name. At Sutri I was guided by a Sorcio, — or " Mouse " — (remember the three great Ilepublican heroes of the same name, '■• The distances on the Via Amerina are thus marked in the Peiitingerian Table : Roma AdSextum M.P. YI. Yeios VI. Vacanas Villi. Nepe Villi. Faleros V. Ca&tello Amerino XII. Ameria Vim. Tuder VI. Vetoua XX. Piriisio XIIII. 112 FALLEEI. [chap. viii. P. Decius Mus!); at Nanii, I was driven by Mosto, or "New Wine;" at Chianciano by tbe "Holy Father" himself; and at Pitigliano I lodged in the house of II Bimbo, or "the Baby." I should mention that this son of the shepherd-king of Civita Castellana, will provide the traveller with horses at three francs each per diem. APPENDIX TO CHAPTER YIII. Note I. — Thk Three Towns of the Falisci. — See page 107. NiBBY doubts the existence of a third town, and thinks that Faliscum is merely another name for Falerium, seeing that Fahsci was the name of the people, and Falerii of their city ; just as the inhabitants of Rome were called Quirites, and of Ardea, Riituli. Cluver (II., p. 544) is much of the same opinion. Now, though " Falisci " was undoubtedly the name of the race, as shown by most wi'iters, particularly by Livy, and though some- times employed, in this sense, indifferently with Falerii, and though Faliscum, Falisca, or Falisci, is often confounded with Falerii the town, as by Ovid, Pliny, Diodorus, (XIV., p. 310), and perhaps by Servius ; yet Faliscum is mentioned by Strabo (V., p. 226), by Stephanus (v. $aAi'cr*cos), and Solinus (II., p. 13), in addition to Falerium. The last-named author speaks of the three cities in the same passage, — ab Haleso Argivo Phaliscam ; a Phalerio Argivo Phalerios ; Fescennium quoque ab Argivis. See Miiller's opinion on this passage (Etrusk. IV., 4, 3, n. 31). Strabo also mentions " Falerium and Faliscum " in the same breath ; and as by the former he must mean the second, or Roman Falerii, seeing that the original Etruscan city had ceased to exist long before his time, it is clear that the latter must refer to some other place — j^robably the ^quum Faliscum which he indicates as lying on the Flaminian Way between Ociiculum and Rome. See Note III. Note II. — Falerh one of the Twelve. — See page 108. That Falerii was one of the Twelve Cities of the Etruscan Confederation, there is every reason to believe. Its position, in a portion of Etruria which could scarcely belong to Veii, or to Volsinii, the nearest cities of the League — its size, much superior to any of the known dependent towns, and second only to Ctvre and Veii, among the cities south of the Ciminian — and the importance ascribed to it by ancient writers — make it higlily probable that it was one of the principal cities of Etruria. Cluver (II., p. 545) thinks the fact may be deduced from the passage of Livy (IV. 23) already commented on, in connection with Veii (ut supra, p. 28). Miiller thinks Falerii has equal claims to this honour with Veii and Ca;re ; and that it was much too powerful, and acted too independently, to be the colony of another city. Etrusk. II. 1, 2. Eutropius (1. 18) says it was not inferior to Veii. Dempster (de p]truria Regali, II. p. 52) places Falerii among the Twelve. Niebuhr is not of this opinion ; perhaps because he regarded the Falisci as ^qui, rather' than as Etruscans. Hist. Rom. I. pp. 72, 119, Eng. trans. CHAP. VIII.] iEQUUM FALISCUM. 113 Note III. — ^Equuji Faliscum. — See page 110. Niebuhr (Hist. Eom. I. p. 72, Eng. trans.) is of opinion that the epitlict of ^i3ta>': CHAPTER X. FERONIA AND CAPENA. Hiec duo prajterca disjectis oppida muris. — Virg. Itiii- in agros Dives ubi ante omnes colitur Feronia luco Et sacer Lumectat fluvialia rura Capenas. — Sil. Ital. Another Etruscan city which plaj-ed a prominent part in the early history of Rome, was Capena.^ It is first mentioned hy Livy in his account of the hist Veientine war, when it united with Falerii in assisting Veii, then beleaguered b}^ the Romans. The latter city, from her power and proximity to Rome, was the bulwark of Etruria ; and it was foreseen by the neighbourmg people, that should she fall, the whole land would be open to invasion.^ Falerii and Capena, fearing they Avould be next attacked, made strenuous attempts to raise the siege, but finding theii" efforts vain, they besought the aid of the great Confedera- tion of Etruria.^ Now, it had so happened that the Veientes had greatly ofiended the Confederation, first, by acting contrary to ^ Cai^ena is evidently a name of Etruscan origin. A tomb of the family of " Capeni," or "Capenia," was discovered at Perugia in 1843 (Yermigl. Scavi Perugini, p. 9). Among Etruscan family names, we meet with "Capnas" (Yerm. Isc. Perug. I. p. 226) and "Capevani," (Lanzi II. p. 371) probably a derivation from Capena with the insertion of the digamma. In the tomb of the Cilnii, the name "Caupna" occurs. Signor Giulietti of Chiusi has an urn in- scribed " Thauia Capuei. " Stei^hanus calls this town C'apiniui. - Liv. V. 8. 3 Liv. V. 17. Cato (ap. Serv. ad ^n. YII. 697) states that Capena was a colony of Yeii, which would be an additional reason for her eagerness to assist the latter in her extremity. CHAP. X.] niSTOEY AND SITE OF CAPENA. 125 the established custom of the land, in taking to themselves a king ; and in the next i^lace, their king had made himself personally obnoxious by interrupting the solemn games — an act amounting to sacrilege. So the Confederation had decreed that no succour should be afforded to Veii so long as she retained her Idng.* To the representations of the Falisci and Capenates, the magnates of Etruria in conclave assembled, replied, that hitherto thej^ had refused Veii assistance on the ground that as she had not sought counsel of them, neither must she seek succour, and that they must still withhold it, being themselves in peril from the sudden invasion of the Gauls. ^ The two allies nevertheless persisted in their efforts to raise the siege, but in vain : their lands were several times ravaged, and their armies overthrown f and on the fall of Veii, the fate they had anticipated befell them. Their territories were again mvaded, and though the natural strength of their cities preserved them from assault, their lands were laid waste, and the produce of their fields and orchards utterly destroyed.'^ The territory of Capena was particularly fertile,^ and such a blow as this was more efficacious than the sword, for it compelled the citizens to sue for peace, though at the expense of their independence. A few years later (A.U. 365) the Roman citizenship was granted to such of the inhabitants of Veii, Falerii, and Capena, as had sided with Rome in the recent struggle ; and the conquered territory was divided among them.^ Such means did Rome employ to facilitate her conquests, and secure them more firmly to herself. That Capena continued to exist as late as the time of Aurelian, is proved by scattered notices in ancient wiiters and by inscriptions. From that time we lose sight of her. Her site probably became desolate ; and her name was consequently forgotten. When interest was again awakened in the antiquities of Italy, she was sought for, but long in vam. Cluver^ placed Capena at Civitella San Paolo, not far from the Tiber ; Holstenius," at Morlupo ; while Galetti, from the evidence of inscrij)tions discovered on the spot,^ has determined it to ■* Liv. V. 1. 1 Cliiv. II p. 549. ■^ Liv. V. 17. - Adnot. ad CIut. p. 62. 8 Liv. V. 12—14. 19. •'' Galetti, Sopra il Sito di Capena, p. ' Liv. V. 24. 4 — 23. One of these inscriptions is now ^ Cicero pro Flac. XXIX. at Morlupo, another in the church of S. ^ Liv. VI. 4. Those of Capena were Oreste, and a third in that of S. Silvestro, formed into a new trihe, called Stellatina. on the summit of Soracte. of. Gruter, p. Festus, s. voce. cf. Liv. VI. 5. 189. 5. and 466. 6. Fabretti, p. 109. 126 FEEONLV AND CAPENA. [chap. x. have been at Civitucola, an uninhabited hill, half-way between the two.^ This hill lies far from any high road or frequented path, and still further from any town where the traveller may find accom- modation — in a part of the Campagna which is never visited by strangers, save by some adventurous antiquar}', or some sports- man, led by his eagerness far away from his accustomed haunts. It Avas more accessible when the Via Flaminia was in use as the high-way from Rome to Civita Castellana, for it lies only five or six miles off that road. The nearest point on the railroad from which it may be visited is Monte Rotondo, from which station it is about five miles distant ; but when I visited it, the nearest point was Civita Castellana, sixteen or eighteen miles distant, and it was a long day's journey there and back, on account of the nature of the country to be traversed, which is practicable only on foot or on horseback. In truth it was necessar}" to leave Civita at break of day, to avoid the risk of being benighted — no agreeable accident in a country so lonely, and whose inhabitants are not well reputed for honesty. Domenico, my guide to Falleri, could not attend me to Capena, and sent his brother in his stead — Antonio, commonly called " II Re " — the King — a nom dc guerre which, as the eldest son, he had inherited from his father. Domenico, I learned, was having his pigs blessed. A mad dog had attacked them, and the hogs had defended themselves stoutly, rushing upon and goring him with their tusks till they trampled his dead body under their feet. They paid dearly for it, however ; ten of them were bitten in the conflict, and to save them from hydrophobia Domenico had sent to the sacerdote to bless them and put the iron of San Domenico on their foreheads. I requested an explanation. Saint Domenick, it seems, was once on a time on his travels, when his horse dropped a shoe. He stopped at the first farrier's he came to, and had it rej)laced. The farrier asked for payment. ^ Cramer, I. p. 231; Nibby, roce Capena; tlie opposite direction, but from Capua, Gell, I. p. 263. Dempster (Et. Reg. II. p. and that the termination is but the early 179) made the blunder of placing it in Latin adjectival form, as we know it to Latium, on the Appian Way, because the have been the Etruscan. Frontinus indeed Porta Capena of Rome opened on that road, (de Aquted. , p. 27) says the Via Appia led as Servius (ad Mn. VII. 697) had said: — — a porta Capen^ usque ad Capuam; and Porta Capena juxta Capenos est. There Dionysius (VIII. p. 483) calls the gate can be little doubt that the Gate derived irvAri Kanvlpri. its name, not from Capena, which lay in CHAP. X.] SOEACTE. 127 The saint-errant was as astonished as the knight of La Mancha coukl have been at such a demand ; but Avith less courtesy he said to his horse, " Give him back the shoe." AVhereupon the obedient animal flung out his heels, and with a blow on the fore- liead laid the farrier dead. Domenico in his simplicity could not perceive that the farrier was at least as worthy of his hire as the priest, to whom he had paid three pauls for saying a benediction over his hogs, and branding their foreheads with the mark of a horse-shoe. For the first five miles the road was the modern Yia Flaminia, which after crossing the Treia, ascends to the level of the Campagna, and continues through a country partially wooded and cultivated, yet not without beauty, to the foot of Soracte. The mountain itself is sufficient to obviate all tedium on the ride. At first it presents the form of a dark wedge or cone, the end towards you being densely clothed with wood ; but as you approach it lengthens out gradually, peak after peak disclosing itself, till it presents a totally difi"erent aspect — a long serrated ridge, rising at first in bright green slopes from the plain, then darkening above with a belt of olive-groves, and terminating in a bald crest of grey rock, jagged and craggy, its peaks capt with white convents, which sparkle in the sun like jewels on a diadem. The whole mass reminds one of Gibraltar ; it is about the same length — more than three miles — it rises to about the same height above the plain ^ — it has the same pj'ramidal form when foreshortened, a similar line of jagged peaks. But there is less abruptness, and more fertility. There is not the stern savage grandeur of the Spanish Rock ; but the true Italian grace and ease of outline — still the beautiful though verging on the wild. At the Eomitorio, a hamlet of a few ruined houses, I left the Via Flaminia, and striking across some fields and through a wood, ascended, by wretched tracks saturated with rain, to the olive-groves which belt the mountain. The view on the ascent is magnificent — the vast expanse of the wild, almost uninhabited, Campagna at my feet — here dark with wood, from which the towers of a few towns arose at wide intervals — there sweeioing away in league after league of bare down or heath — the double- headed mass of the Cimiuian on the right — the more distant ^ Gibraltar is about 1500 feet above the But the plain from which Soracte is viewed, sea. Soracte, according to Nibby, is 2150 being considerably elevated above the sea, French feet; according to Gell, 2270 French the heights of the two mountains appear feet in height. Westphal calls it 2200 feet. nearly equal. 128 FEEONIA AND CAPENA. [chap. x. Alban on the other hand^ — the sharp wooded peak of Rocca Romana between them — the varied effects of light and shade, of cloud and sunshine, as storms arose from time to time and crossed the scene, darkening and shrouding a portion of the landscape, which presently came forth laughing in brilliant sun- shine ; while the lowering cloud moved on, blotting out one object after another on which the eye but a moment before had been resting with delight. On emerging from the wood, Sant Oreste was seen before us, situated on a bare elevated shoulder of the mountain. From the rocky ridge leading to the village a new scene comes into view. A richly wooded valley lies beneath, with the Tiber winding through it ; and the Apennines rise beyond, peak above peak in steps of sublimity, and stretch away far to the south till they sink all faint and gre}^ into the Latin valley, at the steep of Palestrina. The rock of which the mountain is composed here starts up in bold crags on every side ; it is a sort of limestone, called from its colour " 2}(iloiiih'ino ; " it is not however of dove-colour alone, but it is to be found of various shades of grey, and sometimes almost white. Among these crags a path winds up to the summit of the mountain. Here the traveller will find a colony of recluses, and the several churches of Sta. Lucia, La Madonna delle Grazie, Sant Antonio, and San Silvestro. The latter stands on the central and highest peak of the mountain, and is generally supposed to occupy the site of the ancient temple of Apollo, to which deit}^ Soracte was sacred.'' It can boast of no small antiquity itself, having been founded in a.d. 746, by Carlo - man, son of Charles Martel, and uncle of the celebrated Charle- magne, in honour of the saint whose name it bears. Sant Oreste is a wretched village, with steep, foul streets, and mean houses — without any accommodation for the stranger. I was at once impressed with the conviction that it must have been an Etruscan site. Its situation is too strong by nature to have been neglected, and is just such as would have been chosen for a city in the northern part of Etruria ; the plateau rising just as high above the plain as those of Cosa, Rusellse, and Saturnia. At the foot of the steep and rock}" hill on which the village stands I found confirmation of my opinion in a number of tombs ^ Yh'j;. Mn. XL 783. Sil. Ital. V. 170. the name of tlie Mount was Telasgic, anj — VII. GC2. — YIII. 494; I'lin. VII. 2; So- suggested ^(t>p6s — a/crrj as its derivation, llnus, Polyliist. II. p. 15. Nibby fancied CHAP. X.] SANT OEESTE THE PEOBABLE SITE OF FERONIA. 129 in the tufo cliffs. I did not observe any remains of ancient walls on the height, but if they were of tufo — as is most probable, since that sort of rock is hewn with so much facility, that notwith- staiiding the transjjort of the blocks up the hill, there would have been less labour than in preparing the hard limestone close at hand''' — they may have been destroj-ed for the sake of materials to construct the houses of the village. "What ma}^ have been the name of the Etruscan town which occuj)ied this site is not easy to determine ; but I am inclined to agree with Nibby in regarding it as Feronia, which Strabo says was situated under Soracte, and its name seems to be preserved in that of Felonica, a fountain at the foot of this hill, on the road to Civitella di San Paolo.^ At or near Feronia was a celebrated temple to the goddess of that name, which, like many ancient shrines, stood in a thick grove — Lucus Feronise.^ She seems to have been identical with Proserpine,^ and was worshipped b}^ the Sabines, and Latins, as well as by the Etruscans." Hither, on yearly festivals, pilgrims resorted in great numbers from the surrounding countr}-, many to perform vows and offer sacrifice — and those who were pos- sessed with the spirit of the goddess, walked with naked feet over heaps of burning coal and ashes, without receiving injury^ — and ^ This was done at Tivoli, whose walls are volcanic (Gell, II. p. 272), though the rocks are travertine and limestone ; so also at Palestrina, and again at Segni, where a gate and a portion of the walls are of tufo, though the rest are formed of the natural limestone of the hill on which the city stands. The palombino of Soracte was quarried by the Romans, and is classed by Vitnivius (II. 7) with travertine, as a stone of moderate hardness, a mean between tufo and silex or lava. 8 Nibby, II. p. 108; Strab. V. p. 226. Gell thinks, quite unnecessarily it seems to me, that this Felonica is "the site of the temple, grove, and fountain of Fero- nia." Holstenius (Adnot. ad Cluver. p. 60) also placed Feronia in the plain about a mile from S. Oreste, where he said there were extensive remains of a town. The site he referred to is probably that indi- cated by Westphal (Romis. Kamp. p. 136), as occupied by an imimportant ruin, and vulgarly called Feronia. It lies between the Flaminian Way and the mountain. 3 Liv. I. 30, XXYI. 11, XXVII. 4; Sil. Ital. XIII. 83 ; Tlin. III. 8. Strabo (loc. VOL. I. cit.) calls Feronia a city, and says the Grove was on the same spot. This must not be confounded with the other Lucus Feronije in the north of Etruria near Luca, which Ptolemy (Geog. p. 72, ed. Bert.) places among the "inland colonies" of that land, — still less with the Temple of Feronia mentioned by Virgil (Mu. VII. 800) as situated in a green grove — viridi gaudens Feronia luco— which was near Terracina and theCircsean promontory. It is to this latter, shrine and the fountain attached to it that Horace refers on his journey to Brundusium (Sat. I. 5, 24). 1 Dion. Hal. III. p. 173. According to Servius(ad Mn. VII. 799) Juno, as a virgin, was also called Feronia. Servius elscM'here (^VIII. 564) calls Feronia the goddess of freed men, who, in her temple at Terracina, placed a pileus, or felt scull-cap, on theii- shaven crowns. Here also was a stone bench, inscribed with these words : "Be- nemeriti servi sedeant, surgent liberi." ' Dion. Hal. loc. cit.; Liv. XXVI. 11 ; Varro, de Ling. Lat. V. 7i. 3 Strab. V. p. 226. The same is related of the slirine of Apollo on this mountain. K 130 FEEONL\ .\ND CAPENA. [chap, x iiianj' mercliants, artisans,' and liusbandmen, taking advantage of the concourse, brought their goods hither for sale, so that the market or fair held here was more splendid than any other in ItalY."* From the numerous first-fruits and other gifts offered to the goddess, her shrine became renowned for its riches, and was decorated with an abundance of gold and silver. But it was despoiled by Hannibal on his march through Italy.* It was however maintained till the fall of paganism in the fourth century. That the temple itself stood on a height seems pro- bable from the fact, mentioned by Livy, of its being struck by lightning.^ In a geological point of view, Soracte is interesting. It is a mass of limestone rising out of the volcanic plain, not resting, as Gell supposed, on a basis of tufo. One of those convulsions of the earth, which ejected from the neighbouring craters the matter which constitutes the surface of the Campagna, upheaved this huge mass of limestone, and either drove it through the super- incumbent beds of tufo ; or, what is more probable, ujiraised it previous to the volcanic disturbances of this district, when the Campagna lay beneath the waters of the ocean. Sant Oreste is about eight miles from Civita Castellana, or about half wa}^ from that town to the site of Capena. On journeying this latter half of the road, I learned two things, by which future travellers would do well to profit — first, not to attempt to cross an uncultivated countr}^ without a competent guide, especially on fete-days, when there are no labourers or shepherds in the fields ; secondly, to look well to the horses one hires and to ascertain before starting that they have been fed, and, if need be, to carry provender for them. The animals hired in these country-towns are mere beasts of burden, overworked and under- fed, accustomed to carry wood, charcoal, or flour, and Avith Plin. N. H. VII. 2; Solinus, II. p. 15; road from Reate to Rome, " turning out of Yirgil, ^n. XL 78,5, et seq. ; Sil. Ital. V. liis way from Eretum, " which he mustcer- 177, et seq. tainly have clone, if Monte Rotondo be the ■• Dion. Hal. III. p. 17-3; cf. Liv. I. 30. siteof Eretum, asCluver(II. p. (i67)supposes. 5 Liv. XXVI. 11; Sil. Ital. XIII. 84, et The battle of Eretum, in which the Sabines seq. Cramer (I. p. 232, 309) opines that were defeated by Tullus Ilostilius, was the the temple Hannibal rifled was one to the consequence of that people having laid same goddess at Eretum in Sabina, and violent hands on some Romans at the fair quotes Fabretti (Insc. Ant. p. 452), who of Fanum Fcronire. Dion. Hal. loc. cit. states that inscriptions have been found cf. Liv. I. 30. near Eretum which mention a temple to ^ Liv. XXXIII. 2G. It has been suggested Fei'onia at that place. Livy, however, re- that the Temple of Feronia stood on the cords a tradition that Hannibal spoiled this site of the (.'hurch of S. Abondio, near said shrine in the ajcr Capenatis, on his Rignano. Ann. Inst., 1864, p. 130. c}iAP. X.] THE SITE OF CAPENA. 131 difficulty to be urged out of tlieii* usual deliberate pace. Tbeir mouths are as tough and insensible as their hides ; the whip is of little avail, and spurs are indispensable. As these are not alwa3's to be had, it is advisable for whoever would explore the b3''-roads of Italy, to add a pair to his luggage. Antonio, my guide, had never been be^'ond Sant Oreste, but the road I wished to take was pointed out to us so clearly b}'^ some peojjle of that town, that it seemed impossible to miss it. But among the lanes and hollows at the foot of Soracte we were soon at fault — took a wrong path — wandered about for an hour over newly-ploughed land, swampy from recent rains — at length found the right path — lost it again immediatel}^ on a trackless down — and then, like Dante, found ourselves at the middle of our journe}^ in a dark and savage wood. No poet, — " od ombra od nomo cevto " — nor any other being, came to our assistance, for not a sign of humanity was in sight ; and, to crown our difficul- ties, one of the horses sunk from exhaustion, owing to want of food. Remembering the proverb, " sacco luoto non regge in piede,'^ — "an empty sack will not stand upright," — we trans- ferred what refreshments we had brought for our own use to our horses' stomachs, and quietly awaited their time. Patience — no easy virtue when the rain was coming down in deluging showers — at length overcame all difficulties, and we found ourselves in the right track, on the banks of the Grammiccia, Avhich led us to the site of Capena.'' The city crowned a hill of some elevation, rising steeply from the valley, and whose highest point is now crested with some ruins, called the church of San Martino ; by which name the spot is known among the peasantry, and not by that of Civitu- 'Cola, as I had been led by former writers to suppose ; the latter ■appellation being assigned to the spot by some documents of ihe middle ages. The whole declivit}^ Avas frosted over with the blossom of the wild pear-trees which cover its face. Through these I had to climb b}' sheep-tracks, slippery with the rain. The ruins just mentioned are the only remains on the height on which the city stood. The}^ are of ojjus incertum, and probably formed part of a villa of Imperial times, which may subsequently have been converted into a Christian chapel. That a city originally stood here, however, there are unequivocal proofs in the broken pottery which thickly strews the hill. It occupied ^ The stream itself seems to liave been 85. It is now sometimes called Fosso tli anciently called Capenas. Sil. Ital. XIII. San Martino. K 2 132 FEEONIA AND CAPENA. [chap. x. an elevated ridge on one side of a deep liollow, which Gell supposes to be an extinct crater, and which is now called II Lago. No remains of Avails could I find, save at the western angle, overhanging the Lago, where a few blocks mark the foundations ;. but on the slopes beneath, to the south and east, many blocks lie scattered about.^ The form of the city, however, is easily traced by the pottery, and character of the ground : it was long and narrow, especially narrow in the centre of its length, near tlie- ruins of San Martino. Its circumference can hardly have been a mile and a half, and this marks it as a town of inferior importance. The highest part was to the west, and there, in all probability, was the Arx. I observed the sites of three gates, — one at the eastern, one at the western extremity, and one to the south, where the land narrows opposite the ruin. By this gate alone vehicles could have reached the city, so steep are the cliifs and slopes around it. After making the tour of Capena, it is easy to comprehend how the Roman armies several times, entered the territory, and laid it waste, but never attacked the town. It was as elevated as Falerii, and could on no side be approached on level ground. I could perceive no tombs in the cliifs around or beneath the city, and one only in the low ground, to the north.^ The view from the height of Capena is wildly beautiful. The ^ Gell states tliat the walls may be traced archaic art. In some of the later tombs by their foundations round the summit of pots wei-e found bearing inscriptions, either the hill ; but either he was deceived by the in early Latin, or in a character neither natural breaks of the tufo rock, which at a Etruscan nor Faliscan, and which therefore little distance may be easily mistaken for suggested the existence of a dialect peculiar masonry, or the blocks since his time have to Capena. Dr. Henzen refers the.se in- been carried off by the peasantry. scriptions to the sixth century of Rome, ^ That this is the true site of Capena has Bull. Inst., 1S64, pp. 143-150. been called in question. Excavations made With the meagre notices we possess of here of late years tend to prove that the these excavations, it would be premature cemetery, rather than the city, of Capena to pronounce that this hill was not the- occupied this hill of S. Martino. For these site of Cajiena. The slopes beneath many researches have brought to light many Etruscan cities are full of tombs, and the- sepulchres, some described as of jjeculiar discovery of Roman sepulchres, even on form, being sunk like .shallow wells beneath the plateau above, would not be opposed" the surface, with niches hollowed in the to the existence of habitation in earlier sides, one to contain the corpse, and the times. Until we can ascertain the exact others the objects of art buried with it, position of the tombs which have yielded These articles were, as usual, of terra cotta, the archaic articles, or until further exca- l>ronze, and glass, but of different periods. vations decide the question, we may keep Some of tlie vases were of very primitive our judgment in alieyance as to the site of forms, with figures of animals painted or Capena, scratched on them in bands, and of very ■CHAP. X.] LOCAL EEMAINS AT CAPENA. 133 deep hollow on the south, with its green carpet : the steep hills overhanging it, dark with wood — the groves of Capena, be it remembered, were sung by Virgil' — the bare swelling ground to the north, with Soracte towering above: the snow-capt Apennines in the eastern horizon : the deep silence, the seclusion : the absence of human habitations (not even a shepherd's hut) within the sphere of vision, save the distant town of Sant Oreste, scarcely distinguishable from the grey rock on which it stands ; — compose a scene of more singular desolation than belongs to the site of any other Etruscan city in this district of the land. A visit to this site will scarcely repay the antiquary'' for the difficulty of reaching it. But the scenery on the Avay is delight- ful, especially between San Martino and Kignano, about seven miles distant, which road I took on my return. It is a mere mule-track, and passes over very rough ground. Now it descends into ravines picturesque with cliff and wood, and with an overshot mill, it may be, in the hollow — now i^ursues the level of the jilain, commanding glorious views of Soracte, with a changing, but ever beautiful foreground of glen, heath, wood, or corn-land. On the approach to Rignano, the view is particulai-ly fine ; for beneath the town opens a wide ravine which seems to stretch up to the very base of Soracte, its cliffs overhung with wood, and a pretty convent nestling in its bosom. Ai'ound Rignano the land presents a singular stratification of white and grey rock — the white, called " cappellaccio,'' is a sort of friable tufo ; the grey, with which it alternates, is a sandstone, in very thin layers. Rignano is a miserable town ; tolerably flourishing, it is said, when the Via Flaminia, on which it stands, was the high road to Rome, but now falling into decay. It is evidently a Roman site, for altars, cl2)pi, fragments of statues and cornices, and other traces of that people, abound in the streets. There is also a curious relic of the middle ages, a primitive cannon, made like a barrel, with staves of iron hooped at intervals, and with rings attached to serve as handles. It is the counterpart of one I have seen, I think, in the armoury of Madrid. Rignano lays claim to be the birthplace of the infamous Caesar Borgia. Aromid the chm-ch of S. Abondio, which stands on a wooded height near Rignano, are many ancient remains, which, from the 1 Lucosque Capenos.— ^n. VII. 697. tis. Liv. XXVI. 11, XXVII. 4, XXXIII. But the groves here referred to may with 26. Cato also mentions — lucus Capenatia equal probability be those around the shrine (ap. Priscian. IV. p. 36, ed. Aid.). of Feronia, which was in th3 Ager Capena- 134 FERONIA AND CAPENA. [chap. x. description given, appear to be all of Roman times. From the marble columns and capitals, the numerous fragments of architec- ture, and the sarcophagi and inscribed cipjn which encumber the spot, it is concluded that a temple, of such magnificence as not to belie the descrijition we have of the Fanum Feroniae, formerh'^ stood here ; and it is inferred that this must be the site of that celebrated shrine. As we are not told, however, of the existence of Etruscan antiquities on the spot, we mny hesitate to accej^t the inference, until we have more precise information as to the locality.- No one who Aalues comfort will care to enter the osteria of Rignano. Woe betide the man who is compelled to pass a night Avithin its walls. To avoid the companionship of squalid monks and disgusting cripples, I resolved to push on for Civita, though it was almost dark, and there were still nine miles before our jaded beasts. B3' the time we reached the Eomitorio, Soracte loomed an indistinct mass against the sk}'. Near this my guide- pomted out a tree by the road-side, in which when a boy he had taken refuge from the wolves. He was returning from Eignano- one winter's night, when the ground was covered with snow. On reaching this spot he heard their bowlings in the wood b}" the road-side. They seemed to scent him, for he had barely time to- climb the tree Avhen it was surrounded by a dozen yelling^ demons, whose eyes, he said, shone with " the fire of hell." The tree was then but a sapling, and bent fearfully with his. weight ; so that he was in dread lest it should break and pre- cipitate him among them. After a time of terrible suspense he was left alone, and at break of day ventured to descend, and with the protection of the Virgin reached Civita in safety. At that time the wood Avas very thick on Soracte, and afforded shelter to multitudes of Avolves and bears Avliich Avere Avont to ravage the Campagna for miles round. Some years later the wood was.* cut, and the Avild beasts disappeared Avith it, and retired to the Apennines. The Avolves of Soracte Avere celebrated in ancient times. SerAius relates that sacrifices Avere once being offered on this mount to Pluto, Avhen some Avolves rushed in, seized the smoking ^ Signer Fabio Gori i^oints out these of inscriptions referring to that town. An ruins in Ann. Inst. 1864, p. 130. He ancient roatl branched from the Via Fla- states that the site lies immediately under minia, and ran directly nj) to the hill of Soracte, and in the of/er Capenatis, as may S. Abondio. be learned from the discovery on the spot CHAP. X.] WOLVES OF SOEACTE, A^XIENT AXD MODEEN. 135 entrails from the altar, and bore them away to a cave, which emitted pestiferous vapours."' The sheplierds pursued them thither, but were arrested by these fumes. A pestilence was the consequence. They consulted the oracle, and received for answer that the plague Avould be staid when they imitated wolves, i.e., led a life of rapine. So the}' became robbers by divine authorit}'. Hence they were called Hirpini Sorani, or Pluto's Wolves, from hirjyiis, Avhich signified a wolf in the Sabine tongue, and Soranus, another name for Dis Pater.* It was the descend- ants of these Hirpini, or Hirpi, who made the annual sacrifice to the god of the mountain, and performed the marvellous feat of walking bare-footed over live coals.' This exploit seems to have continued in fashion to a late period ; at least to the third centur}^ of our era, for Solinus speaks of it as existing in his day. Yarro suspected jugglery, and would aUow nothing supernatm'al in it, for he says the}- rubbed their soles with a certain medicament. Wolves are not the only beasts for which Soracte was re- nowned. There was a race of wild goats — caprce ferce — j^erhaps roebucks, on the mountain, Avhich could leap more than sixt}^ feet at a bound ! Well done, old Cato ! ^ At Sommavilla, a village on the Sabine side of the Tiber, ojiposite Soracte, tombs have been found containing vases and other furniture, extremel}^ like those of Etruria.*^ ^ On the eastern side of tlie mountain, anil were so called from Irpus, their leadei", near the church of Santa Romana, is a cave, which word signified a wolf in the Samnite with deep fissures near it, called Le Vora- tongne. The Samnites, be it remembered, gini, which emit foul vapours. Hence the were of the Sabine race. Yarro de L. L. fable related by Servius must have taken VII. 29. Servius says the mountain was its rise. Pliny (II. 95) seems to refer to sacred to the Manes, but other ancient these fissures, yet says the vapours were writers concur in stating that it "nas sacred fatal to birds alone. But elsewhere (XXXI. to Apollo. 19) he cites Yarro as saying that fatal ^ Pliu. Nat. Hist. \IL 2 ; Yarro ap. eflfects were produced by a fountain on all Serv. ad Mn. XI. 787. Solinus, Polyh. II. birds which tasted it. To this spring Yi- p. 15. See p. 129, note 3. truvius (YIII. 3, 17) seems also to allude; " Cato ap. Yan-on. Re Rust. II. cap. 3. though he jilaces it — agro Falisco via Cam- ' For an account of these discoveries, see pana in campo Corneto. This fountain, Bull. Inst. 1836, p. 172, Braun ; 1837, p. Nibby (III. p. 112) thinks is represented 90; p. 70—73, Braun; p. 209 — 213, by the Acqua Forte, in the plain between Fossati; Bull. 1838, p. 71. At Sestino, in Soracte and the Tiber, about two miles from the Umbrian Apennines, a bronze mirror, Ponzano. with dancing figures and Etruscan inscrip * Serv. ad S.n. XI. 785 ; cf. YII. 696. tions incised, has recently been discovered Festus {voce Irpini) and Strabo (V. p. 250) Bull. Inst. 1875, p. 88. iay the Irpini were a colony of Samnites, OliTE, FROM THE KOAD TO THE VADIMONIAN LAKE. CHAPTER XL OKIB.—IIOIITA. Et teiTam Hesperiam venies, ubi Lydius, arva Inter opima virum, leni fluit agmine Thybris. — Virgil. By the rusby-fringed bank, Where grows the willow and the osier dank, My chariot stays. — Milton. One of the most delightful excursions I ever made in Ital\' was up the Tiber, from Rome to Orte. It was as far back as 1846, long before the railway whistle had been heard in the Papal States, and when the great "Etruscan river" was almost a sealed book to travellers ; for in those da^'s the roads through the valley of the Tiber were mere country' tracks, in few parts carriageable. Iims there were none fit for any one above the condition of a day-labourer, I therefore considered myself highly fortunate in having an opportunity of doing the river in a steamboat ! This was a small tug of some fifteen or twenty tons, which had recently come from England to fetch charcoal from Porte Felice, when the state of the river would permit it. The craft had no accom- modation whatever. My artist friend and I were happy to find space enough on the grimy deck to stretch our limbs at night, instead of seeking shelter in some filtli}'^ and well populated locanda on shore, knowing from experience that a by-road bed in Italy is not likely to prove " a perfect Halcyon nest. All calm, and balm, and quiet and rest."' CHAP. XI.] VOYAGE UP THE TIBEE. 137 It was a voyage of two or three da3's, for the current was strong against us, and the boat came to an anchor at dusk, when the " mali cuhces ranaique palustres " feelingly reminded us of Horace's discomforts on his road to Brundusium. Like him again in the morning, we lost much time in starting, for the sun was well up before we got under weigh. But these were annoj^ances of little moment. To balance them we had a plethoric; basket of provisions, some flasks of excellent wine to cheer us, with " allaying Tyber " ad libitum ; we had youth, health, good appetites, enthusiasm, and no end of enjoyment, for the scenery was not only beautiful but novel, and every turn in the river bi'ought new and picturesque objects into view, or produced fresh combinations of those already familiar. Times are indeed changed, when you can now run to Orte by rail in a couple of hours — too scanty a time to enjo}'^ the all- glorious landscapes on the road ; but as the line keeps the Sabine bank for the greater part of the way, you have more com- prehensive views of Soracte and the Etruscan shore, than you can obtain from the river itself. You pass the caverned heights of Antemnse, you shoot like an arrow through tlie heart of Fidense, and as you rush on, you catch exciting glimpses of the Alban Mount, of the Latin valley, with Palestrina at its mouth, <3f Tivoli on the slope of Monte Gennaro, of the nearer triple- papped Monticelli, and of the snow-capped, " olive-sandalled Apennines" in the horizon. Your first halt is beneath Monte Ilotondo, near which Garibaldi was discomfited in 1867 ; the little brook you here cross is no other than the Allia — *'infaustum nomen ! " — the scene of the disastrous defeat of the Bomans b}^ the Gauls in the year 390 (364 b.c.) which was followed by the capture and destruction of the City by ]3rennus. This is the nearest station to the site of Capena, which lies on the right bank, about half-way between this and the next station of Passo di Oorrese ; but if you are bound thither, get out at Monte Botondo, where j'ou can obtain beasts and a guide.^ In the plain, opposite the Basso, lie the " Flavinia arva " of Virgil, if the village of Fiano represent, as is generall}'- supposed, the Etruscan town of Flavina.^ Beyond Fiano on the same side, on the crest of the wooded hills which here embank the river, stands Nazzano, which has been proved by recent excavations to be an Etruscan site. Its necropolis occupies the plateau of Caraffa, about half a mile to the north of the town, and it has yielded 1 See the last chapter, p. 126. 2 yjrg. ^^^ yn. 696 ; Sil. Ital. VIII. 492. 138 OllTE. [CHAP. XI. vases with both black and red figures, besides various articles in bronze.^ There can be little doubt that others of the many towns within view, if subjected to similar research, would be found to occupy Etruscan sites ; not excluding those on the Sabine bank, for the territory of Etruria, which at one time extended from the Alps as far south as Psestum, could not have been rigidly bounded by this narrow stream, and must at that period have embraced all the region between the Tiber and the Ai^ennines ; and the Umbrians and cognate Sabines must have continued to feel the civilizing influences of Etruria, even when no longer under her dominion.^ At Montorso, the next station, the valle}' narrows almost to a gorge, and becomes more than ever picturesque, for the river here forms sharp bends, which give great variety to the land- scape. The yellow banks are overhung Avith trees, festooned with honeysuckle and wild vine, or sink into stretches of pebbly beach, the haunt of thirsty Avallowing buffaloes ; above them on either hand, rise wooded heights, studded with towers and towns, castles and convents, the whole dominated by the rocky crests of Soracte, sparkling with man}' shrines. It is an exquisite bit of what is most rare in Ital}' — river-scenery. After all, the most striking and interesting feature of the Tiber valley is Soracte, which you seem in your progress upward completely to circum- ambulate. On the way to Monte Rotondo its southern slopes, familiar to Romans, meet the eye. From Passo di Correse the mountain looks like a sharp cone or wedge of rock, soaring above the wooded hills at its base. As you advance it gradually opens out again, till from Stimigliano it presents its northern flank fully to the e3'e, the intervening hills Avhich have hitherto concealed all but its crest, here sinking to the plain, and displaving the mountain mass from base to summit. Another valle}' j)resently opens to the left, through which winds the Treja, Avliich after Avashing the castled crags of Civita Castellana, here falls into the Tiber. On a low red clift" at the point of junction, a tall ruined tower, through whose walls the blue light of heaven is visible, forms a picturesque object in the scene. It is known as the Torre Giuliana, and is of mediaeval times, though tombs and sewers in the cliffs mark the site as originally Etruscan. The tower is shown in the woodcut on the next page. Here you cross the Tiber into Etruria, and continue in that •' Hull. Inst. 1873, pp. 11.3-123, Ilelbig. in Saliina, seej). 135, note 7; also Ann. In.st. •• For the iliscovcry of Etruscan objects 1858, p. 2i0 ; Bull. Inst. 1866, p. 213. CHAP. XI.] BEAUTY OF TJIE TIBER SCENERY. 139 land as far as Orte, passing beneath the mediaeval ruins of Borghetto, another picturesque viUage on an Etruscan site, below which is the Ponte Felice, by which the old post-road from Rome crossed the Tiber on its way to Narni, Terni, and Foligno. The station of Gallese is three miles from the town of that name, which, as already stated, occupies an Etruscan site, by 3 -3-' ""<. ""<„ TORRE GIULIANA, PASSU DI CIVITA, ON THK TIUEii. some supposed to be that of Fescennium." From this j)oint Soracte is again seen foreshortened, reassuming the form of a wedge or cone. Orte is 83 kilometres, or 52 miles from Rome b}' railroad. Here the two lines from Florence to Rome, one by Chiusi, the other by Perugia, form a junction. Orte lies on the right bank of the Tiber, about twelve miles above Ponte Felice, and crowns the summit of a long narrow isolated ridge of tufo rock. Beneath the walls of the town this ridge breaks into naked cliffs, and then sinks gradually in slojies clad with olives and vines to meet the Tiber and the plain. Viewed from the north or south its situation appears very similar to that of Orvieto, though far from being so elevated and im- posing, but from the east or west it has a less commanding though more picturesque appearance. At its western end the ridge is particularly narrow, terminating in a mere wall of cliff, called La Rocca, which communicates with the town b}' a viaduct. 5 Sec Chapter IX. p. 120. 140 OHTE. [CHAP. XI. Thus the plan of the whole takes the form of a battledore, of which the handle is the Rocca and the body the town. Orte is still a place of some importance ; and though its air in summer- time be in no good repute, it retains its population throughout the 3'ear. The onty place of entertainment for the traveller is the "Antica Trattoria e Locanda " of the Bell, but "it is not enough to have a clean tablecloth," as the proverb says; for if jou make a tolerable meal by da}^, you furnish forth a dainty feast by night to thousands of hungry banqueters, whose nimble- ness gets them off scot-free, though credit is not the order of the house, as is pompousl}" set forth in the cucina — " Credevza e viorta — 21 creditor V ha vccisa — • Amico, ahhi pazicnzn. Placer tifarh, ma nan credeiizay Of the ancient history of Horta, Ave have no record, unless the notice by Virgil, the application of which to this town has been doubted, be received as historical.^ We know, however, from better authority than that of the Mantuan bard, namely, from its extant monuments, that Horta was an Etruscan city, and the archaic character of those remains even leads us to regard it as among the most ancient in the land. The only other mention of it is b}'^ Pliny, who cites it among the " inland colonies " of Etruria;" but we learn from inscriptions that it was one of the military colonies of Augustus. Orte preserves no vestiges of its ancient Avails, nor is there a sign of high antiquity in either of its three gates. Nothing of classic times, in fact, is to be seen Avithin the toAvn save a few Roman relics. The Ortani shoAV a house on the Avails as Etrurj- can, but — credat Jiulceus ! Let no one, hoAvever, express such a doubt Avithin the walls of Orte, for he Avill have to combat not merely the prejudices of her 3000 inhabitants, but a formidable array of pietj' and learning in her clergy. * Qui Tiberim Fabarimque bibunt, quos and distinct from Nortia or Fortuna, the frigida misit great deity of Volsiuii. This goddess Nursia, et Hortina; classes, jwjjiiliqiie Horta is mentioned l)y Plutarch (Quasst. Latini. — ^n. VII. 715. Horn. XLVI), who says her temple was ^ Plin. III. 8. Padre Secchi, the always kept open. A distinction between learned Jesuit of Rome, follows Miillcr her and the Etruscan Fortuna is indicated (Ktrusk. III. 3, 7,) in thinking the place by Tacitus (Ann. XV. 53). Secchi, 11 derives its name from Horta, an Etruscan Musaico Antoniniano, p. 47. n. 5. goddess equivalent to the Roman "Salus," CHAP. XI.] THE SITE AND CEMETEEY OF IIOETA. 141 " Odi, vede, e tace, Se Yuoi viver in pace." These gentlemen, whose want of experience in such matters ma}' well excuse this blunder, deserve all credit for the interest they take in the antiquities of their town. To the learned canon Don Giovanni Yitali I am especiaHv indebted for his courtesy in furnishing me with information about the excavations which have been made at Orte, and in giving me copies of inscriptions there brought to light which his antiquarian zeal has preserved from oblivion. What little I have to say of the Etruscan antiquities of Orte, as scarcely anything is now to be seen, I derive from his lips, and from those of Signor Brugiotti, a gentleman who took part in these excavations. To the south of the town, at the distance of a mile or more, rise lofty, clifF-bound heights, apparently ranges of hills, but in fact the termination of the high table-land of the Campagna. Here, near the Convent of Bernardines, a few tombs are seen in the cliifs, and in the rocks on the plain above are others, said to resemble those of Castel d'Asso, hereafter to be described, having a false moulded doorway in the facade, an open chamber beneath it, and the sej)ulchre itself below all, underground. ExcaA^ations Avere made in this plain in 1837, with no great profit. The}' Avere carried forward, however, more successfully by an association of the toAAaismen, under the direction of Signor Arduini, on a still loftier height to the south-Avest of Orte, near the Capuchin Con- vent, where the tombs had no external indications, but lay beneath the surface of the ground. The articles found AA'ere similar in character to those from the neighbouring site of Bomarzo — no figured pottery, but common and rude Avare of various forms, articles of glass, and bronzes in abundance. Among the latter were candelabra of great elegance and beauty, noAv in the Gregorian Museum at Home, tripods, mirrors, vases Avith figured handles, and small statues of deities. A Avinged MineiTa, Avith an OAA'l on her hand, is, perhaps, unique in metal, though the goddess is so represented on painted Abases. A leaden spade, Avhicli must have been a votive offering, is curious as the type of those still in use in this part of the country. Alahasti of glass, figured blue and white. Egg-shells in an entire state, often found in Etruscan tombs. A singular jar of earthenware, hermetically sealed, and half-full of liquid, which Avas heard when the jar was shaken, and Avhen it was inverted Avould exude from a porous part in drops of limpid water. If testimon}' 142 OETE. [chap. xi. be here triistwortli}', this must be the most ancient bottled liquid extant. Numerous cinerary urns of terra cotta or nenfro were brought to light, generall}^ quite plain, with inscriptions ; sometimes with a head projecting from the lid, as at Veii ; as manj^ as sixty have been found in one tomb. Only one large sarcophagus, with a reclining figure on its lid, was discovered ; Avhence it is evident that the Hortani burnt rather than buried their dead. Coins and other relics of Roman times were occasionally found in the sepul- chres along with articles of undoubted Etruscan antiquit}-. One instance was found of a painted tomb, in which a bear was repre- sented chained to a column ; but I could not ascertain if this were of Etruscan or Roman art. It was almost immediate!}- destroyed by the peasantrj-.^ In the cHffs beneath the town are a few tombs, now greatly defeced, some of them columbaria ; and near the gate of S. Agos- tino is a sewer of the usual size and form. On the banks of the Tiber, below the town, are the remains of a Roman bridge wliich carried the Via Amerina across the river on its way to Tuder and Perusia. The bridge was repaired during the middle ages, and the masonry of its piers, now standing on the banks, and of the masses prostrate in the water, is of that period. Castellum Ame- rinum, the last stage on the Via Amerina within the Etruscan territory, which was distant twelve miles from Falerii and nine from Ameria, must have been in the near neighbourhood of Orte, probably on the heights to the south of the town, near the spot Avhere the modern road from Corchiano begins to descend into the valley of the Tiber. If 3-ou follow the Tiber for about four miles above Orte, you will reach, on the right bank, the "Laghetto" or " Lagherello," or *'Lago di Bassano," so called from a village in the neighbourhood. In it you behold the Vadimonian Lake of antiquity, renowned for the defeat of the Etruscans on two several occasions — first, by the Dictator, Papirius Cursor, in the ^ear 445, when after a hard-contested battle the might of Etruria was irrecoverabl}^ broken;^ and again, in the year 471, when Cornelius Dolabella utterly routed the allied forces of the Etruscans and Gauls on its shores.-' In after times it was renowned for its floatinir •* For other notices of the results of these II. 10. Floras rehites this as occurring excavations, see Bull. lust. 1S37, p. 129. before Fahiu.s crossefl the Cimini.an, while ■* Liv. IX. 39. in fact it was nearly .30 years after ; unless ^ Flor. I. 13. Polylj. II. 20. Eutrop. indeed he is here anticipating the event. CHAP. XI.] THE YADIM.ONIAX LAKE. 143 islands,*' a minute description of wliieli is given by the younger Pliny :— " Tlie}'^ pointed out to me a lake lying below the hill, the Vadimon by name, and told me certain marvellous stories con- cerning it. I went thither. The lake is in the form of a wheel lying on its side, even all round, without sinuosity or irregularity, but perfectl}' uniform in shape, as though it had been hollowed out and cut round bv the hand of man. The water is whitish rather than blue, inclined to green, and turbid, of sulphureous smell, medicinal taste, and glutinous qualit}'. The lake is but moderate in size, yet it is affected by the winds and swells into waves. No vessel is on its waters, for it is a sacred lake, but grassy islets, covered with reeds and rushes, float on its bosom, and on its margin flourish the plants of the rankest marshes. Each of these islets has a distinct form and size, and all have their edges smoothed off, from constantly rubbing against the shore and against one another. All are equal in height and in buoyanc}^ for they sink into a sort of boat with a deep keel, which is seen from every side ; and there is just as much of the island above as below water. At one time these islands are all joined close together, like a part of the mainland ; at another the}' are driven asunder and scattered by the winds ; sometimes thus detached, the wind falling dead, tlie}^ float apart, motionless on the water. It often happens that the smaller ones stick to the greater, like skiff's to ships of burden ; and often both large and small seem to strive together in a race. Again, all driven together into one spot, add to the land on that side, and now here, now there, increase or diminish the surface of the lake ; and only cease to contract it, when they float in the middle. It is a well-known fact that cattle attracted b3^the herbage, are wont to walk on the islets, mistaking them for the shore of the lake ; nor do they become aware that they are not on firm ground, till borne away from the shore, thej^ behold with terror tlie waters stretching around them. Presently, when the wind has carried them again to the bank, they go forth, no more aware of disem- baiking than the}' were of their embarkation. The water of this said lake flows out in a stream which, after showing itself for a little space, is lost in a cave, and runs deep underground ; and if anything be thrown into it before it thus dives, it is brought to and mentions it out of its chronological mnnian. No author mentions both, order. But there is probably some con- *"' I'lin. Nat. Hist. II. 96. Sencc. Nat. fusion between tiie two routs at the Yadi- QutBst. III. 25. Sotion, de Mir. Font. 144 ORTE. [CKAP. XI. light again where it emerges. I have written of these things to tliee, thinking they woiihl be as novel and pleasing to thee as to myself, for we both delight in nothing so much as the works of Nature." 7 The lake lies beneath the heights, in the plain by the banks of the Tiber ; but he who would expect Pliny's description to be verified, might search for ever in vain. It is, indeed, no easy matter to find the lake ; for it has so shrunk in dimensions, that what must have been a spacious tract of water in the olden time, is now but a small stagnant pond, almost lost in the tall reeds and bulrushes that wave over it. These w^e may conclude repre- sent the islets, which either never had an existence, or have now clubbed together to stop up the lake.^ The water has still a sulphureous appearance, though not too highly flavoured for the frogs, wdiose croakings mingling with the shrill chirrup of the cicala, rise eternally from the pool. I fancied I saw the stream of which Pliny speaks, in a small ditch which carries the super- fluous water towards the Tiber ; but I did not perceive it to take a subterranean coui'se. AVhoever visits the Vadimon, will comprehend how it was that decisive battles were fought upon its shores. The valley here forms the natural pass into the inner or central plain of Etruria. It is a spot, indeed, very like the field of Thrasymene — a low, level tract, about a mile wide, hemmed in between the heights, and the Tiber, which here takes the place of that lake ; but the heights rise more steeply and loftily than those by the Thrasymene, and are even now densely covered with wood, as no doubt the}^ were in ancient times, the celebrated Ciminian forest extending^ thus far. Though the Consul Fabius had once passed that fearful wood, it w^as against the express command of the Senate ; so when the Etruscans w^ere next to be attacked, the Eoman general, " Plin. Epist. YIII. 20. rock being suspended over the lake, like- ** This process is still going forward in broken ice over a deep abyss." The waters, certain lakes in Italy — in the Lago d' Isole are sulphureous, yet there are fish in the Natanti, or Lake of Floating Islands, near lake. " The phenomenon of floating islands. the road from Home to Tivoli, and well may still be observed ; they are nothing known from the description of Sir Hum- more than reeds or long coarse grass, the phry Davy in his "Last Days of a Philo- roots of which bound together by the petri- sopher " (see also Westphal's Romische fying nature of the water, are sometimes. Kampagnc, p. 108), and also in the Lacus detached from the shore." Gell's Rome, (Jutiliaj in Sal)ina, renowned by the II. p. 370. Floating islands are common ancients for its floating islands, and now enough in the great rivers of South America. c.alled the Pozzo Ratignano. "Its banks I have seen them even far at sea, carried, appear to be approaching each other by in- out by the tide, crustation ; there is no shelving shore, the CHAP. XI.] YALE OF THE TIBER— BASSANO. 145 instead of again crossing the mountain, turned its extremity, and there encountered the Etruscan army drawn up in this natural pass into their land, leagued together by a solemn bond to defend their country to the utmost — a determination which caused them to offer so desperate and extraordinary a resistance.^ The vale of the Tiber is here rich and beautiful — the low ground highly cultivated Avith corn, wine, and oil ; the slopes on the Etruscan side clothed with dense oak-woods, on the Umbrian with olive-groves and vineyards ; the towns of Giove and Penna crown the latter heights ; Bassano overhangs the lake from the former. Looking up the stream, Mugnano is seen on its hill, backed by the loftier ground of Bomarzo ; looking down, the horizon is bounded by the distant range of the Apennines, with their " silent pinnacles of aged snow." Bassano has been supposed by Cluver,^ Cramer," and others, to be the Castellum Amerinum on the Via Amerina, mentioned by the Peutingerian Table, because it overhangs the Vadimon, as Pliny describes the Amerine estate — Amerina prcedia — of his wife's grandfather to have done.^ But the Castellum must have been near Orte, as already stated, because the road took a direct course from Nepi to Ameria, and the distance, twenty-six miles, between these places is correctly stated by the Table, but would have been considerably increased had the road made a detour to Bassano. Besides, I have m3'self traced the road by its fragments from Nepi to within a mile or two of Orte, and its course is due north and south, without deviation ; and there can be no doubt that it crossed the Tiber by the bridge at Orte, now in ruins. The ground about Bassano may nevertheless have been called Amerine, though the Castellum itself w^as three or four miles distant. Bassano is a miserable place, without accommodation for the traveller ; and Avitli no signs of antiquity', or anything to interest, bej^ond its picturesque scenery. It lies on the railway from Borne to Florence, ninety-one kilometres, or fifty-seven miles from the former city. It is nearl}^ two miles from the Vadimonian Lake, five from Orte, by the direct road, four or five from Bomarzo, seven or eight from Soriano, and the same from Yignanello. ^ Livy says, — non cum Etruscis toties of the ground, witli which those writers victis, sed cum aliquanova gente, videi-etur seem to have been unacquainted, sufficiently diniicatio esse, — (IX. 39). Miiller (II. 1. accounts for the fact. 4) and Mannert (p. 422) seem to me to be ' Ital. Ant. II. p. 551. in error in supposing that the Etruscans - Ancient Italy, I. p. 224. made their stand on this spot on account ^ Plin. Epist. loc. cit. of the sacredness of the lake. The nature VOL. I. I, CHAPTER XII. MONTE CIMmO.—MONS CIMINUS. Cimini cum monte lacum. — ^ Virgil. How soon tlie tale of ages may be toM ! A page, a verse, records the fall of fame. The wreck of centuries — we gaze on you cities, once the glorious and the free ! — The lofty tales tliat charmed our youth renew, And wondering ask if these their scenes can be. Hejians. Who that lias seen lias not hailed with delight the exquisite little lake of Vico, which lies in the lap of the Ciminian Mount, just above Ronciglione ? I saw it for the first time one evening"^ when I strolled up from that town, and came upon it unex- pectedly', not aware of its close proximity. The sun Avas sinking behind the hills, which reared their broad, purple masses into the clear sk}', and shaded half the bosom of the calm lake with their hues — while the other half reflected the orange and golden glories of an Italian simset. Not a sound broke the stillness, save the chirping of the cicdla from the trees, whose song served but to make the silence heard — and not a sign of human life was there be^-ond a column of smoke wreathing up whitely in front of the dark mountains. When I next visited the lake, it was under the glare of a noonda}' sun — its calm surface, deepening the azure of the sky into a vivid sapphire, was dashed at the edge with reflections of the overhanging woods, in the richest hues of autmnn ; and with Siren smiles it treacherously masked the destruction it had wrought.^ ^ The waters .of this lake, the ancient evidently the ci-ater of an extinct volcano. Lacus Ciminus, are said to cover a town Faljle, however, gives it another origin. called Succinium, or Saccumiim, engulfed When Hercules was on this mount, he was byan earth(iuake(Ammian. Marcell. XVJI. begged by the inhabitants to give them 7. 13; Sotion. de Mir. Font.). The latter some proof of his marvellous strength; writer states the same of the Lacus Saba- whereon he drove an i)-on bar deep into thf^ tinus. or Lago Bracciimo. TIic lake is earth. When they liad tried in vain to stir CHAP. XII.] VIEW FEOM THE PASS. 147 AVlio has not hailed with 3'et higher delight the view from the summit of the long steep ascent which rises from the shores of the lake to the shoulder of the mountain — more especially if he be for the first time approaching the Eternal Cit}' ? — for from this height, if the day be clear, he will obtain his first view of Rome. There lies the A'ast, variegated expanse of the Campagna at his feet, with its framework of sea and mountain. There stands Soracte in the midst, Avhicli " from out the plain Heaves like a long-swept wave about to break, And on the curl hangs pausing." The white convent of San Silvestro gleams on its dark craggy crest, as though it were an altar to the god of poetry and light on this his favourite mountain. There sweeps the long range of Apennines, in grey or purple masses, or rearing some giant, lioary peak, into the blue heaven. There flows the Tiber at their feet, from time to time sparlding in the sun as it winds through the undulating plain. Far in the southern horizon swells the Alban Mount with its soft flowing outHnes ; and apparently at its foot, lies Rome herself, distinguishable more by the cupola of St. Peter's than by the white line of her buildings. "NVell, traveller, ma^-est thou gaze, for even in her present fallen state Possis nihil urbe Koma Visere majus.- Nor must the dense and many-tinted woods, which clothe the slopes of the mountain around and beneath, be passed without notice. It is the Ciminian forest, in olden times the terror of the Roman, ^ and still with its majestic oaks and chestnuts vindicatmg its ancient reputation — silvce sunt consule dignce .' On descending from the crest of the pass on the road to Viterbo, a new scene broke on my view. The slopes around and it^^, they besought the hero to draw it foiili, - Horat. Carm. Sa3C. 11. which he did ; hut an immense flood of •* It was so dreaded by the ancient water welled up from the hole, and forme. 257. and occupies the site of a temple to Hercules, ^ The cathedral is dedicated to S.Lorenzo, jneutioned in early Christian documents. CHAP. XIII.] THE BAZZICHELLI COLLECTION". 155 the election of some half-dozen popes — are they not all recorded by Murray ? Yet I must testify to the neatness and cleanliness of Viterbo — to the Tuscan character of its architecture — to its well-paved, ever dry streets — to its noble fountains, proverbial for their beauty — and I must not omit the abundant civility experi- enced in the hotel of the " Angelo," which the traveller should make his head-quarters while exploring the antiquities of the neighbourhood. THE THEATRE OK FEKENTO— THE CENTRAL GATE. CHAPTER XIV. 'FER'EW£0.~FERENTINUM. Si te gi-;xta quies, et primam soinnus in lioram Delectat ; si te jjulvis strepitnsque rotaniiii, Si Itedit caiipona ; Feientinuin ire jiibeLo. — Horat. The neighbourhood of Viterbo is rich in antiquities. It was not usual with the southern Etruscans to build on the summits of lofty mountains, or even on the higher slopes — therefore no remains are found on the Ciminian itself — but all along its base stood city after city, now for the most j)art in utter desolation, yet whose pristine magnificence can be traced in the sepulchres around them. The vast plain, also, north of the Ciminian, now in great part uncultivated, and throughout most thinly inhabited, teems with vestiges of long extinct civiUsation. Eive miles north of Viterbo, on the left of the road to Monte Fiascone, and near the Ponte Fontanile, is a remarkable assem- blage of ruins, called Le Casacce del Bacucco. One is an edifice of two stories, by some thought a temple of Serapis, most pro- bably because they fancied they could trace a corruption of this CHAP. XI V.J ANCIENT THEEM.E. lol word in its name, Bagni delle Serpi.^ It is move vulgarl}'^ called La Lettiglietta, or the Warming-pan. Then there are several quadrilateral buildings, evidcntl}^ baths ; one retaining traces of some magnificence, being surmounted b}^ an octagon which originally supported a cupola. From the character of these ruins, and the abundance of thermal springs in this district, it has been with great probability supposed that this is the site of the Aquae Passeris of antiquity." All these ruins are clearly of Roman times ; but there is one monument on this site apj^arentl}' of Etruscan construction. It is a mound of tufo shaped like a cone, hollowed into a tomb, and girt with rectangular travertine masonry, like the tumuli of Tarquinii. Its interior is ver}'- plain.'*^ Considerably to the east of Bacucco, and about five miles north of Viterbo stand the ruins of an Etruscan city, now called Ferento or Ferenti. It is the ancient Ferentinum of Etriuia,* the birth- j)lace of the emperor Otho ; and must not be confounded with the town of the same name in the land of the Hernici. That, the " Ferentinum of the rock," stands on the summit of a lofty hill. * Excavations were made here in 1830, and statues and mosaic jiavements were l)ronght to light. Bull. Inst, 1831, p. 81 ; Ann. Inst. 1835, 1—7. Camilli. - Chiver (ii. p. 561). The Peutingerian Table places Aqute Passeris between Foruni Cassii and Volsinii, eleven miles from tlie former, and nine from the latter. If Ye- t.ralla be the site of Forym Cassii, the distance to Bacucco is about correct, but thence to Volsinii is foui-teen miles ; and this distance Cluverius thinks was originally stated by the Table, but that XIIII. was corrupted by the transcriber into YIIII. which might very easily occur. Professor Orioli also, who has pu1)lished a long Latin inscription, found near Viterbo, referring to the springs and course of these "Aquas Passerianje, " is of opinion that the baths occupied the site of Bacucco. (Ann. Instit. 1829, p. 174—179.) But Canina takes the Bullicame to be the Aquse Passeris, because there are no other liot springs in the neighbourhood to which Martial's descrip- tion can apply— fervidi fluctus Passeris (VI. Epig. 42). The name of Le Serpi, vulgarly given to the building at Bacucco, may be a corruption of " Scirpianum," an estate mentioned liy the said inscription as tra- versed by the Via Ferentiensis. Etr. Marit. II., p. 133. '^ Bull. Inst. 1831, p. 85. It is consi- dered by Lenoir (Annali dell' Inst. 1832, p. 277), from the character of its mouldings, to be of Roman construction, in imitation of tombs genuinely Etruscan ; but I have already shown, in treating of the tombs of Falleri, that a resemblance to Roman archi- tecture is not necessarily an evidence against an Etruscan origin ; and it is clear that the Romans could as well imitate the Etruscans in the mouldings as in the general character of the tomb. For an illustration of this tomb, see Moh. Ined. Inst. I. tav. XLI. 16. •> By Strabo (V. p. 226), Tacitus (Hist. II. 50), Pliny (III. 8), and Suetonius (Otho I.), it is called Ferentinum ; by Ptolemy (Geog. p. 72, ed. Bertii) Pherentia ; by Vitruvius (II. 7) Ferentum. It may also be referred to as Ferentum by Suetonius (Vespas. 3). It seems to have given name to an Etruscan family, mentioned on a sepulchral urn of Perugia — " Arnth Phrenti- nate Pisice." It is strange that Vermiglioli, who gives this inscrii^tiou (Iscriz. Perug. I. 319), should have thought of an analogy with the Frentani of Samnium, or with the Ferentinates of Latium, rather tlian with this town of Etruria. 158 FEEENTO. [chap. xiv. and to the traveller from Rome to Naples by the upper road, is an object of interest on account of its massive Cycloi^ean walls ; this is on the level of the great Etruscan plain, girt about, how- ever, by i^rofound ravines. Nor must it be confounded with Ferentum in Apulia, a town also situated in a plain, Pingue tenent humilis Ferenti.' We have no record of this town in Etruscan times, though the sepulchres around it give sure evidence of such an antiquity. It must have been a dependency of Volsinii. The earliest mention of it is in the time of Augustus, when it was a Roman colony of small importance,^ and, if the passage of Horace which heads this chapter refer to this town,'^ it was then a quiet, secluded, country village. Then we hear of it as the birthplace of the Emperor Otho ; ^ and as the site of a temple of Fortune,f pro- j^l^ babl}^ the Etruscan goddess, Nurtia, who had a celebrated shrine ^jl^at Volsinii, not many miles distant. It continued in existence after the fall of the Empire, and rose into the importance of an episcopal see,^ but was utterly destroyed in the eleventh century^ ^^^bj' the Vit eijbesi, in their zeal to exterminate a heresy with which A its inhabitants were tainted, that heresy being that they repre- sented Christ on the cross with his eyes open, instead of being orthodoxly closed ! The area of the town is covered with ruins of the three ej^ochs into which its history may be divided. The greater part are foundations of houses and other structures of the middle ages. There are considerable remains of Roman pavement of polygonal blocks of basalt ; and several Roman structures in ruin, among^^ which a tower with a vaulted roof is prominent. Some of the ruins of later date are raised on foundations of Roman antiquity. The walls of the town are in great part overthrown, but fragments of them remain, and many of the rectangular blocks which com- ■'' Hor. III. Od. i, 15. of that great thoroughfare, the Latin Way. •■ Strabo, Y. p. 226 ; Frontinus (ile Cramer (I. p. 225) follows his oi^inion. Colon. ) also calls it a colony ; Vitruviiis (loc. *• Sneton. Otho I. ; Tacit. Hist. II. 50; cit.) and Tacitus (Hist. II. 50) a inunici- Aur. Vict. Imp. Otho. pium. " Tacit. Annal. XV. 53. 7 Cluver (II. p. 563) is decidedly of this ^ Cluver. II. p. 562. Camilli, Mon. di opinion ; and shows that it could not have Yiterbo, pj). 62, 84. An inscription re- applied to the other Ferentinnm, which corded by Orelli calls it " pplendidissima •was precisely amid the dust and the noise civitas." CHAP. xiv.J EEMAINS OF FERENTINUM— THE THEATRE. 159- posed them, lie scattered on the slopes around.- The sites of several gates are distinctly traceable. But the grand monument at Ferento is the theatre. In its perfect state it must have been a trulj^ imposing edifice ; even now, though all the winds of heaven play through its open arches, it is a most majestic ruin, with every advantage of situation to increase its effect on the senses. For it stands on the brink of a precipice, overhanging a wooded and picturesque ravine, amid solitude, ruin, and desolation, where for centuries man has left his dAvelling to the falcon, the owl, the bat, the viper, and the lizard, and where his foot or voice now rarely calls forth echoes — with the wide plain on every hand, the dark gloomy mass of the Ciminian in front, the swelling Mount of Fiascone behind, and the snowy ranges of the Umbrian Apennines in the horizon. The stage-front of the theatre is one hundred and thirty-six feet in length, of massive masonry, composed of large rectangular volcanic blocks uncemented ; not, as in the Etruscan walls already described, laid lengthways and endways in alternate courses, but like those in the northern division of the land, arranged rather with regard to the size and form of the blocks themselves than to any predetermined order or style of masonr3\ From its peculiar character, and its evidently superior antiquity to the rest of the structure, I am inclined to regard this facade as . Etruscan. The construction of its gates might be cited as an objection. There are seven of these, the largest in the centre, — all with flat architraves composed of cuneiform blocks holding together on the principle of the arch, though without cement ; as is proved in one gateway, where, the masonry being dislocated, the keystone has slipt down several inches, yet is still supported by the contiguous blocks.'" This mode of construction, like the arch itself, has generally been supposed a Roman invention ; but - The extant portions of the walls are mtriimj thari any other ancient walling in generally of small masonry, either lioman Etruria ; though there is also some resem- or of " the low times ; " but there are frag- blance to the pier of a ruined bridge at raents on the northern side, of more ancient Veil, mentioned at page 10 of this work, date and more massive chai-acter. They ^ This has fallen since the above was are indeed very peculiar, the blocks being -RTitten, and the architrave is destroyed, nearly square, without any regularity in Its place is seen to the left in the woodcut size or arrangement, and being often let at page 1.56. into one another, — more like the masonry The central gate, which is represented in of that singular cpiadrangle on the Via the woodcut, is more than 12 ft. in height, Appia, which Gell called the "Campus and is 10 ft. 2 in. wide ; the next on either Sacer Horatiorum," but which Canina, with hand, 8 ft. 1 in. ; the next two, 7 ft. 6 in. ; much liiore probability, regards as an and the outer gates, 7 ft. 3 in. in width. i 160 FERENTO. [chap. xiv. there is now little doubt that the arch in Ital}^ had an Etruscan origin ; therefore, seeing the perfection to which the arched vault had been brought at a very earl}' age in the Cloaca Maxima, there is nothing in the peculiar st3'le or construction of this flat arch which militates against its being of Etruscan formation ; for the principle of cuneiform sustentation once discovered, the progress from one application of it to another must have been short and easy. This massive masonry rises to the height of ten courses. On it rests a mass of Roman brickwork, of Imperial times, with several arched openings, intended to admit hght into the passage Avithin. This passage, or 2^ostsccmum, which runs the whole length of the facade, is about four feet wide, and its inner wall, or the scena, is also of red Roinan brick. ( )ne vast mass of this M-all has been loosened from its foundation, probably bv the same convulsion of nature which dislocated the gateway', and reclines against the outer wall, adding much to the picturesque effect of the ruins. The passage must have been a means of communica- tion for the actors behind the scenes, and in two parts it widens into a chamber — the iiarascenlon of the Greek theatre— for their convenience in changing costumes. Within the theatre all is ruin — a chaos of fallen masonr}', shapeless masses of rock and red brick- work, overgrown with weeds and moss — the orchestra filled up to the level of the stage — not a seat of the cavca re- maining, that part of the theatre being only distinguishable b}' the semicircle of arches which inclosed it. These are of regular and massive masonry, of a hard grey tufo whitened by lichen — a whiteness quite dazzling in the sunshine. The semicircle which they originally formed is not complete. Commencing with the first arch at the south-western angle of the arc, there are eleven in an unbroken series ; then occurs a gap, where one has been destroj'ed ; then follow nine more in succession ; and six or seven are wanting to complete the semicircle. Attached to the first is another, at an angle Avith it, indicating the line of the chord of the arc, the division betAveen the cavea and the j^^'oscciiium ; and its distance from the AA^alls of the scena shoAvs the dejotli of the stage. These arches are beautifully formed, the blocks shaped Avith uniformity, and fitted Avitli great nicet}', though Avithout cement.^ Canina, the Roman architect, regards them as an in- * These arches vary from 7^ ft. to 9 ft. su2i]>orting a simple lip-impost, also a single in span. They are based on pillars aliont block ; as is likewise the mass raised on it, 3 ft. square, each a single block of .stone, from which springs the arch on either side. CHAP, xiv.] THE THEATRE— AECHITECTUEAL EEIQOWN. 161 terior structure onh', and thinks there was an outer range of arches for the external adornment of the theatre, as in those of Pompeii, and of Marcelhis at Rome. He says that, from its excellent state of preservation, the scewa, in this ruin gives us a more complete idea of that part in ancient theatres than can be derived from any other remain of the same description extant, particularly in the distinction between the " ro3'al gate " in the centre, and the " stranger- gates " on either hand.^ Canina pronounced this theatre a Roman structure, as late as the time of Otho f yet the lower part of the facade has an air of much superior antiquity, and from its resemblance to the masonr}' of other Etruscan sites, has strong claims to be considered Etruscan.^ Ferentum, though small, and probably at no time of political importance, was celebrated for the beauty of its public monu- ments. Yitruvius cites them as exhibiting "the infinite virtues" of a stone hewn from certain quarries, called " Anitiante," in the territory of Tarquinii, and especially in the neighbourhood of the Volsinian Lake. This stone, saj's he, was similar to that of the Alban Mount in colour, i.e., it was grey like pcperino ; it was proof alike against frost and fire, and of extreme hardness and durability, as might be seen from the monuments of Ferentum, which were made of it. " For there are noble statues of wondrous workmanship, and likewise figures of smaller size, together Avith foliage and acanthi, delicatel}- carved, which albeit they be ancient, appear as fresh as if they were but just now finished." The brass-founders, he adds, find this stone most useful for moulds. " Were these quarries near the City, it would be Avell to The length of the chord of the arc, or the « Etr. Marit. II., pp. 132, 141. The greatest width of the theatre, according to plan of this theatre, and its measure- my measurement, is exactly 200 English ments in Tuscan braccia, are given in the feet. The depth of the stage is 33 feet. Annals of the Institute 1839. Tav. d' Agg. " Vitruv. V. 6. The seven gates in the F. outer wall are a very unusual number ; Ijut *" The semicircle of arches, though of in the scena there is only the legitimate the same material as this fa§ade, and very number of three ; the rest opening into the massive, seems, from the regularity of its postscenium alone. There are no traces of masonry, to be of later date. I regard it a portico at the back of the theatre, as was as Koman. That the brickwork is but a common in Greek edifices of this descrip- repair of a more ancient structure is most tion. Yitruv. V. 9. clear, from the irregularity of the njijier This is certainly the best i)reserved sccna line of the masonry below it, and from the in Italy ; but that of Taormina in Sicily is brickwork filling up its deficiencies. See more perfect, having a second story; and the woodcut at page 156. It appears to that of Aspendus in Pamphylia is entire, me probable that the original Etruscan with three stories inside, and four outside, theatre having fallen into decay, Otho, or as I learn from the drawings of my friend, one of the early Emjjerors, put it into Mr. Edward Falkener. repair. VOL. I. M 162 FERENTO. [chap. xiv. construct everything of this stone. "^ Pliny speaks of this stone in the same laudatory terms, hut calls it a white silex,^ Canina takes this stone to he nenfro ;^ hut nenfro was found at Gabii, and was well known and much used at Rome. Moreover, nenfro has not the properties 'assigned to this stone by Vitruvius. When last at Ferento, I sought particularl}' to obtain light on this subject. Among the numerous blocks with which the site is strewed, I remarked very fcAv fragments of architectural decora- tion ; nothing that would at all bear out the praises of Vitruvius.^ The cliffs beneath the town are a sort of travertine ; 3'et the masonry of the theatre is of a 3'ellowish tufo, not unlike nenfro ; and the town walls are composed of the same or of limestone. This latter, which is also found in abundance among the scat- tered masses, seems too hard for the chisel. I could perceive nothing which answered to the description of Vitruvius. In the neighbovu'hood of Ferento are sepulchres, some of Roman, but most of Etruscan construction. A few of these are tumuli, not of the large size seen at Veil, rather like those so abundant at Tarquinii; but the majority are caves hollowed in the rocks. Orioli mentions some remarkable tombs in a plain near the town, called Piano de' Pozzi, because these tombs are entered by oblong wells or shafts sunk to a great depth in the earth, Avitli niches cut in the sides for the feet and hands, as in the tombs of Civita Castellana and Falleri. One of the shafts into which he descended was eighty feet deep, another, one hundred and twenty ; and at the bottom were horizontal passages, opening at intervals into sepulchral chambers.'^ The visitor may vary his route on his return to Yiterbo, by way of Vitorchiano, a small town three or four miles from Ferento. A competent guide, however, is requisite, for there is merely a foot-path. Vitorchiano seems to have been an Etruscan site, from ^ Yitruv. II. 7. - There is a stone, quarried at Mauziana, " Plin. Nat. Hist. XXXVI. 49. near the Lake of Bracciano, which has ^ Canina, Arch. Ant. VIII. p. 86. some of the proiierties ascribed to that men- But he subsequently altered his opinion, tioned by Yitriivius and Pliny, and is and in his last work (Etruria ]\Iarit. II., much used in Eome, at the present day, for p. 40) he asserts that the quarries in ques- moulds for metal-casting, tion have been recently found near Bag- ^ Orioli ajj. Inghir. IMonumenti Etnxschi ria|i'ea, and that the stone is now iised at IV. p. 189. In ]\Iagna Grascia also such Rome for pavements. He maintains that tombs have been found, the shafts to which the lower part of the scena and the arches are sunk sometimes perpendicularly, like of the cavca of the theatre at Ferento are wells, sometimes obliquely, as in the all constructed of the stone from these EgjTDtian pyramids. — De Jorio. Sepol. quarries (II. p. 142). Ant. p. 10. CHAP, xry.] CURIOUS SEPULCHEE3— VITOECHIANO. 163 the slight excavations Avhich have been made in its neighbour- hood. Its ancient name is unknown, but in 1435 it was colonised by the inhabitants of Norchia, who deserted their native town on account of its insalubrit}-, and migrated hither. Hence its modern name Vitorchiano (Vicus Orclanus).^ It jjossesses the exclusive right of providing servants for the Senator of Rome — that solitary- representative of the mighty body which once ruled the world. This privilege is derived, tradition asserts, from classic times, and was accorded in perpetuity to Vitorchiano by a certain emperor, because one of its townsmen extracted a thorn from his foot. In virtue thereof, every forty years, the j)rincipal families in the place assemble and draw lots for theii' order of annual service ; each family sending one of its members to Eome in its turn, or selling the privilege, which custom has fixed at a certain price. The truth of this may be tested by any one who chooses to inquire on the Capitol of the Senator's servants, distinguished by theii' red and yellow, beef-eating costume. The validity of the privilege was contested, some 3'ears since, and the Vitorchianesi came ofi with flying colours. ■* Anil. In.st. 1833, p. 21. M 2 CHAPTER XV. BOMAEZO. Miremur periisse homines ? — moniimenta fatiscunt, ilors etiam saxis nominibusque venit. — Ausonius. Ecce libet pisces Tyrrlienaque monstra Dicere. Ovid. About twelve miles east of Viterbo, on the same slope of the Cimmian, is the village of Bomarzo, in the immediate neighbour- hood of an Etruscan town where extensive excavations have been made. The direct road to it runs along the base of the mountain, but the excursion may be made more interesting b}^ a detour to Ferento, which must be done in the saddle, the road being quite impracticable for vehicles. From Ferento the path leads across a deep ravine, past the village of Le Grotte di Santo Stefano, whose name marks the existence of caves in its neighbourhood,^ and over the open heath toAvards Bomarzo. But before reaching that place, a wooded ravine, Fosso della Vezza, which forms a natural fosse to the Ciminian, has to be crossed, and here the proverb — Chi va piano va sano — must be borne in mind. A more steep, slipijery, and dangerous tract I do not remember to have traversed in Italy. Stiff miry clay, in which the steeds will anchor fast ; rocks shelving and smooth-faced, like inclined planes of ice, are the alternatives. Let the traveller take warning, and not pursue this track after heavy rains. It would be advisable, especially if ladies are of the party, to return from Ferento to Viterbo, and to take the direct road thence to Bomarzo. A diligence runs daily between Viterbo and the railway station at Orte, passing not far from Bomarzo. ' I could not learn that excavations had %vith no great success. He found, however, heen made liere, though at Monte Calvello, another well-tomb, similar to those of about li mile beyond, Euggieri of Viterlio Ferento, the shaft to which was 127 palms excavated iu 1845 for Prince Doria, but deep. CHAP. XV.] THE BY-EOADS OF ITALY. 1G5 This is a village of considerable size situated on a wooded cliff- bound platform, with an old castle of the Borghese family at the verge of the precipice. It commands a glorious view of the vale of the Tiber, and the long chain of Umbrian and Sabine Apen- nines to the east ; of the vast Etruscan plain to the north, with Monte Fiascone lilce a watch-tower in the midst, and the giant masses of Monte Cetona and Monte Amiata in the far horizon. Like most villages in the old Papal State, Bomarzo is squalid in the extreme ; so that as we rode down its main street, not a house could we see whose exterior promised decent accommodation. We pulled up at one of the best, the Casa Fosci, to which we had been directed as a place where travellers were entertained. One great point of contrast between France and Italy — I may sa}', between northern and southern Europe — is that in every French village or hamlet, be it ever so small, there is some one house, often several, where Pierre or Jean so-and-so '' donne a boire et a manger," or "loge a pied et a cheval; " but in Central and Southern Italy such signs are as rare as notices of spiritual refreshment and halting-places for the devotee are abundant. Here and there a withered bush at a doorway shows that wine ma}^ be had within ; but as to an inn, except on the great high- ways — you might as well look for a club-house. Some one or more of the most respectable inhabitants of these country-towns and villages is always, however — thank Mercury ! — ready to entertain the traveller, for a consideration — for what will not an Italian do for gain ? — especially the Bomans, who, however unlike in some points, resemble their ancestors in thirst for foreign spoil. " Omnia Bom?e cum pretio " — holds good now as in Juvenal's day. This occasional Boniface is generally a man of decayed fortunes, and, as in this instance, shows his gentle blood by his courtesy and attention, and by doing everything that the slender resources of a country village will allow, to con- tribute to tlie traveller's comfort. The ruder sex maj^ be content with their modicum of this, and thank God it is not less, but should ladies desire to explore the antiquities of Bomarzo I can scarcely recommend them to make more than a flying visit. The site of the Etruscan town, which Bomarzo represents, lies on a platform nearly two miles to the north of the village, separated from it by the deep ravine of La Yezza. From the brow of the further height the valley of the Tiber opened beneath us, the royal river winding through it, washing the base of manj^ a town-capt height, of which that of Mugnano was the nearest 166 BOMAEZO. [chap. xv. and most prominent, and that of Orte tlie most distant, while midway lay the Vadimonian lake, on whose shores the Roman eagle twice soared in triumph, and the fate of Etrm'ia was doubly sealed as a dependent nation. ~ The first ruin which met our eye was some Eoman baths, in three j^arallel vaults of opus incerhnn, very massive in character. They are clearl}' of Roman construction ; for cement, though not miknown to the Etruscans, was rarely, if ever, used in their architecture — never to such an extent as to form the principal IDortion of the masonry. This ruin is without the ancient town, and the platform on which it stands, called Pian della Colonna, is united to that of the town by a narrow neck of land. Here Ruggieri of Viterbo made excavations for Prince Borghese, and found no less than twenty spccchj in one tomb.^ On passing this strait, fragments of potter}", bricks, and wrought stone strewn over the ground, showed us we were on the site of former habitation ; but no more definite remains could I perceive than some fragments of red tessellated pavement — probably marking the site of an implnrium, or tank in the court of a private house. The town must have been of very small import- ance, for its size is limited by the natural boundaries of cliffs, save at the narrow neck already mentioned ; and. the space thus cu'cumscribed forms a single field of no great dimensions. Of the ancient walls not one stone remains on another ; but beneath the brow of the hill on the east he a few of the blocks, of red tufo, and of the dimensions usual in Etruscan walls in the volcanic district. In the cliff", on the same side, are two sewers openmg in the rock, similar to those on other Etruscan sites. The name of this town in Etruscan times we have no means of determining. It has been supj)osed to be Maeonia, or Pneonia, but there is no authority for this in ancient writers. B}" others it has been thought to be Polimartium ; but as this io a name mentioned onl}' in works of the middle ages,* it may have had no connection with the Etruscan town, but may have been simply the original of the village of Bomarzo. The existence of an Etruscan town on this site had for ages been forgotten, when some years since it was proved by the dis- " See Chapter XI. Mugnano claims to faljles and the plague. May not his own be the birthplace of Biagio Sinibaldi, a existence be called into qiiestion ? — may he famous traveller of the olden time, who not be an European embodiment of the visited Ceylon, Japan, the Eastern Archi- oriental myth of Sinbad the Sailor ? pelago, China, and Tartary, at a date when •' Bull. Inst. 1845, p. 21. Europe imported little from the East but •• Dempster de Etrur. Reg. IT. p. 110. CHAP. xv.J THE ETEUSCAN TOWN— PILLAEED TOMB. 167 covery of tombs containing articles of value and interest. Exca- vations were commenced in 1830, and have since been carried on with various success. The platforms to the south and west of the town seem to have been the chief depositories of its dead. A few tombs are seen in the clifis beneath the walls, but the greater part are sunk deep below the surface of the ground as at Tarquinii and Vulci, and were entered by long narrow passages, descending obliquely. Though very many have been excavated, few now remain open ; the greater part, as at Veil and Vulci, have been reclosed, in order to save for tillage the few yards of earth occupied by the entrance- passages. Many tombs do not merit preservation, but on the other hand it is well known that some of the most interesting opened in former j'ears in this and other cemeteries are not now to be entered, and their very sites are forgotten. The principal group of tombs that still remain open, is on the edge of the hill facing Bomarzo. Two of them merit a few words of description. One is called Grotta della Colonxa from a massive pillar of Doric-like simplicit}^ which supports the ceiling. The chamber is about thirteen feet square, and seven in height, with a roof shglitly vaulted, in the form of a camber-arch. The door is of the usual Etruscan form, smaller above than below, lil\;e Egyptian and Doric doorways ; and the wall on each side of it, within the tomb, is lined with masonry — a rare feature in Etruscan tombs, especially in those of subter- raneous excavation. The blocks are very massive and neatly rusticated, a clear proof that this stjde of masonry was used by the Etruscans ; a fact also attested by other remains on Etruscan sites. It is worthy of remark that this st3'le, which probably originated in Etrui'ia, is still prevalent in this part of Italy ; and the grand palaces of Florence and Siena, so far as masonrj"- is concerned, may be purely traditional imitations of those of Etruscan Lucumones, raised five-and-twent}^ centuries ago. The character of this tomb is most solemn and imposing. The rock-hewn pillar in the midst, more simple and severe than any Doric column^ — the bare, damp walls of rock — the massive ■^ Canina cites this as the most striking hewn columns in the tombs of Beni-Hassan. example of a Doric-like column among the Etruria Marit. II., p. 166. This column very few to be found in Etruscan tombs, is singularly formed, the side facing the iind points out its similarity to the rock- door lieing rounded, the back squared. The 168 EOMAEZO. [chap. xv. blocks of masoniy — the j-awning sarcophagus with its lid over- thrown, and the dust of the long-forgotten dead exposed to view — the deep gloom never broken but by the torch of the curious traveller — all strike the soul with a chill feeling of awe. Grotta Dipinta. Let us leave this tomb and enter another hard by. We are in a chamber whose walls, gaily painted, are alive with sea-horses snorting and plunging — water-snakes uprearing their crests and gliding along in slimy folds — dolphins sporting as in their native element — and, — can we believe our eyes ? — grim and hideous caricatures of the human face divine. One is the head of an old man, with e3'e starting from its socket, and mouth wide open as though smitten with terror. Another is a face elongated into a coffin form, or like the head of an ox, with one eye blotted from his visage, and the other regarding you with a fixed stare, no nostrils visible, the mouth gaping above a shapeless chin, and the hair standing out stiffly from the head, as though electrified. 1 could not readily bring myself to believe that this caricature was of ancient execution ; but, after minute examination, I was convinced that it was of the same date, and by the same hand, as the other paintings in this tomb, which are indubitably Etruscan. All are drawn in the same broad and sketch}" st3'le, with red and black cra^'ons — " rubrica picta aut carbone." In the centre of one wall is a third head, no caricature, and probably the jjortrait of the Etruscan for whom the tomb was constructed, and whose ashes were found in his sarcophagus. The other two heads may represent respectively Charun and Tj'phon, i.e. the angel or minister of Death, and the princij)le of Destruction, both of whom are usually depicted as hideous as the imagination of the artist could conceive.^ Hippocam'pi and water-snakes are symbols frequently found in Etruscan tombs, either depicted on the walls, or sculptured on sarcophagi and urns. They are generally regarded as emblematic of the passage of the soul from one state of existence to another, an opinion confirmed by the frequent representation of boys shaft is 5 ft. liigli, and 18 inches in dia- ^ Typhon is here, as elsewhere in this meter, with a jjlain hase. The capital is work, used conventionally, to express a di- 2 ft. square, with its lower edge bevelled vinity of Eti'uscan mythology, whose name down to the shaft. The whole is crowned has not yet been ascertained, but who bears.' by an abacus, 4 ft. square, and, like the some analogy to the Typhon of Egyj^tian and capital, al)out 1 ft. deep. Greek mythology. See Chapter XXV. CHAP. XV.] PAINTED TOMB— CAEICATUEES. 169 riding on their backs. This view is, moreover, borne out by their amphibious character — horse and fish, snake and fish — evident!}^ referring to a two-fold state of existence. The dolphins, which form a border round the apartment, painted alternately black and red, are a common sepulchral ornament, and are supposed to have a similar symbolical reference ;'' though they have also been considered as emblematic of the maritime power of the Etruscans, the "sea-kings" of antiquity.^ The rolling border beneath them represents the waves, in which they are supposed to be sporting — circum clari delphines in orbem ^quora verrebant caudis, a3Stumque secabant. Next to the Typhon-head is a large jar, sketched on the wall, out of which two serpents with forked tongues are rising. The demons or genii of Etruscan mythology are commonly represented brandishing these reptiles in their hands, or with them bound round their brows or waists, and sometimes, as in this case, having them by their side. That snakes were also made use of by the Etruscan priests and soothsayers, as by the Eg3^ptian, to establish their credit for superior powers in the minds of the people, as evincing control over the most deadly and untractable creatures in existence, may be learned both from history and from sepulchral monuments,^ and it is possible that those used in the service of the temples were kept in such jars as this.^ ' Gori Mus. Etr. II. j). 236. Ingliirami called from this fable — Tyrrlienus piscis — Mou. Etrus. I. p. 1(50. Some have imagined Seneca, Agam. 451. cf. Stat. Achil. I. that the dolphins so frequently introduced 56. The dolphin is also an emblem of on Etruscan sepulchral monuments have Apollo, who once assumed its form, and reference to the story of Dionysos, told in drove a shii) from Crete to Crissa. Horn. the Homeric Hymn to that god, who, Hym. Apol. 401, ct seq. when seizetl by some Tyrrhene pirates, as- ^ Tvppr^vol BaWaTToKparovvTes. Diod. sumed the form of a lion (v. 44), or, as Sic. V. p. 295, 316. Strabo V. p. 222. Apollodorus has it, turned the mast and ^ Livy (VII. 17) records that the Etras- oars into serpents, and filled the ship with can priests made use of these animals t» ivy and the music of pipes, which so ter- strike terror into their foes. See also Flo- rified the crew that they leaped into the rus. I. 12, and Front. Strat. II. 4, 17. sea, and were transformed to dolphins. ^ The serpent was an object of divinatioa Apollod. III. 5, 3. cf. Ovid. Met. III. among the Latins (.^lian. Nat. An. XI. 575, etscq. Serv. ad 3in. I. 67. Hyginus, cap. 16), and probably also among the ^^ 134. Nonnus, Dionys. XLY. p. 1164, ed. Etruscans, as it continues to be among cer-^cP^'^f^ Hanov. 1605. Eurip. Cycl. 112. But it tain people of Asia and Africa. Serpents is clear that these pirates were Tyi-rhene were worshipped by the Egyptians, and Pelasgi, of the Lydian coast, not Etruscans. cherished in their temples (.Lilian. X. cap. See Niebuhr, I. p. 42. Miiller, Etrus. 31, XL 17, XVII. 5), and the Greeks kept einl. 2, 4, and I. 4, 4. The dolphin was representations of them in the temples of 170 BOMAEZO. [chap, XV. In this tomb was found, tlie curious sarcophagus, now in the British Museum, of temple -shape, with a pair of serjients, in knotted coils on the roof; and it appears highly probable, from this and the other adornments of the sarcophagus, as well as from the serpent-jar painted on the wall, that this was the sepulchre of some augur or aruspex, skilled in the mj^steries of "the Etruscan Discipline," and in interj)reting the will of Heaven. His name, we learn from his sarcophagus, was " Vel Urinates," a family name met with in other parts of Etruria;" and his portrait is probably seen on the right-hand wall.^ From the freedom of the sketches on the walls, from the Greek character of the ornaments, and the peculiar st^de of the Bacciius (Schol. ad Aristopli. Plut. III. sc. 2, 690), probably because this reptile was a symbol of regeneration and renovation. The serpent is also a well-kno\\Ti emblem of Apollo, of his son ^sculapiiis, and of Minerva in her character of Hygieia. The Romans also connected the serjient ■with the worship of the Lares ; this reptile being always found on the Lararia of the houses at Pomi)eii. The serpent indeed seems to have been used by the Romans as a mark of sacredness. They were wont to paint it on walls for the same piurpose that the modern Italians paint crosses or souls in purgatory. Pinge duos angues : pueri, locus est sacer : extra, &c. , says Persius (Sat. I. 113). Whether it be a traditional custom, or a mere coincidence, I know not, but the modern Italians, espe- cially the Romans, are very fond of chalk- ing huge serpents on walls, generally chained to a post. Serpents were regarded by the ancients as genii of the place where they were found; or as ministers to the dead; as when .Eneas sees one issue from the tomb of his father he was Incertus geniumne loci, famulumne parentis Esse putet. — 3^n. V. 95. So also Yal. Place. Argon. III. 458. — Um- brarum famuli. So says Isidore (Orig. XII. 4)— Angues apud gentiles, pro geniis locorum erant habiti semper. Seneca (de Ira II. 31) speaks of them at banquets, gliding among the goblets on the table ; so also Yirgil describes the .serpent mentioned above, taking part in the funeral feast (Jin. V. 90). — agmine longo Tandem inter pateras et levia pocula serj^ens, Libavitque dapes cf. Yal. Flacc. loc. cit. It is probable that the serpent was delineated on the walls of tombs, not so much to mark the sacredness of the S23ot, as to keep it inviolate by ex- citing the superstitious terror of intruders. - The name Urinates is inscribed on a rock-tomb at Castel d' Asso. It occurs also among the Etruscan family names of Perugia, Yolterra, and Chiusi. •* This sarcophagus is unique. It seems from the sloping roof, joint-tiles, and ante- fixa;, to have represented a house or temple, yet nothing like a door is visible. The lid has a winged sphinx at each end of the ridge, and in the middle are a imir of ser- pents curiously knotted together like ropes. The antetixfe are female heads, i^robably Larvie, as on the black pottery of Chiusi and Sarteano. At each end of the monu- ment are grifl'ons, or beasts of prey, de- vouring antelopes, and on the sides at each angle is a figure, also in relief, one repre- senting Charun with his hammer and a crested snake in his hand ; another, a winged female genius, with a drawn swoi'd; a third, a similar figure, with an open scroll ; and the fourtli, a warrior, with sword and shield. The whole was origin- ally covered with stucco and coloured, and traces of red, black, and blue, may still be detected. The name — Yel Urinates— is inscribed on one side just beneath the lid. • A i)late of it is given, Mon. Ined. Instit. I. tav. XLIL, and Etruria Marit. tav. CXX. CHAP. XV.] SEEPENTS ON ANCIENT MONUMENTS. 171 sarcophagus, this tomb cannot be of early date. It ninst be some centuries later than the Grotta Campagna at Veii, coeval with the latest painted tombs of Corneto, probably subsequent to the conquest of Etruria, though betraying no foreign influence, save in its style of art, and the character of its adornments.* This is the onl}' painted tomb yet found in this necropolis. The generalit}'- of sepulchres on this site are quadrilateral, of moderate size, with a broad ledge or bench of rock round three sides, on which lay the bodies, sometimes in sarcophagi, some- times uncoffined, with a lamp of terra-cotta or bronze at the head of each ; and weapons, vases, and other sepulchral furniture around. These benches were occasionally hollowed into sarco- phagi, which were covered by large sun-burnt tiles, three feet or more in length. Body -niches, so common at Sutri, Civita Castellana, and Falleri, are seldom found on this site; and even small niches for lamps or vases are rare. I observed one tomb under the town-walls, which seems to have been circular, with a pillar in the centre — the usual form of the sepulchres of Volterra. In some instances, sarcophagi have been found not in tombs, but sunk like our modern coffins, a few feet below the surface of the ground, covered with large tiles, or stone slabs. These were for the bodies of the poor. At this site the}' did not alwaj-s bury their dead ; for vases are often found containing calcined remains. As every necropohs in Etruiia has its peculiar stj'le of tomb, so there is a peculiarity also in the character of the sepulchral furniture. On this site the beautiful painted vases of Yulci and Tarquinii are not common ; those, however, with j'ellow figures, are not so rare as the more archaic, with black on a yellow ground ; but they are seldom in a good st3de of art. Articles of bronze, often of great richness and beaut}-, are abundant; consist- ing of helmets, often gilt, shields, greaves, and other j)ortions of armour; vases of different forms; spccchj, or mirrors, figured with mythological scenes; tripods iind candelabra ; and long thin plates of this metal gilt, covered with designs in relief. Besides these have been found swords and bows of steel. But perhaps the most remarkable article in bronze here found is an aspis, or circular shield, about three feet in diameter, with a lance-thrust ■* The tomb is 18 ft. long by 15 -wide, wards on either side. The floor is said to and nearly 7 high in the middle ; the ceil- have been covered with cement. The walls ing is cut as usual into the form of the are coated with a fine white stucco to re- roof of a house, with a beam along the ceive the colour, not here, as at Veii and centre, and rafters sloping from it down- Chiusi, laid on the rock itself. 172 BOMAEZO. [chap. xv. in it, and its lining of wood, and braces of leather still remaining, after the lajjse of more than 2000 years. Go to the Gregorian Museum, and behold it suspended on the walls ; for the Pope pm'chased it of Signer Iluggieri, the fortunate excavator, for the sum of 600 sciidi. It was found suspended from the Avail, near the sarcophagus of its owner, and the rest of his armour hung there with it — his embossed helmet, his greaves of bronze, and his wooden-hilted sword of steel. In one tomb on this site a skeleton was discovered still retaining fragments of its shroud ; and in another a purple mantle was found covering two vases and a garland of box ! ^ In a third was a little cup of ordinary ware, but bearing on its foot an inscription, which proved to be no other than the Etruscan alphabet. What was the meaning of it in such a situation is hard to say — to us it is suggestive only of a present to a child. Though originally of little worth, it is now a rare treasure, being, until very recently, the sole instance known of an alphabet in the Etruscan character.^ Here is a fac-simile of it— All these articles are now in the possession of the Prince Borghese. The fullest description of the excavations at Bomarzo will be found in the work of Don Luigi Vittori, arch-priest of the village.'^ ^ Yittori, Mem. Polim. p. 38. Another Etrnscaii alphabet has lately •^ A little pot was discovered at Cervetri been found scratched on a black bowl, now some few years since, inscribed with an in the Museum at Grosseto, but the jjlace alphabet and i^rinior ; and a tomb at Colle, of its discovery I could not ascertain. It near Volterra, opened two or three centuries closely resembles this of Bomarzo in the ago, had a somewhat similar epigraiih on its order, and genei-ally in the form of the walls. But in both those cases the letters letters, but contains twenty-two instead of were Pelasgic, not Etruscan. Here, how- twenty. See Chapter XLVII. In the ever, is an alphabet which is admitted to be Museum at Cliiusi are three Etruscan in the latter character. The order adopted alphabets, all fragmentary, carved on slabs is singular. In Roman letters it runs thus : of tufo. They are of earlier date than the —A, C, E, V, Z, H, TH, I, L, M, N, P, S, two mentioned, and the letters, which do R, S, T, U, TH, CH, PH. The fifth, or not observe the same arrangement, run the zda, is of a very rare form. The usual from left to right. See Chapter LIII. form of the Etruscan zeta is J. It will be ^ For other particulars regarding the observed that there are two tlictas ; the excavations on this site, see Annali dell' ante-penultimate letter in the alphabet may Inst. 1831, p. 116 (Gerhard); 183'2, also be a ^/(i. The difference between the p. 284; 1832, p. 26i) (Lenoir); Bul- iyfo sifjmas is siipposed by Lepsius to con- lettini dell' Inst. 1830, \). 233; 1831, sist in the first being accented, and the p. 6; p. 85; p. 90; 1832, p. 195; 1831, other not ; but they are often used indif- p. 50. ferently in the same word. CHAP. XV.] AN ALPHABET POTTED FOR POSTERITY. 173 We returned to Viterbo b}' the direct road along the foot of the Chninian Mount. It presents many picturesque combinations of rock and wood, with striking views of the Etruscan plain, and the distant snow-capt mountains of Cetona and Amiata. This dis- trict is said to be rich in remains of Etruscan roads, sepulchres, and buildings.^ I observed in one spot a singular line of rocks, which, at a short distance, seemed to be C^yclopean walls, but proved to be a natural arrangement ; and I remarked some traces of an ancient road ; but beyond this, I saw nothing — no tombs or other remains of Etruscan antiquity.^ About two miles from Yiterbo is the village of Bagnaja, with the celebrated Villa Lante of Vignola, and thence the curious in natural phenomena maj'' ascend to the Menicatore, or rocking-stone, near the summit of the mountain — an enormous block of ijcper'ino, about twenty-two feet long, twenty wide, and nine high, calculated to weigh more than two hundred and twenty tons, and yet easily moved with a slight lever. ^ Ann. Instit. 1832, p. 282 (Knapp). On the con-idor open four chambers. Orioli, ^ At Corviano, about three miles from who describes it, could not pronounce Bomarzo, on this road, there is said to be a whether it was Etruscan, Roman, or of the singular tomb, comiiosed of a very long Low Empii-e. (ap. Ingh. IV. p. 189, tav. corridor lined with masonry, ending in a XXXXI. 2.) The passage and shaft are narrow passage which terminates in a well. quite Etruscan features. O Ul Xfl < < ^ (^ p tD f^ o P3 H < Hi o Ah O Ph o ."S -0 -a « P O 2 a -^ .. -^ -^ .^ ^ 5 czj o .2 "^ -r! -^ fcn C3 w ■-; o i-H fiH H <1 H P^ a H O ' ( 1 ( CHAPTER XVL CASTEL B'ASSO.— CASTE LLUM AXIA. Sovr' a' sepolti le tombe teiTagne Portan segnato quel ch' elli eran ijria. — Daxte. Here man's departed steps are traced But by his dust amid tlie solitude.— Hemans. The best guide to the Etruscan antiquities of Yiterbo and its neighbourhood used to be'Euggieri, a caffettiere of that city who, though a master-excavator himself, would condescend, for a con- sideration, to act the cicerone. His mantle has now fallen on a certain Fanali, who also acts as guide to Castel d' Asso, an Etruscan necropolis, which was first made known to the English public by the lively description of Mrs. Hamilton Gra3\ It lies about five miles to the west of A^iterbo, and can be reached by the light vehicles of the country, though more easily on horse-back.^ From the gate of Viterbo, the road descends between low cliffs, here and there hollowed into sepulchres. At the extremity of this cleft is a large cave, called Grotta di Riello, once a sepulchre, and a spot long approached with superstitious awe, as the deposi- tory of hidden treasure guarded b}^ demons. But a small Vu-gin having been erected at the corner of the road hard by, the worthy Viterbesi can now pass on their daily or nightly avocations with- out let or hindrance from spiritual foe. The same evil report is given of another sepulchral cavern, not far off, called Grotta del Cataletto. ^ It is first found under tliis name in tlie Castellaccio, tliis site is always mentioned works of Annio of Yiterbo. Orioli (Ann. by the shepherds and peasantry as Castel deir Inst. 1833, p. 23) assei-ts that its true d' Asso. Bullett. dell' Inst. 1833, p. 97. name is Castellaccio, as it has alvvays been. My own experience agrees with that of and is still, called by the lower orders of Orioli, and I have found peasants who did Yiterbo ; but the Baron Bunsen, on the not understand the name of Castel d' Asso, other hand, maintains that, though tliere but instantly comprehended what site I is a ruined tower some miles distant called meant by Castellaccio. 176 CASTEL D'ASSO. [chap. xvi. About a mile and a half from Viterbo we entered on tlie open Jieath, and here columns of steam, issuing from the ground by the roadside, marked the Bulicame, a hot sulphureous spring, which has the honour of having been sung by Dante." It is apjjarentl}' in a boiling state, but is not of intolerable heat.^ It is inclosed by a circular wall, and being carried oif in small ■channels, flows steaming across the plain. This is almost the only active intimation of those latent fires which, in past ages, have deposited the strata of this district. It lies midway between the Lake of Bolsena and that of Vico, both craters of extinct volcanoes. The high temperature and medicinal qualities of these waters have given rise to baths in their neighbourhood, and from the man}' rums around, there seem to have been similar edifices in former ages, at least as far back as Roman times.'^ We were now on the great Etruscan plain, Avliich was here and there darkened by wood, but unenlivened by towns or villages ; no habitations visible on its vast expanse save the distant towers of Toscanella, and a lonelj' farm-house or crumb- ling ruin studding its surface at wide intervals. Our guide, being then new in his trade, mistook one of these ruins for another, and, after wandering a long time over the moor, fairlj'- confessed he was at fault. So we took the road into our own hands, and with much difiiculty, in consequence of the numerous ravines with which the plain is intersected, reached the brink of the wide glen of Castel d'Asso. Just opposite the ruined castle W'hich gives its name to the site, we found a smaller glen, open- ing at an angle into the large one, and here we descended, and presently came upon the object of our search. Tomb after tomb, hewn out of the clifi's, on either hand — a street of sepulchres; all with a house-like character ! The}^ Avere unlike any Etruscan tombs I had yet seen ; not simply opening in the clifi's as at Sutri and Civita Castellana, nor fronted with arched porticoes as at Falleri, but hewn into square architectural facades, with bold cornices and mouldings in high relief, and many with inscriptions graven on their fronts, in the striking characters and mysterious language of Etruria. Such a scene is well calculated to produce an impression on a - Inferno, XII. 117, and XIV. 79. The heat is said to be not greater than ■* Fazio degli Uberti, in his Dittamiindi, 50° Reaumur. Ann. Inst. 1835, i5. 5, lib. III. ctij). 10, says it is so hot that in ■• Canina takes the Bulicame to be the less time than a man can walk a quarter of Aqure Passeris of JMartial, VI. Epig. 42^ a mile you may boil all the flesh off a sheep, ut supra, p. 157, note 2. so as to leave it a mere skeleton. CHAP. XVI.] A STREET OF TOMBS. 179 sensitive mind, especially on one to whom an Etruscan necropolis is a novel spectacle. The solemnity of the site — the burial- place of long-past generations, of a people of mysterious origin and undetermined antiquity — their empty sepulchres yawning at our feet, j'et their monuments still standing, in eternal memorial of their extinct civilization, and their epitaphs mocking their dust that has long ago been trampled under foot or scattered to the winds — all this cannot fail to excite reflection. Then the lone- liness, seclusion, and utter stillness of the scene — the absence of idl habitation — nothing but the ruined and picturesque castle on the opposite precipice, and the grand dark mass of the Ciminian, looking down on the glen — tend to make this more imposing than other Etruscan cemeteries which are in the immediate neighbourhood of modern habitations. As I advanced down the glen I found that the tombs continued round the face of the clifis, on either hand, into the great valley, in a line opposite the ruined castle. There might be thirty or forty of them — not all, however, preserving theii- monumental facades — occupying an extent of cliff about half a mile in length.^ The facades are formed by the face of the cliffs being hewn to .a smooth surface, save where the decorations are left in relief; the height of the cliff being that of the monuments, which vary, in this respect, from twelve to thirty feet. The imposing effect of these tombs is perhaps increased by their form, which is like that of Egyptian edifices and Doric doorwa3^s, narrower above than below, the front also retreating from the perpendicular — a fonn ordinarily associated in our minds with the remotest antiquity. Still more of Egyptian character is seen in the massive hori- zontal cornices, which, however, depart from that tj^pe in reced- ing, instead of projecting from the plane of the fa9ade.^ These cornices, in many instances, are carried round the sides of the monument, and even where this is not the case, each tomb is quite isolated from its neighbours ; a broad upright groove, or a flight of steps cut in the rock, and leading to the plain above, marking the separation. In the centre of each facade is a rod- moulding, describing the outline of a door; in some instances * Orioli (ap. Ingliir. Mon. Etrus. IV. p. torus, the fascia, the ogee, and the hecco di 175) makes it to be a mile and a half in civetta, or lip-moulding, generally arranged length, but the learned Professor has here in the same relative order, but varying con- decidedly stretched a point. siderably in proportions and boldness. See ^ The mouldings of the cornice are the the Appendix, Note I. 180 CASTEL D'ASSO. [chap. XVI. MOULDED DOOR. Laving panels recessed ona within the other, as in the annexed woodcut. This is not the entrance, but merely the frontispiece to the tomb, and the title is generally engraved on the lowest and most jorominent fascia, or, in some cases, on the flat surface of the facade just over the moulded door.'^ The letters are seldom six inches in height, though, from the depth of their intaglio, they can be read in the sunshine from a considerable distance. Not half the tombs have inscriptions, and not all of these are legible ; yet, in proportion to the number of monu- ments, there are more inscribed facades at Castel d'Asso than in any other Etruscan necropolis, save that of Sovana. Most of these inscriptions seem to indicate the name of the individual or famil}^ buried below, but there are others, the precise meaning of which can be only conjectured.^ So much for the title-page of these sepulchres. The preface comes next, in the form of a chamber hollowed in the rock, recedmg, in most instances, a little from the face of the monu- ment above it, and vaulted half over, by the rock being left to project at the base of the facade. The front seems to have been always open.^ On the inner wall, and directly beneath the moulded door of the fa9ade, is a similar false door, sometimes with a niche in its centre.^ Here the funeral feast may have been held; or the corpse may have been laid out in this chamber, before its transfer to its last resting-place in the sepulchre beneath ; or here the surviving relatives may have assembled to perform their annual festivities in honour of the dead ; and the niche may have held a lamp, a cijjpus, or a vase of perfume to destroy the effluvium, or in it may have been left an oftering to^ the infernal deities, or to the manes of the deceased. Dii-ectly beneath this second moulded door, is the real " Tliis system of false doors in the fagades of tombs, ol)taiiis iu the ancient rock-hewn sepulchres of Phrj-gia, which, indeed, have many other points of analogy with these of Etruria (see Steiiart's Ancient Monuments of Lydiaand Phrygia, Lond. 1842), and also in those of Lycia, which have often recessed panellings. See Sir C. Fellows' works, and the monuments from Xanthus now in the British Museum. Moulded doorways often occur also in Egyptian monuments, and sometimes with recessed panellings, a.s in the above woodcut ; as on a granite sarco- phagus in the Museum of Ley den. ^ All the inscriptions that remain legible are given in the Appendix, Note II. '■^ Some of the smaller tombs are without this open chamber, and have the entrance- passage immediately below the facjade. This intermediate chamber is a feature almost l)eculiar to the tombs of Castel d' Asso, and Norchia. ' As in the woodcut in Chap. XIX. page 216. CHAP. XVI.] IXTEEIOR OF THE SEPULCHRES. 181 entrance to the sepulchre, generally twent}', som'etimes thirty or forty feet helow the uppermost mouldmg. It is approached by a narrow and shelving passage, cut through the rock in front of the monument, running dovrn at an angle of about forty degrees, and originally cut into steps. The door, like the false ones above it, tapers upwards, but is often arched. Forcing my way down these passages, mostly choked with rocks and bushes, and squeezing mj^ body through the doorways, now often nearl}' reclosed with earth, by the aid of a taper, without which nothing would have been visible, I exx)lored most of the sepulclrres. They are now half filled with earth, and I had to crawl on all- fours, over upturned sarcophagi, fragments of pottery, and the bones and dust of the ancient dead. The tombs are of various sizes, some very spacious, others ^extremel}' small — all rudely hollowed in the rock, and most of a quadrilateral form. The ceilings are generally flat, though sometimes slightly vaulted ; and I do not recollect an instance of beams and rafters in relief, so common in other cemeteries. The resemblance to houses is here external only. Some have the usual benches of rock against the walls for the support of sarcophagi: in others are double rows of coffins, sunk in the rock, side by side, lilve beds in a hospital or workhouse, and with a narrow passage down the middle. In one tomb these smiken sarcophagi radiate from the centre. The bodies, when laid in these hollows were probably covered with tiles. I was greatly surprised at the studied economy of space dis- I)layed in these sepulchres — a fact which entirely sets aside the notion that none but the most illustrious of the nation were here interred. The truth is, that the tombs with the largest and grandest facades have generally the meanest interiors. The last tomb in the great glen, in the direction of Viterbo, is externally the largest of all, and a truly magnificent monument, its facade rising nearly thirty feet above the upper chamber ; - and it is natural to conclude that it was appropriated to some great chieftain, hero, or priest ; yet, like all its neighbours, it was not a mausoleum for a single individual, but a family-vault, for it contains eight or ten sarcophagi of nenfro. Unlike the figure ^ lidded sarcophagi and urns, so common in many Etruscan cemeteries, these correspond with the tombs themselves in their simple, massive, and archaic character, having no bas-reliefs - It is seen in tLe woodcut at p. 177, wliicli shows the range of cliff-hewn tombs in the glen opposite the Castle. 182 CASTEL D'ASSO. [chap. xvi. or other sculptured ornaments, and, in their general form, re- sembling the sarcophagi of Lydia and Plnygia. I did not observe a single instance of a niche within the tomb itself, but in the wall of the passage, just outside the door, there is often one, which was probably for the cippns, inscribed with the name of the famil}' to whom the sepulchre belonged. From their exposed position, there is every reason to conclude that these tombs, like those of Sutri, Civita Castellana, and Falleri, were rifled at an earty period. As soon as the sacred- ness attaching to them as the resting-place of the dead had worn off, they must have fallen a i)rey to plunderers. Their site being alwaj's indicated b}^ their superincumbent monuments, whatever of their contents the earlier spoilers might have si)ared must inevitably have been carried off" or destroyed in subsequent ages.. It is absurd to expect that anything of value should be found in our own days in these open tombs. But in others excavated of late years in the plain above, have been found various articles of bronze, sj^eccJij with figures and inscriptions, tripods, vases, large studs representing lions' heads, besides articles of gold and jeweller}', scarabei, &c., with painted vases, some of great beaut}' and archaic design, though in general mere native imitations of the Greek.^ A collection of antiquities from this site may be seen at Viterbo, in the possession of Signor Bazzichelli, the present proprietor of Castel d'Asso.'^ Only one tomb did I perceive Avhich, in any strilving particular, differed from those ah-eady described. It is in the narrow gien» On each side of the false door of the facade is a squared buttress, projecting at right angles, and cut out of the rock which formed the roof of the upper and open chamber. These buttresses are surmounted by cornices, and have a small door-moulding on their inner sides, like that on the facade. The sepulchre itself, in this, instance, is of an unusual form — elliptical. Orioli has described a singular sepulchre at Castel d'Asso, which differs wholly from those already mentioned, being a cavity for a body, sunk in the surface of the plain and surrounded by an ornamental pattern, cut in the tufo.^ I looked in vain for this ; but nearly opposite •■* Orioli, Ann. lust. 1833, p. 33, and ap. 1874, p. 257. Ingliir. Mon. Etvus. IV. p. 188. Urliclis, '' Orioli, ap. IngLir. Men. Etr. IV. p. Bull. Inst. 1839, p. 75. Abeken (Mittel- 189, tav. XXXIX. 3. The same writer italien, p. 256) is mistaken in supposing (p. 209) speaks of a tomb on this site with these articles were found in the fa9aded two phalli scratched on its walls. I did ' tombs. not iierceive such symbols in any of these "* Utsttpra, 11. 153. See also Bull. Inst. tombs CHAP. XVI.] THE TOMBS AND THEIR EUENITUEE. 183 the castle, I remarked a deep well or shaft sunk in the plain, which doubtless was the entrance to a tomb, such as exist at Ferento. There can be no doubt, from the analogy of other sites, and from the excavations already made, that sejiulchres abound beneath the surface of the plain. In a country like our own, where intelligence is so widely diffused, and news travels with telegraphic rapidity, it were scarcel}' possible that monuments of former ages, of the most striking character, should exist in the ojien air, be seen daily by the peasantry, and remain unknown to the rest of the world for many ages. Yet so it is in Italy. Here is a site abounding in most imposing remains of the olden time, bearing at every step indisputable traces of by-gone civilisation, scarcel}^ six miles from the great thoroughfare of Italy, and from Yiterbo, the largest city in all this district ; and yet it remained unknown to the world at large till the year 1808, when Professor Orioli, of Bologna, and the Padre Pio Semeria, of Yiterbo, had their attention dii'ected to the wonders of this glen.^ I am persuaded that Italy is not yet half explored — that very much remains to be brought to light ; a persuasion founded on such discoveries as this, which are still, from time to time, being made, of which I may cite the Etruscan necropolis of Sovana, discovered b}" my fellow-traveller, Mr. Ainsley — even more remarkable than this of Castel d'Asso — and sundry monuments of the same antiquity, which it has been ni}- lot to make known to the world. In fact, ruins and remains of ancient art are of such common occurrence in Ital}' as to excite no particular attention. To whatever age the}' may belong — mediaeval. Imperial, Kepublican, or pre-historical — the peasant Icnows them only as " muraccia,'" and he shelters his flock amid tlieir walls, ploughs the land around them, daily slumbers beneath their shade, or even dwells within their j^recincts from year to year ; and the world at large knows no more of their existence than if they were situated in the heart of the Great Desert. The general style of these monuments — their simplicit}' and ^ The gentleman who has the honour of by Annio of Yiterbo, in the fifteenth cen- having indicated the site to Orioli, is Signor tiiry ; indeed, the name is painted on the Luigi Anselmi, of Yiterbo, who is well stored ceiling of the i^rincipal hall of the Palazzo with local antiquarian knowledge. He has Comunale, at Viterbo, which must be more also made excavations in the necropolis of than 200 years old (Orioli, Ann. Inst. 1833, Castel d'Asso. The place had been long p. 24), but it was not recognised as an known as the site of a ruined castle, and Etruscan site till the year 1808. was even mentioned under its present name 1-84 CASTEL D'ASSO. [chap. xvi. massive grandeur, and strong Egyptian features — testify to their high antiquity ; and this is confirmed by the remarkable plainness of tlie sarcophagi, and by the archaic character of the rest of their furniture, so far as it is possible to judge of it. The}^ may safely be referred to the days of Etruscan independence. This ancient cemetery clearfy implies the existence of an Etruscan town in its neiglibourhood ; and the e3'e of the anti- quary needs not the extant remains to point out the site on the opi^osite cliff, just at that spot where a tongue of land is formed in the plateau, by the intersection of a deep glen opening obliquely into the great valley. Here, accordingly, besides numerous remains of the middle ages, to Avhich the castle wholly belongs, may be traced the outline of a town, almost utterfy destroyed, indeed, but, on one side, towards the east, retaining a fragment of its walls in several courses of rectangular tufo blocks, uncemented, which have every appearance of an Etruscan origin. The site is worthy of a visit for the fine view it com- mands of the tomb-hewn cliffs opposite. The extent of the town, which is clearly marked b}' the nature of the ground, was very small, about half a mile in circuit. What may have been its ancient name is a question to determine. By Mrs. Hamilton Gray it has been conjectured to be the Fanum A"oltumn?e, the shrine of the great goddess of the Etruscans, where the princes of Etruria were wont to meet in a grand national council ; but for this there is no authority ; Viterbo, as already shown, has stronger claims to that honour, and still stronger will hereafter be urged for another site. It has been suggested, and with high probability, that it may be the site of the Castellum Axia, men- tioned by Cicero as near the farm of Csesennia, the wife of A. Cfficina, his client.'^ Its xevy small size shows it could never ■ " Cicero pro C;ecina ; cf. cap, YI. and and by Vitruvius (II. 7) is said to be — in YII. Cluver (II. p. 521) could not deter- finibus Tarquiniensium. If the strong re- mine the site of Castellum Axia ; but semblance of the name, the agreement in Mariani (de Etrur. jNIetrop. p. 45) as early the distance from Rome, said by Cicero (loc. as 1728, declared it to be Castel d'Asso. cit. cap. X.) to be less than 53 miles (i.e. The objection tii-ged by Orioli (Ann. Instit. by the Via Cassia), as well as in the position 1833, p. 24) that Castel d'Asso is too on a height (cap. VII.), be taken into ac- distant from Tarquinii to be included within count, there can be little doubt that this is its territory, as the Castellum Axia seems really the site of the Castellum Axia. to have been, is not valid, for Tarquinii, as Canina, however, objects to place the the meti-oiwlis of the land, most probably Fundus Ctesenui;u here, because it is only had a more extended ar/cr than usual ; be- fifty miles from Rome, and would rather sides, the lake of Bolsena, which is more place it at Castel Cardinale, three miles, remote from that city, is called by Pliny further to the north. Etr, Marit. II., (Nat. His. II. 9.^), — lacus Tarquiniensis — p. 51. CHAP. XVI.] SITE AND NAME OF THE ETEUSCAN TOWN. 1S.5 have been more than a mere fortress. This could have been onl}' its Eoman name ; as to its Etruscan appeUation, we are still at a loss. It is not improbable, however, that it bore a somewhat similar name in Etruscan times. Acsi, we know, from a tomb at Perugia, to have been a famil}'^ name among that peojile ; and it was not uncommon for them, as well as for the Eomans and other nations, to derive their family names from those of countries, cities, towns, or rivers. KOCK-HEWN TOMB, XEAR CASTEL I; ASiO. At the mouth of the wide glen of Castel d'Asso is a mass of rock, hewn into a sort of cone, and hollowed into a tomb, with a flight of steps cut out of the rock at the side, leading to the flat summit of the cone, which, it is conjectured, was sm'mounted by a statue.^ About a mile from Castel d'Asso is a very spacious tomb, w^ith decorated front, called Grotta Colonna,^ which is near enough to have formed part of this same necropolis. ^ Lenoir, Annali dell' Inst. 1832, p. 276. of coffins sunk in tlie rock, with a passage '■* The Grotta Colonna is nearlj' 70 feet down the middle. Orioli, ap. Ingh. Mon. long by 16 wide. It contains a double row Etr. IV. p. 197, 218. See also tav. 33. 3. 186 CASTEL D'ASSO. [chap. XVI. APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XYI. XoTK I. — Mouldings ov Tombs at C'astkl d'Asso. See i>. 179. Fk;. 1 shoAvs the moulding of the facade of the great tomb, mentioned at page 181. This arrangement is that generally followed at Castel dAsso, but with varieties in the proportions of the parts, and in the boldness of the general character — as seen in fig. 2. A few of the monuments are moulded as in fig. 3 ; but this arrangement is more common at Norchia, where, however, the former system also obtains. These three mould- ings are not on an uniform scale. All the fa(,-ades on this site fall slightly back, as in the annexed cuts. The specimens of mouldings from this necropolis, published b,v Gell, and copied by Mrs. Hamilton Gray, are very incorrect ; though Sir William flattered himself that they were " the only speci- mens of real Etruscan mouldings that have ever been seen in our country." Canina (Etruria Marit. tav. 97) gives illustrations of some of these mouldings, which ought to be accurate. In his restorations, he represents the tombs as being each surmounted by a pyramid o1' masonry, but I could perceive no traces of such sujierstructures. Note II. — Inscrh'tioks. See p. 180. The inscriptions at Castel dAsso are the following, which I giA'e in Eoman letters : — On a tomb on the left of the small glen, " Arxthal Ceises." On one at the mouth of this glen on the same side is " Ecasuth ..." which is but the commencement of the inscription. On a tomb on the opposite side of the glen, " iuxate . . . lvies " . Orioli (Ami. Inst. 1833, pp. 31-2) reads it " Urinates . . . lvies " . . The initial of the first word was very probably U, as the name Urinate occurs in other inscriptit)ns — the sarcophagus from Bomarzo, for instance, now in the British Museum (see page 170), and on cinerary urns from Perugia, Volterra and Chiusi. On the last named site a sepulchre of this family was dis-. covered in 1859. Conestabilo, Bull. Soc. Colomb. iii., pp. 7-12. Near this is a tomb, jiart of whose cornice has fallen. On the fragment CHAP. XVI.] ETEUSCAN MOULDINGS, AND INSCRIPTIONS. "iST yet standing, yon read " EcASU ; " and on the prostrate mass is the rest of the inscription, " inksl. Titkie," so that the inscription, when entire, read thus : alv\rlN/v\av\lov^\a)a On a tomb in the great vaHey is " inesl," Avhieh is but a fragment. On a fallen mass Orioli read " . . . . uthin . sl . . . " Orioli (ap. Ingli. iv. p. 218 ; Ann. Instit. 1833, pp. 34, 52) read on two tombs these numerals, IIAXX and IIIIIIIAXX, which doubtless recorded the ages of the dead therein interred. The recurrence of Ecasuthinesl shows it to bo a formula. It is fomid also on other sites, and has given rise to much conjecture. Suthina is frequently foimd on bronze figures, which appear to have been votive offerings. Lanzi (II. pp. 481, 494) derived Suthi from a-arTjpla, in which he is followed by Vermiglioli (Iscriz. Perug. I. p. 133) and Campanari (Urna d' Arunte), who deduced the formula from tJku and a-anrjp. One antiquary (Bibliot. Ital. Magg. 1817) sought its interpretation in the Latin — hie suhtim inest. Professor Migliarini of Florence, also sought a Latin analogy — ecce situs, or liic situs est (Bull. Inst. 1847, p. 86). The " Ulster king-at-arms," (Etruria Celtica, I. p. 38) finds it to be choice Erse, and to signify " eternal houses of death ! " Whatever it mean, it can hardly be a jn'oper name. Beyond tins, we must own with Orioli (loc. cit.), that " we know nothing iibout it, and our wisest plan is to confess our ignorance." CHAPTER XVII. MUSAENA. Though nought at all but ruines now I bee, And lye in mine own ashes, as you see ; Verlame I was ; what bootes it that I was, Sith now I am but weedes and wastefuU grass ? — Spewser. Most of the ancient cities of Etruria which have been dis- covered of late years, have been found fortuitously by travellers, native or foreign, who, with more or less knowledge of the subject, chancing to traverse ground far from the beaten tracks, have been attracted by the local monuments yet extant, and have recognised them as of Etruscan antiquity. But in 1850 the existence of an Etruscan town was made known to the world in a novel manner — as " the fruit of dihgent and persistent re- searches," made by Signor Giosafat Bazzichelli of Yiterbo, actmg on information furnished bj^ Professor Orioli. In searching the archives of that city, the learned Professor found mention, in a chronicle of the thirteenth centurj^ of two old towns, one called " Sorena," near the Bulicame, the other named " Civita Muserna," (in other documents Musana, or Musarna,) which towns, like the Theban brothers of old, were recorded to have fought so long, and so fiercely, that at length they utterly destroyed each other. The site of Sorena or Surrina, the Etruscan representative of Viterbo, had long been known ; it remained only to discover that of Musarna, whose existence was confirmed by other mediaeval documents. As Orioli was personally unable to undertake the task of exploring the wide and desolate Etruscan plain, he delegated it to Signor Bazzichelli, who under his auspices suc- ceeded eventuall}' in rescuing from obscurit}" the long-forgotten town, and in proving it to be of Etruscan antiquit}-. On visiting the Macchia del Conte, a vast estate belonging to the Counts of Gentili, about 7 miles west of Yiterbo, on the CHAP. XVII.] DISCO VEEY OF AN ETEUSCAX TOWX. 189 road to Toscanella, Signor Bazzichelli was fortunate enough to discover the site in question. Leaving the high road at the bridge of the Leja, turning to the left, and following the course of that stream for about a mile, he reached a ruijied castle on a lofty cliff, bearing the name of Cordigliano. Leaving this old fortress by its eastern gate, and skirting the line of precipices Avhich turn to the south, at the distance of Httle more than a mile he came to another height, overhanging the vale of the Leja, and called Civita. It was crested with the remains of an ancient town, which he recognised at once as Etruscan. The ])latform on which it stood is elliptical, the longer axis running from north-east to south-west. On the north it sinks in a fearful precipice to the valley of the Leja; on the west it is bounded by the same deep ravine ; and on the south it is separated from the adjacent plain by an enormous fosse, of the length of the town, sunk with immense labour in the rock, and bounded at each extremity by the ruins of a tower. On the east of the town is a hollow, partly natural, partly artificial, which sinks to the vale of the Leja. The area of the town is very limited, so that it is difficult to regard it as more than a castle, or at most a fortified village.^ All round the height stretch the Etruscan walls, in parts rising some height above the surface and in admirable preservation, in others, level Avith the plain, though the founda- tions may be distinctly traced throughout. The walls are of regular masonry, composed of large blocks of tufo, joined with wonderful nicety, though without cement, and arranged in alter- nate courses of long and short blocks, in the style usual in the southern cities of Etruria, and which in this work is described as emplecton. Beneath the walls, the cliffs on every side of the town are perforated with sewers.^ The town had four gates, two on the south side, one in the west, and one in the north wall. The princijjal entrance was from the south-east by a bridge hewn from the rock, si^anning the fosse, of which mention has been made, and thus uniting the platform of the city with the adjacent plain. There is a similar 1 Canina (Etr. Marit. 11. p. 13.5) takes ponds with that of the farm of Cicero's Loth Musarna and Cordigliano, from their client, very small size, to have been mere estates, - The fragments of these walls delineated the habitations of the proprietor and his by Canina (Etr. Marit. tav. 119)showthat retainers, inclosed by walls. He regards early de.scription of masonry, in which the Castel Cardinale to be the Fundus Ctesen- blocks present their ends only to the eye, nice of Cicero (pro Coseina). as its distance, as in the walls of Tarquinii and Caere, tifty-three miles, from Rome exactly corres- 190 MUSAENA. [chap. xvii. bridge at the other extremity of the fosse, each being protected by a large tower, as ah-eady stated, whose foundations alone are extant. AVithin the walls are many remains of ancient buildings, with a few traces also of still later occupation. The town lies between two castles, which form, as it were, its suburbs. The nearest is Castel Cardinale, hardly a gunshot distant, on the further side of the valley of the Leja. It retains many remains of mediteval times. The other, or that already' mentioned as Cordigliano, is at a somewhat greater distance, situated on a platform very similar as regards position, but much more circumscribed than that occupied b}"" the town. The isthmus of rock which united it to the plain w^as in this instance also •crossed by a deep fosse, which barred the approacli to the castle. The height was anciently enclosed by walls of massive, un- •cemented masonry, fragments of whose foundations are extant, and have been recognised as Etruscan. Numerous similar blocks strew the steep slopes beneath, overturned probably by some convulsion of nature, unless we are rather to believe the tradition which attributes it to the hostility of the Sorenesi. Beneath this castle, in the valley of the Leja, is the pier of an ancient bridge which once spanned the stream. The existence of these castles in close vicinity to the town, suggests a considerable population in ancient times, but this part of the plain is now utterly desolate and uncultivated. This ancient town of course had its necropolis, and, as usual in southern Etruria, there were visible traces of it in tombs hewn in the neighbouring cliffs, some with facades like those at Castel d'Asso and Norchia, though in a simpler and severer style.-^ Other sepulchres were covered by tumuli, which rose above the plain ; but most were sunk deep below the surface, and were reached by long passages with flights of steps hewn from the living rock."^ Soon after the discovery of this town, a party of gentlemen, with Bazzichelli at their head, repaired to the site to explore the necropolis. They opened the tumuli, dug into the hill slopes, and dived beneath the plain, but they found that almost all the sepulchres had been rifled in former times. In a hill to the west of the town they opened tombs in great numbers, both in the iipper stratum of calcareous rock, and in the red tufo beneath it ; 3 One of these tombs is of remarkable "* Illustrations of some of the sepulchres, character, having square holes, like win- at Castel Cardinale will be found in Canina's •dows, in its fa5ade. Etruria Marittima, tav. 99. CHAP, xvii.] THE TOWN AND ITS CEMETERY. 191 and they found the tombs to extend for a long distance in this hill, lying in tier above tier from the foot of the slope to the very summit. The}' were of small size, rudel}" hewn from the rock, generally square in plan, and sometimes divided into two b}' a wall left in the rock, and fronting the entrance. In some the ceilings were carved in imitation of beams and rafters; others were surrounded by benches of rock, on which were still stretched skeletons. The sepulchres sunk beneath the plain, were some- times mere pits rudely lined with tiles ; these were the resting- places of the x>oorer inhabitants. Here were also found spacious chambers, in one instance supported by massive piers of rock. In this tomb the}' found more than forty large sarcophagi of ncnfro, lying in tiers around the walls, nearly all with lids bearing the effigies of the deceased as large as life, and with Etruscan inscriptions on the lids or coffins, though sometimes incised on the figures themselves, either on their bodies or on their legs — a feature quite peculiar to this site. The inscrij^tions proved the tomb to belong to the family " Alethnas." Paide and coarse as was the art displayed in these figures, there was much character and life-like expression in the countenances, which were evidently portraits. The men reclined with a drinking-bowl in their right hand, their flesh coloured red as usual. The women were represented with rich dresses and ornaments, and holding fans. The e3'es of many were coloured blue. Sixteen of the sarcophagi from this tomb are now to be seen in the Museum of Yiterbo. In other tombs the sarcophagi were simple chests of stone without ornament of any kind. One was of archaic character, like the early monuments of Chiusi, with flat reliefs representing a funeral procession. Of similar style was a square cippiis, dis- playing a winged Cliarun, armed with a mallet. Many articles of bronze were brought to light, generally of an early stjde of art — mirrors, with figures incised ; strigils, one with an inscription ; coins, sometimes in the mouths of the skeletons ; spear-heads, one retaining in its socket fragments of its wooden shaft ; a Satyr's head in relief, of exquisite workmanship ; a candelabrum on a tripod of human legs. Little or no figured pottery Avas disinterred on this site, but there were three beautiful masks of terra-cotta, painted red and blue, with strange head-dresses of ribbons. In one tomb were found a pair of skulls, male and female, the former with the indentation of the leaden acorn from his foeman's sling, which had struck him in the forehead ; and 192 MUSAENA. [chap. xvii. Avith a fracture of the parietal bone from some other weapon, "which was probably his coi(2) de grdcc. Orioli says the profiles of these skulls were of the true Italian cast, the face elongated, the chin sharp and prominent, " almost of the tyj)e of our Dante." ^ It does not appear to me that Orioli has established the identity of this Etruscan town with the Muserna or Musana of the chronicles he cites. He takes it for granted rather than proves it. The only clue to its position given by the chronicles is, that it lies " toAvards the Veia." The only mention indeed of Civita Musarna is found in the apocr3'phal records of Annio of Yiterbo, who represents it as a ruined town, built hy Hercules,, near " Coriti Lj'anum," and places it five miles from Viterbo,. not far from the Vadimonian lake, a position which would tally better with that of Bomarzo, than of the town in question. But Orioli assumes the "Veia" to be identical with the Leja, and the ^ " Qorrti Lyanum " of Annio to be Cordigliano, and prefers the - % name Musarna to Muserna or Musana, because Mastarna and a few other words in Etruscan have the same termination. ^C) Whether Musarna be the correct appellation of this ancient town or not is of little moment. Until a more likely one is found for it, we ma}- be content to accept this nomenclature for want of a better. " For further particulars regarding this Inst. 1850, pp. 22 — 30; pp. 35 — 44; pp- Etruscan town, and especially for the in- 89 — 96. •criptions in the Alethnas tomb, see Bull. Tllli TKMl-LE-TOMBS, XORCUIA. CHAPTER XVIIL NOECHIA.— OiJC'Xi; .? Quid sibi saxa cavata — Quid pulchra volunt monumenta ? — Pruekxtii'.^. There is a temple in ruin stands, Fashioned Ly long-forgotten hands. — Byron. At the same time, and by the same parties that Castel cVAsso was made known, there was brought to light another Etruscan necropolis, of even greater extent and higher uiterest. It lies more to the west, about fourteen miles from Viterbo, among the wooded glens which here intersect the great Etruscan plain, and in the neighbourhood of a ruined and desolate town, known by its mediaeval name of Norchia. Besides numerous rock-sej)ulchres, similar to those of Castel d'Asso, this necropolis contains two of a more remarkable character — imitations of temples, with porti- coed fa9ades and sculptured pediments, thought to be unique in Etruria, until the discoveries of JMr. Ainsley, at Sovana. It is a spot which should not fail to be visited by every one who feels interest in the antiquities of early Italy. Norchia is reached with most ease from Vetralla, from which it is six or seven miles distant. The road from Viterbo to Vetralla skirts the base of the Ciminian, but has little of the picturesque beauty of that from Viterbo to Bomarzo. The village of San 194 NORCHIA. [CHAP. xvi:i. Martino is passed on the left, higli on the slope of the mountain. At S. Ippolito, half-way between Viterbo and Vetralla, a line of low aqueduct and other remains of Koman buildings are passed, which mark the site of ancient baths, and probably also of a station on the Via Cassia, which, after crossing the shoulder of the Ciminian, in its way from Sutrium, and passing through Forum Cassii, hard by Vetralla, turned northward across the great plain to Volsinii. The road, for the rest of the way to Vetralla, follows the line of the ancient Cassian, fragments of whose pavement were visible when first I travelled this road. Vetralla stands at the western base of the Ciminian, and its position on a cliff-bound ridge between two ravines, the ancient rock-cut road by which 3'ou approach it, and numerous grottoes in the cliffs around, are so many proofs that it occupies the site of an Etruscan town. The antiquity of the place seems implied in its name, which has been supposed to be a corruption of Vetiis Aula, — the derivation of the former part of the word at least can hardly be gainsaid. Forum Cassii, as already stated, was a station on the Cassian Way, eleven miles from Sutri, and twelve from Aquse Passeris, l3'ing about a mile to the E.N.E. of Vetralla, and its position is marked by the church of Santa Maria in Forcassi, corrupted by tlie peasantr}' into " Filicassi." There is nothing to be seen on this spot beyond two Roman vaults, and a mass of opus inccrtum.^ Vetralla is a place of some importance, having 6000 inhabitants. Viterbo is celebrated for its beautiful women, but veril}- good looks are more abundant at Vetralla — " (Tno ha la voce. L'altro mangia la noce." This town is forty-three miles from Eome, eleven or twelve from Sutri, nine from Viterbo, twelve from Monte Romano, twenty- one from Corneto, thirty from Civita Vecchia, and eighteen from Toscanella. All these roads, save the last, are carriageable. The sole interest of Vetralla, to the antiquary, consists in its being the best point Avhence to lionise the two Etruscan sites of Norchia and Bieda, which are each about six miles distant. Not that the ostcria, for it is nothing more, of Vetralla, has very inviting quarters ; it lacks many things — comfort more than all ; 1 Canina places Fdruin Cassii at Vetralla, though recognizing this as an Etruscan site. Etruria Marit. II., p. 54. CHAP. XVIII.] VETEALLA, AN ETRUSCAN SITE. 195 but it is the best accommodation the neighbourhood for miles round can afford. Yet I may not do the phice justice, for on three several occasions I have spent some days there in the month of November, when the weather was either extremely wet or lowering ; and after a long day's work, often in rain, always in mud, cold, and gloom, the want of comfort at night may have been more severely felt. I have visited it also in the height of summer, but being caught in a thunder-storm, my reminiscences of the Vetralla hostelry were not brightened. A guide to Norchia or Bieda may be obtained at the osteria of Vetralla. Norchia lies W.N.W. from Vetralla. For the first three miles you follow the high road to Corneto. Here, in a glen to the right of the road, ma}' be observed many traces of sepulture, indicating the existence of some Etruscan town, whose name and memory have perished, unless these tombs belong to the necropolis of Norchia, three miles distant, to which the path here turns to the right. It is more likel}^ however, that they mark the necropolis of some town near at hand. Canina takes that town to be Cortuosa, which, with Contenebra, was captured by the Romans in the year 367 (b.c. 387), ten years after the fall of Veil. Contenebra he supposes to be no other than Norchia.^ For the latter half of the way, the road dwindles to a mere path, or vanishes altogether as you cross the wide desert heath, or dive into the deep glens with which it is in ever}' direction intersected. Nothing can be more dreary than this scener}', on a dull November day. The bare, treeless, trackless moor has scarcely a habitation on its broad melancholy expanse, wliich seems unbroken till one of its numerous ravines oj^ens suddenly ' Etruria Marittima, II., p. 50. He reach this sj^ot the Romans must have founds this oinnion on the statement of already passed Vetralla, an imdoubted Livy (VI. 4) from which he infers that Etruscan site, which, as nearer Home, has these were the first towns that w^ere at- a better claim to be regarded as Cortuosa. tacked by the Romans on entering the Livy, moreover, ascribes the easy conquest territory of Tarquinii. Cortuosa, as the of that town to its being attacked by sur- nearest, was the first assailed, and offered prise ; and he represents Contenebra as no resistance, Avhich he attributes to the being compelled to surrender on account of inferior strength of its position, the clifi's the paucity of its inhabitants, they being in this neighbourhood having no great unable to resist the continuous attacks of elevation. Contenebra made more resist- the Romans, who, dividing their forces ance, and kept the Romans at bay for into six bodies, kept up the assault with several days, being protected, he asserts, fresh troops, night and day, till they by strong fortifications, and was of more wearied the citizens into a surrender. Of importance, being mentioned by Livy as a the fortifications on which Canina bases "city," whileCortuosawasamere "town." his opinion that Xorchia was the site of This opinion of Canina, however, will not Contenebra, I shall have occasion to speak bear examination. He forgets that to presently. 2 196 XOECHLl. [CHAP, xviii. at your feet. The mountams around, which, in brighter weather,^ give beaut}^ and grandeur to the scene, are lost in cloud and mist ; even Monte Fiascone has shrouded his unaspiring crest. In the ravines is alwaj-s more or less of the picturesque ; yet their silence and lonesomeness, their woods almost stript of foliage, and drip- ping with moisture, have a chilling eifect on the traveller's^ spirits, little to be cheered b}' the sight of a flock of sheep pent in a muddy fold, or of the smoke of the shepherd's fire issuing from a neighbouring cave, suggestive of savage comfort. Little heeded we, however, the dulness of the weather. Hastily we threaded these glens, eager to reach the famed necropolis. The few tombs we did see here and there in the cliffs, served but to whet our appetite. At length we turned a corner in the glen, and lo ! a grand range of monuments burst upon us. There they Avere — a line of sepulchres, high in the face of the cliff which forms the right-hand barrier of the glen, some two hundred feet above the stream — an amphitheatre of tombs ! for the glen here swells into something not unlike that form. This singular glen is perhaps the most imposing spot in the whole compass of Etruscan cemeteries.^' The eye, as it ranges along the line of corniced sepulchres, singles out one of the most remote — one, whose prominent and decorated pediment gives it, even at a distance, an unique character. In our way towards it, we passed huge masses of rock-cornice, split from the cliffs above, and lying low in the valle3% We found that what looked like one tomb at a distance, Avas in fact a double tomb, or rather a tomb and a half, seeing that the half of one of the pediments has fallen. Its peculiarity consists in this — that while all the sepulchres around are of the severel}' simple style of Castel d'Asso, approximating to the Egyptian, these tAVO are highly ornate, and Avith much of the Greek character. Instead of the bold horizontal cornices Avhich surmount the other tombs, here are pediments and Doric friezes, supported on columns ; and, AA'hat is to be seen on the exterior of very few other Etruscan monuments, the tiimixina are occupied Avith figures in high relief. The inner wall of the portico is also adorned AA'ith reliefs, at least under the remaining half of the mutilated facade. 3 It is saiil liy Lenoir (Annali dell' Instit. and a half high. I could perceive no traces 1832, p. '2!U) that the slope from the base of them ; but if they existed they must (if the tombs down to the banks of the have greatly increased the resemblance of stream was cut into steps, about two feet the glen to an amphitheatre. 198 NOECHIA. [chap, xviii. Our first impression was the modern date of this double tomb, compared with those of archaic character around; and then we were naturally led to speculate on its origin. Who had made this his last resting-place ? Was it some merchant-prince of Etruria, who had grown wealthy by commerce — or, it might be, by piracy — and who, not content with the simple sepulchres of his forefathers, obtruded among them one on the model of some temple he had seen and admired in his wanderings through Greece or Asia Minor? Was it a hero, renowned in Etruscan annals — some conqueror of Umbrians and Pelasgians — some suc- cessful opposer of that restless, quarrelsome city, that upstart bully of the Seven Hills ? There, in each pediment, were figures engaged in combat — some overthrown and prostrate — others sinking to their knees, and covering their heads with their shields — one rushing forward to the assault, sword in hand — another raising a wounded warrior. All this, however, ma}' have been the ornament of the temple from which this double-tomb was copied ; or it may have had a symbolical meaning. Yet that he had been a warrior seemed certain, for in the relief within the portico were shield, mace, and sword suspended against the wall, as if to intimate that he had fought his last fight ; '^ and beneath was a long funeral procession. Could he have been a Greek, who, flying from his native land, like Demaratus of Corintli, became great and powerful in this the home of his adoption, yet with fond j'earnings after his native soil, raised himself a sepulchre after the fashion of his kindred, that, though separated from them in life, he might in some sort be united with them in death ? No — he must have been an Etruscan in blood and creed; for this same procession shows certain peculiarities of the Etruscan mythology — the winged genius of Death, with three other figures in long robes, bearing twisted rods — those mysterious sjanbols of ■* It was the custom of the Greeks and but curious instance of this is seen in the Romans, on retiring from active life, to baker's tomb at the Porta Maggiore of •ledicate to the gods the instruments of Rome, and another in the cutler's monii- their craft or jirofession. TJius Horace ment in the Cxalleria Lapidaria of the (Od. III. 2(1) proposed to suspend his arms Vatican. Another, more analogous to this and lyre on tlie wall of the temple of Venus. Norchian sepulchre, is seen on a vase, de- The temple-form of this tomb is suggestive scribed by Millingen (Peintures de Vases of such an explanation ; though, on the Grecs, pi. XIX.), where within an cedicula other hand, it was not uncommon to indi- or shrine stands the figure of the deceased, cate on the sepulchre itself the profession with his shield and gi'eaves suspended above of the deceased by the representation of his head. The custom is still retained in his implements or tools, or by scenes de- the East. I have observed frequent in- scriptive of his mode of life. well-known stances of it in Armenian burial-grounds. CHAP, xvin.] THE TEMPLE-TOMBS. 199 the Etruscan Hades — conducting the souls of two warriors with funeral pomp, just as in the Typhon-tomb at Corneto. I have spoken of columns. None are now standing,^ but it is evident that the heavy projecting entablatures have been so sup- ported — that of the entire tomb by four, traces of whose capitals and bases are very distinct — that of the broken one, whether by four or six it is difficult to say ; more probably by the latter. In neither case do they seem to have been more than plain square anUe, the inner ones similar to those at the angles of the portico. They were all left in the rock out of w^iich the facades are hewn, and the softness and friability of the tufo accounts for their destruction. The entablatures at a distance seem Doric, but a nearer ap- proach discloses peculiar features. The pediments terminate on each side in a volute,^ within which is a grim, grinning face with prominent teeth, a Gorgon's head, a common sepulchral decora- tion among the Etruscans. Over two of the three remaining volutes is something, which from below seems a shapeless mass of rock, but on closer examination proves to be a lioness or leopard, — sjjecimens of the acroteria, with which the ancients were wont to decorate their temples.^ Other peculiarities may be observed in the giittce, the triglyphs, the dentilled cornice above them, and the ornamented /ciscia of the pediment — all so many Etruscan corruptions of the pure Greek.^ The tomb whose ia^ade is entire, is more ancient than its fellow, as is proved by the bas-relief in the portico of the latter encroaching considerably on the wall of the former. Yet witli some trifling exceptions they correspond.^ Indeed the sculptures •' The pillar at the right-haucl angle of entrances of tombs, or painted within them tlie entire tomb was standing when Orioli over the doorway— and are sometimes found first visited these monuments. Ann. Inst. inasimilar position as ao'o/tr/rttoporticoes, 1833, p. 3G. as in a temple-like sarcophagus at Chiusi, •■ The pediments to these tombs prove which bears a relief of a death-bed scene, them to be imitations of temples, or of very Micali. Mon. Ined. tav. XXII. They are distinguished liouses — if we may judge also often found carved on the lids of from the analogy of the Romans, among sarcophagi, one at each angle, as if to whom pediments were such marks of dignity, guard the effigy of the deceased. Panthers that Cicero says (de Orat. II [. 46) if you or leopards are also sepulchral emblems, could build iu heaven, where you have no and are frequently represented in the pedi- showers to fear, yet you would never seem ments of jjainted tombs, to have attained dignity without a pediment. ^ The i/uttcv are inverted, having the Julius Ccesar, as a great mark of distinc- points downwards, and they are only three tion, was allowed a pediment to his house. in number. The triglyphs are without the Flor. IV. 2. cf. Cic. I'liil. II. 43. lialf-channels on their outer edges, and ai'e ' Lions were symbolic guardians of sepul- therefore more properly diglyphs. chres ; and as such were often placed at the " The pediment is rather higher in the 200 NOECHIA. [CHAP. XVIII. ill the two 2^ediments are by some considered as relating to the same subject ; though what that may be, it is not easy from the dilapidated state of the figures to decide. One has conjectured it to represent the contest for the body of Patroclus ; another the . 53) thinks this figure repi'esents Venus shield, but afterwards exchanged it for the Libitina, the goddess who presided over • aspis of the Etruscans. Similar shields funerals. It is certainly a female, for the are found sculptured on tombs in Pam- prominence of the bosom is manifest CHAP, xviii.] RELIEFS IN THE PEDLMEXTS AND POETICO. 201 Another figure seems to have followed, and above it hangs by a cord a short curved sword * ; a second helmet succeeds, which seems to be worn b.y a figure ; then a straight sword suspended : iind three draped figures, about the size of life, probably repre- senting souls, each bearing one of the mysterious twisted rods, close the procession.^ This may have been continued in the former half of the relief, now utterly destroyed. It is clear that the ground of the whole has been originally painted red, and traces of the same colour, and of yellow, may be observed here and there about the figures ; and from the same on the fallen half of the pediment, it is certain that the reliefs of both ii/nipana and of the portico — and probable that the architectural portions of the tombs iilso — were thus decorated. This is one among numerous proofs in tombs, sarcojihagi, and urns, that the Etruscans, like the Eg3'ptians, Greeks, and Piomans, had a polychrome system of decorating their architecture and sculpture. Various are the opinions of archaeologists as to the date of these monuments. All are agreed on one point, that both the architec- ture and sculpture are decided imitations of the Greek. They have been considered as early as Demaratus, the father of Tar- quiuius Priscus, to whose time belongs the first historical mention of the influence of Greek over Etruscan art ; but the sj^irit and freedom of the sculptures in the pediments, do not indicate so early an age ; while the somewhat archaic stifiiiess and quaint- ness of the three figures which close the procession in the portico, seem to show, that art had not entirely thrown aside the con- ventional trammels of its infancy. I think then we shall not be far from the truth in referring them to the close of the fourth century of Rome.'' ■* Similar curved swords are represented loco), or tliat they may Lave au affinity to on several Etniscan monuments. A curved the sacred and golden Lough- — fatalis virga .'^teel sword, with the sharp edge on the — torn from tLe grove of Proserpine, inner side, as in a scythe, found in an and borne by iEneas into hell as a gift to Etruscan tomL, was formerly in the Cam- that goddess. Virg. jEn. YI. 136, 406, jjana collection at Rome.