A History of the Roman World (7 page)

If Cato exaggerated when he wrote that ‘almost the whole of Italy belonged to the Etruscans’, he at least emphasized the existence of a large Etruscan empire. After the rapid development of Etruscan from Villanovan culture in Etruria itself, it soon spread much further afield, and with it an uncertain measure of political control or dominance, both to the south and north.
³⁷
Some Etruscans advanced over the Tiber into Latium and occupied Rome and other centres (pp. 35–6). Others moved further southwards, advancing by land or sea, into Campania, where some Villanovan settlements had
already emerged (pp. 14–15). Here they established themselves at Capua (perhaps
c.
650
BC
), calling their settlement Volturnum; Etruscan inscriptions have been found at Pompeii, Nola and elsewhere. They thus came face to face with Cumae and other Greek colonies, while at the same time Greek penetration into western waters was threatening the spread of Etruscan control. On the other hand, the Greek cities of southern Italy had provided the Etruscans with new markets for their metals and metalwork, and a widespread trade had been built up especially in Greek pottery (p. 21). But events took a fresh turn when the Phocaeans of Asia Minor in
c.
600
BC
founded Massilia (Marseilles), which in turn sent out colonies along the coast of southern Gaul and northeastern Spain. The first people to react sharply to this new challenge were the Carthaginians, who tried to keep the Phocaeans out of these western areas, but they were defeated in a naval battle which Thucydides recorded (i, 13, 6). When the Phocaeans moved closer to the shores of Etruria itself by settling at Alalia on the east coast of Corsica the Etruscans joined Carthage against the intruders; a naval battle off Alalia in 535
BC
resulted in a ‘Cadmean victory’ for the Phocaeans, who ultimately settled at Elea, the home of the Eleatic philosophers. The majority of the captured crews were taken to Agylla (Caere) where they were stoned to death.
³⁸
This reference to one Etruscan city, Caere, is a reminder that very often when action by ‘the Etruscans’ is mentioned in the sources, we do not know in detail how many or precisely which cities shared in such action: indeed many of the colonial efforts may have been made by individual cities only. However, the battle of Alalia allowed the Carthaginians to control Sardinia, and the Etruscans Corsica, and either after or before the battle these two peoples entered into a formal alliance, since it is into this period that a treaty between Carthage and Etruria, which Aristotle mentions but does not date, best fits; again, who signed for the Etruscans, whether the League or individual interested cities, remains unknown.
³⁹

Encouraged by these events, the Etruscans tried to strengthen their control in Campania by attacking Greek Cumae in 524
BC
, but they were defeated by land by the Cumaeans under the leadership of Aristodemus. Before very long Etruscan influence began to weaken in Latium also and they lost control of Rome when Tarquinius was driven out. The other Latin cities were encouraged to seek freedom from the Etruscans and while resisting Etruscan counterattacks they appealed to Cumae, which sent a force by sea under Aristodemus. He routed the Etruscans under Arruns, the son of Lars Porsenna of Clusium, at Aricia
c.
506
BC
. Aristodemus used his success to become tyrant at Cumae, and the victorious Latins could now cut the land communications between Etruria and Campania. Some years later, in 474, Cumae, either threatened again by the Etruscans or else herself taking the initiative against them, appealed to Hiero king of Syracuse, who had recently, at the battle of Himera, smashed a Carthaginian attempt to occupy eastern Sicily. At a naval battle off
Cumae the Greek allies broke Etruscan sea-power: the Greeks regained the freedom of the seas around Naples, and the Etruscan cities in Campania were now isolated by sea as well as by land.
⁴⁰
Thus the southern part of the Etruscan empire collapsed, but in fact the victors did not enjoy independence in Campania for long, since Sabellian tribes began to descend from the mountains, and by 420 both Etruscan Capua and Greek Cumae had succumbed to their assault (p. 99).

The second main line of expansion was northwards over the Apennines; it originated from the cities of the interior of Etruria and began near the end of the sixth century, a considerable time after the start of the southern expansion, and in fact when the Etruscans’ grip there was weakening. The chief colony was founded alongside the old Villanovan settlement at Bologna and was named Felsina; it soon became a prosperous city of farmers, industrialists and traders, and imported large numbers of Greek vases. These came more immediately from Spina at the head of the Adriatic, which became the chief port for Greek goods, especially Athenian vases: it was originally a Greek settlement in which the Etruscans secured a strong foothold. The third important base in the north was the Etruscan settlement at Marzabotto (probably called by them Misa or Misna), some seventeen miles south of Felsina, in a key position to control the valley leading southwards over the Apennines to Etruria itself. Its interest lies not least in the facts that it was an entirely new foundation (
c.
500
BC
) on virgin soil, and has not been built over since: it thus provides an outstanding example of a late Etruscan city and its street-planning. The extent of Etruscan settlement beyond the area of these three cities is uncertain, since archaeological evidence is lacking for widespread settlement in the northern plain (especially north of the Po), and the tradition that the Etruscans established a League of Twelve Cities here, as in Etruria (and allegedly in Campania), is doubtful. Etruscan trade, but only limited settlement, therefore seems to have spread northwards, where before very long it encountered opposition from Celtic tribes who were tempted to cross the Alps and try to occupy the northern plain of Italy. They may have started on a small scale earlier in the fifth century, but by the end of it they were sweeping all before them. The final attacks fell on Marzabotto and Felsina. The latter was overwhelmed
c.
350; burial stones depict the horsemen of Felsina struggling against naked Gallic warriors. Thus Etruscan power north of the Apennines was gradually pushed back and then smashed; the northern plain fell to the Celts and became known to the Romans as Cisalpine Gaul. Soon it would be the turn of Rome itself to face a Gallic incursion (p. 94).
⁴¹

Thus in pre-Roman Italy there flourished an empire which corresponded in extent roughly with the Napoleonic kingdom of Italy, created probably rather by the haphazard needs and initiative of individual cities than by concerted action of the Etruscan League which was bound together more
by cultural and religious than political ties. But it might have resulted in the spread of a common culture, if not in the creation of a single state, from the Alps to the Strait of Messina – had not a sudden collapse occurred, so that this achievement was reserved for the genius of Rome.

Latium was for long years inimical to man. The coastal plain, a late creation in geological time, was subject to flooding, while the Ciminian and Alban Hills displayed volcanic activity as late as 1000
BC
; more than fifty craters can be found within twenty-five miles of Rome. When finally the volcanoes had died down and had covered the area with an ash rich in phosphates and potash, cultivation of the soil still remained impracticable until the jungle growth had formed a surface soil containing nitrogenous matter. This was soon provided by the forests which spread rapidly over the hills and gave Latium a different appearance and climate from today, when the wheat is harvested in June and the Roman Campagna is bare and parched in the summer months; then harvest-time was in July. As late as the third century
BC
Theophrastus wrote that Latium was well-watered: the plain bore laurel, myrtle and beech trees, the hills fir and pine, while oaks flourished on the Circeian promontory. This difference of moisture in ancient and modern times is probably due to the later deforestation of the hills behind Latium, rather than to a supposed rainy age in classical times. Thus a rich soil, provided by volcanic ash and vegetation, and a moist subsoil, provided by the forest reservoirs, rendered Latium habitable, and men settled south of the Tiber on that semicircle of hills, the dominating positions of which were later controlled by the towns of Tibur, Praeneste and Aricia.
⁴²

Man did not appear in Latium until relatively late, and then in small and scattered settlements. Traces of Palaeolithic occupation are rare: they include some remains of Neanderthal man near Rome, and a cave near Tivoli used for several millennia by Upper Palaeolithic people. Continuing volcanic activity may have made Latium unattractive during the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages: traces of ‘Apennine’ material are only sporadic although they do reveal a settlement on the site of Rome itself (p. 39). However, despite a few traces of evidence at Lavinium and near Ardea, any continuing links with the Iron Age are as yet slender: the population explosion in the early Iron Age suggests new settlers from outside. This new culture, now known as ‘Latial’ rather than ‘southern Villanovan’, spread to Rome, the Alban Hills and southwards to Terracina. As we have seen (pp. 14–15) it closely resembled the Villanovan culture of Etruria, though cinerary urns shaped like the huts of the inhabitants were used (as in southern Etruria, in contrast with the biconical urns of northern Etruria). This new people imposed itself on any ‘Apennine’ stratum
that survived, but it was soon reinforced by representatives of the inhuming Fossa culture from the south (p. 16). This new mixture marks the beginning of the Iron Age in Latium, which some archaeologists place as early as 1000
BC
, others as late as 800; perhaps 900 may be nearer the mark. It lasted for a considerable time, but it began to change when the Etruscans expanded southwards.
⁴³

Cemeteries of these Latin villages have been found in Rome (these are discussed in the next chapter) and on the western and southern slopes of the isolated Alban Hills which rise up from the plain some thirteen miles south of Rome and whose extinct craters formed the lakes of Albano and Nemi. Other Latins settled at Ardea, Antium, Satricum and other centres, large and small. Although Rome was traditionally founded as a colony of Alba Longa, archaeological evidence does not support the primacy of Alba. An important site, discovered in 1972, lay at Castel di Decima, some ten miles south of Rome, which is almost certainly ancient Politorium which the Roman king Ancus Marcius is said to have conquered. Of the 115 Fossa tombs excavated, the earliest is
c.
740–20, most belong to the first half of the seventh century, and none is later than
c.
600; this accords well with the traditional capture by Ancus. Many of the tombs are rich; four contained chariots, and in one of these (
c.
700) a richly adorned woman was buried. Another recent identification is Ficana on Monte Cugno between Rome and Ostia, whose tombs suggest a settlement similar to that at Decima; here there is also some Bronze Age material. Other sites where excavation is throwing new light on Latin settlements are at La Rustica (= Caenina?) north-east of Rome, and at Osteria dell’Osa to the east of Rome, not very far from Gabii, where the remains in the cemetery (the majority inhumations) run from the ninth to the seventh centuries.
⁴⁴
Thus our knowledge of early Latium is rapidly expanding, and Latial culture is now divided into three groups, Boschetto, Alba and Campagna, in accordance with local variations – though these need not be detailed here since resemblances far exceed minor differences.

The lack of material wealth and of harbours meant that the early Latins did not advance quite so quickly as the Northern Villanovans, but they began to enter into the wider life of Italy from about 700
BC
. At first perhaps given to war and plunder and for long remaining semi-nomadic herdsmen, they gradually became essentially agriculturalists, growing wheat, millet and, later, barley; the vine was probably not cultivated until the Etruscan period, and the olive was a later arrival, but the fig was grown in early times. Pigs, sheep and oxen and perhaps goats were raised; the horse came later. Timber was a valuable source of wealth. The population soon grew large, as shown by the smallness of individual land-holdings (2
iugera
or 1⅓ acres) and also by the extensive drainage works, tunnels and dams which were constructed partly for irrigation, but mainly to prevent the rainwater sweeping the precious soil
down the hillsides: volcanic rock is easily dried up and washed away. Some of the larger works like those below Velitrae, or the
emissarium
of the Alban Lake, may be inspired by somewhat later Etruscan example, but they testify to the value set on preserving the fertile soil. While they were busy clearing the forests and cultivating the ground, many of the Latins settled in villages, congregating on hills to find protection against man and beast and to escape the unhealthiness of the plain. Here they lived, as Varro says, ‘in huts and cabins and knew not the meaning of a wall or gate’. The appearance of their huts is shown by their cinerary urns, while the process by which separate settlements coalesced into one large village is illustrated by the growth of early Rome (pp. 40–1). Each village (
vicus
), which may have been strengthened by a wooden palisade, had a
pagus
, the extended area in which its inhabitants carried on their pastoral or agricultural work, but sometimes various
vici
might hold a
pagus
in common and thus become linked in cantons. The
vici
were probably organized on the basis of clans (
gentes
), but the strongest social unit was the
familia
or household in which the
pater-familias
or eldest living male held almost absolute control. Surviving lists of Latin
populi
suggest some forty or fifty early villages, while the Prisci Latini (‘Original Latins’) are given as thirty.
⁴⁵

The fact that all these small settlements shared a common language must have helped to develop a sense of unity. This was also fostered by common religious practices and led on to some common action in other fields. The Latins, who used to gather for a spring festival at the very ancient shrine of Jupiter Latiaris on Monte Cavo, the summit of the Alban Hills, formed a League which was probably fairly extensive; but although the leadership passed from Alba to Rome, the League probably remained of chiefly religious significance and did not provide a framework through which Rome could exercise political hegemony in Latium. Other gropings after unity are found in the common cults of Venus at Lavinium and of Diana near Tusculum, at shrines common to all the Latins at Ardea and Lavinium, and more especially the cult of Diana at Aricia at the source of Aqua Ferentina. While some historians try to explain some of these leagues as the various stages in the growth of one single Latin League, more probably several co-existed. Of these the Arician federation attained considerable importance in the sixth century. The primitive state of these early cults is illustrated by the worship of Diana at Nemi, where the golden bough grew; amid the forests lurked the
rex nemorensis
, ‘the priest who slew the slayer, and shall himself be slain.’ But it is the political potentialities of these federations that are important in the history of Italy.
⁴⁶

With the coming of the Etruscans Latium entered upon a new phase (
c.
650), but although it was subjected to Etruscan cultural influences it remained essentially Latin, since the Latin language survived almost
untouched. The Etruscans encouraged agriculture, large drainage works, industry and commerce, and they promoted synoecisms. Thus Latium was swept into a wider world. Further, Greek ideas were reaching it from the south, and it is not always easy to determine whether any particular gift, above all that of the alphabet, came direct from the south or was mediated through the Etruscans. Nor can we establish the extent of direct Etruscan political influence, except at Rome which was governed by Etruscan kings during the sixth century (pp. 48ff.). But though evidence for direct rule is lacking in other Latin cities, the general promotion of city life by the Etruscans need not be questioned. Latin Praeneste, which may have formed a key point in the Etruscan advance southwards since it commands the route to the Liris valley, was clearly subjected to Etruscan influences. Its two famous tombs, the Bernardini and Barberini, contain princely gold and bronze objects which resemble those of a similar Etruscan tomb at Caere of
c.
650, yet a gold fibula which may have come from one of them bears an inscription written in Latin (‘Manios made me for Numasios’). Until very recently these tombs were often regarded as the resting-places of Etruscan nobles, but since the richness of the tombs of other Latin cities such as Decima has now been revealed, the finds at Praeneste may reflect a wider social-economic background existing throughout Latium rather than providing evidence for the direct intrusion of Etruscan princes. At the same time the genuineness of the Latin inscription on the fibula has been seriously questioned. The names of some Latin cities, as Tusculum, Velitrae, and Tarracina, seem to link them with the Etruscans, but how far Etruscan political domination extended is uncertain. However, the earliest treaty between Rome and Carthage of
c.
509
BC
(p. 144) suggests that the Etruscan rulers of Rome may have exercised some control over Ardea, Antium, Circeii, Tarracina and perhaps Lavinium.
⁴⁷

A striking witness to Latium’s wider contacts is provided by the emergence of a new architectural form, the temple. At Rome, Satricum, Velitrae, Lavinium and other towns temples arose, whose gaily coloured terracotta decorations closely resemble those in Etruria and also many in Campania. Latium was becoming part of a common culture, based on Etruscan and Greek ideas. Many of the latter came via the Etruscans, but a recent discovery has emphasized the direct channel with the Greek cities of the south. A series of thirteen massive archaic stone altars was found at Lavinium (Pratica di Mare) about sixteen miles south of Rome. One altar had a bronze tablet inscribed in archaic Latin with a dedication to Castor and Pollux. This strengthens the likelihood that the cult of the Dioscuri reached Latium from the south rather than from Etruria.
⁴⁸
In addition to the altars Lavinium has recently produced another startling find (unpublished at the time of writing). Some fifty terracotta statues and other objects belonging to a sanctuary have been discovered. They appear to have been buried (for safety?) perhaps in the second century
BC
. The
earliest date to the sixth century, but the majority to the fifth and fourth. The chief piece is a slightly larger than life-size statue of Minerva in battle. When this find has been properly assessed it will throw much light on the importance of early Lavinium and on the attraction of Latium to artists from Greek southern Italy. Etruscan influence lies behind the development of larger settlements: by 500
BC
the original fifty or so communities had been reduced by a process of absorption to some ten or twelve, of which the largest, such as Praeneste, Tibur and Tusculum, dealt for a considerable time with Rome on equal terms. Thus Etruscan influence on Latium in the seventh and sixth centuries left permanent marks, but it was sporadic and did not undermine the basic nature of the native culture. The future of Latium lay not with Etruria but with one of its own cities, Rome.