Sanctua ry at Pyrgi"

Etruscans, Greeks, Carthaginians: The
Sanctua
ry at Pyrgi"
FRANCESCA R. SERRA RIDGWAY
(Uniuersity of Edinburgh)
The excavations at Pyrgi starteð in ry57;by ry64, two temples and the
three famous inscribed gold tablets had been found.l Since then, Pyrgi
has become one of the major archaeological sites in Italy and the
Mecliterranean, and a landmark in all areas of Etruscan, Roman,
Hellenic, and Phoenician studies.2 This is hardly surprising, in view of
the relevance it actually had when it flourished, nearly twenty-five
centurles âgo.
It was known from the ancient authors that Pyrgi (Greek Pyrgoi;
Etruscan name unknown) was a fine fortified town-as the Gteek name
implies-of Pelasgian origin; that it was the port of the Etruscan city of
Caere (Greek Agylla; Etruscan Cla]isra; corresponding to the modern
hamlet of Cerveteri north of Rome); that it had a sanctuary dedicated to
Leucothea (or, according to Strabo, to Eilythia), which was so wealthy
that in 384 sc Dionysius the tyrant of Syracuse organized a successful
* I am grateful to Dr Jean-Paul Descæudres for inviting me to read â paper at this Congress, and
to Prof. Giovanni Colonna for allowing me to present â summary of his work at Pyrgi; my wârmest thanks are however due to P¡of. Colonna's chief assistant and my friend for many years,
Dr Francesca Melis, for much advice, encourâgement, and practical help, especially with the
illustrations presented here, The Humanities Research Centre at the ANU in Canberra provided the
ideal environment for the writing up ofthe text. In addition to the usual abbreviations, I have used
the following: Göttitt a98r= A. Neppi Modona and F. Prayon (eàs.\, Ah-ten des Kolloquiums zum
Thema Die Göttin uot Pyrgi, Tùbingen ry79 ft98r). Lamine ry7o:Le lamine di Pyrgi: Tauola
G. Colrotonda internazionale, Roma ry68, Quaderni Lincei r47 þ97o'¡. Pyrgi r9S9:
Pyrgi-Scaui del
lona, and G. Foti, N.Sc. 13 ft95), t4-zg. Pyrgi ry7o:G. Colonna et al.,^.Ciasca,
søntuaio etrusco (1959-t96/, Suppl. to N.Sc. 24, r97o (r97). Pyrgi t979:G. Colonna et al,,
Pyrgi-Scaui del søntuario etrusco (1969-197r), Suppl. to N.S¿. (forthcoming) (submitted in ry7).
Santuari r98 j : G. Colonna (ed.), Santuari d'Etruria. Exh ibition catalogue, Arezzo (t985), oTff .
' For the first report on the discovery of the gold tablets see M. Pallottino, G. Colonna, and
G. Garbini, Arcb.Cl. ú (t964),49-tr7.For further refs. see n. z below.
2 The literature on the site is enormous. Useful bibliographies can be found in Lømine t97o (on
the gold tablets), Göttin ry8l, Safltuai 1985, and in G. Colonna, Rend, Pont. Acc. 57 i984-85\,
57-88. Preliminary reports on each campaign have been published almost yearly by M. Pallottino
and G. Colonna in Arch.Cl. from 9 $9571 onwards; full reports are in Pyrgi ry59, Pyrgi ry7o, Pyrgi
1979; a summary of the archaeological evidence is given by G. Colonna 'tn Göttin ry8t,pp. t3-37,
The most important finds from Pyrgi are on show in their own room in the Villa Giulia Museum in
Rome; another very significant display which includes 6nds from the Etruscan town, the Roman
colony, and underwâter exploration, may be seen in the Antiquarium at the site itself.
Etruscans, Greeks, Carthaginians: The
Sanctua
ry at Pyrgi"
FRANCESCA R. SERRA RIDGWAY
(lJ niuersity of Edinburgh)
The excavations at Pyrgi started in ry57;by ry64, two temples and the
three famous inscribed gold tablets had been found.l Since then, Pyrgi
has become one of the maior archaeological sites in Italy and the
Mediterranean, and a landmark in all areas <¡f Etruscan, Roman,
Hellenic, and Phoenician studies.2 This is hardly surprising, in view of
the relevance it actually had when it flourished, nearly twenty-five
centurles ago.
It was known from the ancient authors that Pyrgi (Greek Pyrgoi;
Etruscan name unknown) was a fine fortified town-as the Greek name
implies-of Pelasgian origin; that it was the port of the Etruscan city of
Caere (Greek Agylla; Etruscan Cla]isra; corresponding to the modern
hamlet of Cerveteri north of Rome); that it had a sanctuary dedicated to
Leucothea (or, according to Strabo, to Eilythia), which was so wealthy
that in 384 nc Dionysius the tyrant of Syracuse organized a successful
* I am grateful to Dr Jean-Paul Descæudres for inviting me to read a paper at this Congress, and
to Prof. Giovanni Colonna for allowing me to present a summary of his work at Pyrgi; my warmest thanks are however due to Prof. Colonna's chief assistant and my friend for many years,
Dr Francesca Melis, for much advice, encourâgement, and practical help, especially with the
illustrations presented here. The Humanities Research Centre at the ANU in Canberra provided the
ideal environment for the writing up of the text. In addition to the usual abbreviations, I have used
the following: Göttin ry8t = A. Neppi Modona and F. Prayon (eds.\, Akten des Kolloquiums zum
Thema Die Göttin uon Pyrgi, Tübingen 1979 ft98r). Lømine t97o:Le lamine di Pyrgi: Tauola
rotonda internazionale, Roma ry68, Quaderni Lincei 47 i97o\ ' Pyrgi ry59: A' Ciasca, G. Collona, and G. Foti, N.Sc. r3 ft959), t4-z$. Pyrgi t97o:G. Colonna et al., Pyrgi-Scaui del
safltualio etrusco (19 j9-r967), Suppl. to N.Sc. ;-4, r97o (t97). Pyrgi 1979--G. Colonoa et al.,
Pyrgi-Scaui del saøtuario elrusco (t969-rgzr), Suppl. to N.S¿. (forthcoming) (submitted in ry791.
Santuari r 985 : G. Colonna (ed.), Santuari d'Etruria. Exhibition catalogue, A'tezzo (t9851, n7ff .
I For the 6rst report on the discovery of the gold tablets see M. i)allottino, G. Colonna, and
G. Garbini, Arch.Cl. ú (t964\,49-rt7.For further refs. see n. z below.
2 The literature on the site is enormous. Useful bibliographies can be found in Lamine ry7o (oin
the gold tablets), Göttin ry8t, Santuari 1985, and in G. Colonna, Rend Pont. Acc. 57 ft984-851'
57-88. Preliminary reports on each campaign have been published almost yearly by M. Pallottino
and G. Colonna in Arch.Cl. Írom 9 ft957) onwards; full reports are in Pyrgi ry59, Pyrgi ry7o, Pyrgi
the archaeolo
, PP. 13-37.
Museum in
finds from Py
the Roman
significant di
(,
ater explorati
Francesca R. Serra Ridgway
5rz
raid in order to plunder it; and that at a later time a Roman maritime
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classical sourc€s on pyrgi see pyrgi ry59, pp, z6t_3; some of them, with
generally the history of Caere, are in Göttii t9gr, pp.
47_5r (F. prayon).
84o, 4z (with one pl.); G. Dennis, The Cities and Cr^it"ri", á¡ Etruria,'
i þld
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Francescø R. Serra Ridguøy
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Etruscøns, Greeks, and Carthaginians
rf
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Monumental
90 Attic feet
Pyrgi: plan of the excavated structures (after Colonna, 1984, drawing by
10
J' Blair)
and covered with a new battuto floor.7 This procedure resulted in the
preservation to the present day of much of the original decorations of the
buildings, as well as of the gold tablets which were carefully wrapped
and set aside in a sort of chest in the ground, covered by the Hellenistic
floor, which eppears only occasionally to have been touched by modern
ploughing.
Secondly, it should be remembered that the visible remains of the
temples and other buildings in the sanctuary are limited to parts of the
foundations; this is because in the znd century AD, when the site was
already abandoned and in ruins, it was used as a very convenient quarry
of ready-made building material for the construction of farmhouses and
villas in the surrounding territory.
A few soundings in the area between the walls of the Roman colony
and the sanctuary have shown that it was completely occupied by the
residential quarters of the town. They exhibit different building phases,
going back at least to the beginning of the 6th century nc, and appear to
be aligned on a grid plan. The proposed date for the foundation of the
town is confirmed by the remains of a truly monumental road (ro m
wide) connecting the harbour to the main city of Caere sorne twelve
1 See Pyrgi
ry59 and Pyrgi ry7o.
20
30 metres
reconstructed plan of the sanctuary ¿. joo nc (after S antuar i r98 S,
sea (W) with temenos walls on the
other three sides; on its left, the sacred are-a C with platform, bothros, well,
and square altar; at the back, the entrance to the sanctuary, with alarge
well or cistern to its right; against the south boundary wall is the long
'building of the twenty rooms' and outside this, further ro the right, is the
drainage channel
3.
Py rgi:
drawing by J. Blair): temple B faces the
kilometres.inland and dated by Late Orientalizing tombs placed at its
sides.s This is only to be expected, as Caere was at its floruii precisely at
that early time: its wide range of trading ecrivities needed a good harbour .
and Pyrgi, although farther away than Alsium to thesouth, offered better
natural facilities for the purpose.
Sometime during the 6th century Bc, one area (at the southern end of
the present excavation) was devoted to holy purposes. Its exploratioh
only began in 1984, so it is nor yer clear what kind of buildings occupied
it: but the large âmounts of fine Greek pottery of votive type point clearly
to the sacred character of this .area. A sherd be aring an inscription to Suri,
I
See
G. Colonna in: Göttin r98r, pp. r3-zo (with refs.).
Etruscans, Greeks, and
Francesca R. Serra Ridgtuay
(area C)
Carthaginiøns
5rg
with a platform of tufa blocks, a circular altar pierced in the
middle (bothros: for chthonic cults to underworld deities), a well, and a
large grey block-possibly another altar or the base of some sratue or
votive offering. Against this block, at the time of -the dismantling of the
temples in the 3rd century BC, a sort of chest was built, using more stone
blocks and three sima plaques from temple B; inside it the three gold
tablets were found, carefully packed round the bronze nails with gilded
heads with which they had originally been affixed to their support
(twelve each); and a bronze tablet, also inscribed, although very badly
preserved, with the mention of Uni ( : Juno, Hera) and Tinia
( : Jupiter, Zeus).
The three gold tablets, almost identical to one another, measure about
ro x zo cm, and have small holes for the nails, pierced after the text had
been incised.l3 Two of them were written in Etruscan, the third in
Phoenician (Fig. 6). In spite of various difficulties and disagreemenrs
among scholars, their texts can be read and translated approximately as
follows:14
P (Phoenician text):
To the Lady Astarte. Here is the holy place which has made and given Tibèrie
Vèlianas, king over Kisry, in the month of the sacrifice of the Sun, as a gift in the
temple and its holy place (?), because Astarte raised him with her hand (?) in the
third year of his reign in the month of Karar on rhe day of the burying of the
God. And may the years of the statue of the Goddess in her temple last as long
as these stars (?).
h
5. Pyrgi: decorative elements of temple B, c. 5ro nc (from Pyrgi ry7o, Êg.
481; anteþagmelttum plaque (left) surmounted by sima with (broken)
acroterion; end pan tiles (teguløe) and cover trles (embrices) with maenad
(long Etruscan text)z
This is the shrine and this is the place of the image dedicated to Uni (-Astarte):
Thefàrie Vèlianas gave it, as e thank offering, because he had been raised to be
king for three years . .. stars .. . (?).
Ez (sbort Etruscan text);
head antefix
Thus Thefàrie Vèliunas founded the shrine and made the offering in the month
of Masan; and this was the annual ceremony in the temple.
(antepagmentum), while the end tiles on rhe front had a high raised edge
(sima), also moulded and painted. Above rhe simas, prójecting from
them, there were ornaments in the round (acroteria), *hich in tÈis case
A number'of distinguished scholars have already devcited many pages ro
the interpretâtion and discussion of these texts, and even the most
cursory summâry would be too long for this paper. Accordingly, I shall
recall very briefly the main points of interest. Tablet Er contains one of
the longest complete Etruscan rexts known ro date, while P is the first
'r Tablet P (with the Phoenician text) appears to be more signi6cant than the others: ir is thicker
and heavier, and its careful preservation was clearly deemed especially important, since its nails were
collected not inside it, but within Tablet Er.
la Ifollowhere,foreaseof reference,thetrans.givenbyJ.Heurgon,
To its left, against the side of the building, there was
these, and the bronze tablets mentioned below, see CIE. ü.
a special sacred area
pp. 597-4o4,73o-qz.
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and only Phoenicio-Punic text ever found ir.r the Italian peninsula (many
are known from Sicily and Sardinia) and it is also among the longest and
earliest Punic inscriptions known. Er and P together represent a 'quasibilingual', in the sense that both refer to the sâme event in the same
context, but each uses the phrases and formulae proper to its own
d-Ë
x!
5qs
Carthaginians
language and religious tradition. They are also fairly well dated on
intrinsic evidence to the beginning of the 5th century Bc, but what is of
vital importance is the fact that they have a very well-documented
archaeological context, which confirms the date around 5oo Bc. Moreover, the most economic interpretation of this context tells us that the
holy place dedicated by the'king' of Caere is nothing less than temple B'
to the wooden doors of which the tablets were originally fixed with their
gilded bronze nails.ls Thus we have a unique original dedication of a
major building in what would be, from then on, one of the maior
sanctuaries of the classical world; and this dedication is made by the ruler
of the Etruscan city-state of Caere to the oriental goddess Astarte, who is
only secondarily assimilated to the local queen-goddess Uni 'for services
rendered by her to him'. Apart from offering the first palpable confirmation that Polybius was not fantasizing when he attributed the first treaty
between Rome and Carthage to the first year of the Roman Republic,
this document also gives us a very concrete and novel notion of the kind
of relations existing between different states ând nations in the Archaic
Mediterranean.l6'We know that a few decades earlier it was precisely
Caere, among the Etruscan cities, that had asked Carthage for help
against the Phocaeans established at Alalia in Corsica-they were clearly
obstructing her trading interests in the Tyrrhenian areas and beyond. The
story is familiar: the battle in the Sardinian Sea (c.S4o nc), followed by
the stoning to death of the Greek prisoners in the plain between Caere
and the sea; the plague that devastated the surrounding aree until the
Caeretans sent ân embassy to Delphi, where they received instructions to
set up a senctuary and games in honour of the dead.17 Soon after, Caere
actually established â treasury at Delphi itself-and was the only
Etruscan city to do so (until her example was followed much later by
Spina). All this was in the years following j4o Bc; but now, towards the'
end of the 6th century Bc, it seems as if Caere is returning to its
traditional allegiance with Carthage against the Greeks. This is not
surprising at a time of rapid development and change, as the Archaic
ts
Lamine r97o, passim; Göttin ry9t, p. z7; Santuari 1985, pl' rz8.
M. Pallottino, St.Rom. 4 $.96), 7-t4; and in: Problemi attuali di scienzt e di cuhuta,
(r97),
Quaderni Lincei 87 $966'¡, u-t6 (both papers repr' in M. Pallottino, Saggi di Antichità
[ed.l).
'ntff.
i' Thi. i"n.tr".y has recently been identified by G. Colonna with the site partially excavated by
him at Montetosto, midway between Pyrgi and Caere: see Santuari t985,p. tz71 S. Stopponi (ed'),
See
ló See
Càse e Palazzi
d'E*uria ft98), t924.
5zz
Frøncesca R. Serra Ridgway
Etruscans, Greeks, and
period was all over the Mediterranean; but we should also remember that
both Etruria and Greece were in no \¡/ay national states in the modern
sense so that an Etruscan polis like Caere could very well mainfain good
relations with some Greek poleis, for instance Athens (and we know that
it did), and at the same time display hostile attitudes towards other
Greek poleis, particularly a colonial city like Syracuse (which in its turn
was always in conflict with Athens). At all events, and although in this
case the foreign cult is established in a sanctuary outside the city, the
political implications of this dedication cannot be minimized: Thefàrie
Vèlianas, king or tyrant or magistrate at Caere at the end of the 6th
century Bc, wâs under the influence of, and somehow dependent on,
Carthage-perhaps in consequence of the fall of Sybaris in 5ro oc, and
the collapse of the previous balance of power in this part of the
Mediterranean.
A more direct involvement of the eastern Phoenicians, particularly
from Cyprus, as suggested by some scholars, is not necessarily implied in
these texts. Even keeping in mind the contemporary events of the eastern
Mediterranean, with Persia pressing on the Ionian Greek cities and the
Greek mainland, agreements among all the enemies of the Greeks for
concerted attacks in the East and in the West simultaneously must
necessarily have included Carthage, traditionally hostile to the Sicilian
colonies.ls Even if a relationship with the sanctuary of Astarte in Cyprus
cannot be excluded, the other famous one at Erice in western Sicily was
obviously closer at hand. The weight of this solemn dedication is such
that it has been suggested that the actual priestesses at Pyrgi might have
been foreign-as happened a few yeârs later at Rome with the establishment of a Greek cult and temple of Ceres on the Aventine in 493 øc.
This interpretation derives from that offered for the long building
recently uncovered along the temenos wãll to the south of temple B,
which is divided into a number of small rooms (r7 found to date),
suggesting to its excavator the possibility that it might represenr rhe
quarters where the priestesses practised sacred prostitution, as is well
known of other sanctuaries of Astarte, particularly the one at Erice in
Sicily, and as the proverbial mention of the scorta pyrgensia in the
literary tradition seems ro confirm.le Other interpretations might see in
this building a shelter for pilgrims, of a kind well documented elsewhere
in the ancient as well as the modern world; or a series of ritual diningrooms, like the ones in the sanctuary of Demeter at Corinth ) or the cento
camere at Locri in South Italy. However it may be, there is no doubt that
18
On a possible direct connection with Cyprus, first suggested by G. Levi della Vida,
E. Richardson in: L. Bonfante and H. v. Heintze (eds.), In memoriam Otto J. Brendel
and again recently (contra) M. Pallottino in: Göttin r98r, pp.7-rr (esp. p. ro).
'e Lucil. Ír.
nzt (Maul.
Carthaginians
Sz3
this building is fully contextual with temple.B; its structure suggests a
roof with only one eave, sloping towards the piazza and decorated with a
series of antefixes. Unlike all the other moulded elements of the
decoration of the sanctuary, which recur in exactly the same or very
similar form in other temples either in Caere or elsewhere (Veii, Falerii,
etc.), these antefixes are unique: this means that they were produced
especially for this sanctuary, to a specific design and with a deliberate
message. They represent six different figures, all moving to the right, that
have been interpreted and ordered in sequence from east to west along
the edge of the roof as follows:
(a) a winged youth flying against a radiant background : Sun (Etruscan Usil) (Fie. zc);
(b) a tórvrn tnnav (Mistress of horses), on a high pedestal : Dawn
(Etr. Thesan) (Fie. Za);
(c) a winged youth with the head of a cock, against a dark background (starred?) : Phosphorus-Luciferus (Fie. Zb);
(d) a winged female holding two paterae under her mantle : Night
(Fig.7d);
(e) a nórvrcs innav (Master of horses), characterized as Heracles (Etr.
Ercle), also on a pedestal;
(f) a female with four wings standing on \ryaves, on a smaller
pedestal : Moon (Selene) or Leucothea (a Greek nymph of
Theban origin, corresponding to the Latin Mater Matuta).
The reasons, signiñcance, religious and cultural implications of this
interpretation are too long and complex to be discussed here.2O \ùíe may
note, horvvever, already at this time and in connection with an oriental
cult, the presence and eminence of Thesan, an important goddess in the
Etruscan pantheon, sometimes paralleled with Mater Matuta (to whom
also Leucothea was often assimilated) and dedicatee of a later inscription found near temple A; and of Ercle, also one of the most important
figures of Etruscan religion and myth and connected with Phoenician as
well as Greek traditions, who is here present as the male counterpart or
companion of Thesan.
It is perhaps worth noting at this point that the foundation of temple
B, with its square and its secondary structures' on the massive scale
described above, contrasts to some extent with the notion we used to
have of Caere drastically reducing its commercial activities and spend-
see
(t976l,zr-4i
San)tuari ry85,
p. r33.
See also
Richardson, loc. cit.
Francesca R, Serra Ridgway
524
Etruscans, Greeks, and
Carthaginians
szs
ing-power from the end of the 6th century sc: it seems in fact that less
money is now spent on furnishing family graves' and more invested in
public enterprises. This is a trend common to other Italian cities (see for
all Rome, with its Capitoline temple, and soon after, Veii, with the
Portonaccio temple) and suggests different social and political priorities,
but not necessarily reduced powers.
The sanctu^ry at Pyrgi remained unchanged for about fifty years,
during which time the sea battle off Cumae (+z+sc) ended with the total
defeat of the combined Etruscan and Carthaginian fleets by Hieron of
Syracuse, who had already routed the Carthaginians on land at Himera.
The subsequent story of the Tyrrhenian cities is one of retreat and
decline.
witnesses
014
5
10cm
(b\
0
5
10cm
(d)
7. Pyrgi: four types of antefixes from the long building (c.5ro nc):
(a) Dawn (Thesan); (å) Luciferus; (c) Sun (Usil); (d) Night (from Göttin
r98r)
seems,
unoccúpied area between it and the residential quarters of the town, the
artificial filling is extended, a new large platform laid, and a whole new
temple erected, bigger than the existing one and planned in the Tuscan
style. The large road to Caere is diverted in order to enter the sanctuary at
its north corner behind temple A, thus assuming the function of atrueuia
sícra,
The foundations of temple A were built up much in the same fashion
as for temple B, only on a more massive scale: of the seven or eight layers
of tufa blocks more or less irregularly preserved, the two higher, with
more that have not been preserved, belonged to the podium, the rest to
the foundations; these extended for about 24x14m' that is 8r by 116
Attic feet, add present a sort of grid plan corresponding to the walls and
columns of a Tuscan temple, reasonably close to the Vitruvian canon. At
the back it had one central and two smaller lateral rooms or cellae; the
side walls were prolonged in front, while four columns were placed two
by two in line with the inner walls, and another full row of four columns
made up the front of the temple. The altars must have been situated on
the temple tow
large
wells, filled up
mainly e
from the
, were found at
some discordant suggestions, fragments of pottery found in the sealed
layers both inside and immediately outside the temple, taken in coniunction with the carefully observed stratigraphical situation, confirm that
the monument r¡/as built within a few yeari of 46onc, that is between the
fall of the Deinomenides at Syracuse (+6S sc) and the renewal of Sicilian
hostilities (+S+ sc).
The outside walls and columns were made of tufa blocks, as in temple
B, covered with white plaster; the inner partitions of the cells were made
oi unbaked bricks, covered with white plaster and painting in red and
the
(c)
it
at Pyrgi. Towards 46o øc the sanctuary there
e new, dramatic growth. To the north of temple B, in the
Not so,
Frøncesca R. Serra Ridguay
526
Etruscans, Greeks, and Carthaginians
t27
I
0
10
20
{F
30
40
50
100 cm
Attic
0
feet
1
2
30 metres
3
4
Pyrgi: reconstructed plan ofthe sanctuar y c.
4soBC (after santuari r9g5;
drawing by J. Blair)
o
The ped
plaques
black,
.5m
AC
9. Pyrgi: reconstruction drawing of the gable of temple A and its central
part with the calumen relief-plaque representing two episodes of the
wder have been recovered.
d only á;*r;à ;ith relief
rî.,r"J- onr;pog*"n_
"r¿
. Of the original decoration
Theban Cycle: c. 46o nc $rom Pyrgi ry7o, frg. 36)
visible and very close to the temenos wall on the monumental entrance
now created for the sanctuary. Unfortunately, very little has
been
recovered of the side plaques; but the main one has been reconstructed
Along the sides the decoration
gutter (cortina pendula) and anre
within a shell with palme*es, of a well_known Caereran type.
The
ulus-ua-l fearure of the decoration of temple A, however,
,.rijå-i"ìirã
relief plaques applied to the columen and'mutuli
tn. uå.L g"ul.. rr,i,
"r r.-pt. ñá, .l."rly
was certainly due ro rhe fact that this side of the
almost entirely, and offers a striking example of terracotta sculpture of
the Late Archaic period.
The central picture of the back gable of temple A is a terracotta squarè
(about r4oxrlocm), carrying six figures in high relief arranged at
different heights and levels, representing two episodes of the mythical
siege of the Seven at Thebes.2l The upper right part of the plaque shows
the proud Capaneus struck by the bolt of Zeus, who seems to intervene
' '?| This interpretation was first proposed by E. Paribeni, Arch.Cl. zt (t9691, 531.
5z8
Frøncesca R, Serra Ridgway
Etruscans, Greek_s, and
La
original in its
astounding in
the artist is as
example of
tr.
.-t
Cørtbaginiøns
5z9
the \ùíes
nd stylis
ibited in
t it has been suggested that he might
have been a master of bronze casting. The choice õf the subject is also a
matter of great interest, as these two episodes of the Theban áycl.
not
among the most commonly represented in Greek art, particuiarly "r.
at this
50 cm
ro. Pyrgi: section o!lhe colnen plaqueof temple
A, across
of
---- figure
-- the
".
Athena (from p ,rg.i ,97o, Êi.
suddenly
in the battre in
prace
y.il
of the mortar Theban opposed ro rhe
assailing Argive; the bottom of the scene
is-occupied completely by the
of Tydeus.andlfelanippur, both dyás,l;;;'hìi.ä.
9wo fsur¡1
U*.,
(to the right) is simpry fa,ing r"åË aã*"*ards,
rhe former
already sinking his ieåth into" his
explains Athena,s attitude:
the hero immortality (the po
is shown
e
her right hand), bui when s
cruelty, she retrears in disgust and I
Even in its battered stãte, this relief has
been hailed as the finest
time (towards 45o nc); and when Tydeus' story
on Attic vases,
"pp.ãtr
Athanasia is shown (rather incongruously) as a girl,
whereas it is referreá
to as a medicine (phar
the poets *ho *.re inspired by this
insight into the sources åf inspiiation
\yth.zz This offers us a
for the artisrs involved
ration of major religious builàings in
Etruria, and also into the cultural level and spiritual affinities of iheir
clients. In this case, we may norice how in a temple of purely local design
the decoration is totally Greek in its subjects, with d.finit. Boeotian
" hubris. Is this a
oropensity, and with a visible inrent ro show punished
deliberate commenr on Thefàrie Vèlianas?
on a more strictly religious level, we can observe the key position
occupied in this picure by zeus/Tinia, who had only been mentìoned in
connection with uni in the early bronze tablet related.to temple B. Three
Archaic bowls found in rhe sancuary, with the painted inscrþtion vNrAL
(belonging to uni), are ro be regarded as table vessels for the use of the
attendants (particularly those of temple B, officially dedicated to uni),
not as votive offerings; in fact, no proper votive deposit has been fo,.rnã
so far within the boundaries of the main sanctuary. A bronze ladle, found
in one of the wells with its handle deliberately bioken off, had probably
been used for cult functions. Ir carries an inscription to î"rthãns.
Just
outside the right wall of temple A, however, abionze tablet was forind,
preserving part of the dedication of an image of Thesan by Thanachvii
catharnai, dated to the 5th cenrury sc. It is rñerefore possibíe that temple
I y"r actually dedicated to Thesan, rhe Etruscan g-oddess of the rising
light who, as we have seen, could be assimilated tã Leucothea, mainl|
through the common identification with Mater Matuta. Both, aloni
with Eilythia, can be considered as special aspects of the manifold
powers of the Mother Goddess uni (or Astãrte), as parroness of
childbirth.
No other building was added to the sancuary after the completion of
temple A-and still we are informed that it was so wealthy
to -ou.
Dionysius of syracuse to organize an expedition especially to ",
plunder it.
The amount of money they took âr ay--a thousånd taientslin addition to statues and orher rich offerings, is a clear indication that pyrgi had
a function similar to that known foric me Greek sanctuaries, b,.rt *ithout
See J.
D. Beazley, JHS 67 ft947\, 5-9.
jlo
Francesca R. Serrø RidgutaY
group of fine relief figures from the front of temple A: a
man with mantle (togatus), a naked heroic Ercle, a running woman'
possibly Leucothea (who according tó one legend was saved in Italy by
Èrcle himself), and her young son Palaemon.2a
Nevertheless, the financial loss suffered from Dionysius'looting must
have inflicted a mortal blow to the city of Caere, which was inevitably
also becoming the nearest t^rget of Rome's greed after the fall of Veii.
lùüe have seen how one consequence, albeit probably indirect, of Caere's
mPtes
loss of independence was th
til the
at Pyrgi. Some religious obs
where
end ofthe Republican perio
types,
terracotta
Hellenistic
usual
a number of votive offerings, of the
by
Ostia
superseded
port
now
been
hâd by
have been recovered. But the
the
of
circuit
reduced
the
and Cosa, the town was deserted outside
glorious
site,
left
of
this
Roman colony, and in a short time nothing was
except the amazed memory of its past splendour-a memory which
through the tradition of a few tantalizing texts has reached down across
the centuries to us, to excite our learned curiosity'
Among them is
a
æ G, Colonna i¡z Atti del congtesso int. di numismatica, Roma ryû ft9651, 16617; M'P'
Baglione in: Saz tuali r98S,pp, r39-4r. A number of bronze coins, of the first half of the 3rd cent. nc,
weie recovered from the w"lli oltemple A: cp. colonna in: Göttin ryi¡,pp.28, 5z and Baglione, loc.
clt.
a
See
Santua¡i ¡985, p. r39 (with bibliography).