New Discovery Reveals Etruscan Tarquinia Also Thrived as a Roman City

Foundations of the Ara della Regina temple successful the Etruscan archaeological country of Tarquinia. Credit: Paolo Villa / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Excavations astatine Italy’s Civita di Tarquinia are revealing that the past Etruscan city, agelong celebrated for its tombs, was besides a thriving Roman settlement.

The campaign, launched successful September, is directed by Jaume I University successful Spain successful collaboration with the University of Macerata and the University of Verona. The Italian Ministry of Culture authorized the work, which is co-directed by Josep Benedito of Jaume I University and Giulia Baratta of the University of Macerata.

A Roman metropolis of standard and sophistication

Archaeologists are uncovering the model of a Roman metropolis that erstwhile extended crossed astir 160 hectares. Excavation successful the forum country adjacent the Ara della Regina, antecedently studied by P. Romanelli, has brought to airy paved streets comparable to those successful Pompeii. These streets formed the backbone of a metropolis that besides included squares, markets, and nationalist buildings.

The squad has besides identified backstage residences, oregon domus, erstwhile owned by salient families. These homes sphere mosaics and painted walls, grounds of wealthiness and taste life. Columns, capitals, and different architectural fragments constituent to monumental structures of important value.

Findings corroborate earlier studies

The discoveries screen a wide chronological span, from the Republican epoch to Late Antiquity, with traces into the aboriginal Middle Ages. This continuity challenges the long-held presumption of Tarquinia arsenic a metropolis that declined aft its Etruscan period.

The new evidence corroborates earlier geomagnetic surveys conducted by the University of Verona, which had mapped the outline of a ample and analyzable municipality colony beneath the soil. Those surveys suggested a blase municipality program with a cautious organisation of nationalist and backstage spaces. The latest excavation confirms that vision, positioning Tarquinia arsenic a Roman metropolis of sizeable value successful the Mediterranean world.

Recasting Tarquinia’s legacy

Tarquinia has agelong been defined by its Etruscan heritage, astir famously its painted tombs, portion of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Until now, its Roman signifier was mostly overlooked. Archaeologists accidental the existent findings reconstruct balance, showing Tarquinia arsenic a dynamic metropolis that thrived nether some Etruscan and Roman rule.

The Tomb of the Shields, ( dated 340 BC and discovered successful 1870), is simply a ample hypogeum one of the largest #Etruscan #tombs successful #Tarquinia. The program of the tomb imitates that of a location with a cardinal atrium with 3 rooms #TombTuesday #Italy #Archaeology #History #art pic.twitter.com/ulmXBQrywd

— Jon Hawke 🏛️🏺 (@HawkeJon) August 1, 2023

The task volition proceed successful the coming years, with plans to analyse areas of the Roman metropolis that stay unexcavated. Researchers purpose to reconstruct Tarquinia’s improvement during the Republican, Imperial, and Late Antique periods, offering a fuller relationship of its municipality history.

By uncovering this hidden chapter, the excavation seeks to reconstruct Roman Tarquinia to planetary designation and enrich the broader knowing of 1 of past Italy’s astir influential cities.