Cosa (Ansedonia)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
View of the Cosa Capitolium

Cosa was a Roman colony on the coast of Etruria , in what is now southern Tuscany , in the Ansedonia district of Orbetello . The remains of the city are 113 meters above sea level and about 139 km from Rome . Cosa was built on a hill according to an orthogonal plan. The city had a forum , a capitolium , a curia and city walls. The around 150 BC The basilica , which was built in BC, is one of the earliest known Roman buildings of this type. The numerous residential buildings are of particular importance for research. The city experienced mainly in the republican period around 200 to 70 BC. Its bloom, but was then destroyed. The place was repopulated several times, but abandoned again and again and could never return to its old meaning. Large parts of the city remained uninhabited forever. Cosa was therefore also called a sporadic city. This particular situation preserved the well-preserved remains of a republican colony for research. Cosa is therefore one of the most important archaeological sites in Italy .

history

City map
Minted by Cosa, the reverse shows a horse over a dolphin

Cosa is mentioned by Virgil and is said to have helped Aeneas out with troops against the Etruscan king Mezentius . However, there is no archaeological evidence from this early period. In 280 BC The Etruscan city ​​of Vulci was conquered by the Romans. Seven years later, 273 BC. BC, Cosa was founded as a colony under Latin law on the territory of the Etruscan city, certainly to consolidate Roman rule in the newly conquered area. A predecessor Etruscan settlement, the name of which was adopted, was probably located near today's Orbetello. The city was on a hill near the sea with a port not far away. During excavations in the urban area, only very few older buildings were uncovered that did not suggest any previous settlement.

At the beginning, the city minted its own coins, which show Mars or Minerva on one side and a horse's head on the other. On the coins of Mars, a dolphin is depicted under the horse. The horse and the dolphin are associated in mythology with the sea god Neptune , which underlines the importance of the port in the founding of the city. Presumably at this time the monumental city wall and around 240 BC. The curia established. In the actual city area, however, there are hardly any remains from the third century BC. 196 BC At the request of the city, Cosa was reinforced with another 1000 colonists. Based on the size of the city, however, it can be assumed that not all newcomers were settled within the city walls, many of them probably moved to the surrounding area belonging to the colony. The rectangular city map was probably laid out at this time. The residential development in the city does not begin until around this time and can be linked to the arrival of the new settlers. It remains uncertain where the population lived in the third century BC. The city is mentioned sporadically by ancient writers, but rarely as a site of important events, but rather because of events in the vicinity. Titus Livius reports that in the year 217 BC During the Second Punic War near the city a supply ship on the way from Ostia to Spain was captured by the Punic . In contrast to some other colonies, Rome was supported by Cosa in this war. Strabo mentions them when describing Italy. According to Pliny , the city, which he expressly describes as a Roman foundation, belonged to the Etruscan city of Vulci .

In the second century BC the city experienced its modest heyday. Various public buildings such as the basilica and other temples have now been built. The Sestii family was based in Cosa. The Sestii traded in wine. The family business was founded in the third century BC. Founded and flourished especially at the end of the second century BC. Chr. Publius Sestius was in the first century. BC politician and became a tribune of the people . The family may have had their country estate in the Villa di Settefinestre, which is three kilometers from the city.

Around 70 BC BC the city was probably destroyed and finally abandoned. Excavations in the urban area show that Cosa was found in the middle of the first century BC. Was uninhabited. The reasons for this are uncertain. The excavator Frank E. Brown initially suspected that these were the consequences of the civil wars . He later assumed the city had been pillaged by pirates. In 67 BC BC defeated Lucius Gellius Publicola , the admiral of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus , pirates who are known to have permanently raided the Italian coast. The approximate date of the looting of the city is given by a coin hoard found in the House of the Treasure from around 71/70 BC. Was buried. Destruction of the city is not really certain and it is also possible that Cosa simply lost its importance in the first century BC. At the same time, various large villas were built in the area , while smaller farms were abandoned. The port of Cosa continued to operate. However, Cosa was never able to recover properly from this event.

However, under Emperor Augustus , Cosa was partially rebuilt. Parts of the forum were renovated and new houses built on the remains of the old ones. Large parts of the city were no longer inhabited. Land that had not been rebuilt, even inside the city, may have been used as gardens. The houses were now partly larger, so that a significantly lower population has to be assumed. In the first half of the first century AD there was an earthquake in which the basilica in particular collapsed. Two inscriptions from the reign of Emperors Claudius and Nero attest to a certain imperial interest; the city probably continued to function as the market and administrative center for the villas in the area.

In the second century AD, the place continued to exist on a modest scale, but in the third century it lost a lot of its importance. Under Emperor Caracalla there were some modifications to the forum. Perhaps the place should be revitalized as a local administrative center. Around this time a sanctuary for Liber Pater and a mithraeum were built . Both sanctuaries are architecturally rather modest and built into older buildings. In the fourth century, a humble Christian church was built over the remains of the basilica. In 416, Rutilius describes the city as deserted. In the sixth century and in the Middle Ages there were individual farms in the area of ​​the city. From the 9th century it was named Ansedonia.

exploration

Plan of the partially excavated insulae

The place is considered one of the most important archaeological sites in Italy. The ancient city is not built over in a modern way. This particular situation preserved the remains of a Roman city from the Republican era for research . The ruins had long been known; especially the walls of the city are well preserved to this day and have often been drawn and commented on. The remains of a gate at the forum were drawn by Giorgio Santi as early as 1793 . However, it was not until May 1948 that an inspection of the remains took place under Frank E. Brown , during which all still visible ruins were measured and drawn. Systematic excavations were carried out from 1948 to 1954 and from 1965 to 1972 by the American Academy in Rome , again under the direction of Frank E. Brown; further excavations were carried out by the American Academy in Rome from 1991 to 1997. During this time the house of Diana was excavated. There were also various smaller excavations spread over the entire city area, the main purpose of which was to illuminate the period of settlement in different parts of the city. The area around the city (ager Cosanus) with its villas, including the large Villa di Settefinestre, was also examined in the course of this research project.

location

The city stands on a hill that rises about 100 meters above sea level. This hill is close to the sea, east of the Monte Argentario peninsula . Directly at the foot of the city hill, about 600 meters southeast of the city proper, is its port, which was called Portus Cosanus in ancient times . There is a fresh water source here, which gave the port its special importance, as most of the ports in the region had no fresh water.

The city map

Cosa was built according to an orthogonal plan on a hill that was not level. In the far east is a hill (about 108 meters above sea level), the top of which is still enclosed by the city wall. In the far south is the capitol of the city at about 113 meters above sea level. The terrain sloped away to the north. The political center of the city was the Forum, located in the east. From there one road led to the north gate, another to the Capitol. Despite the irregular terrain, the city map was strictly adhered to. The streets were six meters wide. However, the street connecting the Forum to the Capitol was 9 meters wide. The largest houses in the city stood by the forum and the broad street. When the city was founded, there was strict parceling, with 24 plots reserved for large houses and 224 for smaller residential buildings. However, the size of the insulae varied. They are wider in the east of the city than in the west, and are 280 Roman feet long and 110 to 115 feet wide (about 82 × 43 meters). Insulae in the center of the city were only 180 feet long. The insulae are divided into 10 units for the residential buildings. These were 56 to 58 Roman feet long and 28 to 30 feet wide. The houses stood in the large insulae at the front, while the rear plots were used as gardens, kitchens and workshops.

Portus Cosanus

The port of Cosa with the remains of quays

The city's port was about 600 meters to the southeast. Even today you can see mighty walls in the sea that protected the bay from the sea. They are probably in the first century BC. Was built. In the far north stood a small, in the second century BC. Temple built in BC. In the first century AD, the port lost its commercial importance. It continued to be used, but a large villa was built on the site of the settlement. Part of the villa complex was also a pumping station that supplied a higher cistern with water, perhaps for a bath.

Individual buildings

The city wall

West gate

The city has a wall, some of which are still well preserved today. Another wall separated the Capitol from the rest of the city. The 1464 meter long wall was built on the tops of the hill and includes the capitol, but also the elevation in the east. In the north, east and south there is a gate that has an attached courtyard to the city center. At a distance of about 28 to 35 meters, the wall has a tower, a total of eighteen. The wall is made of hard, gray limestone and was once probably nine to ten meters high. The masonry consists of large, irregularly shaped stones. The wall is similar in style to other Republican city walls and probably dates to the third century BC.

Remnants of the Capitol
Remains of the terracotta decoration of the Capitol

Capitolium

The Capitolium, also called arx (Latin: fortress) by the excavators , was located at the southernmost and highest point of the city. There were three temples here, but they were not built at the same time. A first temple, of which little is known, was built around 240-220 BC. Built in BC. Next to this temple was a large platform, perhaps for an altar. This temple was torn down when a larger sanctuary was being built. Due to a modern construction, this temple could not be excavated so far. The new temple dedicated to Jupiter was built between 175 and 150 BC. Built on the site of the platform. He stands on a high dais that could be climbed by a wide staircase. This platform is 46.25 × 23.24 meters in size. The actual temple building on the platform was decorated with four pillars at the front and two further pillars in a second row. The inside had three cellae . The walls were stuccoed in the first Pompeian style . The floors had mosaics. There were only modest remains of both decorations. There was an altar in front of the temple. Especially the roof and the gable of the temple were richly decorated with terracotta panels. The temple was redesigned in the late first century BC with a decoration of terracotta panels. There is evidence of repairs to the roof tiles from the centuries after the birth of Christ. But there were no fundamental modifications. The remains of the temple still reach a height of a few meters today.

Next to the great temple of Jupiter stood a smaller one, which also stood on a podium. This was called Temple D by the excavators . He was around 170/160 BC. And had only one cella. It was also richly decorated with terracottas.

Forum

City plan with forum

The forum is in the east of the city. It was an open space; public buildings were mainly on the north side. On the other sides there were partly residential buildings of wealthy citizens. The oldest buildings in the forum date back to the third century BC. Various cisterns on the edge of the open space date from this time . The Comitium and Curia were founded around 240 BC. Built in BC. At that time the forum was lined with a number of trees, eight of which were still pits. Around 170 BC BC three sides of the forum received a porticus . During this time, a temple was built next to the curia. Only the north side, on which the public buildings stood, remained of the porticus, at least partially free, perhaps so as not to obstruct the view of the temple and the curia. In the first century BC the forum with the city was abandoned and only around 20 BC. Used again.

In the first century AD, the basilica was converted into an odeon after being destroyed by an earthquake. A sanctuary was built in a private home. There are building inscriptions from this period that testify to a certain interest of the Princeps in the functioning of the forum. In the third century, parts of the curia were converted into a mithraeum and a small sanctuary was established for the Liber Pater. At about the same time a building was erected in the northwest of the forum, the function of which is not precisely known. It was roughly square and had three inner, parallel walls. The building was built on the remains of the atrium house that once stood there, but there are no remains of a floor, which suggests that it was once made of wood. Maybe it was a memory. In the fourth century the forum finally lost its function. A small church was built on the remains of the basilica. Most of the other structures fell into disrepair.

goal

At the north-western entrance of the forum are the remains of a limestone gate that was drawn as early as 1793. The gate collapsed by 1810. Large pieces of the masonry are still present today. The gate was once covered with stucco and stood between two atrium houses on the edge of the forum. It had a central entrance that was crowned by an arch. There was a smaller entrance on each side, each with an arch at the top. In total, it was about 8.81 meters wide.

Comitium and Curia

Around 240 BC The city's Curia was established on the north side of the forum . The building consists of the Comitium and the actual Curia behind it. The Comitium is roughly square (16.20 × 17.50 m) with rows of tuff seats in a circle in the middle. It probably wasn't covered. The Curia behind it stood on a pedestal and was probably reached via the rows of seats in the Comitium.

In the third century a cella of the Curia was converted into a mithraeum . The sanctuary was simple and had a single floor. There were bases for statues and a foot that probably belonged to a Mithras statue .

temple

On the east side of the Curia was around 175 BC. A temple was built, which is called temple B in research , since the name of the deity worshiped here is not known. The temple stands on a podium that is about 16.45 meters long and 9.89 meters wide. The actual temple with a one-room cella (8.45 by 7.23 meters) stood on it. The facade probably had four columns in two rows. There is a staircase in front of the building and an altar slightly offset. The temple was once richly decorated with terracotta panels, of which numerous fragments can still be found. These can be divided into different groups. Antefixes show the head of a Silenus or a maenad . Other fragments belong to panels that once adorned the roof of the temple. They mainly show floral motifs. A large number of terracotta fragments belong to figures that once certainly decorated the pediment of the temple. The fragments include the figure of a man with a Phrygian cap, a female figure and a naked male torso.

Liber Father Temple

Another sanctuary was established at the forum in the third century. It was dedicated to the Liber Pater . It was built into the southern entrance to the former forum. Various sculptures were found here, including the head of a marble statue of Hercules . Another statue depicts a naked, young man, stylistically dating to the first century. The statue may originally have decorated the garden of a private house. Two female busts were found. Furthermore, numerous lamps and coins were discovered in the sanctuary.

basilica

Northwest of the Curia was around 150 BC. A basilica was built. It was a simple hall that measured about 35.89 × 27.05 m and thus had an area of ​​940.92 m². There were three ships. The front was decorated with six pillars. Inside there were 16 more columns that formed a rectangle and probably supported the central nave of the basilica. The columns had Ionic tuff capitals . The back wall inside was decorated with stucco work in the 1st Pompeian style, the other walls were brightly plastered. The floor was laid out in Opus signinum . The basilica is of particular importance for several reasons. It is the earliest provincial basilica to be excavated. It is only about a generation younger than the first great basilicas in Rome, such as the Basilica Aemilia or the Basilica Porcia . The former is poorly preserved, the latter has not yet been found.

At the beginning of the first century, parts of the building collapsed. Under Emperor Nero , the basilica was converted into an odeum . A stage was set up at the rear and the grandstand at the front. There were remains of a marble slab with a building inscription naming this emperor.

Temple E.

During the systematic inspection of the city ruins in 1948, several temples were identified, which were designated with the letters A to D, as the deities worshiped here were unknown. The city's main temple on the Capitol did not receive a letter. Temple C was identified as the Curia during excavations. Another temple, designated as E, was excavated later. It stood on a hill in the far east of the city and was built at the beginning of the second century BC. However, only remnants of the outer walls were found of the actual temple, after which it was 6.25 meters wide and 11.25 meters long. The orientation of the temple is uncertain. It was clad with decorated terracotta panels.

Thermal baths

The city probably had a public bath, but none has yet been discovered. To the west of the forum, however, there are monumental remains of a building that once had vaulted ceilings in some rooms and may be interpreted as a thermal bath. The remains have not been excavated.

Residential buildings

Two republican houses
Gargoyle from the house of treasure
House of the skeleton, plan

Large areas of residential buildings have been excavated in two parts of the city. On the one hand there are two large atrium houses at the forum and on the other hand parts of two insulae in the city center. In one insula, six houses and their gardens were partially excavated. Two of these houses are well preserved and most of them have been exposed. They date to the Republican era and are good examples of the habitation of ordinary colonists. The houses show a similar structure. There was an entryway with a corridor flanked by a room on either side. There was also a large central room and another room at the other end. There was a long room at the back of the house that ran the width of the house. The houses are built from local stones. The upper part of the walls was probably mostly made of clay. The houses had cisterns under the floor.

In the so-called East Block , the remains of two more between 200 and 175 BC are under the House of Birds . Republican houses built in BC have been excavated. Both residential buildings correspond to the plan indicated above with an entrance and two flanking rooms, a central room with another small room and further rooms in the rear part of the house. The Southwest House is of particular interest as the name of the family that lives here is known. The abbreviation SAL for Salvius was found on vessels. A vessel was made between 200 and 175 BC. Another was found under a staircase in the garden that was destroyed in the first century when the property was acquired and rebuilt by the owners of the House of Birds . The house was owned by a single family for several generations.

The house of the treasure was built in the second century BC and rebuilt several times. In the first century BC, it took up two parcels, one of which was not previously built on and probably served as a garden. The last renovation took place around 90 BC. Instead of. The house is particularly noteworthy because a treasure from 2004 denarii was found there. The vessel bore a short inscription: Q. FVL, which is the abbreviation for Quintus Fulvius, who can be identified as the house owner. The treasure was discovered around 70 BC. Bury. During this time the city was destroyed. The house was not inhabited again.

In the center of the city is the House of the Skeleton , which got its name from a skeleton found in a cistern. It is also known as the SUNY house as it was excavated by the State University of New York. The time of its construction dates back to 89 BC. BC, but it was already around 70 BC. Chr. Destroyed. In the center there is a courtyard with an impluvium and a cistern underneath. The courtyard was likely to be expanded into its atrium, but that never happened. Various small rooms are built around this courtyard. To the left, next to the entrance, is the kitchen and a small bathroom. There is a garden in the back of the house. The house is built of stone up to a height of about one meter. The rest of the wall was made of plastered clay. Various floors are decorated with Opus-Signinum floors, which show simple geometric patterns. Remains of wall decorations of the First Pompeian style were found in seven rooms. The plan of the house is unusual and does not correspond to the normal scheme of atrium houses, as they are mainly known from Pompeii . In the house of the skeleton , the individual rooms are not oriented on specific axes, as is otherwise attested. The fauces (the entrance) does not open to the center of the atrium. The impluvium is not in the middle of the planned atrium and is also not in line with the tablinum behind it . The kitchen is in the front and not in the back of the house.

The House of Birds stands next to the House of the Skeleton and dates to Augustan times. It is an atrium house that was created by merging two older houses. The main entrance is in the southeast. To the left and right of the entrance there are two smaller rooms. This is followed by the atrium, which is decorated with a simple, white mosaic that is framed by a meander. Opposite the entrance is the tablinum, which is also decorated with a simple mosaic that also shows a meander that is in a rectangle in the center of the floor. From the atrium in the center of the house, on the left (as seen from the entrance), there was a smaller atrium that once belonged to a second house before the two buildings were merged. This part of the house consists of a small atrium and a long corridor, with various rooms on either side. A garden lay behind the tablinum in the main part. Various rooms were adorned with high quality wall paintings in the Second Pompeian style. The house was inhabited until the Flavian era . There is even evidence of occupancy well into the third century.

Remains of wall paintings in the garden of the House of Diana

The house of Diana was excavated by the American Academy in Rome between 1991 and 1997 and subsequently preserved. It was made around 197 BC. Built and rebuilt several times. Most of the remains of the house in the present form date from the time of Augustus, when the city was resettled. It was named after the torso of a Diana statue found in the house . It is partly decorated with geometric mosaics and wall paintings.

The house stands on the southwest side of the city's forum alongside three other houses, all built at the same time and once owned by wealthy citizens of the city. There were shops to the left and right of the entrance. Ceramic finds indicate that here in the late second century BC Chr. Wine sales took place. The room to the left of the entrance was richly decorated in Augustan times. It had a vaulted ceiling that was decorated with figural stucco, elaborate wall paintings and a mosaic floor. The excavators suspect a chapel for the imperial cult here . The entrance leads directly to the atrium. At the back there is the triclinium and next to it the tablinium. Behind is a garden. In this there is a shrine, in which perhaps the statue of Diana once stood. This consists of white marble. The head is missing. The statue also includes the figure of a dog. Another statue was found to have a female head. A third statue is a headless herm . In addition, there were other marble fragments that prove the rich furnishings of the house. These include the marble leg of a table, which is decorated with a three-dimensional griffin. Some painted wall decorations could be reconstructed. The walls were partly painted in a style that is at the transition from the second to the third Pompeian style. They show large painted panels in the main field and architecture in the upper zone. Two mosaics are black and white, with the white areas dominating. The center and the entrance to the room are decorated with geometric patterns in black. A third room shows a surface of hexagons as a mosaic.

literature

Web links

Commons : Cosa  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Description of the basilica .
  2. in English: intermittent , see title of the excavation publication: E. Fentress: Cosa V: An Intermittent Town
  3. ^ Virgil: Aeneid 10, 167.
  4. Titus Livius : Ab urbe condita , periochae to book 14; Velleius Paterculus , Historia Romana 1, 14, 7.
  5. ^ Anna Marguerite McCann: Lamps and the Dating of Roman Posrt and Ships In: Morma Wynick Goldman (editor): New Light from Ancient Cosa , New York 2001, ISBN 0-8204-5141-X , pp. 14-15.
  6. Titus Livius: Ab urbe condita 33, 24, 8-9.
  7. Titus Livius: Ab urbe condita 22, 11, 6.
  8. Titus Livius: Ab urbe condita 27, 10, 8-9.
  9. ^ Strabo: Geographika 5, 2, 8.
  10. Pliny: Naturalis historia 3, 8.
  11. ^ L. Richardson, jr: Sestius Noster , In: Morma Wynick Goldman (editor): New Light from Ancient Cosa , New York 2001, ISBN 0-8204-5141-X , pp. 49-55.
  12. ^ Brown: Cosa I, History and Topography , p. 19.
  13. ^ Brown, Richardson, Richardson jr: Cosa III, The Buildings of the Forum , 237.
  14. ^ Brown: Cosa. The Making of a Roman Town , pp. 74-75.
  15. Rutilius: Carmen de reditu suo , I, 285-286.
  16. ^ Excavations at cosa (1991-1997), part 2: the stratigraphy
  17. ^ Fentress: Cosa V: An Intermittent Town, Excavations 1991-1997 , pp. 23-25.
  18. ^ Bruno, Scott: Cosa IV, The Houses , p. 3.
  19. ^ Bruno, Scott: Cosa IV, The Houses , pp. 13-14.
  20. Brown: Cosa I, History and Topography , pp. 28-58.
  21. ^ Brown: Cosa I, History and Topography , p. 105.
  22. ^ Fentress: Cosa V: An Intermittent Town, Excavations 1991-1997 , pp. 64-65.
  23. ^ Brown, Hill Richardson, Richardson: Cosa III, The Buildings of the Forum , pp. 124-128.
  24. ^ Brown, Hill Richardson, Richardson: Cosa III, The Buildings of the Forum , 14.
  25. ^ Brown, Hill Richardson, Richardson: Cosa III, The Buildings of the Forum , pp. 244-245.
  26. Collin-Clinton: A late Antique Shrine of Liber Pater at Cosa , pp. 53-54, fig. 26; Fentress: Cosa V: An Intermittent Town, Excavations 1991-1997 , p. 66.
  27. Jacquelyn Collins-Clinton: Dionysus in the Garden , in: Morma Wynick Goldman (editor): New Light from Ancient Cosa , New York 2001, ISBN 0-8204-5141-X , pp. 123-143.
  28. Collin-Clinton: A late Antique Shrine of Liber Pater at Cosa , pp. 50-51, figs. 23-24.
  29. ^ Fentress: Cosa V: An Intermittent Town, Excavations 1991-1997 , pp. 29-30.
  30. ^ R. Taylor, in: Fentress: Cosa V: An Intermittent Town, Excavations 1991-1997 , pp. 217-222.
  31. ^ Brown: Cosa I, History and Topography , 82-84
  32. Bruno, Scott: Cosa IV, The Houses , pp. 31-64.
  33. Bruno, Scott: Cosa IV, The Houses , pp. 99-152.
  34. Alexander G. McKay: Roman houses and palaces , Feldmeilen 1980 ISBN 3-7611-0585-1 , pp. 57-58.
  35. Bruno, Scott: Cosa IV, The Houses , pp. 161-152.
  36. ^ R. Taylor: Sculpture and Furniture , in: Fentress: Cosa V: An Intermittent Town, Excavations 1991-1997 , pp. 191-213.
  37. S. Camaiani, F. Cavari, E. Gliozzo, V. Lolini, F. Lunghetto, S. Nurecci: The Wall paintings and the Decoratibe Pavements , in: Fentress: Cosa V: An Intermittent Town, Excavations 1991–1997 , p 145-190.

Coordinates: 42 ° 25 '  N , 11 ° 17'  E

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on November 30, 2014 .