Falerii
Falerii ( Greek Φάλεριοι ) was the capital of the Falisker in antiquity and, in alliance with the Etruscans, a significant opponent of Roman expansion. It was located on the site of today's Italian city of Civita Castellana in Latium . From Roman times to the Middle Ages there was a successor settlement, also called Falerii, a few kilometers to the west. It is also called Falerii Novi "new Falerii" in modern literature to distinguish it (the original settlement accordingly Falerii Veteres "old Falerii").
The Faliscan Falerii (Falerii Veteres)
location
Position: 42 ° 17 ′ 15 " N , 12 ° 25 ′ 4" E
The original Falerii was about seven kilometers west of the Tiber and 55 kilometers north of Rome . The settlement area was strategically located extremely favorably on the rock plateaus of a landscape criss-crossed by steep ravines. The tributaries of the Treja , especially the Rio Maggiore and the Rio Filetto, have dug their way 90 meters deep into the soft tuff rock in this area . The individual parts of the city stretched out over the hills of Civita Castellana, Colonette, Vignale and Celle. The settlement center of the classical Falerii is the Castellana plateau with a surface of 1100 × 400 meters. Access was only possible in the west, which for this reason was fortified with a wall and ditch. The other steep slopes of the city were protected with walls made of rectangular tuff stones, some remains of which are still visible today.
Legend and early days
The founding myth of the city can be found in numerous stories by ancient authors. Some ( Ovid , Solinus ) report that the place was founded by Halesus, a son of Agamemnon , others ( Pliny , Dionysius ) that it was an Argive colony. The ancient authors all agree on the relationship with Argos , with the exception of Justinus , who calls Falerii a Chalcidian colony. Strabon's assurance that their population, the Faliskers, are not of Etruscan origin is based on the language of the oldest local inscriptions. A relationship with the Sabines can at least be established through linguistic comparisons. Nevertheless, the Falisker are often referred to in ancient literature as the people of Etruria ( Titus Livius ), which at least in Livius' time attests to a close connection to the Etruscan heartland. Excavation finds show that the area has been around since the 10th century BC. It was settled, making it one of the oldest permanently inhabited centers in central Italy.
history
The historically transmitted history of Faleriis was mainly characterized by perpetual wars. As early as 437/436 BC The Falisker marched on the side of Fidenae in the fight against Rome; This alliance certainly testifies to long-term good contacts in the Latin region . From 402 to 293 BC BC Falerii followed the Etruscan cities Veio and Tarquinia again in three long wars against the emerging metropolis on the Tiber. One of the early disputes is the story of the teacher who wanted to betray his students to the Roman general Marcus Furius Camillus - who rejected the offer and the residents then handed over the city. After the respective defeats, Falerii fell victim to a self-inflicted rebellion against Rome's supremacy in the final phase of the first Punic War . 241 BC The city was captured and destroyed. The Roman Senate relocated the population to the flat country and founded a settlement of the same name to the west of the old city, modernly called Falerii Novi to differentiate it from the Faliski city . In the Middle Ages, the inhabitants returned to the original settlement area, which was easier to fortify, where the town of Civita Castellana was built.
The archaeological finds
Ceramic finds within the settlement attest to contacts between the Falisker city and Greek traders since the end of the 8th century BC. In particular, some religious centers of ancient Falerii can still be assigned and form a large part of the excavated sites. The Temple of Apollo by Lo Scasato and a previously largely unexplored complex of buildings are located in the southeast of the main town, a large and a small temple on the Vignale, the temple of Sassi Caduti below the Colonette plateau, the altar of Ninfeo Rosa in the north and the temple of Celle am Road intersection leading to the Faliscan north. The foundations in the area of the Temple of Celle are spread over an area of approx. 50 × 50 m. In current reconstructions, it is one of the largest religious complexes in the entire Etruscan region and its dimensions are only surpassed by the Trinity temple on the Roman Capitol and the Ara della Regina in Tarquinia . However, a much smaller reconstruction of a building is also possible in only part of the area. His assignment to the warlike main deity Faleriis, Juno Quiritis , is not certain, but it is probable. The temple of Celle is best known for the finds of the head of an archaic goddess image and the terracotta high relief of a female robed statue. The artifacts of the other temples in the city also show masterpieces of ancient Italian art. At the Sassi Caduti sanctuary, for example, a terracotta medium acroter with two warriors was found and a Hellenistic terracotta statue of Apollo was found at the Lo Scasato temple . The finds can be seen today in the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia in Rome and in the Museo Archeologico dell'Agro Falisco in the Forte Sangallo in Civita Castellana. In addition to the sacred sites, the sepulcral necropolis in particular have been preserved. Chamber and shaft graves carved into the rock can be found around the ancient city and testify to the once rich population both by the number and the values of the grave goods found. Similar finds have been made in Calcata , 10 kilometers south, and Corchiano , 8 kilometers northwest.
The Roman Falerii (Falerii Novi)
Position: 42 ° 17 ′ 59 " N , 12 ° 21 ′ 34" E
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The Roman Falerii (often Falerii Novi ; location in modern literature to distinguish it ) was built after the destruction of the Faliski settlement of Falerii. Later on, Falerii rarely appears in the story. It became a colony (Junonia Faliscorum) , probably under Augustus , although according to the inscriptions this could not have happened before the time of Gallienus . Bishops resided in Falerii until the residents began to leave the place in 1033 in favor of the original settlement and found Civita Castellana. The last mention of Faleriis comes from 1064.
Falerii (Novi) was on Via Amerina , a street that connected Via Cassia with Via Flaminia . The Via Amerina came south of Nepet and led to the eponymous Ameria . The city was surrounded by a 2108 m long wall and has an approximately trapezoidal plan. The walls are considered a prime example of neatly crafted Roman military architecture. The most famous gate, the Porta di Giove, from the late 3rd century BC. BC has a keystone with a head protome and is in excellent condition. In total, the city had around 50 towers and nine gates. The Roman Falerii was abandoned in the 11th century. The city walls are still visible from afar today. Hardly anything remained of the buildings within the walls above ground. Today the area is partly used for agricultural purposes. Only the forum and the Roman theater , as well as the amphitheater located outside the walls , whose arena measures 54 × 32 m, have been excavated.
The only surviving building in Falerii Novi is the 12th century Abbey Church of Santa Maria . The Catacombs of San Gratiliano and Santa Felicissima are nearby .
In addition to the ruins of the town of Falerii Novi, the Faleri settlement, a district of Fabrica di Roma , with a train station on the Roma Flaminio – Viterbo railway line , was built in the 20th century .
Surface radar surveys by the Universities of Cambridge and Ghent have been able to determine the location of previously unrecognized buildings (bathhouse, amphitheater, shops and temples) in the approximately 30 hectare area of the Roman settlement.
Remarks
- ↑ Lieven Verdonck, Alessandro Launaro, Frank Vermeulen, Martin Millett : Groundpenetrating radar survey at Falerii Novi: A new approach to the study of Roman cities. In: Antiquity Volume 94, Issue 375, 2020, pp. 705–723. https: // doi: 10.15184 / aqy.2020.82
literature
- Arvid Andrén: Architectural Terracottas from Etrusco-Italic Temples . Lund 1939-40
- Maria Anna de Lucia. Brolli: Civita Castellana. Il Museo Archeologico dell'Agro Falisco . Rome 1991
- A. Cozza, A. Pasqui: Carta Archeologica d'Italia (1881-1897). Materiali per l'Agro falisco . Forma Italiae 2.2, Rome 1981
- Giovanni Colonna (Ed.): Santuari d'Etruria . Cat. Arezzo 1985
- Annamaria Comella: I materiali votivi di Falerii . Rome 1986
- Wilhelm Deecke : The Falisker. A historical-linguistic investigation . Strasbourg 1888
- Ivan di Stefano Manzella: Falerii Novi negli scavi degli anni 1821 - 1830 . Rome 1979
- Enrico Stefani: Civita Castellana. Tempio di Giunone Curite. Nuove ricerche ed ulteriori osservazioni . Notes degli Scavi di Antichità 72, Rome 1947, 69 ff.
- Stefan Steingräber: Etruria. Cities, sanctuaries, necropolises . Munich 1981
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