Tumuli.
The simplest, and therefore perhaps the earliest, monument which can be erected over the graves of the dead, by a people who reverence their departed relatives, is a mound of earth or a cairn of stones, and such seems to have been the form adopted by the Turanian or Tartar races of mankind from the earliest days to the present hour. It is scarcely necessary to remark how universal such monuments were among the ruder tribes of Northern Europe. The Etruscans improved upon this by surrounding the base with a podium, or supporting wall of masonry. This not only defined its limits and gave it dignity, but enabled entrances to be made in it, and otherwise converted it from a mere hillock into a monumental structure. It is usually supposed that this basement was an invariable part of all Etruscan tumuli, and when it is not found, it is assumed that it has been removed, or that it is buried in the rubbish of the mound. No doubt such a stone basement may easily have been removed by the peasantry, or buried, but it is by no means clear that this was invariably the case. It seems that the enclosure was frequently a circle of stones or monumental steles, in the centre of which the tumulus stood. The monuments have hitherto been so carelessly examined and restored, that it is difficult to arrive at anything like certainty with regard to the details of their structure. Nor can we draw any certain conclusion from a comparison with other tumuli of cognate races. The description by Herodotus of the tomb of Alyattes at Sardis (Woodcut No. [115]), those described by Pausanias as existing in the Peloponnesus, and the appearances of those at Mycenæ and Orchomenos, might be interpreted either way; but those at Smyrna (Woodcut No. [113]), and a great number at least of those in Etruria, have a structural circle of stone as a supporting base to the mound.
170. Plan of the Regulini Galeassi Tomb. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
These tumuli are found existing in immense numbers in every necropolis of the Etruscans. A large space was generally set apart for the purpose outside the walls of all their great cities. In these cemeteries the tumuli are arranged in rows, like houses in streets. Even now we can count them by hundreds, and in the neighbourhood of the largest cities—at Vulci, for instance—almost by thousands.
Most of them are now worn down by the effect of time to nearly the level of the ground, though some of the larger ones still retain an imposing appearance. Nearly all have been rifled at some early period, though the treasures still discovered almost daily in some places show how vast their extent was, and how much even now remains to be done before this vast mine of antiquity can be said to be exhausted.
One of the most remarkable among those that have been opened in modern times is at Cervetri, the ancient Cære, known as the Regulini Galeassi tomb, from the names of its discoverers.
171. Sections of the Regulini Galeassi Tomb. (From Canina’s ‘Etruria Antica.’) Scale for large section, 50 ft. to 1 in.
Like a Nubian pyramid or Buddhist tope, it consists of an inner and older tumulus, around and over which another has been added. In the outer mound are five tombs either of dependent or inferior personages. These were rifled long ago; but the outer pyramid having effectually concealed the entrance to the principal tomb, it remained untouched till very lately, when it yielded to its discoverers a richer collection of ornaments and utensils in gold and bronze than has ever been found in one place before.
The dimensions and arrangements of this tumulus will be understood from Woodcuts Nos. [170], [171], and from the two sections of the principal tomb which are annexed to them. These last display an irregularity of construction very unusual in such cases, for which no cause can be assigned. The usual section is perfectly regular, as in the annexed woodcut (No. [172]), taken from another tomb at the same place.
These chambers, like all those of the early Etruscans, are vaulted on the horizontal principle, like the tombs at Mycenæ and Orchomenos, though none are found in Italy at all equal to those of Greece in dimensions or beauty of construction.
172. Section of a Tomb at Cervetri. No scale.
Woodcut No. [173] is a perspective view of the principal chamber in the Regulini Galeassi tomb, showing the position of the furniture found in it when first opened, consisting of biers or bedsteads, shields, arrows, and vessels of various sorts. A number of vases are hung in a curious recess in the roof, the form of which would be inexplicable but for the utensils found in it. With this clue to its meaning we can scarcely doubt that it represents a place for hanging such vessels in the houses of the living.
All the treasures found in this tomb are in the oldest style of Etruscan art, and are so similar to the bronzes and ornaments brought by Layard from Assyria as to lead to the belief that they had a common origin. The tomb, with its contents, probably dates from the 9th or 10th century before the Christian era.
The largest tomb hitherto discovered in Etruria is now known as the Cocumella, in the necropolis at Vulci. It is rather more than 240 ft. in diameter, and originally could not have been less than 115 or 120 ft. in height, though now it only rises to 50 ft.
173. View of principal Chamber in the Regulini Galeassi Tomb.
Near its centre are the remains of two solid towers, one circular, the other square, neither of them actually central, nor are they placed in such a way that we can understand how they can have formed a part of any symmetrical design. A plan and a view of the present appearance of this monument are given in Woodcuts 174 and 175.
174. Plan of Cocumella, Vulci. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
175. View of Cocumella, Vulci.
This tumulus, with its principal remaining features thus standing on one side of the centre, may possibly assist us to understand the curious description found in Pliny[[163]] of the tomb of Porsenna. This description is quoted from Varro, being evidently regarded by Pliny himself as not a little apocryphal. According to this account it consisted of a square basement 300 ft. each way, from which arose five pyramids, united at the summit by a bronze circle or cupola. This was again surmounted by four other pyramids, the summits of which were again united at a height of 300 ft. from the ground. From this point rose still five more pyramids, whose height Varro (from modesty, as Pliny surmises) omits to state, but which was estimated in Etruscan traditions at the same height as the rest of the monument. This last statement, which does not rest on any real authority, may well be regarded as exaggerated; but if we take the total height as about 400 ft., it is easy to understand that in the age of Pliny, when all the buildings were low, such a structure, as high as the steeple at Salisbury, would appear fabulous; but the vast piles that have been erected by tomb-building races in other parts of the earth render it by no means improbable that Varro was justified in what he asserted.[[164]]
Near the gate of Albano is found a small tomb of five pyramidal pillars rising from a square base, exactly corresponding with Varro’s description of the lower part of the tomb of Porsenna. It is called by tradition the tomb of Aruns, the son of Porsenna, though the character of the mouldings with which it is adorned would lead us to assign to it a more modern date. It consists of a lofty podium, on which are placed five pyramids, a large one in the centre and four smaller ones at the angles. Its present appearance is shown in the annexed woodcut (No. [176]).
Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
176. Tomb of Aruns, Albano.
There are not in Etruria any features sufficiently marked to characterise a style of architecture, nor any pillars with their accessories which can be considered to constitute an order. It is true that in some of the rock-cut tombs square piers support the roof; and in one or two instances rounded pillars are found, but these are either without mouldings or ornamented only with Roman details, betraying the lateness of their execution. The absence of built examples of the class of tombs found in the rock prevents us from recognising any of those peculiarities of construction which sometimes are as characteristic of the style and as worthy of attention as the more purely ornamental parts.
From their city gates, their aqueducts and bridges, we know that the Etruscans used the radiating arch at an early age, with deep voussoirs and elegant mouldings, giving it that character of strength which the Romans afterwards imparted to their works of the same class. The Cloaca Maxima of Rome (Woodcut No. [104]) must be considered as a work executed under Etruscan superintendence, and a very perfect specimen of the class.
At the same time the Etruscans used the pointed arch, constructed horizontally, and seem to have had the same predilection for it which characterised the cognate Pelasgian race in Greece. A gateway at Arpino (Woodcut No. [177]) is almost identical with that at Thoricus (Woodcut No. [126]), but larger and more elegant; and there are many specimens of the same class found in Italy. The portion of an aqueduct at Tusculum, shown in Woodcut No. [178], is a curious transition specimen, where the two stones meeting at the apex (usually called the Egyptian form, being the first step towards the true arch) are combined with a substructure of horizontal converging masonry.
In either of these instances the horizontal arch is a legitimate mode of construction, and may have been used long after the principle of the radiating arch was known. The great convenience of the latter, as enabling large spaces to be spanned even with brick or the smallest stones, and thus dispensing with the necessity for stones of very large dimensions, led ultimately to its universal adoption. Subsequently, when the pointed form of the radiating arch was introduced, no motive remained for the retention of the horizontal method, and it was entirely abandoned.
177. Gateway at Arpino.
178. Aqueduct at Tusculum.