The Mute Stones Speak: The Story of Archaeology in Italy

by Paul Lachlan MacKendrick

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book owes much to many: to the Trustees of the American Academy in Rome, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and the Research Committee of the University of Wisconsin Graduate School, for giving me the opportunity to spend three years in Italy; to Laurance and Isabel Roberts, for hospitality and moral support; to Axel Boëthius, for friendship and instruction; to Ernest Nash, for photographs and advice; to Mrs. Inez Longobardi, the best and most helpful of librarians and friends; to Ferdinando Castagnoli, for sharing with me his incomparable knowledge of the topography of Rome and Latium; to R. I. W. Westgate and Alston Chase, who taught me Latin at Harvard and have been my friends for thirty years; to the staff of the St. Martin’s Press: Diane Wheeler-Nicholson, and Fred J. Royar, for giving the book so handsome a dress; especially to my colleague J. P. Heironimus, for meticulous proofreading which saved me from much error; and to Frank E. Brown, who introduced me to archaeology and is hereby absolved from responsibility for all untoward results of the introduction. My overarching debt is acknowledged in the dedication.

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CONTENTS

1. Prehistoric Italy [1]

Neolithic sites in Puglia—The terremare—Sardinian nuraghi—The early Iron Age: Villanovan and Siculan cultures

2. The Etruscans [25]

Introduction—Origins—Etruscan cities—Political organization— Language—Religion—Creative arts—Life and customs

3. Early Rome [62]

The Palatine hut—The Forum necropolis—Rome of the Kings—The “Servian” Wall—The Largo Argentina temples

4. Roman Colonies in Italy [91]

Ostia—Alba Fucens—Cosa—Centuriation—Exploiting a frontier

5. Nabobs as Builders: Sulla, Pompey, Caesar [116]

The Sanctuary of Fortune at Praeneste—Pompey’s Theater and Portico—Caesar’s Forum

6. Augustus: Buildings as Propaganda [145]

Augustus’ Forum—The Arch of Augustus—The Mausoleum—The Altar of Peace

7. Hypocrite, Madman, Fool, and Knave [172]

The Cave “of Tiberius” at Sperlonga—The ships of Lake Nemi—The subterranean basilica at the Porta Maggiore—Nero’s Golden House

8. The Victims of Vesuvius [196]

Introduction—Pompeii’s town plan—Public life—Private life in town and country houses—Trade and tradesmen—Religion—Art

9. Flavian Rome [224]

The Forum of Peace—The Coliseum—The Arch of Titus—The Cancelleria reliefs—The Forum Transitorium—Domitian’s palace and stadium

10. Trajan: Port, Forum, Market, Column [251]

Ostia: its town plan—Municipal life and amenities—Insulae—The harbor—Trade—Religion; Rome: Trajan’s Forum, Market, and Column

11. An Emperor-Architect: Hadrian [273]

The Villa near Tivoli—The “Teatro Marittimo”—The Temple of Venus and Rome—The Pantheon—The Piazza d’Oro—Hadrian’s Mausoleum—The Canopus—The end of an era

12. Roman Engineering [298]

Roads—The Baths of Caracalla and Pennsylvania Station—Aqueducts—Aurelian’s Wall

13. Caesar and Christ [327]

The Imperial Villa at Piazza Armerina: its plan and mosaics—The Vatican cemetery and the shrine of St. Peter

Bibliography [352]

Index of Proper Names [361]

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ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG.	PAGE
[1.1]	4	Prehistoric sites in Italy (map)
[1.2]	5	Passo di Corvo, a prehistoric site in Puglia: air photograph
[1.3]	5	Dimini, a late Neolithic site in Thessaly, plan
[1.4]	5	Altheim, a late Neolithic site near Munich, plan
[1.5]	9	Comparative table of early cultures
[1.6]	9	Terramara at Castellazzo di Fontanellato, Pigorini’s plan
[1.7]	12	Su Nuraxi, a Sardinian nuraghe
[1.8]	12	Cremating and inhumating peoples of prehistoric Italy: map
[1.9]	21	Villanovan artifacts
[1.10]	21	A hut-urn
[1.11]	23	The Certosa situla
[1.12]	23	Picene tomb-furniture from Fabriano
[1.13]	23	The Warrior of Capestrano
[2.1]	28	Lemnos, inscription in local dialect, similar to Etruscan
[2.2]	28	Vetulonia, Aules Feluskes stele
[2.3]	30	Early Italy, to illustrate Etruscan and other sites. Inset: early Rome (map)
[2.4]	31	Marzabotto, grid plan
[2.5]	34	Spina, plan
[2.6]	37	Spina, grid plan, air photograph
[2.7]	37	Vetulonia, fasces from the Tomb of the Lictor
[2.8]	39	Etruscan alphabet
[2.9]	39	Tarquinia, Tomb of Orcus, inscription
[2.10]	44	Piacenza, bronze model of sheep’s liver
[2.11]	45	Piacenza liver, schematic representation
[2.12]	46	Potentiometer profile, revealing tomb-chambers underground
[2.13]	49	Tarquinia, Tomb of Hunting and Fishing, fresco
[2.14]	49	Tarquinia, Tomb of Orcus, portrait of the lady Velcha
[2.15]	50	Tarquinia, Tomb of Orcus, the demon Charun
[2.16]	53	Veii, Apollo (terracotta) from Portonaccio temple
[2.17]	53	Satricum terracotta antefix, satyr and nymph
[2.18]	55	Tarquinia, Museum: winged horses (terracotta) from Ara della Regina
[2.19]	55	Cerveteri, Tomb of the Reliefs, interior
[2.20]	59	Cerveteri, gold pectoral from Regolini-Galassi Tomb
[3.1]	68	Rome, Palatine, prehistoric hut, reconstruction
[3.2]	68	Rome, Forum necropolis, cremation and inhumation graves
[3.3]	72	Rome, Forum, strata at Equus Domitiani, photograph
[3.4]	72	Rome, Forum, strata at Equus Domitiani, schematic drawing
[3.5]	76	Rome, Forum, Lapis Niger stele
[3.6]	76	Rome, Forum, Rostra, third phase
[3.7]	79	Rome, Forum, Rostra, fifth phase
[3.8]	81	Rome, Republican Forum, plan
[3.9]	87	Rome, “Servian” Wall at Termini Station
[3.10]	89	Rome, Largo Argentina, temples, plan
[4.1]	92	Roman colonization, map
[4.2]	93	Ostia, castrum, plan
[4.3]	96	Alba Fucens, plan
[4.4]	102	Cosa, arx, plan
[4.5]	103	Cosa, plan
[4.6]	106	Cosa, Capitolium
[4.7]	108	Cosa, Comitium, plan
[4.8]	110	Alba Fucens, centuriation
[4.9]	111	Cosa, centuriation
[4.10]	113	Paestum, Roman grid of streets: air photograph
[5.1]	119	Palestrina, Museum: Barberini mosaic
[5.2]	121	Palestrina, Sanctuary of Fortune, reconstruction
[5.3]	121	Palestrina, Sanctuary of Fortune, inclined column capitals
[5.4]	125	Palestrina, Sanctuary of Fortune, buttresses and ramp (model)
[5.5]	128	Palestrina, Sanctuary of Fortune, model
[5.6]	131	Kos, Sanctuary of Asclepius, reconstruction
[5.7]	131	Tarracina, view toward Circeii from Temple of Jupiter Anxur
[5.8]	133	Tarracina, Temple of Jupiter Anxur, reconstruction
[5.9]	135	Rome, Tabularium
[5.10]	136	Tivoli, Temple of Hercules Victor, reconstruction
[5.11]	139	Rome, Pompey’s theater and portico, from Forma Urbis
[5.12]	141	Rome, Via dei Fori Imperiali, being opened by Mussolini
[5.13]	141	Rome, Imperial Fora, plan
[5.14]	143	Rome, Forum of Caesar
[6.1]	147	Rome, Forum of Augustus, model
[6.2]	153	Rome, Forum: Arch of Augustus, reconstruction
[6.3]	155	Rome, Mausoleum of Augustus
[6.4]	155	Rome, Mausoleum of Augustus, plan and elevation
[6.5]	157	Family tree of the Julio-Claudians
[6.6]	159	Rome, Altar of Peace, plan of freezing apparatus
[6.7]	161	Rome, Altar of Peace, fragments known up to 1935, plan
[6.8]	161	Rome, Altar of Peace, results of Moretti’s excavation, plan
[6.9]	163	Rome, Altar of Peace, reconstruction
[6.10]	163	Rome, Altar of Peace: Augustus
[6.11]	166	Rome, Altar of Peace: family group of Julio-Claudians
[6.12]	166	Rome, Altar of Peace: Agrippa, Julia, and Livia (?)
[6.13]	169	Rome, Altar of Peace: Aeneas
[6.14]	169	Rome, Altar of Peace: Tellus or Italia
[7.1]	174	Sperlonga, Cave “of Tiberius”
[7.2]	174	Sperlonga, Cave “of Tiberius,” reconstruction
[7.3]	177	Sperlonga, Cave “of Tiberius,” archaic head of Athena
[7.4]	177	Nemi, Braschi finds (1895) from ships
[7.5]	180	Nemi, second ship exposed
[7.6]	180	Nemi, ship, elevation
[7.7]	180	Nemi, ship, imaginative reconstruction
[7.8]	183	Rome, subterranean basilica at Porta Maggiore
[7.9]	184	Rome, subterranean basilica, plan
[7.10]	186	Rome, subterranean basilica, apse
[7.11]	191	Rome, Golden House, west wing, plan
[7.12]	191	Rome, Golden House, east wing, plan
[7.13]	193	Rome, Golden House, reconstruction drawing of whole area
[7.14]	193	Rome, the Neronian Sacra Via, plan
[8.1]	197	Pompeii, victims of Vesuvius, from House of Cryptoporticus
[8.2]	199	Pompeii, air view
[8.3]	199	Pompeii, plan
[8.4]	203	Pompeii, House of the Moralist, plan
[8.5]	203	Pompeii, House of the Moralist, reconstruction
[8.6]	204	Pompeii, House of the Moralist, triclinium
[8.7]	206	Pompeii, Villa of the Mysteries, plan
[8.8]	208	Pompeii, Villa of the Mysteries, reconstruction
[8.9]	208	Pompeii, Villa of the Mysteries, statue of Livia as found
[8.10]	210	Pompeii, Villa of the Mysteries: wine-press, reconstructed
[8.11]	214	Pompeii, thermopolium or bar
[8.12]	214	Pompeii, bronze bust of Caecilius Jucundus
[8.13]	214	Pompeii, House of D. Octavius Quartio, garden, reconstruction
[8.14]	217	Pompeii, House of D. Octavius Quartio, garden, with trellis
[8.15]	221	Pompeii, Villa of the Mysteries, fresco: woman being scourged
[9.1]	225	Rome, Forum of Peace, reconstruction from Forma Urbis
[9.2]	227	Rome, Forum Transitorium, Colonnacce before excavation
[9.3]	227	Rome, Forum Transitorium, Colonnacce after excavation
[9.4]	228	Rome, Imperial Fora, model
[9.5]	234	Rome, Coliseum, beast elevator, plan
[9.6]	234	Rome, Coliseum, beast elevator, elevation
[9.7]	234	Rome, Coliseum and environs, model
[9.8]	237	Rome, Arch of Titus
[9.9]	238	Vatican City, Cancelleria reliefs
[9.10]	239	Vatican City, Cancelleria relief, head of Vespasian
[9.11]	239	Vatican City, Cancelleria relief, Domitian transformed into Nerva
[9.12]	244–5	Rome, Palatine: Palace of Domitian, plan
[9.13]	245	Rome, Palatine: Palace of Domitian, reconstruction
[9.14]	248	Rome, Piazza Navona, air view
[9.15]	249	Rome, Stadium of Domitian, plan
[9.16]	249	Rome, Stadium of Domitian, model
[10.1]	254	Ostia, plan
[10.2]	255	Ostia, air view
[10.3]	259	Ostia, Casa dei Dipinti, reconstruction
[10.4]	261	Ostia, harbors, plan
[10.5]	261	Ostia, harbors, air view
[10.6]	261	Ostia, harbor of Trajan, model
[10.7]	264	Ostia, Mithraeum of Felicissimus, plan
[10.8]	268	Rome, Trajan’s Market
[10.9]	272	Rome, Trajan’s Column, detail
[11.1]	275	Tivoli, Hadrian’s Villa, Serapeum at Canopus, “pumpkin” vaults
[11.2]	276	Tivoli, Hadrian’s Villa, plan
[11.3]	276	Tivoli, Hadrian’s Villa, model
[11.4]	278	Tivoli, Hadrian’s Villa, Teatro Marittimo, air view
[11.5]	282	Rome, Temple of Venus and Rome, model
[11.6]	282	Rome, Temple of Venus and Rome, plan
[11.7]	284	Rome, Temple of Venus and Rome, apse with scale figure
[11.8]	284	Antinous
[11.9]	285	Rome, Pantheon
[11.10]	287	Rome, Pantheon, plan
[11.11]	287	Rome, Pantheon, interior, restoration
[11.12]	290	Tivoli, Hadrian’s Villa, Piazza d’Oro, plan
[11.13]	293	Tivoli, Hadrian’s Villa, Piazza d’Oro, reconstruction
[11.14]	293	Rome, Hadrian’s Mausoleum, reconstruction
[11.15]	293	Tivoli, Hadrian’s Villa, Canopus, plan
[12.1]	300	Roman road construction
[12.2]	306	Roman roads of the ager Faliscus
[12.3]	307	Faliscan roads of the ager Faliscus
[12.4]	311	Rome, Baths of Caracalla, air view
[12.5]	311	Rome, Baths of Caracalla, great hall, reconstruction
[12.6]	315	New York, Pennsylvania Station, McKim plan
[12.7]	315	New York, Pennsylvania Station, waiting room, before “modernization”
[12.8]	316	Rome and environs, map showing aqueducts
[12.9]	318	Aqueducts near Capannelle, reconstruction (painting)
[12.10]	322	Rome, Aurelian’s Wall, from south
[12.11]	323	Rome, Aurelian’s Wall, plan, with major Imperial monuments
[13.1]	328	Piazza Armerina, Imperial Villa, “Bikini girls” mosaic
[13.2]	330–1	Piazza Armerina, Imperial Villa, reconstruction
[13.3]	334	Piazza Armerina, Imperial Villa, Circus Maximus, mosaic
[13.4]	334	Piazza Armerina, Imperial Villa, small hunting scene, mosaic
[13.5]	338	Piazza Armerina, Imperial Villa, large hunting scene, mosaic
[13.6]	338	Piazza Armerina, Imperial Villa, Labors of Hercules mosaic, detail
[13.7]	343	Vatican City, excavations under St. Peter’s, west end, plan
[13.8]	343	Vatican City, excavations under St. Peter’s, Mausoleum F, stuccoes
[13.9]	346	Vatican City, excavations under St. Peter’s, Campo P, plan
[13.10]	348	Vatican City, excavations under St. Peter’s, Aedicula, reconstruction

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