VOLATERRAE
(Volterra) Tuscany, Italy.
A
city on a high ridge commanding the Cecina river valley
to the W, and the Era river valley to the E. In antiquity
it was in Regio VII, Etruria. It is mentioned by Pliny
(
HN 10.29.78), by Cicero (
Quinct. 6.24), by Strabo
(
1.1), by Rutilius Namatianus (1.453), in the
Antonine
Itinerary (p. 292), in the
Itinerarium Marit. (p. 501)
and in numerous mediaeval documents. The city was
very important in the Etruscan period, when it was called
Velathri, and even into the Roman period. In the Etruscan era, it was the defensive fortress of N Etruria and
its influence spread from the river Pesa in the E, to the
sea at Cecina and Vada in the W; from the river Cornia
in the S, to the mountain stream Fine in the N. The
city's influence is also documented on gravestones (from
Bologna) of the 5th c. B.C., wherein the Cecina, the
principal family of Volterra, are mentioned twice; it
controlled, in all practical matters, the entire mid area
of the river Arno.
Archaeological evidence, both in and around Volterra,
begins in the Stone Age, with invasions by the Rinaldone
and Remedello civilizations. In the Iron Age there was a
notable increase in population, particularly between the
10th and the 7th c. B.C. to judge from tombs at Badia
Guerruccia; and then, in the Late Iron Age, by numerous
rock-cut tombs at Guerruccia, at Santa Chiara, and
from San Giusto to Porta Diana. The empty chambers
are still partially visible. From these tombs have come
significant ceramic and bronze ware. In this era, the first
settlement was established on the acropolis (Piano di
Castello), with massive retaining walls, in an area still
quite limited. Between the 6th and 5th c. B.C. an enlarging of the area, now the area of the modern city, is notable. It was a self-sustaining settlement (agricultural and mining), with only scattered traces of imports.
During the first half of the 4th c. B.C. the encircling
walls reached a perimeter of more than 7 km, enclosing
an area of 116 ha. With mounting pressure from Rome,
the city became the center for the protection of the
Etruscan elements of the twelve lucumonies of which
Volterra formed a part. In the 3d c. B.C. the city was
very nearly subject to Rome, but preserved, by enrollment in the Sabatine tribe, its own organization and
continued to exert considerable influence on a large
surrounding area. The Cecina (Cic.
Fam. 6.6 and
Att.
16.4), owners of vast tracts of land, clay pits, kilns and
salt beds, dedicated the great theater at Vallebona, N of
the settlement. The city's importance outlasted the Middle Ages.
The visible monumental remains of Volterra begin
with the Etruscan period. In 1926 there were brought to
light the remains of a building, recognized for its sacred
character, on the ancient citadel of Piano di Castello.
The podium and a meager bit of wall from the building
still remain. A road paved with large slabs extends outside the building, which is flanked by other structures,
at least one of which is clearly recognizable as a temple.
Thus a temple complex is defined which dates from the
4th-3d c. B.C., together with lower structures that have
been identified as belonging to the period from the 8th
c. to the 5th c. In the excavated area are private dwellings
and one or more very deep cisterns probably antedating
the 4th c. There seems to have been another area, perhaps sacred in character, at Vallebona, to the E of the
present excavations on the Roman theater. A significant
foundation of an Etruscan structure has appeared. In
addition, remains of a wall probably Etruscan have come
to light beneath the orchestra of the theater. The great
circuit of the walls, an imposing Etruscan monument, has
already been mentioned. Better preserved and visible remains are at Santa Chiara (to the SW), at San Giusto
(to the N), and from San Giusto to Porta Diana (from
N to E), and some minor remains also; everything is well
built of squared blocks.
In the circuit of the walls are two large gates, the
Porta Diana and the Porta dell'Arco (the latter entirely
rebuilt during the Roman period) with three large human protomi. Notable Etruscan traces are from the
necropolis, the rock-cut tombs, at Badia or Montebradoni, at Portone, Marmini, Ulimeto, and Poggio alle
Croci. Among all the tombs, one of the most famous is
the Inghirami, reconstructed in the National Archaeological Museum in Florence. Also from the Etruscan period came pottery and bronzes and in particular alabaster funerary urns that date from the 3d to the 1st c.
B.C., well into the Roman era.
In the Roman period, the settlement was already beginning to shrink, as is evident from the cemeteries (the
hypogea of the aristocracy of the Etruscan period were
abandoned and the tombs were scattered everywhere,
with a dirth of furnishings) and from the public buildings. However, an entire quarter developed outside the Etruscan circuit wall to the N, beginning at the mediaeval Porta Fiorentina. It included a forum, a theater, and
a bath building (still another archaeological area probably exists W of the theater). From discoveries of the last few years in the area, some excellent figured mosaics have been recovered. There are remains of another
bath building (mosaics and a calidarium) to the SW
outside the Porta San Felice and a fine swimming pool
on the acropolis of Piano di Castello which continued
in use from the Etruscan into the Roman period.
The most significant building, however, is the theater.
It was completely hidden, from the Middle Ages on, by
the dumping of urban waste from the top of the walls.
The theater building itself is now almost totally excavated. Its large cavea, facing N, is crowned to the S by a cryptoporticus to which two inner staircases give access to the theater as they descend to the upper row of
seats. A fairly substantial number of the seats, reused
in the area to the N of the stage building, were recovered,
with names inscribed of the persons for whom they were
reserved. The orchestra and the parodoi have been uncovered and, above all, the imposing structure of the
stage building, which undoubtedly had two sections. As
a result of different finds (busts of Augustus and Drusilla; remains of a dedicatory inscription of the Cecina
from the front of the stage), it is almost certain that
the theater was erected between 35 and 25 B.C. Behind
the stage building, there was a large square with a
portico definitely identified on three sides. But to the N, a
fourth portico must have closed the square and faced the
natural slope of the terrain from a terrace buttressed by a
huge sustaining wall. The theater must have fallen into
disuse between the 3d and 4th c. Inside the quadriportico and behind the stage building, a bath building was constructed in the square. Nearly all of the environs of the bath have been uncovered.
Most of the finds from Volterra are in the Museo
Guarnacci in Volterra and in the National Archaeological Museum in Florence.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
G. Dennis,
Cities and Cemeteries of
Etruria (1848); A. Cinci,
Guida di Volterra (1885);
D. Levi,
NSc (1928) 34-44; G. Caputo & G. Monaco in
FA, vols. 4, 9-19; G. Maetzke,
StEtr (Rassegna Scavi e
scoperte) 25 (1957) 37 (1969) and G. Monaco, ibid.,
from 27 (1959) to 40 (1972); C. Laviosa,
Guida alle
stele arcaiche e al materiale volterrano (1962).
O. MONACO