The Transformation of the Etruscan Primary Towns
Roman Gentrification - The Transformation of Town and Country on the Italian Peninsula - Peter de Graaf
Peter de Graaf [+]
Description
In Chapter 4 I will discuss the Etruscan towns, with a focus on Veii, Doganella and Volaterra. The transformation of Veii, a primary centre of the Etruscans before the Roman conquest, is based on the study of the pottery evidence from the urban and rural surveys by the British School at Rome. The size of habitation in the different phases of the town’s existence were reconstructed based on urban and rural field survey data and contextualized using Livy’s narrative. The second town I will investigate is Etruscan Doganella, located in the fertile plain of the Albegna Valley. This large town was conquered by the Romans under conditions that cannot be reconstructed due to a lack of archaeological evidence and literary sources. The town disappeared in the Roman period and the Albegna Valley transformed into a colonial landscape. Finally, Volaterra will serve as an example for a peaceful form of expansion by the Romans: Terrenato argued in favour of an elite-negotiated hand-over of Volaterra that resulted in continuity of the rural settlement pattern.