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Archaeologia: Pyrgi
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by Caila Sempronius Pyrgi was the principal port of Caere, identified in the area of Santa Severa where the excavations which were begun in 1957 have brought to light a sanctuary (probably dedicated to the female deity Ilicia-Leucotea) and which traditional sources say was destroyed in 348 B.C. by the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius. Historically, Pyrgi followed the events of the metropolis of Caere, with a period of great flourishing between the 7th and 5th centuries B.C., corresponding to the Etruscan dominion of the seas. From the 3rd century, with the fall of Caere to the Romans, a maritime colony was set up there, definitively established in the 2nd century A.D. The sanctuary area is composed of two parallel temples (A and B) and a sacred area. Temple A is of the traditional Etruscan style with three chambers (cellae). Among the remains of the clay decorations is a mythological frieze of outstanding importance. This frieze which decorated the back façade, contains scenes of the myth of the Seven Against Thebes (now in the Villa Giulia Museum in Rome) and is a work in the severe style of the first decades of the 5th century B.C.
Temple B. which is older than temple A, si similar to Greek structures with only one chamber surrounded by columns. It also has clay decorations and friezes adorning the central beam work and the mutuli of the façade with scenes of the Works of Heracles. But the most sensational discovery coming from the Pyrgi excavations are undoubtedly the three golden sheets with bilingual inscriptions in Phoenician and Etruscan. These were found in a well between the two temples. Two of these are in Etruscan and one is in Phoenician as a translation, though not literally exact. They refer to the dedication, made by the king of Caere, Thefarie Velianas, to the Phoenician goddess Astarte (Uni-Astarte), testimony to the relations between Caere and the Carthaginians who, as sources tell us, had already fought together against the Greeks of Phocea at Alalia.
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RELIGIO ROMANA, Cult of Mithras
SLL Lectiones Latinae SLL Litteratura Classica The Etruscan Library The AW Neigborhoods Hellenike Paideia, a concept of education in Ancient Greek Menerva Delenda Est Carthago ELLHNIKH PAIDEIA Hellènikè Paideia The Neighborhoods of The Roman World Roman Entries for the November issue of Acta Diurna Roman Family Names SLL X-mas wish Acta II, 2004-2005 Satyricon: a Roman Novel of the 1st Century A.D. The Roman Hood Report AD April 2005 Issue, concept Roman Entry Acta IV, 2005 (concept) Lesson II Ancient Greek Course Acta Issue, May 2005(concept) Satyricon: a Roman Novel of the 1st Century A.D. Martialis, the poet of epigrams Acta Issue, IV,7 (concept) The Divina Commedia and the Aeneid (under construction) The Religion of the Etruscans, according to Massimo Pallottino The European Anthem Acta Diurna, Issue 8 (concept) Concept Rome Page Acta November 2005 The Roman Family Project Pullo and Vorenus Archaeologia: Orvieto Archaeologia: Forum Romanum: The Arch of Septimius Severus Archaeologia: Forum Romanum: Rostra, Curia, Decennalia Base and Lapis Niger Archaeologia: Menerva on an Etruscan mirror in the Badisches Landesmuseum in Karlsruhe, Germany Archaeologia: Forum Romanum: The Arch of Titus |
