Archaeology

Ancient Rome Uncovered __ Read about a major new archaeological project in the center of ancient Rome. A find near the Coliseum triggered this international effort. You will also learn some of the rather sad state of Italian archaeology.

Etruscan art - Before the days of ancient Rome's greatness, Italy was the home of a nation called Etruria, whose people we call the Etruscans. Its civilization prospered between 950 and 300 BCE. in northwestern Italy — in a region between the Arno River (which runs through Pisa and Florence) and the Tiber (which runs through Rome). These people rose to prosperity and power, then disappeared, leaving behind many unanswered questions concerning their origin and their culture. Because little Etruscan literature remains and the language of inscriptions on their monuments has been only partially deciphered, scholars have gained most of their knowledge of the Etruscans from studying the remains of their buildings, monuments, vast tombs, and the objects they left behind, notably bronze and terra cotta sculptures and polychrome ceramics.

The Civic Archaeological Museum of Bologna is located in the heart of the city, inside Palazzo Galvani, close to Piazza Maggiore and the Church of San Petronio. The first construction of this building dated back to the XV century. Modifications and renovations continued up to 1881, when it was definitively opened to the public as a Museum. You can reach the Museum using any bus that runs through Piazza Maggiore.

a major site on Roman antiquity, including a photogazetteer of Roman and Etruscan cities and monuments (with a very large site on the city of Rome of course); a site for teaching yourself to read Latin inscriptions; the complete Latin texts of Pliny the Elder's Natural History, Quintus Curtius' Histories of Alexander the Great, the Saturnalia of Macrobius, and Censorinus' de Die Natali; Suetonius, Velleius Paterculus, the Historia Augusta, Claudian, Frontinus, Vitruvius, Celsus, and Cato's de Re Rustica in both Latin and English; complete English translations of Polybius, Cassius Dio, Dio Chrysostom, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Appian's Civil Wars and Quintilian; Rodolfo Lanciani's book Pagan and Christian Rome, Christian Hülsen's book on the Roman Forum, Bury's 2‑vol. History of the Later Roman Empire, Bevan's House of Ptolemy, 4 books on Roman Britain, George Dennis's Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria; Platner and Ashby's Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (nearly complete) and most of Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities; a fair amount of Plutarch and Ptolemy's Geography; some maps of the Roman Empire, and lots more.

Lucus Augusti, the oldest Galician capital, owes its founding to the expansion policy carried out by Augustus whose desire was to join the northeast peninsula to the Roman Empire. Paulo Fabio Máximo, therefore, founded " Lucus Augusti", (XII year before Christ) named after the emperor . The city was to be the capital of the jurisdiction of Callaecia, incorporating northern Tarraconensis. The name Lucus, where the name Lugo comes from, is a derivation of the Latin meaning sacred wood. Lucus Augusti is the sacred wood of Augustus. It may also go further back and derive from the name of the celtic God "Lugh", God of light, who was worshipped in this area in pre-Roman times. Under their time, the city played an important role as a religious centre as the sacred city of Augustus in the Callaecia.

The Upper and Middle valley of Serchio river, between Apuane Alps and Northern Appennines has been known for a long time because of the great number of Final Epigravettian and Mesolithic (Sauveterrian and Castelnovian) sites, but only recently the archaeological researches performed by Paolo Notini allowed us to recognize two Neolithic sites in Pieve Fosciana commune (LU) that have been excavated in 1995-1997.

In all studies of Etruscan art, it should be remembered that a large proportion of Etruscan art did not survive up until the present day. We read of the Roman destruction of Volsinii and the destruction of 2000 Etruscan bronzes which were melted down to produce bronze coins. As a result of this, we have a somewhat skewed perception of Etruscan art, in that most of the art that survives today is funerary art, and we form totally wrong impressions about the Etruscans as a result. From excavations at Murlo, Roselle and other city sites, it is apparent that art was a normal part of Etruscan life. In Murlo, a seventh century Etruscan villa has been unearthed. Reconstructions show large painted terracotta panels adorned the entrances. Necropolis art in the form of polychrome reliefs and frescoes hint that the Etruscans used colour to great advantage even from the earliest times. Although painted tombs are among the most famous, it should be remembered that these represent a minority, and that only the aristocratic families could afford such luxuries as tomb frescoes.

Archaeological reproductions in brass and bronze hand made with the ancient techniques.