Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1343

 VOLATERRAE. able situation on the summit of a hill, which required a steep ascent of ] 5 stadia from -what- ever side it was approached, while the summit itself presented a level surface of considerable extent, bounded on all sides by precipices, and crowned by the walls of the ancient city. (Strab. v. p. 223.) The hill on which it stands is, accordins: to modern measurements, more than 1700 English feet in height above the sea, and completely overlooks all the sur- rounding heights, so that the position of the city is extremely commanding. It is indeed the most sti'iking instance of the kind of position which the Etruscans seem to have generally jjreferred for their cities. There can be no doubt of the great antiquity of Volaterrae, nor that it was, from the earliest period of Etruscan history with which we have any acquaintance, one of the twelve principal cities of the Etruscan confederation: this conclusion, to which we should be irresistibly led by the still existing proofs of its ancient greatness, is confirmed by the earliest notice of it that we find in history, where it appears as one of the five Etruscan cities which furnished support to the Latins in their war with Tarquinius Priscits. (Dionys. iii. 51.) But from this time we find no subsequent mention of Vola- terrae in liistory till a much later period. Its re- moteness from Rome will indeed sufBciently account for the fact that its name never fisures in the long protracted wars of the Romans with the southern Etruscans ; but even after the Roman arms had been carried into the heart of Etruria, and the cities of Perusia and Arretium took active part in the wars, we find no mention of Volaterrae. In b c. 298, however, we are told that the Roman consul L. Scipio W'as encountered near Volaterrae by the combined forces of the Etruscans (Liv. x. 12), among which there is little doubt that those of the Volaterrans themselves were included, though this is not ex- pressly stated. But we do not again find their name noticed in the extant accounts of these wars, and the terms on which they were finally reduced to sub- mission by the Romans are unknown to us. We learn only that in common with most of the Etrus- cans they were received on the footing of dependent allies, and they appear among the " socii " who in the Second Punic War came forward to furnish supplies for the fleet of Scipio, b. c. 205. On that occasion the Volaterrans provided materials for ship- building as well as corn. (Liv. xxviii. 45.) From this time we hear no more of Volaterrae till the civil wars between Marius and Sulla, when the city espoused the cause of the former, and from its great natural strength became the last stronghold of the Marian party in Etruria, and indeed in Italy. It was besieged by Sulla himself long after every other city in Italy had submitted, and did not surrender till after a siege or rather blockade of two years' du- ration. (Strab. V. p. 223; Liv. Epit. Ixsxix. ; Cic. pro Rose. Amer. 7, pro Caec. 7.) As a punish- ment for its obstinacy, its territory was confiscated by the conqueror; but it appears that it was never actually divided, and the citizens who had survived the calamities of the war remained in possession of their lands, as well as of the rights of Roman ci- tizens, which had been doubtless conferred upon them in common with the other Etruscans by the Lex Julia in b. c. 89. (Cic. pro Bom. 30, ad Fain. xiii. 4, 5, ad Aft. i. 19.) It appears that another attempt was made to dispossess them by an agrarian law in the consulship of Cicero, but this calamity was averted from them by the eftbrts of the great VOLATERRAE. 1319 orator, to whom the citizens in consequence became warmly attached (Id. ad Fam. siii. 4), and it ap- pears probable that Caesar subsequently confii-mcd them in the possession both of their lands and mu- nicipal privileges. (/6.) Volaterrae, however, certainly received a colony under the Triumvirate (^Lib. Col. p. 214), but does not appear to have retained the title of a Colonia: it is expressly included by Pliny among the municipal towns of Etruria. (Plin. iii. 5. s. 8; Ptol. iii. 1. § 48.) We find no mention of the name in history under the Roman Empire; but it is certain that the city continued to exist ; and it appears again, after the fall of the Western Empire, as a place of im- portance dm-ing the wars of the Goths with Narses (Agath. B. G. i. 11). It continued to subsist throughout the middle ages, and still retains the title of a city and its episcopal see; though it has little more than 4000 inhabitants, and occupies only a small portion of the area of the ancient city. The latter is clearly maiked out, having comprised the whole level surface of the hill, a very irregular spate, above a mile and a half in length and more than 1000 yards in its greatest breadth : the whole ciicuit of the ancient walls is above three miles and a quarter. Very large portions of these walls are still vihii)le, and these massive fortifications are incontestably the finest specimens of the kind now existing in Etruria : they resemble in their general style of construction those ot Faesulae and Cortona, but are composed of a different material, a soft, arenaceous limestone, which composes the whole summit of the hill on which Volterra stands. This stone, however, like the macigno of Fiesole and Cortona, lends itself readily to the horizontal structure, and is wholly distinct from the hard Apennine limestone of which the polygonal walls of Cosa and other cities are com- posed. These walls may be traced, at inteivals, all round the brow of the hill, following the broken and irregular outlines of its summit, and frequently taking advantage of projecting points to form bold salient angles and outworks. Two of the ancient gates are still preserved ; of which the one called the Poi-ia alH Arm still serves as the principal entrance to the citj'. It is of very massive construction, but regulaily built, and surmounted by an arch of perfectly regidar form and structure, adorned with three sculptured heads, projecting in relief from the keystone and two of the principal voussoirs. The antiquity of this arch has been a subjrct of much dispute among antiquarians; some maintaining it to be a specimen of genuine litruscan architecture, others ascribing it to the Roman period. The arguments in favour of the latter view seem on the whole to prciioiuierate ; though there is no reason to doubt that the Etrus- cans were acquainted with the true principles of the construction of the arch. (Dennis's Ktrvria, vol. ii. pp. 146 — 150; Micali, Anticfii J'opoli Jtallani, vol. iii. pp. 4, 5.*) The other gate, on the N. side of the Etruscan walls, now known as the Porta di Diana or I'ortone, is of similar plan and construc- tion to the Porta ulP Arco; but the arch is wanting. No other remains of ancient edifices are now ex- tant on the site of Volaterrae, except some portions of Thermae, of Roman date and little interest ; but the .seimlchrcs which have been excavated on all sides of the city, but jiarticnlaily on the N. shipe of the hill, have yielded a rich harvest of Etruscan antiqui- and by Abeken, MUtel-Italim, pi. 2, fig. 4. 4 1' 4
 * The gate itself is figured by Micali, pi. 7, 8 ;