Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/486

 K9 CAERE. of the inrient city is clearly marked, not bo irmch b; the reimins of the walls, of nhich nnlv ■ ky fniKinenta are visible, is by the niitiiral chsracter of the ^ronnd. It occupied a table-tiind, riain; in Bleep clitfa above the plun of the const, exrefit at the NE. comer, where it vts united bv a neelt to the high land adjmnina. On its south bide flowed the Coeretanus arnnis (t)ie Vaeciaa), six! nn side i.f whifh rises m tiill calleii the BamiUaeaa, the Nccropniis of the anricnt eitj. The iBtlcrap- peant to have beeii from fmir tfl five miles in circnit, and had not less than eight entes, the situatinn of which may be distitictly lnii]eJ ; but only sinalt portions and fuundations of the walls are visible ; they were built of reclaneuiar blacks of tufa, not of maasive dimeniuoTiB. but resembhng those of Vcii aad Tarquinii in thdr nze and ammfrement. The most Inlenaliiig remains of Caere, hoivever, are to be found in its sepulchres. Thc<e arc, in many cases, sunk in the level surface of the Eronnil. and sutmonnted with tumuli; in others, they are hdlowed ont in the sides of the iow clil& which bound the hill of the Sanditaeeia, and skirt the any architectural facades, as at Bietla and Ctatel dAita I (heir decoration is chiefly internal; and their arrancemenls present a remarkable analncy to that of the houses of the Etruscans. " Many of them bad a larce central chamber, with olhers of smaller si£S opening npon it, lighted bv vfindfiws in the wall of rock, which served as the partition. This central chamber reprewnled the ofriwn of Einiscan houses, tnd the chambers around it the triclinia, for each hail a bench of rock round three of its sides, «i which the dead lind lain, teeiinuii; in efligy, as at a banquet. The ceilings of all the chambers had the usnal beams and rafters hewn in the rock." (Dennis's Eiraria, vol. iL |i. Sa.) One tomb, culled from its discoverer the Regulini-GalasM tomb, is entered by a door in the form of a rudely pointed arcb, not unlike the gate- way at Arpinum (see p. 222), and like thai formed by aucceasive courses ipf stones gradually approach- ing till they meet. Some of the tombs alio hare their interior walls adorned with ptinlinga, resem- bling thwe at Taquinii, but greatly inferior to them in variety and interest. Most of these are of comparatively Ute date, — certainly not prior to the Kranao dominion,' — but one tomb is said to contain paintings of a very archaic character, probably more annent than any at TarquiniL This is the more interesting, because I'liny speaks of very ancient paintings, believed to be cf a date prior tu the foundation of Rome, as existing in Ills time at Caere. (Plin. isxv. 3. s. 6.) Annlher tomb, recently discovered at Cerveiri, is curious from its having been the sepulchre of a family bearing the name of Tarqninius, the Etruscan form of which (Tahchnas} is repeated many times in diflereiit inscriptions, while others present it in llie Knnan form and characters. There seems every reason to believe that this family, if not actually tlint of the regal Tarquina of liome, was at least closely oonnected with them. (Dennis, I.e. p. 42 — U; SuU. dimt. Arch. 1847, p. S6— 61.) - The minor objects found in tlis sepnkhres at Caere, ospecially those discovered in the liegu- lini Galaasi tomb already mentioned, are of much intenjflt, ami temnrkJible for the very ancient ci>a- ricterand styleof thcitworkinanship. The painted CAEBE. vases and other pottery have, for tlm most part, a similar archaic stamp, very few of the beautifol vases of the Greek style so abundant at Vuld and Tarquinii having been fiiuud iiere. Two little vessels of black earthenware, in themselves utterly insignificant, have acquired h high interest from the circumstance of thdr bearing inscriptions which there is much reason to believe to be relics of the Pelasgian language, as distinguished from what is mora properly called Etruscan. (Dennis, I.e. pp. 54. 5S: Lepius, in the ^wuiK iTIntl. Arch.SS6. pp. 186 — a03; Id. Tgrrhesiicht Pflaiger, p. 40 — 42. For a fuller discussion of this junnt, see tho article Etruria.) There is no douM that Caere, in the days of its power, possessed a territory of conadcrable extent, btmlering on Ihcae of Vrii and Tarquinii, and pro. hably eitending at one time nearly to the mouth of the Tiber. Its siaport was PvRGi. itself a considerable city, the foundation of whii'h. as well as that of Agjila, is eiprrssly ascribed to the Fe- Insgisns. [Pmoi.] ALaum also, of which we finii no notice in the esrly history of Rome, must at this period have been a dependency of Caere. Another place noticed as one of the subject towns in the territory of Caere is Arten*. which rthers placed in the Veientine territory, but according to Uvy cm«ieously (l.iv. iv. 61). The grove sacred lo Sylvantu, noticed by Virgil, and placed by him on the banks of the VWciwi (the "Caerilis aranis"), is auppnaed lo have been part of the wooii which clothed the ilonlt AbbaUme, on the S. side