San Casciano, the Etruscologist: “They prayed with the Romans, statues and other artifacts tell us about their life”
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Here and there you recognize a foot, an ear, a phallus, then a scalpel, coins, heads, legs, inscriptions. There are some large statues of gods, 24, a huge number. Looking at what was found in the sacred basin of San Casciano dei Bagni during the sixth excavation conducted in the area, one is moved … Giuseppe M. Dalla Fina, well-known Etruscologist, professor at the University of L’Aquila, passionate connoisseur of a culture consubstantial with Tuscany and central Italy, fascinating and still only partially studied, it is with us to think about the extraordinary nature of what has been found. A discovery that will be disruptive.
Professor can you explain why?
“The exceptionality of these discoveries is to be recognized in the fact that – in addition to giving us bronzes which in some cases are an expression of remarkable artistic skills – they provide us with information of extraordinary interest about daily life in this corner of the territory, between the II and the 1st century BC. These statues, coins and ex-votos tell us that here people came in large numbers, even starting from neighboring territories, to seek answers to prayers, to heal themselves with thermal waters, to meet doctors ».
II-I century BC We are in full Etruscan-Roman transition: many archeologists assert that the exceptional nature of this discovery lies in the fact that they testify to a moment of cultural transformation, a sort of passing of the baton. It’s true?
«Yes, but it must be said that other territories have also returned Etruscan-Roman objects, I am thinking of Volterra. This time, however, we are faced with a very considerable amount of signs of the time, living signs, which speak of people’s lives, their illnesses, beliefs, habits ».
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San Casciano dei Bagni, the exceptional discovery of 24 bronzes
Judging by the pieces, there is also a proto-scalpel and then also human limbs reproduced in bronze, we understand that this sanctuary was a place where people not only went to ask for graces but also to meet doctors. But let’s get back to dating. What happened in those centuries in the Etruscan territories?
«It happened that the Romans were already masters of the territory. The expansion of Rome into Etruria can be dated to around the third century BC. Since then, the indigenous peoples lose political control of their cities but maintain a cultural and religious identity. The Romans welcomed the diversity expressed by the peoples they gradually conquered. They also did it with the Greeks, they accepted Christian requests. And they did so here too, trying to please the local aristocracy with tasks and accepting religious themes and rites. Do you think the Roman Apollo is the Etruscan Apu. Jupiter, which is the Greek Zeus, corresponds to the Tinia worshiped in Etruria and this correspondence is valid for many other divinities ».
So there are many similarities. But what is the reason why at a certain point Rome defeats everyone, conquers and metabolizes Etruria?
«I am giving you a poetic answer that I draw from Piero Calamandrei. In his book Inventory of the country house, about the secret of the Etruscans he wrote that it was enclosed “in these limited horizons”. Their hills, their countryside were their world which always remained within the confines of the City-State. The same thing happened to the Greeks whose divided polis, with Alexander the Great, were conquered by the Macedonians and the same happened in Italy, broken up into municipalities before and into parceled territories after, and therefore easily conquered by foreigners, until 1861, a very recent date. . The Romans built their strength on the empire, the conquest, the extension of the borders ».
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November 9, 2022 | 07:15
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