Day 106 ~ Rome...or Not

 April 25, 2022

65 degrees, slight breeze. Still, not a day to forsake the sunscreen!

This is the difference between us Romans and the Etruscans: We believe that lightning is caused by clouds colliding, whereas they believe that clouds collide in order to create lightning. Since they attribute everything to gods, they are led to believe not that events have a meaning because they have happened, but that they happen in order to express a meaning. — Seneca The Younger

The Etruscan city was perched on the tree covered hill.

Today we docked in Civitavecchia, literally "the Old City," which serves as the port for Rome. The only problem is that Rome is two hours away by coach on a good day and we've been warned that it's a national holiday and delays may be expected. 

So...since none of the ship's excursions would admit us to the Vatican, we decided to do something completely different. We're visiting an Etruscan necropolis--a graveyard from a civilization that pre-dates Rome.

Sprouting like mushrooms, these round vaults hold the cremated remains of Etruscans from as early as the 8th century BC. Even then, the people had a sense that something in them was destined to live on. These vaults are shaped like their round hut-like houses, a place for their spirits to live in the next world.

 

Later tombs graduated to highly decorated underground chambers, not just a small stone vault. A mound like an English barrow arches over the grave. Archaeologists have built enclosed stairs leading down to the chamber. We were not allowed inside, but had only a few seconds to view the space through a glass door before trooping back up to the world of light and air. 

The Etruscans celebrated death as a natural part of life, one leading to the next open door. Scenes of banqueting, running, playing, making music and even taking care of bodily functions were displayed on the walls. Servants (read: slaves) were always depicted nude. 

The countryside was so lovely and green. But something was blooming that set off the DH's allergies big time! Spring is such a double-edge sword.

Then we climbed back on the bus and headed for the town of Tarquinia, where there is a museum dedicated to the Etruscan civilization. 

When the Etruscans made the change from urns to chambers, they stopped cremating their dead and laid them out on slabs as if they were sleeping. Some wealthy families had multiple chambers to accommodate several generations. This tomb above was for a couple and parts of the man's skeleton can be seen on the left. The grave goods are arranged as they were initially discovered. 

The Etruscans were a sybaritic society. Their favorite god was Dionysus, god of wine and revelry. Once they became acquainted with the Romans, they sobered considerably and their grave customs reflect that.  

Stone sarcophagi instead of an underground playhouse. However, the figures on the vaults are reclined as if dining at a banquet so they are still clearly expecting an afterlife. 

Archaeologists are still pulling amazing Etruscan finds from the area. The most recent is a statue of Mithras, who became known as "the soldiers' god." He's always depicted slaying a white bull. Actually, when we were in Spain, I wondered if bull fighting was a throwback to Mithras worship.

Notice that Mithras has help. His dog, undoubtedly a terrier of some sort, is harrying the bull while Mithras pulls its head back for the kill.

The only question I have about this work and its provenance is that Mithras was supposed to have originated in Iran as a pre-Zoroastrian cult. What this statue was doing in Etruscan land in the 3rd century BC is a wonderment...