Dr%20Charlotte%20Potts: List of publications

Studies of the role of religion in a range of pre-industrial economies make it possible, and helpful, to assess the distinctive elements of this subject in ancient Rome by comparison with practice elsewhere. This chapter accordingly surveys the economic significance of Etrusco-Italic sanctuaries in the period preceding the Roman Republic. Beyond providing an analogy for later centuries, however, it suggests that many of the economic aspects of Roman religion were actually shaped by developments in the Archaic period (c.580–480 bc). The characteristic features of Archaic sanctuaries developed in response to a combination of Mediterranean-wide and local circumstances, and arguably met the needs of their communities so successfully that they had a lasting influence on the form and function of their Roman counterparts. Together these factors turned religion, and particularly cult sites, into an economic force. Sanctuaries became privileged places for the exchange of tangible and intangible commodities, and may have established a template for the site and conduct of similar activities in fora and other spaces in the centuries that followed. As such these developments may go beyond providing a point of comparison for Republican and imperial practices by actually outlining their background and rationale: while the scale and complexity of the religious economy may have changed in the Roman period, the social, cultural, and theological elements of the underlying model may have not.

This chapter serves as an introduction for what follows by placing the volume’s approach into the wider context of the past and current study of central Italic architecture. It points out some of the issues that underlie and join the subsequent analyses, including why so many major building projects were undertaken in Etruria, Rome, and Latium in this period, who and what was moving to create them, and how the results blur the boundaries of what has traditionally been considered ‘Roman’. Fundamentally, it argues not only for the value of central Italic architecture as a source for regional social and economic histories, but also for its potential contribution to the study of ancient architecture as a whole.

The Etruscans, who dominated central Italy for much of the first half of the first millennium BC, are ripe for new analysis: the quantity of data for their culture is now substantial, wide ranging, and qualifies for large-scale comparison. In this paper, we survey how research in the last decade has affected our understanding of settlements, of changing models of the transfer of ideas, and of Etruscan religious behavior, among other topics. We place them into complex spatial, architectural, and economic narratives to show that the interplay between microhistorical case studies and macrohistorical trends has now achieved what ought to be a paradigmatic status. Despite the continuous flow of specialist publications and an industry of exhibitions, however, the Etruscans have not broken through into mainstream archaeological awareness. We argue that this could be achieved if future research becomes more thematic and agenda driven and embraces comparative study.

It is all too tempting to use Vitruvius’ De architectura to reconstruct the walls and columns of Etruscan temples now missing from the archaeological record. The Roman treatise contains a clear formula for the ground plan of a temple designed in accordance with the tuscanicae dispositiones, but that plan differs from those of many Etruscan cult buildings reconstructed on the basis of archaeological evidence. This article explores the resulting debate about what Vitruvius was actually describing and by extension his relevance for the study of Etruscan architecture. It shows that while Vitruvius should not be regarded as an authoritative source of information about Etruscan plans, this is less a consequence of his measurements than the way in which they are often interpreted. If the discrepancies between the literary and archaeological data are regarded not as errors but as signs of the intended function of the tuscanicae dispositiones, then it is possible to reconcile the divergent evidence for the arrangement of temple walls and columns in a manner consistent with modern architectural theory.

There are seventy-four catalogued examples of figured art painted on Pompeian façades, almost all of a religious or talismanic nature. This street art appeared near compital altars and entrances to shops and houses, and contributed to a vibrant street aesthetic. Exterior figured paintings have not received a great deal of scholarly attention, however, with studies tending to focus on iconography rather than considering how street art may have functioned in its original setting. The potential value of painted façades as evidence for religious, commercial, and civic values, for which there are scant literary sources, has consequently been overlooked.