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Villanovan Culture

Villanovan culture

The Villanovan culture was the earliest Iron Age culture of central and northern Italy, abruptly following the Bronze Age Terramare culture and giving way in the 7th century to an increasingly Orientalizing culture influenced by Greek traders, which was followed without a severe break by the Etruscan civilization. Villanovan cultural origins, but perhaps not all its peoples, lay in the Eastern Alps, with connections to the Halstatt culture. The Villanovans introduced iron-working to the Italian peninsula; they practiced cremation and buried the ashes of their dead in pottery urns of distinctive double-cone shape. The culture is broadly divided into a proto-Villanovan culture (Villanovan I) from 1100 BC to 900 BC and the Villanovan culture proper (Villanovan II) from 900 BC to 700 BC, when the Etruscan cities began to be founded. The name Villanovan comes from the type-site, that of the first archaeological finds relating to this advanced culture, remnants of a cemetery found near Villanova (Castenaso, 8 kilometers south-east of Bologna) in northern Italy. The excavatation lasting from 1853 to 1855 was made by the scholarly owner, count Giovanni Gozzadini, and involved 193 tombs, six of which were separated from the rest as if to signify a special social status. The "well tomb" pit graves lined with stones contained funerary urns; they were only spontaneously plundered and most were untouched. In 1893 a chance discovery unearthed another distinctive Villanovan necropolis at Verruchio, overlooking the Adriatic coastal plain. Generally speaking, Villanovan settlements were centered in the Po River valley and Etruria round Bologna—later an important Etruscan center—and areas in Emilia Romagna (at Verruchio and Fermi), in Tuscany and Lazio. Further south, in Campania, a region where inhumation was the general practice, Villanovan cremation burials have been identified at Capua, at the "princely tombs" of Pontecagnano near Salerno (finds conserved in the Museum of Agro Picentino) and at Sala Consilina. Small scattered Villanovan settlements have left few traces other than their more permanent burial sites set somewhat apart from the settlements, largely because the settlement sites were built over in Etruscan times. This site continuity encourages modern opinion generally to follow Massimo Pallottino in regarding the Villanovan culture as ancestral to the Etruscan civilization. The burial characteristics relate the Villanovan culture to the central European Urnfield culture, for example the Hallstatt culture. Cremated remains were placed in cinerary urns and then buried. A custom believed to originate with the Villanovan culture is the usage of "Hut urns", cinerary urns fashioned like small huts, and other advanced urn designs. Typical sgraffiato decoration of swastikas, meanders and squares were scratched with a comb-like tool. Urns were accompanied by simple bronze fibulae, razors and rings. The later phase (Villanovan II) saw radical changes, evidence of contact with Hellenic civilization and trade with the north along the Amber Road: glass and amber necklaces on women, bronze armor and horse harness fittings, and the development of elite graves in contrast to the earlier egalitarian culture. Chamber tombs and inhumation practicers were developed side-by-side with the earlier cremation practices. These cultural traces may not be directly equivalent to a widespread ethnic culture that identified itself as the equivalent of "Villanovan", Renato Peroni has suggested; they tend to underlay those of both Celtic and Italic provenance, adding to the difficulties in assessing who "founded" the culture.

Sources and further reading

- S. Gozzadini: La nécropole de Villanova, Fava et Garagnani, Bologna, 1870
- J. P. Mallory, "Villanovan Culture", Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, (Fitzroy Dearborn), 1997.
- G. Bartoloni, "The origin and diffusion of Villanovan culture." in M. Torelli, (editor) The Etruscans, pp 53-74. (Milan), 2000.
- M.E. Moser, The "Southern Villanovan" Culture of Campania, (Ann Arbor), 1982.
- D. Ridgway, "The Villanovan Cemeteries of Bologna and Pontecagnano" in Journal of Roman Archaeology 7: pp 303–16 (1994)

External links

- [http://www.comunediverucchio.it/museo/testo_villi.htm Museo Archeologico di Verrruchio: Villanovan necropolis] (in English)
- [http://www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/ash/oopp/AncientItaly/17_chapter_5.html Ashmolean Museum: Ancient Italy Before the Romans] Category:European_archaeology Category:Archaeological cultures Category:Etruscans Category:EIEC

Iron Age

:This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age; for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man. In archaeology, the Iron Age is the stage in the development of any people where the use of iron implements as tools and weapons is prominent. The adoption of this new material coincided with other changes in past societies often including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles. The Iron Age is the last principal period in the three-age system for classifying pre-historic societies and its meaning varies depending on the country or geographical region. This variation even occurs within Europe where the Iron Age distinction was first identified; the Nordic Iron Age and Roman Iron Age are examples. The Iron Age was preceded by the Copper Age and later the Bronze Age in Europe and Asia whilst in the rest of the world it was adopted directly after one or other sub-phases of the Stone Age. For each individual region, the period is very hard to state in years, but the Iron Age corresponds to the stage at which iron production was the most sophisticated form of metalworking. Iron's hardness, high melting point and the abundance of iron ore sources made iron more desirable and "cheaper" than bronze and contributed greatly to its adoption as the most commonly used metal. The arrival of iron use in various areas is listed below, broadly in chronological order. In the Americas and Australasia, there is no Iron Age, since iron working was introduced by European colonists and African slaves (in the Spanish colonies).

The Iron Age

The first signs of iron use come from Ancient Egypt and Sumer, where around 4000 BC small items, such as the tips of spears and ornaments, were being fashioned from iron recovered from meteorites (see Iron: History). By 3000 BC to 2000 BC increasing numbers of smelted iron objects (distinguishable from meteoric iron by the lack of nickel in the product) appear in Anatolia, Egypt and Mesopotamia. However, their use appears to be ceremonial, and iron was an expensive metal, more expensive than gold. Some sources suggest that iron was being created then as a by-product of copper refining, as sponge iron, and was not reproducible by the metallurgy of the time. The earliest systematic production and use of iron implements appears from the 14th century BC in the Hittite Empire though recent excavations in Middle Ganga Valley in India done by archaelogist Rakesh Tewari show Iron working in India since 1800 BC. By 1200 BC, iron was widely used in the Middle East but did not supplant the dominant use of bronze for some time.

The Iron Age in Africa and India

Archaeological sites in India like Malhar, Dadupur, Raja Nala Ka Tila and Lahuradewa in state of Uttar Pradesh show iron implements in period 1800 BC - 1200 BC. The earliest known production of steel occurred around 1400 BC in North Africa where steel was being produced in carbon furnaces. The Egyptian ruler Tutankhamun died in 1323 BC and was buried with an iron dagger with a golden hilt. Also an Egyptian sword bearing the name of pharaoh Merneptah and a battle axe with an iron blade and gold-decorated bronze haft were both found in the excavation of Ugarit (see Ugarit: History and Steel: History of iron and steelmaking), dating to circa 1400 BC. The Kushite city of Meroe near modern-day Khartoum was an important site of iron-smelting during the 5th and 6th centuries BC. The Nok civilization became the first iron smelting people in West Africa. Iron and copper working then continued to spread southward through the continent, reaching the Cape around 200AD. The widespread use of iron revolutionised the Bantu farming communities who adopted it, driving out the stone tool using hunter-gatherer societies they encountered as they expanded to farm wider areas of savannah. The technologically superior Bantu spread across southern Africa and became rich and powerful, producing iron for tools and weapons in large, industrial quantities. Perhaps as early as 300 BC, although certainly by AD 200, high quality steel was being produced in southern India by what Europeans would later call the crucible technique. In this system, high-purity wrought iron, charcoal, and glass were mixed in crucibles and heated until the iron melted and absorbed the carbon. The resulting high-carbon steel, called fūlāḏ فولاذ in Arabic and wootz by later Europeans, was exported throughout much of Asia.

The Iron Age in Asia

Near East

The Iron Age in Asia is believed to have begun with the discovery of iron smelting and smithing techniques in Anatolia or the Caucasus in the late 2nd millennium BC (circa 1300 BC). From here it spread rapidly throughout the Near East as iron weapons replaced bronze weapons by the early 1st millennium BC. The use of iron weapons by the Hittites is believed to have been a major factor in the rapid rise of the Hittite Empire. Because the area in which iron technology first developed was near the Aegean, where Asia meets Europe, the technology propagated equally early into both Asia and Europe, aided by Hittite expansion. The Sea Peoples and the related Philistines are often associated with the introduction of iron technology into Asia, as are the Dorians with respect to Greece. It ought also be noted that the Assyrian Empire had trade contacts with the area in which iron technology was first developed at the time that it was developing.

East Asia

Cast-iron artifacts are found in China that date as early as the Zhou dynasty of the 6th century BC. An Iron Age culture of the Tibetan Plateau has tentatively been associated with the Zhang Zhung culture described in early Tibetan writings. In 1972, near the city of Gaocheng (藁城) in Shijiazhuang (now Hebei province), a iron-bladed bronze tomahawk(铁刃青铜钺) dating back to the 14th century BC was excavated. After the scientific examination, the iron was shown to be made from aerosiderite.

The European Iron Age

Iron working was introduced to Europe around 1000 BC, probably from Asia Minor and slowly spread westwards over the succeeding 500 years. In the Netherlands, a starting date from about 800 BC is generally accepted. The Romans introduced writing and therefore ended the prehistoric Dutch Iron Age around 50 AD.

Eastern Europe

The early 1st millennium BC marks the Iron Age in Eastern Europe. In the steppes north of the Black Sea and Azov Sea and the Caucasus, the Iron Age begins with the Koban and the Chernogorovka and Novocerkassk cultures from ca. 900 BC. By 800 BC, it was spreading to Hallstatt C via the alleged "Thraco-Cimmerian" migrations. From the Hallstatt culture, the Iron Age spreads west with the Celtic expansion from the 6th century BC. In Poland, the Iron Age reaches the late Lusatian culture in about the 6th century, followed in some areas by the Pomeranian culture. The ethnic ascriptions of many Iron age cultures has been bitterly contested, as the roots of Germanii and Slavs were sought in this area.

Central Europe

In Central Europe, the Iron Age is generally divided in the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture (HaC and D, 800-450) and the late Iron Age La Tène culture (beginning in 450 BC). The Iron age ends with the Roman Conquest.

Mediterranean Europe

In Italy, the Iron Age was probably introduced by the Villanovan culture but this culture is otherwise considered a Bronze Age culture, while the following Etruscan civilization is regarded as part of Iron Age proper. The Etruscan Iron Age was then ended with the rise and conquest of the Roman Republic, which conquered the last Etruscan city of Velzna in 265 BC.

British Isles

For a fuller discussion see the British Iron Age article. In Britain, the Iron Age lasted from about the 5th century BC until the Roman conquest and until the 5th century AD in non-Romanised parts. Defensive structures dating from this time are often impressive, for example the brochs of northern Scotland and the hill forts that dotted the rest of the islands.

Northern Scandinavia and Finland

Scandinavia (including Finland) and Northern Balticum shows a small-scaled iron producing very early, but a further dating is currently impossible. The time varies from 3000 BC-1000 AD. This knowledge is associated to the non-Germanic part of Scandinavia. Metalworking and Asbestos-Ceramic pottery are somewhat synonymous in Scandinavia due to the latter's capability to resist and preserve heat. The iron ore used is believed to have been iron sand (such as red soil), because its high phosphorus content can be identified in slag. Together with asbestos ware axes belonging to the Ananjino Culture are sometimes found. The Asbestos-Ceramic remains a mystery, because there are other adiabatic vessels with unknown usage.

Northern Germany and Southern Scandinavia

The Iron Age is divided into the Pre-Roman Iron Age and the Roman Iron Age. This is followed by the migration period. Northern Germany and Denmark was dominated by the Jastorf culture, whereas the culture of the southern half of the Scandinavia was dominated by the very similar Nordic Iron Age.

Terramare culture

(blue area). The red area is the central Urnfield culture, and the orange area is the northern Urnfield culture. The purple area is the Lusatian culture, the central blue area is the Knoviz culture. The brown area is the Danubian culture, and the green area is the West European Bronze Age. The yellow area is the Nordic Bronze Age]] Terramare or Terramara is the name given by archaeologists to culture mainly of the early bronze age, but stretching back into the later stone age, c 1500-1100 BC. As Mallory puts it, it "takes its name from the black earth, (terremare) residue of settlement mounds which have long served the fertilizing needs of local farmers." This civilization is represented by a number of finds, formerly thought (e. g. by Venturi) to be sepulchral, but really the remains of human habitations, analogous to shell heaps or kitchen middens. They are found chiefly in north Italy, in the valley of the Po, in the vicinity of Modena, Mantua and Parma. A summary of early results as to these mounds was published by Munro (Lake Dwellings) in 1890, but scientific investigation really began only with the excavation of the terramare at Fontanellato (province of Parma) in 1889. From this and succeeding investigations certain general conclusions have been reached. The terramare, in spite of local differences, is of typical form; it is a settlement, trapezoidal in form, built upon piles on dry land protected by an earthwork strengthened on the inside by buttresses, and encircled by a wide moat supplied with running water. They range in size up to 20 hectares (not quite 50 acres). The east and west sides are parallel, and two roads, at right angles divide the settlement into four quarters. Outside are one or two cemeteries. Traces of burning which have been found render it probable that, when the refuse thrown down among the piles had filled the space, the settlement was burned and a new one built upon the remains. The origin of the terramare type is not definitely ascertained. The most probable inference, however, is that these settlements were not built to avoid the danger of inundation, but represent a survival of the ordinary lake dwelling. The remains discovered may be briefly summarized. Stone objects are few. Of bronze (the chief material) axes, daggers, swords, razors and knives are found, as also minor implements, such as sickles, needles, pins, brooches, etc. There are also objects of bone and wood, besides pottery (both coarse and fine), amber and glass-paste. Small clay figures, chiefly of animals (though human figures are found at Castellazzo), are interesting as being practically the earliest specimens of plastic art found in Italy. The occupations of the terramare people as compared with their neolithic predecessors may be inferred with comparative certainty. They were, still hunters, but had domesticated animals; they were fairly skilful metallurgists, casting bronze in moulds of stone and clay; they were also agriculturists, cultivating beans, the vine, wheat and flax. According to Prof. W. Ridgeway (Who were the Romans? p. 16; and Early Age of Greece, i. 496) burial was by inhumation: investigation, however, of the cemeteries shows that both inhumation and cremation were practiced, with cremated remains placed in ossuaries; practically no objects were found in the urns. Cremation may have been a later introduction. Great differences of opinion have arisen as to the origin and ethnographical relations of the terramare folk. Brizio in his Epoca Preistorica advances the theory that they were the original Ibero-Ligurians who at some early period took to erecting pile-dwellings. Why they should have done so is difficult to see. Some of the terremare are clearly not built with a view to avoiding inundation, inasmuch as they stand upon hills. The rampart and the moat are for defence against enemies, not against floods, and as Brizio brings in no new invading people till long after the terramare period, it is difficult to see why the Ibero-Ligurians should have abandoned their unprotected hut-settlements and taken to elaborate fortification. There are other difficulties of a similar character. Hence Pigorini regards the terramare people as an Indo-European lake-dwelling people who invaded the north of Italy in two waves from Central Europe (the Danube valley) in the end of the stone age and the beginning of the bronze age, bringing with them the building tradition whith led them to erect pile dwellings on dry land. These people he calls the Italici, to whom he attributes to the Villanovan culture. Modern thinking, however, attributes the Villanovan culture essentially to a proto-Etruscan people. It is thought the Terremare culture may be an early manifestation of Italic speaking Indo-Europeans. All the evidence is collected by T. E. Peet, The Stone and Bronze Ages in Italy and Sicily (Oxford, 1909), xiv. and xviii., which gives illustrations and references to the more important literature; this work supersedes all previous works on the terramare. Prof. Pigorinis article, '"La pifi antiche civilt dell Italia", in Bullettino di paletnologia italiana, xxix., is classical. See also the works of Montelius, Modestov, and Ridgeway (Early Age of Greece, vol. i.).

Sources

- J. P. Mallory, "Terramare Culture", Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture (Fitzroy Dearborn, Chicago), 1997.
- Category:European archaeology Category:Archaeological cultures Category:Indo-European Category:EIEC

Halstatt culture

The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture during the local Bronze Age, and introduced the Iron Age. It is named for its type site Hallstatt, a lakeside village in the Austrian Salzkammergut southeast of Salzburg.

Hallstatt site

In 1846, Johann Georg Ramsauer discovered a large prehistoric cemetery which he excavated during the second half of the 19th century. Eventually the excavation would extend to 1,045 burials. The community at Hallstatt exploited the salt mines in the area, which had been worked from time to time since the Neolithic, from the 8th to 5th century BCE. The style and decoration of the grave goods found in the cemetery is very distinctive, and artifacts made in this style are widespread in Europe.

Hallstatt culture

The Hallstatt culture, extending from about 1200 BCE until around 500 BCE, is divided by archaeologists into four phases: Hallstatt A and B correspond to the late Bronze Age (c.1200–800 BCE), while Hallstatt C refers to the very early Iron age (c.800–600 BCE) and is characterized by the first appearance of iron swords among the bronze ones. For the final phase, Hallstatt D, only daggers are found in graves ranging from c.600–500 BCE. There are differences in pottery and the brooches as well. An eastern Hallstatt cultural zone including Croatia, Slovenia, western Hungary, Austria, Moravia, and Slovakia can be distinguished from a western cultural zone which includes northern Italy, Switzerland, eastern France, southern Germany, and Bohemia. Exchange systems or folk movements (probably both) spread the Hallstatt cultural complex into the western half of the Iberian peninsula, Great Britain, and Ireland. It is probable that some if not all of this diffusion took place in a Celtic-speaking context. Trade with Greece is attested by finds of Attic black-figured pottery in the élite graves of the late Hallstatt period. It was probably imported via Massilia (Marseille). Other imported luxuries include amber, ivory (Gräfenbühl) and probably wine. Recent analyses have shown that the reputed silk in the barrow at Hohmichele was misidentified. Red dye (cochineal) was imported from the south as well (Hochdorf burial). In the central Hallstatt regions and towards the end of the period, very rich graves of high-status individuals under large tumuli are found in association with fortified hilltop settlements. They often contain chariots and horse bits or yokes. Well known chariot burials include Býčí Skála, Vix and Hochdorf. A model of a chariot made from lead has been found in Frögg, Carinthia. The defended sites frequently include the workshops of bronze-, silver-, and goldsmiths. Typical sites are the Heuneburg on the upper Danube surrounded by nine very large grave tumuli, Mont Lassois in eastern France near Châtillon-sur-Seine with, at its foot, the very rich grave at Vix, and the hill fort at Molpir in the Czech Republic. Artwork includes elaborate jewellery made of bronze and gold, and stone stelae, like the famous warrior of Hirschlanden.

Sources

- Vierrädrige Wagen der Hallstattzeit ("The Hallstatt four-wheeled wagon" at Mainz). RGZM Mainz, 1987. Category:Archaeological cultures Category:Celts Category:European_archaeology Category:Iron Age

1100 BC

Centuries: 13th century BC - 12th century BC - 11th century BC Decades: 1150s BC 1140s BC 1130s BC 1120s BC 1110s BC - 1100s BC - 1090s BC 1080s BC 1070s BC 1060s BC 1050s BC ----

Events and trends

- 1100 BC - Tiglath-Pileser I of Assyria conquers the Hittites
- c. 1100 BC - The Dorians invade Greece
- c. 1100 BC - beginnings of the proto-Villanovan culture in northern Italy.
- c. 1100 BC - Mycenaean civilization ends.
- c. 1100 BC - The New Kingdom in Egypt comes to an end.

Significant people

- Category:1100s BC

900 BC

Centuries: 11th century BC - 10th century BC - 9th century BC Decades: 950s BC 940s BC 930s BC 920s BC 910s BC - 900s BC - 890s BC 880s BC 870s BC 860s BC 850s BC ----

Events and trends

- 909 BC - Zhou xiao wang becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
- 909 BC - Jeroboam, the first king of the northern Hebrew kingdom of Israel, dies and is succeeded by his son Nadab
- c. 900 BC - the Villanovan culture emerges in northern Italy

Significant people

- Category:900s BC

700 BC

Centuries: 9th century BC - 8th century BC - 7th century BC Decades: 750s BC 740s BC 730s BC 720s BC 710s BC - 700s BC - 690s BC 680s BC 670s BC 660s BC 650s BC ----

Events and trends

- 708 BC - Spartan immigrants found Taras (Tarentum, the modern Taranto) colony in southern Italy.
- 705 BC - Sennacherib succeeds his brother Shalmaneser V as king of Assyria
- 704 BC - Sennacherib moves the capital of Assyira back to Nineveh
- 701 BC - King Hezekiah of Judah, backed by Egypt, revolts against king Sennacherib of Assyria. Sennacherib sacks many Palestinian cities, but fails in his attempt to take Jerusalem
- 700 BC - The Scythians start settling in Cimmerian areas, slowly replacing the previous inhabitants.
- 700 BC - end of the Villanovan culture in northern Italy and rise of the Etruscan civilization.

Significant people

- Category:700s BC

Bologna

:For the food product, see Bologna sausage. Bologna (from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in the local dialect) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, between the Po River and the Apennines.

History

Bologna was founded by the Etruscans with the name Felsina (ca. 534 BC) in an area previously long inhabitated by the villanovians, a people of farmers and shepherds. The Etruscan city grew around the sanctuary built on a hill, was surrounded by the necropolis. In the 4th century BC the city was conquered by the Gauls Boii, whence the ancient name Bononia of the Roman colony (c. 189 BC) created after the conquest in 191 BC. The settlers included 3,000 Latin families led by the consuls Lucius Valerius Flaccus, Marcus Atilius Seranus and Lucius Valerius Tappo. The building of the Via Aemilia in 187 BC made Bologna a road hub, connected to Arezzo through the Via Flaminia minor and to Aquileia through the Via Aemilia Altinate. In 88 BC the city became a municipium: it had a quadrilatery plant with six cardi and eight decumani which are still active today. During the Roman Empire it had 10,000 inhabitants with various temples, baths, theatre and one arena. Pomponius Mela included Bononia among the five opulentissimae ("richest") cities of Italy. The city was rebuilt by Nero after a burning. Nero After a long decadence, Bologna was reborn in the 5th century AD under the bishop Petronius, who traditionally built the church of S. Stefano. After the fall of Rome, Bologna was a frontier stronghold of the Exarchate of Ravenna in the Pianura Padana, and was defended by a line of walls who however did not include most of the ancient ruining Roman city. In 728 the city was conquered by the Lombard king Liutprand, becoming part of the Lombard Kingdom. The German newcomers formed a district called "addizione longobarda" near the complex of S. Stefano, where, among the others, Charlemagne stayed in 786. In the 11th century Bologna began to grow again as a free Commune, joining the Lombard League against Frederick Barbarossa in 1164. In 1088 the Studio was founded, which is the oldest university of Europe and which could boast notable erudites of the Middle Ages like Irnerius, and, amongst its students, Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarca. Since the 12th century the expanding city needed a new line of walls, and another was finished in the the 14th century. In 1256 Bologna promulgated the Legge del Paradiso ("Paradise's Law"), which abolished the feudal serfdom and freed the slaves using public money. Then city centre was full of towers built by the most outstanding families, of notable public edifices, churches and abbeys. In 1294 Bologna was one of the ten most populous cities of Europe. Like most Italian commune of that age, Bologna was torn by inner struggles, which lead to the expulsion of the Ghibelline family of Lambertazzi in 1274. Being crushed in the Battle of Zappolino by the Modenese in 1325, Bologna began to decay and asked the protection of the Pope at the beginning of the 14th century. After the happy years of the rule of Taddeo Pepoli (1337-1347), Bologna fell to the Visconti of Milan, but returned in the Papal orbit with Cardinal Gil de Albornoz in 1360. The following years saw an alternance of Republican governments (like that of 1377, which built the Basilica di San Petronio and the Loggia dei Mercanti) and Papal or Visconti restorations, while the city's families never stopped the intestine fights. In the middle of the 15th century the Bentivoglio family reached the rule of Bologna, reigning with Sante (1445-1462) and Giovanni II (1462-1506). This period was one of flourishment for the city, with the presence of notable architects and painters who made Bologna a true Italian Rinascimento city. The star of Giovanni ended in 1506 when the Papal troops of Julius II sieged Bologna and sacked the artistic treasures of his palace. From that point on, until the XVIII century, Bologna was part of the Papal States, ruled by a cardinal legato and by a Senate which every two months elected a gonfaloniere (judge), assisted by eight elder consuls. The city's prosperity continued, although a plague at the end of the 16th century reduced the population from 72,000 to 59,000, and another in 1630 to 47,000. The population later recovered to a stable 60,000-65,000. In 1564 the Piazza del Nettuno and the Palazzo dei Banchi were built, along with the Archiginnasio, the seat of the University. The Papal rule, however, brought in city mainly holy edifices, mainly of religious orders, or updated the older ones. The 96 convents of Bologna are a record for Italy. Artists working in this age in Bologna established the Bolognese School that includes Annibale Carracci, Domenichino, Guercino and others of European fame. With the rise of Napoleon Bologna became the capital of the Repubblica Cispadana and, later, the second most important center after Milan of the Repubblica Cisalpina and the Italian Kingdom. After the fall of the French grandeur Bologna suffered the Papal restoration, rebelling in 1831 and again 1849, when it temporarily expelled the Austrian garrisons which commanded the city until 1860. After a visit by Pope Pius IX in 1857, the city voted for the annexion to the Kingdom of Sardinia on June 12, 1859, becoming part of the united Italy. In the new political situation Bologna gained importance for his undebated cultural role and became an important commercial, industrial and communications hub; its population began to grow again and at the beginning of the 20th centuries the old walls were destroyed in order to build new houses for the population. Though damaged during the ending battles of World War II, Bologna recovered soon and is now one of the richest, most civil and well-planned cities of Italy.

Overview

Over the centuries, Bologna has acquired many nicknames. "Bologna the learned" ("Bologna la dotta") is a reference to its famous university. "Bologna the fat" ("Bologna la grassa") refers to its cuisine. World War II World War II World War II Bologna is also called "Bologna the red" (Bologna la rossa) not only for its political leanings but also due to its abundance of red brick and marble buildings. Until the late nineteenth century, at which point a large-scale urban reconstruction project was undertaken, Bologna remained one of the best preserved Medieval cities in Europe, though to this day it remains unique in its historic value. Despite having suffered from considerable bombing damage in 1944, Bologna's historic centre, one of Europe's largest, contains a wealth of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque artistic monuments of primary importance. Bologna developed as an Etruscan, then Roman colony along the Via Emilia, the street that still runs straight through the city under the changing names of Strada Maggiore, Rizzoli, Ugo Bassi, and San Felice. Due to its Roman heritage, the most central streets of Bologna, today largely pedestrianized, follow the grid pattern of the Roman settlement. The original Roman ramparts were supplanted by a high medieval system of fortifications, remains of which are still visible, and finally by a third and final set of ramparts built in the thirteenth century, of which numerous sections survive. Over twenty medieval defensive towers, some of them leaning precariously, remain from the over two hundred that were constructed in the era preceding the security guaranteed by unified civic government. Numerous important churches, such as Santo Stefano, San Domenico, San Francesco, Santa Maria dei Servi, San Giacomo Maggiore and San Petronio, punctuate the city's skyline with their tall spires and noteworthy architecture. The cityscape is further enriched by elegant and extensive arcades (or porticos), for which the city is famous. In total, there are over 37 kilometres of arcades in the city, which make it possible to walk for long distances sheltered from rain, snow, or hot summer sun. "Bologna the red" has also been said to refer to the city's left-leaning politics. Until the election of a centre-right mayor in 1999, the city was a historic bastion of socialism and communism. The centre-left gained power again in the 2004 mayoral elections, with the election of Sergio Cofferati. It was one of the first European settlements to experiment with the concept of "free" public transport. Another nickname for Bologna is Basket City, referring to Bologna's obsession with basketball, unusual for football-dominated Italy. The local derby between the city's two principal basketball clubs, Fortitudo and Virtus (often called after the clubs' principal sponsors), is one of the most intense in the entire world of sports. Violence, however, has been largely absent in the derby. Football is still a hugely popular sport in Bologna; the main local club is Bologna F.C. 1909, relegated to Serie B at the end of the 2004/2005 season.

Transport

Bologna is home to Guglielmo Marconi International Airport, expanded in 2004 by extending the runway, now capable of accommodating larger aircraft. The Bologna Central Station is considered the most important train hub in Northern Italy thanks to the city's strategic location. Bologna's station is a milestone on the Italian public consciousness for the huge terrorist bomb attack that killed 85 victims in August 1980. The attack is also known in Italy as the Strage di Bologna, the Bologna massacre. It is widely believed the bomb was planted by neo-fascist activists - possibly to stir public opinion against Italian communists.

Demographics

94.3% of the population is of Italian origin. The remaining 5.7% consists mostly of Moroccans, Chinese, Albanians, Romanians, Ukrainians, and Filipinos adhering to the Catholic faith.

Cuisine

Bologna is renowned for its culinary tradition and it is often regarded as the food capital of Italy. Situated in the fertile Po River Valley, the rich local cuisine depends heavily on meats and cheeses. As in all of Emilia-Romagna, the production of cured pork meats such as prosciutto, mortadella and salame is an important part of the local food industry. Reputed nearby vineyards include Pignoletto dei Colli Bolognesi, Lambrusco di Modena and Sangiovese di Romagna. Tagliatelle al ragù (pasta with meat sauce, from which the famous spaghetti alla Bolognese derive), tortellini served in broth and mortadella (the original Bologna sausage) are among the local specialties.

The University

The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is the oldest existing university in europe, and was an important center of European intellectual life during the Middle Ages, attracting scholars from throughout Christendom. A unique heritage of medieval art, exemplified by the illuminated manuscripts and jurists' tombs produced in the city from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, provide a cultural backdrop to the renown of the medieval institution. The Studium, as it was originally known, began as a loosely organized teaching system with each docent collecting fees from students on an individual basis. The location of the early University was thus spread all throughout the city, with various Colleges being founded to support students of a specific nationality. of the university were moved to their present location on Via Zamboni (formerly Via San Donato), in the north-eastern sector of the city centre. Today, the University's 23 faculties, 68 departments, and 93 libraries are spread across the city and include four subsidiary campuses in nearby Cesena, Forlì, Ravenna, and Rimini. Noteworthy students present at the university in centuries past included Dante, Petrarch, Thomas Becket, Pope Nicholas V, Erasmus of Rotterdam, and Copernicus. In more recent history, Luigi Galvani, the discoverer of biological electricity, and Guglielmo Marconi, the pioneer of radio technology, also worked at the University. The University of Bologna remains one of the most respected and dynamic post-secondary educational institutions in Italy. To this day, Bologna is still very much a university town, and the city's population swells from 400,000 to nearly 500,000 whenever classes are in session. This community includes a great number of Erasmus, Socrates, and overseas students. Several American Universities, such as Brown University and the University of San Francisco sponsor exchange programs. There is also a consortium of several universities, the [http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas/bcsp.html Bologna Cooperative Studies Program], that is headed by Indiana University. In addition the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies maintains a permanent campus in the city.

Famous residents

- Pupi Avati (director)
- Adriano Banchieri (composer)
- Il Guercino (painter)
- Stefano Benni (writer)
- Annibale Carracci (painter)
- Lodovico Carracci (painter)
- Agostino Carracci (painter)
- Pierluigi Collina (football referee)
- Scipione del Ferro (mathematician who found the method to solve the cubic equation)
- Lucio Dalla (singer-songwriter)
- Umberto Eco (writer and professor)
- Francesco Guccini (singer-songwriter)
- Guglielmo Marconi (inventor and Nobel prize winner)
- Giorgio Morandi (artist)
- Gianni Morandi (singer)
- Pier Paolo Pasolini (writer, poet, director)
- Romano Prodi (politician and professor)
- Guido Reni (painter)
- Ottorino Respighi (composer)
- Alberto Tomba (skier)
- Ondina Valla (first Italian woman olympic gold medal)
- Mariele Ventre (teacher and educator, founder of Piccolo Coro dell' Antoniano choir)
- Alex Zanardi (race car driver)

External links

- [http://www.comune.bologna.it Official Site]
- [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Bologna,+Italy&ll=44.494286,11.344113&spn=0.023157,0.035306&t=k&hl=en Googlemap: center of Bologna seen from the satellite]
- [http://www.gratisweb.com/fotogian/bologna.html Photos of Bologna]
- [http://www.bulgnais.com/fotobologna.html Other photos of Bologna]
- [http://www.nickinitalia.com Travel Journal of an Exchange Student in Bologna]
- [http://www.italianvisits.com/eromagna/bologna/ ItalianVisits.com] Category:Roman sites of Emilia-Romagna Category:Towns in Emilia-Romagna Category:University towns ko:볼로냐 ja:ボローニャ

1853

1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar).

Events

- January 19 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il Trovatore premieres in Rome
- January 21 - Russell L. Hawes patents the envelope folding machine
- January 29 - Napoleon III marries the Spanish Countess Eugènie at the Tuileries
- March 4 – Inauguration of US president Franklin Pierce
- June 7 - Franklin College of Lancaster, Pennsylvania merges with Marshall College of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania to form Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster
- July 8 - U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry arrives in Edo Bay with a request for a trade treaty
- July 25 Outlaw and bandit Joaquin Murietta is killed.
- August 12 – New Zealand acquires self-government
- August 24 - Potato chips first prepared.
- November 3 - Troops of William Walker capture La Paz in Baja California and declare (short-lived) Republic of Lower California
- November 15 - Maria II of Portugal is succeeded by her son Pedro
- November 30 - Crimean War: Battle of Sinop - The Russian fleet destroys the Turkish fleet.
- December 30 - Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest
- Yellow fever kills 7790 in New Orleans
- Alexander Wood invents the hypodermic syringe
- Argentina adopts federal constitution - Buenos Aires opposes that
- Donald McKay builds the Great Republic, the world's biggest sailing ship, which at 4,500 tons was too large to be successful
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel began work on the Great Eastern passenger steamer
- Start of Crimean War
- Independent Santa Cruz Maya of Eastern Yucatan recognized as an independent nation by British Empire
- Iesada succeeds Ieoshi as Japanese Shogun
- Beginning of the Late Tokugawa shogunate, the last part of the Edo period in Japan.
- Stephen Foster writes "My Old Kentucky Home."
- The University of Florida establilshed
- James Beckwourth discovers Beckwourth Pass.

Births

- January 28 - José Martí, Cuban revolutionary (d. 1895)
- February 6 - Ignacij Klemenčič, Slovenian physicist (d. 1901)
- March 14 - Ferdinand Hodler, Swiss painter (d. 1918)
- March 30 - Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter (d. 1890)
- May 28 - Carl Larsson, Swedish painter (d. 1919)
- June 3 - William Flinders Petrie, English Egyptologist (d. 1942)
- July 5 - Cecil Rhodes, English businessman (d. 1902)
- July 18- Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
- September 2 - Wilhelm Ostwald, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932)
- September 16 - Albrecht Kossel, German physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1927)
- September 21 - Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1926)

Deaths

- January 16 - Matteo Carcassi, Italian composer (b. 1792)
- March 17 - Christian Doppler, Austrian mathematician (b. 1803)
- April 28 - Ludwig Tieck, German writer (b. 1773)
- November 15 - Maria II of Portugal (b. 1819) Category:1853 ko:1853년 simple:1853

Etruria

:This article is about the ancient Italian country. Etruria, Staffordshire is also a place in England. Etruria was an ancient country in Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium and Umbria. It is identified as the territory of Etruscans, and it was one of the most important city/states on the Italian peninsula before falling to the Roman Republic in the 3rd century BC. Etruria became dominant in the Italian peninsula after 650 BCE. Their expansion included the Po River Valley and Latium and continued south until they came in contact with the Greek colonies in Southern Italy. Etruscan kings most notably conquered and ruled Rome for 100 years until 509 BCE when the last Etruscan king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was removed from power and the Roman Republic was established. The Etruscans are credited with changing Rome from a farming village into a large city. They are also responsible for building the first road on the main street of Rome, the Via Sacra, and also temples, housing, markets, etc. The Etruscans are responsible for much of the Culture of Greece imported into Rome, including the Twelve Olympians, the Latin alphabet (adopted from the Greek alphabet), the phalanx formation, and the growing of olives and grapes. The Kingdom of Etruria was a creation of Napoleon I of France in Tuscany which existed from 1801 to 1807.

Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. It forms a rough triangle, bounded on the East by the Adriatic Sea, on the North by the Po river and on the South by the Appennine range. With 4,030,000 inhabitants in 22,123 sq. km (8545 sq. mi) as of the 2003 census, it is a densely populated region (especially in the plain half). Emilia-Romagna is one of the richest regions of Italy, and its cuisine one of the most characteristic. Agriculture is the most important economic activity: cereals, potatoes, maize, tomatoes and onions are the most important, along with fruit and grapes for the production of wine (of which the most famous are perhaps Lambrusco, Sangiovese and Albana). Cattle and hog breeding are also highly developed. The industry of Emilia-Romagna is also healthy, especially the food industry and tourism along the Adriatic coastline. The principal city is Bologna, an historic, cultural and entertainment center of national importance. Other important cities include Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Rimini, Ferrara, Forlì, Cesena and Ravenna. The name Emilia-Romangna has roots in the Ancient Rome legacy in these lands. Emilia refers to via Emilia, an important Roman way connecting Rome to the northern part of Italy. Romagna is a corruption of Romània; when Ravenna was the capital of the Italian portion of the Byzantine Empire, the Lombardss extended the official name of the Empire to the lands around Ravenna.

Demographics

The population of Emilia Romagna is largely Italian, but there has been a rise in the number of migrants in the area:
- Italian: 3,819,823 or 94.7%
- Moroccan: 39,946 or 1.0%
- Albanian: 28,870 or 0.7%
- Tunisian: 13,800 or 0.3%
- Romanian: 10,848 or 0.2%

External link(s)

- [http://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/ Emilia-Romagna Region]
- [http://www.italy-weather-and-maps.com/maps/italy/emiliaromagna.gif Map of Emilia-Romagna]
- Category:NUTS 2 Statistical Regions of Europe ja:エミリア＝ロマーニャ州

Tuscany

Tuscany (Italian Toscana) is a region in central Italy, bordering on Latium to the south, Umbria and Marche to the east, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. It is often regarded as among the most beautiful parts of Italy. Tuscany was essentially the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, and its artistic heritage includes architecture, painting and sculpture, collected in dozens of museums, the best-known of which is the Uffizi in Florence and in situ in even quite small cities. Tuscany is known for its wines (most famous of which are Chianti, Morellino di Scansano and Brunello di Montalcino) and has 120 protected regions (nature reserves). Notable tourist destinations in Tuscany include Florence, Siena, Pisa, Lucca, the Maremma, the Crete Senesi, the Lunigiana and Garfagnana areas, and the island of Elba.

History

See main article: History of Tuscany

Provinces of Tuscany

- Arezzo
- Florence (Firenze)
- Grosseto
- Livorno
- Lucca
- Massa-Carrara
- Pisa
- Pistoia
- Prato
- Siena

Landscapes

- Casentino
- Chianti
- Maremma
- Mugello
- Val di Chiana

External links

- [http://www.regione.toscana.it/ Regione Toscana (Official page)]
- [http://www.italy-weather-and-maps.com/maps/italy/tuscany.gif Map of Tuscany]
- [http://www.castellitoscani.com/ Castles of Tuscany] Category:NUTS 2 Statistical Regions of Europe ko:토스카나 주 ja:トスカーナ州

Capua

Capua (modern Santa Maria Capua Vetere) was the chief ancient city of Campania, and one of the most important towns of ancient Italy, situated 25 km (16 mi) north of Neapolis, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain.

History

The name of Capua comes from the Etruscan, Capue. The meaning remains unknown. Its foundation is attributed by Cato the Elder to the Etruscans, and the date given as about 260 years before it was "taken" by Rome. If this be referred, not to its capture in the second Punic War (211 BC) but to its submission to Rome in 338 BC, we get about 600 BC as the date of its foundation, a period at which Etruscan power was at its highest, and which may perhaps, therefore, be accepted. Like many founded cities, however, it probably replaced an earlier settlement, although no one is going to dig up the city to find out. Etruscan supremacy in Campania came to an end with the Samnite invasion in the latter half of the 5th century BC. Capua entered into alliance with Rome for protection against the Samnite mountain tribes, along with its dependent communities Casilinum, Calatia, Atella, so that the greater part of Campania now fell under Roman supremacy. The citizens of Capua received the civitas sine suffragio," citizenship without the vote. In the second Samnite War with Rome, Capua proved an untrustworthy Roman ally, so that after the defeat of the Samnites, the Ager Falerus on the right bank of the Volturnus was confiscated. In 318 the powers of the native officials (meddices) were limited by the appointment of officials with the title praefecti Capuam Cumas (taking their name from the most important towns of Campania); these were at first mere deputies of the praetor urbanus, but after 123 BC were elected Roman magistrates, four in number; they governed the whole of Campania until the time of Augustus, when they were abolished. In 312 BC, Capua was connected with Rome by the construction of the Via Appia, the most important of the military highways of Italy. The gate by which it left the Servian walls of Rome bore the name Porta Capena--perhaps the only case in which a gate in this enceinte bears the name of the place to which it led. At what time the Via Latina was prolonged to Casilinum is doubtful (it is quite possible that it was done when Capua fell under Roman supremacy, i.e. before the construction of the Via Appia); it afforded a route only 10 km (6 mi) longer, and the difficulties with its construction were much less; it also avoided the troublesome journey through the Pontine Marshes. The importance of Capua increased steadily during the 3rd century, and at the beginning of the second Punic War it was considered to be only slightly behind Rome and Carthage themselves, and was able to furnish 30,000 infantry and 4000 cavalry. Until after the defeat of Cannae it remained faithful to Rome, but, after a vain demand that one of the consuls should always be selected from it or perhaps in order to secure regional supremacy in the event of a Carthaginian victory, it defected Hannibal, who made it his winter quarters. Livy and others have sugested that the luxurious conditions were Hannibal's Cannae because his troops became soft. Historians from Bosworth Smith onwards have been skeptical of this observing that his troops gave as good account of themselves in battle after that winter as before. After a long siege it was taken by the Romans in 211 BC and severely punished; its magistrates and communal organization were abolished, the inhabitants losing their civic rights, and its territory became Roman state domain. Parts of it were sold in 205 and 199 BC, another part was divided among the citizens of the new colonies of Volturnum and Liternum established near the coast in 194 BC, but the greater portion of it was reserved to be let by the state. Considerable difficulties occurred in preventing illegal encroachments by private persons, and it became necessary to buy a number of them out in 162 BC. It was, after that period, let, not to large but to small proprietors. Frequent attempts were made by the democratic leaders to divide the land among new settlers. Brutus in 83 BC actually succeeded in establishing a colony, but it was soon dissolved; and Cicero?s speeches De Lege Agrania were directed against a similar attempt by Servilius Rullus in 63 BC. In the meantime the necessary organization of the inhabitants of this thickly populated district was in a measure supplied by grouping them round important shrines, especially that of Diana Tifatina, in connection with which a pagus Dianae existed, as we learn from many inscriptions; a pagus Herculaneus is also known. The town of Capua belonged to none of these organizations, and was entirely dependent on the praefecti. It enjoyed great prosperity, however, owing their growing of spelt, the grain of which was worked into groats, wine, roses, spices, unguents, etc., and also owing to its manufacture, especially of bronze objects, of which both the elder Cato and the elder Pliny speak in the highest terms. Its luxury remained proverbial; and Campania is especially spoken of as the home of gladiatorial combats. From the gladiatorial schools of Campania came Spartacus and his followers in 73 BC. Julius Caesar as consul in 59 BC succeeded in carrying out the establishment of a colony in connection with his agrarian law, and 20,000 Roman citizens were settled in this territory. The number of colonists was increased by Mark Antony, Augustus (who constructed an aqueduct from the Mons Tifata, and gave the town of Capua estates in the district of Cnossus in Crete to the value of 12 million sesterces, and Nero. In the war of AD 69 it took the side of Vitellius. Under the later empire it is not often mentioned; but in the 4th century it was the seat of the consularis Campaniae and its chief town, though Ausonius puts it behind Mediolanum (Milan) and Aquileia in his ordo nobilium urbium. Under Constantine we hear of the foundation of a Christian church in Capua. In 456 it was taken and destroyed by Genseric, but must have been soon rebuilt: it was, however, finally destroyed by the Saracens in 840 and the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, founded about 497, alone remained. It contains 52 ancient marble columns, but was modernized in 1766. The site was only occupied in the late middle ages by a village which has, however, outgrown the medieval Capua in modern days.
Remains
No pre-Roman remains have been found within the town of Capua itself, but important cemeteries have been discovered on all sides of it, the earliest of which go back to the 7th or 6th century BC. The tombs are of various forms, partly chambers with frescoes on the walls, partly cubical blocks of peperino, hollowed out, with grooved lids. The objects found within them consist mainly of vases of bronze (many of them without feet, and with incised designs of Etruscan style) and of clay, some of Greek, some of local manufacture, and of paintings. On the east of the town, in the Patturelli property, a temple has been discovered with Oscan votive inscriptions originally thought to be Oscan, now recognized as Etruscan, some of them inscribed upon terracotta tablets, the most famous of which is the Tabula Capuana, conserved in Berlin, still, after more than a century of searching, the second-longest Etruscan text. Other brief inscriptions are on cippi. A group of 150 tufa statuettes represent a matron holding one or more children in her lap: three bore Latin inscriptions of the early Imperial period. The site of the town being in a perfectly flat plain, without natural defences, it was possible to lay it out regularly. Its length from east to west is accurately determined by the fact that the Via Appia, which runs from north-west to south-east from Casilinum to Calatia, turns due east very soon after passing the so-called Arco Campano (a triumphal arch of good brickwork, once faced with marble, with three openings, erected in honour of some emperor unknown), and continues to run in this direction for 5413 3/4 English ft (1,600 m) = 6000 ancient Oscan feet. The west gate was the Porta Romana; remains of the east gate (the name of which we do not know) have been found. This fact shows that the main street of the town was perfectly oriented, and that before the Via Appia was constructed, i.e. in all probability in pre-Roman times. The width of the town from north to south cannot be so accurately determined as the line of the north and south walls is not known, though it can be approximately fixed by the absence of tombs. Beloch fixes it at 4000 Oscan feet = 3609 English feet (1,100 m), nor is it absolutely certain (though it is in the highest degree probable, for Cicero praises its regular arrangement and fine streets) that the plan of the town was rectangular. Within the town are remains of public baths on the north of the Via Appia and of a theatre opposite, on the south. The former consisted of a large cryptoporticus round three sides of a court, the south side being open to the road; it now lies under the prisons. Beloch (see below) attributes this to the Oscan period; but the construction as shown in Labruzzi?s drawing (v. 17) 1 is partly of brick-work and opus reticulatum, which may, of course, belong to a restoration. The stage of the theatre had its back to the road; Labruzzi (v. 18) gives an interesting view of the cavea. It appears from inscriptions that it was erected after the time of Augustus. Other inscriptions, however, prove the existence of a theatre as early as 94 BC, so that the existence of another elsewhere must be assumed. We know that the Roman colony was divided into regions and possessed a capitolium, with a temple of Jupiter, within the town, and that the market-place, for unguents especially, was called Seplasia; we also hear of an aedes alba, probably the original senate house, which stood in an open space known as albana. But the sites of all these are quite uncertain.
Amphitheatre
Outside the town on the north is the amphitheatre, built in the time of Augustus, restored by Hadrian and dedicated by Antoninus Pius, as the inscription over the main entrance recorded. The exterior was formed by 80 Doric arcades of four storeys each, but only two arches now remain. The keystones were adorned with heads of divinities. The interior is better preserved; beneath the arena are subterranean passages like those in the amphitheatre at Puteoli. It is one of the largest in existence; the longer diameter is 185 yd (170 m)., the shorter 152 yd (140 m), and the arena measures 83 by 49 yd (75 by 45 m)., the corresponding dimensions in the colosseum at Rome being 205, 170, 93 and 58 yd (188, 155, 85, 53 m). To the east are considerable remains of baths — a large octagonal building, an apse against which the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie is built, and several heaps of debris. On the Via Appia, to the south-east of the east gate of the town, arc two large and well-preserved tombs of the Roman period, known as le Carceri vecchie and la Conocchia. To the east of the amphitheatre an ancient road, the Via Dianae, leads north to the Pagus Dianae, on the west slopes of the Mons Tifata, a community which sprang up round the famous and ancient temple of Diana, and probably received an independent organization after the abolition of that of Capua in [211 BC]. The place often served as a base for attacks on the latter, and Sulla, after his defeat of C. Norbanus, gave the whole of the mountain to the temple. Within the territory of the pagus were several other temples with their magistri. After the restoration of the community of Capua, we find magistri of the temple of Diana still existing, but they were probably officials of Capua itself. The site is occupied by the Benedictine church of S. Angelo in Formis which dates from 944, and was reconstructed by the abbot Desiderius (afterwards Pope Victor III) of Monte Cassino), with interesting paintings, dating from the end of the 11th century to the middle of the 12th, in which five different styles may be distinguished. They form a complete representation of all the chief episodes of the New Testament. Deposits of votive objects (favissae), removed from the ancient temple from time to time as new ones came in and occupied all the available space, have been found, and considerable remains of buildings belonging to the Vicus Dianae (among them a triumphal arch and some baths, also a hail with frescoes, representing the goddess herself ready for the chase) still exist. The ancient road from Capua went on beyond the Vicus Dianae to the Volturnus (remains of the bridge still exist) and then turned east along the river valley to Caiatia and Telesia. Other roads ran to Puteoli and Cumae (the so-called Via Campana) and to Neapolis, and as we have seen the Via Appia passed through Capua, which was thus the most important road centre of Campania.
References

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Miscellaneous
Capua has recently been included in the hit PC game Rome: Total War as the governing settlement of Campania and the capital of the Roman faction of Scipii. Category:Euboean colonies of Magna Graecia Category:Roman sites of Campania ja:カプア

Salerno

Salerno is a town and a province in Campania, south-western Italy, located on the gulf of the same name on the Tyrrhenian Sea. The main town of the "Costiera Amalfitana" (the part of coast on the Tyrrhenian sea which includes famous towns like Amalfi, Positano, etc.), it is mostly known in recent history for having hosted the king of Italy, who escaped from Rome in 1943 after Italy negotiated a peace with the Allies in World War II. A brief so-called "government of the South" was then established in the town. Some of the Allied landings during Operation Avalanche (the invasion of Italy) occurred near Salerno. Salerno hosted the oldest university in Europe, the Schola Medica Salernitana, the most important source of medical knowledge in Europe in the early Middle Ages. The University Institute of Magistero "Giovanni Cuomo", founded in 1944, received, therefore, the distinguished heritage of an ancient tradition. Since 1968, when the University of Salerno became public, enrollment has increased substantially. Today the two campuses of Fisciano and Baronissi take in over 40,000 students attending the wide range of subjects offered by the 9 Faculties: Economics, Pharmaceutics, Law, Engineering, Humanities, Foreign Languages, Political Science, Natural Science, Mathematics and Physics, and Education Science. It's the capital city of the province of Salerno.

History

Salerno is a city situated in the middle of two enchanting coasts, the Amalfi and Cilento coasts. In 194 BC it was a Roman colony and was named Salernum. The city made progress and also enriched its culture and its traditions during the occupation of Goths, Byzantines, Langobards and Normans. The Goths were defeated by the Greeks whose domination lasted 15 years (from 553 to 568), up to Langobards invaded almost the whole peninsula. In 786 Arechi II, a Langobard prince, transferred the seat of the Dukedom of Benevento to Salerno, in order to elude Charlemagne's offensive and to secure himself the control of a strategic area, the centre of coastal and internal communications in Campania. With Arechi II, Salerno grew to great splendour becoming a centre of studies with its famous Medical School. The Langobard prince ordered the city to be fortified; the Castle on the Bonadies mountain had alredy been built with walls and towers so from 839 the new capital was seat of a principality and powerful political centre. On December 13, 1076 the Norman conqueror Robert Guiscard captured Salerno, thus putting the end to the hundreds of years of Langobard dominance. In this period the royal palace (Castel Terracena) and the magnificent cathedral were built and science was boosted as the Salerno Medical School, considered the most ancient medical institution of European West, reached its maximum splendour. With the accession to the throne of the Hohenstaufen dynasty (Swabians), at the end of the 12th century, there was a period of economic revival in the city. Following the advice of Giovanni da Procida (a famous citizen of that time), King Manfred of Sicily, Emperor Frederick II's son, ordered a dock that still now has his name, to be built. Moreover he founded Saint Matthew's Fair, which was the most important in the South of Italy. After the Angevin conquest the city was particularly a work of a famous sculptor, Boboccio da Piperno admired by Queen Consort Margherita of Durazzo who took up her abode in Salerno and was buried in the monumental tomb, which is today in the cathedral. From the 14th century onwards, most of the Salerno province became the territory of the Princes of Sanseverino, powerful feudal lords, who acted as real owners of the Region. They accumulated an enormous political and administrative power and attracted artists and men of letters inside their own princely palace. In the 15th century the city was the scene of battles between the Angevin and the Aragonese royal houses with whom the local lords took sides alternatingly. In the first decades of the 16th century the last descendant of the Sanseverino princes was in conflict with the Spanish Government, causing the ruin of the whole family and the beginning of a long period of decadence for the city. The years 1656, 1688 and 1694 represent sorrowful dates for Salerno: the plague and the earthquake which caused many victims. A slow renewal of the city occurred in the 18th century with the end of the Spanish empire and the construction of many refined houses and churches characterising the main streets of the historical centre. In 1799 Salerno was incorporated into the Parthenopean Republic. During the Napoleonic period, firstly Joseph Bonaparte and then Joachim Murat ascended the Neapolitan throne. The latter decreed the closing of the Salerno Medical School, that had been declining for decades to the level of a theoretical school. In the same period even the religious Orders were suppressed and numerous ecclesiastical properties were confiscated. The city expanded beyond the ancient walls and sea connections were potentiated as they represented an important road network that crossed the town connecting the eastern plain with the area leading to Vietri and Naples. After the Unity of Italy a slow urban development continued, many suburban areas were enlarged and large public and private buildings were created. The city went on developing till the Second World War. In September 1943, Salerno was the scene of the landing of the allies and from February 12th to July 17th 1944 it gave hospitality to the Government of Marshal Pietro Badoglio. The post-war period was difficult for all the Italian cities, but Salerno managed to improve little by little and to aim at becoming a modern European city. In recent years the town administration has taken great strides giving a great impulse to the revaluation of the whole urban territory. The rewal of the historical centre has been directed towards the rediscovery of the artistic and cultural treasures of an exceptional land. Salerno appears more and more as a welcoming community for tourists from all over the world with its enchanting historical centre where it is possible to admire both the traces of its ancient history and the fervour of artisan shops and places for cultural and musical aggregation attended by thousands of people. Salerno is a charming synthesis of what the Mediterranean can offer to anyone who wants to know it more closely. Pietro Badoglio

Reference

SalernoCity, il Tribunale di Salerno http://www.salernocity.com/turismo/Salernostorica/Introduzione/default_ing.asp

External links

- [http://www.campaniameteo.it/webcam/webcamfortelacarnale.asp Salerno Webcam]
- [http://www.italianvisits.com/campania/salerno/ ItalianVisits.com] Category:Towns in Campania ja:サレルノ

Urnfield

, the central blue area is the Knoviz culture. The brown area is the Danubian culture, the blue area is the Terramare culture and the green area is the West European Bronze Age. The yellow area is the Nordic Bronze Age]] The Urnfield culture (c. 1300 BC - 750 BC) is a pre-Celtic culture of central Europe, considered by some scholars to mark the origin of the Celts as a distinct cultural group. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns which were then buried in fields. The Urnfield culture followed the Tumulus culture and was succeeded by the Hallstatt culture.

Chronology

In some areas like south-western Germany, the date is taken as 1200 BC (beginning of Ha A), but the Bronze D Riegsee-phase already contains cremations. As the change between the middle bronze age and the urnfield culture was gradual, this is a matter of definition. The Urnfield culture covers the phases Hallstatt A and B (Ha A and B) in Paul Reinecke's chronological system, not to be confused with the Hallstatt culture (Ha C and D) of the following Iron Age. This corresponds to the Phases Montelius III-IV in the North. Whether Reinecke's Bronze D is included varies according to author and region. The Urnfield culture is divided into the following sub-phases (based on Müller-Karpe sen.):

	date BC
BzD	1300-1200
Ha A1	1200-1100
Ha A2	1100-1000
HaB1	1000-800
HaB2	900-800
Ha B3	800-750

The existence of the Ha B3-phase is contested, as the material consists of female burials only. As can be seen by the smug 100-year ranges, the dating of the phases is highly schematic. The Phases are based on typological changes, which means that they do not have to be strictly contemporaneous across the whole distribution. All in all, more radiocarbon- and dendro-dates would be highly desirable.

Origin

The Urnfield culture grew from the preceding tumulus culture. Change is gradual, in the pottery as well as the burial rites. In some parts of Germany, cremation and inhumation existed contemporaneously (facies Wölfersheim). Some graves contain a combination of tumulus-culture pottery and Urnfield swords (Kressborn, Bodenseekreis) or tumulus culture incised pottery together with early Urnfield types (Mengen). In the North, the Urnfield culture was only adopted in the HaA2 period. 16 pins deposited in a swamp in Ellmoosen (Kr. Bad Aibling, Germany) cover the whole chronological range from Bronze B to the early Urnfield period (Ha A). This demonstrates a considerable ritual continuity. In the Loire, Seine and Rhône, certain fords contain deposits from the late Neolithic onwards up to the Urnfield period. The origin of the cremation rite is commonly seen on the Balkans, where it was popular in the eastern part of the tumulus-culture. Some cremations are found in the Proto-Lusatian and Trzciniec-culture already.

Distribution and local groups

The Urnfield culture is found from western Hungary to eastern France, from the Alps almost to the coast of the North Sea. Local groups, mainly differentiated by pottery, include:
- Knovíz-culture in western and Northern Bohemia, southern Thuringia and North-eastern Bavaria
- Milavce-culture in southeastern Bohemia
- Velatice-Baierdorf in Moravia and Austria
- ?aka in western Slovakia
- Northeast-Bavarian Group, divided into a lower Bavarian and an upper Palatinate group
- Unstrut group in Thuringia, a mixture between Knovíz-culture and the South-German Urnfield culture. South-German Urnfield culture
- Lower-Main-Swabian group in southern Hesse and Baden-Württemberg, including the Marburger, Hanauer, lower Main and Friedberger facies.
- Rhenish-Swiss group in Rheinland-Pfalz, Switzerland and eastern France, (abbreviated RSFO in French). Lower-Rine urnfields
- Lower Hessian Group
- North-Netherlands-Westphalian group
- Northwest-Group in the Dutch Delta region. Sometimes the distribution of artefacts belonging to these groups shows sharp and consistent borders, which might indicate some political structures, like tribes. Metalwork is commonly of a much more widespread distribution than pottery and does not conform to these borders. It may have been produced at specialised workshops catering for the elite of a large area.

Burial

In the tumulus-period, multiple inhumations und