- chapter 14: The Faliscans and the Etruscans –
shrine of the Fanum Voltumnae at Orvieto (see Chapter 31). The two main times when
the anti-Roman alliances operated were in the confl ict of Rome and Veii (402–395 bc)
when the Faliscans and Capenates sided with Veii, and the Roman-Tarquinian War of
357–351 bc which saw Falerii ally with Tarquinia. In general the close relationship
between Etruscans and Falisci is measured primarily in the trade in goods and materials,
and in the circulation of ideas and cultural patterns, marked by relations of reciprocity.
With respect to the universe of trade, we must consider what infl uence direct relations
with the Etruscans would have had on some Faliscan sites.
In defi ning the Faliscan territory two regions that are both geographical and cultural
may be recognized: the southern Ager Faliscus, which has its epicenter in Narce, and
the central-northern Ager Faliscus that sees in Falerii the hegemonic center that exerts a
wide control even on smaller sites like Corchiano and Vignanello. The two sub-regions
interact in more or less direct proportion to the proximity of the neighboring Etruscans.
In the earliest phase Narce is certainly the site to witness more direct contacts determined
by its proximity to Veii, the nearest Etruscan center, only 25 km distant (Baglione and
De Lucia Brolli 1990, 1997). Trade between the two centers is signifi cant from the
beginning of the eighth century bc, so as to have often caused confusion in the ethnic-
cultural identifi cation of Narce, thought by some scholars, albeit cautiously, to have been
a colony of Veii (Cifani 2005); trade continued uninterrupted until the fall of Veii. One
of the elements that, in the earliest phase (eighth century bc) are common and show
strong affi nities between the two sites is the fi eld of funerary ideology (Baglione and De
Lucia Brolli 1997). Among the oldest tombs of the necropoleis of I Tufi and La Petrina
are recognized some contexts that apparently are directly associated with the funerary
ideology and material culture of Veii (Baglione and De Lucia Brolli 1990) (Fig. 14.14).
But if one observes the burials in detail there is a wide range of differences: associations
in grave goods include a set composition of personal ornaments and pottery strongly
infl uenced by local decisions, and often in connection with Etruscan, rather than Latin
and Sabine, funeral customs (Turfa 2005: pp. 13–21; Pitzalis 2011) (Fig. 14.15).
Figure 14.14 La Petrina and I Tufi necropoleis of Narce.