c h a p t e r 1 5: Etruria on the P 0 and the Adriatic Seastructure, based on a dense network of exchanges between Tyrrhenian Etruria, Greece and
transalpine Europe (Fig. 15.2). From Tyrrhenian Etruria there reached the Po Valley, in
addition to manufactured products, also raw materials (copper and iron) to be transformed
into products in special factories whose level of production was especially high. The close
business relationship with the Greek world involves a deep acculturation of this Etruscan
territorial sector, which was particularly receptive and open to cultural stimuli.
From this moment on the same lines of trade form the backbone of a new system of
economic and political aggregation adopting essentially the urban form, in which an
important role was also played by Adria, which is located further north on the Adriatic
and near the territory of the Veneti. The newly founded cities are characterized by regular
plans that required formal rituals of foundation, reconstructed mainly at Marzabotto. A
dense network of villages of rural character or small towns, especially well documented
in western Emilia, then joins the large urban centers. This radical reorganization of
the Etruscan Po-territory (“Etruria Padana”) has suggested a phenomenon of internal
colonization from Etruria (Chiusi and Volterra). Etruscan epigraphy shows, however, that
in the newly founded cities such as Marzabotto the names of local origin significantly
outweigh others; therefore, the Etruscans of the Po region were above all the protagonists
in this great process of development.
FELS IN A/BOLOGNA
Bologna functioned at this point in an executive capacity, and may be considered the
“capital” of Etruria Padana. Pliny the Elder reports that within the confederation of
twelve cities of the Po Valley, Bologna, the ancient Felsina, was awarded a distinction of
great importance: “Bononia Felsina vocitata turn cum Etruriae essetprinceps” (Pliny, Naturalis
Historia 15.112). The statement could have a meaning more chronological than political-
institutional, so as to be understood as a synonym of metropolis, “mother-city” with
a key role in the genesis and formation of the same Etruscan ethnos, on analogy with
Figure 15.2 Map of Etruria Vadana from sixth to fourth century bc
(Dipartimento di Archeologia di Bologna).Limiti settentrionali del territorio etrusco
Linea di costa antica