material, or of ideas, originating in the east and carried to Italy as part of the move-
ment of peoples which was stimulated by the Phoenicians and carried on by the dias-
pora of Greeks in the colonization period. By the later eighth and seventh centuries,
this had led to rising levels of luxury in the material record, particularly in burials
which have been called “princely” (tombe principesche) and are some of the most
famous features of Latin archaeology; the great tombs of Praeneste just outside Rome
being prime examples. This period is also characterized by the beginning of prac-
tices of votive deposition which are visible to archaeology. As we move into the later
seventh and sixth centuries, we find fewer burials and more evidence of public and
private building throughout Latium, and this includes the emergence of substantial
temples across the region. One way of beginning to understand this change is to
see a shift away from expenditure on elaborate funerals, which are singular events,
into monumental display (but cf. chapter 5). There is no lack of competition
between the wealthy aristocrats, but this is channeled increasingly into activities which
emphasize communal goods, and make permanent marks on the landscape of Latin
settlements. By the beginning of the fifth century, this shift is complete, but the
subsequent period is extremely problematic archaeologically, with significant gaps
which may reflect the rather unsettled period of the fifth and fourth centuries.
Nevertheless, unless fire or other disaster intervened, the sixth-century building achieve-
ments remained. As one example, it would appear that the temple of Jupiter
Optimus Maximus Capitolinus at Rome, which was destroyed in Sulla’s march on
Rome in 83 bc, was essentially the same as the one built late in the sixth century
(L. Richardson 1992: 221– 4).
It is notable and perhaps significant that there is a similarity of material between
burials and votive deposits, and in the case of a particular type, the miniature stat-
uette of a human with a hand outstretched in the act of offering, it is likely that this
object represents cult activity. We also find models of cakes which may represent
food offerings, and from the eighth century onward we find remains of animals which
had presumably been sacrificed and eaten, and the accoutrements of wine drinking,
a custom imported from the east (Bouma 1996). In the seventh century, we see that
identical architectural frieze decorations are found in temples and in domestic settings
(C. Bruun 1993). By the classical period, we can demonstrate that there is huge
overlap between the individuals who hold political office and those who hold priestly
office. In the fifth century at Rome, efforts were made to confine both kinds of office
to a hereditary aristocracy, the patricians – efforts which were ultimately unsuccessful
(Szemler 1972; Raaflaub 1986). It is likely that in the early period, we see predominantly
elite behavior in the material record, and what this behavior seems to show is that
the close association of political power with religious authority is of long standing.
It is not simply a lack of available options that brings this continuity from sacred to
secular, but rather an absence of that division. Archaic Rome and Latium was a world
full of religion, if not of gods.
It is also important to stress that individual sites demonstrate continuity of
religious practice over very long periods. There are a number of major temple
complexes which are preceded by a sequence of votive deposits. One example is San
Omobono at Rome, about which we shall have more to say below, and where the
The Religion of Archaic Rome 35