- Robert Leighton –
evidently in response to a need for better support structures, formal trade agreements
and bureaucratic regulation in which religious authorities played a central role. This
development may also have characterized the situation at the main urban centers, where
religious buildings would provide the physical backdrop and institutional oversight
for all manner of civic activities, including meetings and markets, in adjacent spaces,
which we might envisage as the forerunners of the later Roman forum.^48 At Tarquinia,
for example, the massive 4th-century Ara della Regina temple was built at the highest
elevation of the plateau on the site of earlier temples dating from the sixth century.^49
This might have been an important location before then, but its rise to prominence in
the sixth century coincides suggestively with the end of the old Orientalizing cult place
in area beta (Pian di Civita, above); this was probably a crucial period in the creation of a
new urban focal point.
CONCLUSIONSUrbanization has been discussed here mainly in terms of relationships within Etruria,
according to the premise that – except in colonial contexts – it is an evolving process
determined largely by local conditions, traditions and decisions, even if external forces
can act as a stimulant. Comparable trajectories and pace of development between
the major south Etruscan cities may be attributed to locational and socio-cultural
similarities, proximity and interaction, including rivalry and emulation. While evolving
in tandem, however, some sites seem more precocious or prosperous in certain periods.
For example, Tarquinia appears to be ahead in the EIA, perhaps overtaken by Caere in
the seventh century, although the general impression is of a rough equilibrium, unless
disrupted by exceptional circumstances; an obvious case is the destruction of Veii by
Rome in 396 bc. Comparable origins, histories and longevity doubtless also contributed
to a similarly held sense of identity and status, perhaps encouraging self-defi nition and
assertions of individuality, somewhat paradoxically, in order to maintain distinctions.
Invented genealogies and foundation stories have a role to play here, such as those linked
with Tarquinia, the city of Tarchon and Tages in literary tradition, which can only have
enhanced its claims to religious authority.^50 This warns against extrapolating too much
from smaller, often short-lived, rural sites. Ancient cities had more in common with
each other than with the latter, regardless of whether they were in Etruria, Latium or
southern Italy.
The urbanization of Etruria was also connected with that of neighboring regions and
the wider Mediterranean, however, including those areas colonized by Phoenicians and
Greeks, with whom the Etruscans were in close contact from at least 750 bc. How much
weight should be given to external factors is debatable. Trade undoubtedly stimulated
local production both in rural and urban settings, while privileged access to external
sources of wealth helped local elites to differentiate themselves in the eyes of a potentially
sceptical local audience, creating or magnifying class distinctions. The extravagant
aggrandizing features of early Etruscan urbanism and much Orientalizing material
culture arguably served essentially this purpose.
Similarly, the elaboration of religious ritual, for which the Etruscans were renowned,
and which also hinges on restricted knowledge or access, would have been a useful tool in
forging new identities and allegiances to particular people and places, especially in Etruria,
which lacked any prior experience of urbanization and where the generally benign natural