- chapter 49: The phenomenon of terracotta –
(particularly the departing warrior scene, chariot processions with armed warriors and
groups of armed riders),^33 are antefi xes with female heads with simple panels of hair
alongside the face^34 and eaves tiles with painted fl oral patterns on the underside,^35 which
are visible from below the deeply projecting eaves of the roof. Individual pieces that belong
to this decorative system, even if an entire roof cannot be reassembled from the fragments,
come from Otricoli, Castellina del Marangone, Tarquinia, Rusellae, Poggio Buco, Vulci,
Caere, and Vignanello.^36 Some of the military scenes have been excavated with revetment
plaques depicting banquets and dancing^37 or bulls and a possible rape scene.^38 Roofs of
funerary naiskoi using this decorative system apparently had acroteria, some archaizing in
style: cut-out acroteria at Ara del Tufo and Guadocinto near Tuscania, and at Il Sodo near
Cortona; a seated statue and a probable rider perhaps from Ara del Tufo.^39 Some technical
advances evident in this group of roofs include the use of piece molds (separate molds for
fi gured frieze and for crowning moldings on the revetment plaques) and use of the mold
for female-head antefi xes for the face of the otherwise handmade acroteria.
TERRACOTTA ROOFS OF THE SO-CALLED FIRST
PHASE, 540/530–510/500 BCAn infl ux of artisans from Asia Minor is apparent in the introduction of two new decorative
systems circa 540/530 bc, one of which is characterized by its wealth of fi gured friezes in
relief and the other by its polychrome painted decoration that expands the palette from
the previous red, white and black to include shades of brown, blue and green.
The former decorative system, known as the Veii-Rome-Velletri decorative system (Fig.
49.2) because of the sites at which examples have been discovered, fi rst appears around
530 bc.^40 Although it includes many characteristics of preceding roofi ng systems, such as
fi gured friezes in relief on its raking simas and revetment plaques (now including scenes
of a chariot race in addition to armed riders, chariot processions, a seated assembly and a
banquet), use of a lateral sima combined with antefi xes with female head, and statues in
the round as acroteria (including a central group of Herakles and Athena, fl anked by volute
acroteria, and sphinxes at the corners of the roof), new hallmarks of East Greek infl uence
are the insertion of a relief meander enclosing a bird and a star-fl ower in boxes between
the fi gured frieze and crowning molding of revetment plaques, and scenes of chariot races,
both documented earlier on roofs of Asia Minor;^41 in addition, the sculptural style of the
acroteria is Ionicizing. Technical innovations include mounting the acroterial statues on a
plinth that is inserted into a separately made base, some of which are elaborately decorated
with moldings and painted details.^42 At least six roofs sharing the same molds for the
fi gured friezes are known, one from the Portonaccio sanctuary at Veii (but with other
fragments excavated also on the Piazza d’Armi), at least four at Rome (on the Capitoline
hill, the second-phase temple of Mater Matuta at S. Omobono in the Forum Boarium,
the fourth-phase building on the site of the later Regia in the Roman Forum, and on
the Palatine hill), and one at Velletri. Another set of related roofs with the same general
morphologies for the different roof elements but that differ mainly in the military aspect
of the fi gured friezes, the restricted number of scenes (lacking are the seated assembly and
banquet), and the somewhat later style, are found in Rome (possible repairs to the roof
of the second-phase temple of Mater Matuta at S. Omobono, and a probable replacement
roof for the temple on the Palatine hill) and at Caprifi co near Cisterna, south of Rome.^43