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Article

Vulci  

D. W. R. Ridgway

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Roman Material Culture
Vulci (Etr. Velχ-), 20 km. (12½ mi.) north-west of *Tarquinii in central Italy, situated on a plateau overlooking the river Fiora and with a commanding view of Monte Argentario and Cosa, was one of the twelve cities of Etruria (see etruscans). It was an important centre by the late 8th cent. bce, rich in painted pottery and bronze; its *orientalizing period has much in common with that of *Vetulonia. From the late 7th cent., Vulci was the centre of schools of stone-carving, vase-painting, and of the manufacture of bronze utensils that were widely exported. Official and clandestine attention has been mainly concentrated on the tombs, dating from the Villanovan period onwards (see villanovan culture), several thousands of which had been emptied by the mid-19th cent.: Vulci was the principal importer to Etruria of Attic black- and red-figure vases (see pottery, greek).

Article

wall of Antoninus  

Ian Archibald Richmond, Sheppard S. Frere, and Martin Millett

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman Material Culture
Wall of Antoninus, a Roman frontier-wall 59 km. (37 mi.) long, running from Bridgeness on the Forth to Old Kilpatrick on the Clyde, built for *Antoninus Pius (SHAAnt. Pius 5. 4) in ce 139–42 by Q. *Lollius Urbicus. The wall was of turf, standing upon a cobbled foundation 4.5–5 m. (c. 15–16 ft.) wide and systematically built in long sectors by Legions II, VI, and XX (see legion), who marked their work by inscribed slabs (RIB 2139, 2173, 2184–6, 2193–4, 2196–200, 2203–6, 2207–8, 2199, 3507). Seven metres (23 ft.) or more in front of the wall lay a ditch, approaching 12 m. (39 ft.) wide and not less than 3.6 m. (11½ ft.) deep. Forts occur at Carriden (1.7 ha.), Inveravon, Mumrills (2.9 ha.), Falkirk, Rough Castle (0.6 ha.), Castlecary (1.5 ha.), Westerwood (0.9 ha.), Croy Hill (0.8 ha.), Bar Hill (1.4 ha.), Auchendavy (1.2 ha.), Kirkintilloch (1.3 ha.), Cadder (1.1 ha.), Balmuildy (1.7 ha.), Bearsden (1.2 ha.), Castlehill (1.4 ha.), Duntocher (0.2 ha.), and Old Kilpatrick (1.8 ha.). Minor structures are signalling platforms, occurring at high points, and fortlets (0.04 ha.), one of them at the passage of the northward road at Watling Lodge, near Falkirk. Thus, the Antonine wall is structurally an advance upon Hadrian's turf wall (see wall of hadrian) in its economy of material and rubble foundation, allowing better drainage, while its garrison was distributed in small close-spaced forts instead of large forts and milecastles.

Article

wall of Aurelian  

Rossana Mancini

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Late Antiquity
  2. Roman History and Historiography
  3. Roman Material Culture
In 271 ce, nominally in response to the empire’s state of vulnerability, the Emperor Aurelian decided to protect Rome with a curtain wall, a decision that may also have been driven by social pressures in the city and the form of which was motivated by economic limitations. Following its completion by Probus, the wall has subsequently received periodic improvements from Maxentius and Honorius through Theodoric and medieval and Renaissance popes and into the modern period when the walls became partially accessible to the public.When Aurelian succeeded to the imperial throne, in 270ce, northern European tribes posed a serious threat. The most pressing danger was posed by the Juthungi in Noricum, Rhaetia and northern Italy and by the Vandals and Iazygian Sarmatians along the Danube. In 271ce the Juthungi penetrated as far as Umbria, though they were defeated at Ticinum (modern Pavia). It was in that very year that the Emperor .

Article

wall of Hadrian  

Ian Archibald Richmond, Sheppard S. Frere, and Martin Millett

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman Material Culture

Wall of Hadrian, a frontier-wall (see limes) of Roman *Britain, running for 80 Roman miles (118 km.; 73 mi.) from Wallsend-on-Tyne to Bowness-on-Solway. The frontier then followed the Cumbrian coast south to St Bees Head. Erected under the governor A. *Platorius Nepos in c. ce 122–6, it was first designed to start at Pons Aelius, Newcastle upon Tyne, the eastern 67 km. (42 mi.) being in stone (3 m. (10 ft.) thick and perhaps 4.2 m. (13½ ft.) high) and the western 46 km. (31 mi.) in turf (6 m. (19½ ft.) broad at the base and some 4.2 m. (13½ ft.) high). Six metres (19½ ft.) in front of the wall ran a V-shaped ditch (generally 8.2 m. (26½ ft.) wide and 3 m. (10 ft.) deep). Recent work at various locations suggests that the berm between wall and ditch was fortified with a forest of sharpened stakes set in the ground. Fortified gateways (milecastles), with towered gates to the north, occurred every Roman mile (1,481 m.; 1,620 yds.) and there were intermediate turrets (observation towers) every third of a mile (494 m.; 540 yds.). North of the barrier were three outpost forts at Bewcastle, Netherby, and Birrens. As construction progressed, changes came. The stone wall was reduced to 2.5 m. (7½ ft.) in width, and extended 6 km. (4 mi.) eastwards to Wallsend, and 6 km. westward (replacing the Turf Wall).

Article

wall of Servius  

Ian Archibald Richmond and Tim Cornell

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman Material Culture
Wall of Servius, the city-wall of republican Rome, traditionally assigned to King Servius *Tullius, actually belongs to 378 bce. It is of Grotta Oscura tufa, built in headers and stretchers, 4.5 m. (15 ft.) thick and at least 8.5 m. (28 ft.) high, retaining an earth bank or terrace, and is comparable to the contemporary wall of *Pompeii II. The masons' marks, with Hellenistic affinities, suggest Greek contractors. The wall was some 11 km. (7 mi.) long and its course, dictated by contours, enclosed an irregular area, estimated at 426 ha. (Beloch, Röm. Gesch.208), and embracing the *Quirinal, *Viminal, Oppian, Caelian (see caelius mons), *Aventine, and fortified Capitoline hills (see capitol). There is dispute about the course between the last two points (Coarelli, 13 ff.), and about the relation of the wall to the *Palatine fortification. The names of the gates are well known, but the location of some is debated and their structure is uncertain. In the 2nd cent. bce the wall was heightened to some 16 m.

Article

water supply  

Richard Allan Tomlinson

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Material Culture
  2. Roman Material Culture
The preferred source of water in Classical Greece is a natural perennial spring. Failing this, rainwater has to be conserved in cisterns, or raised from wells.Improvement of natural water supplies leads to the construction of fountain houses where water is fed through spouts (normally decorated in the form of a lion's head) into drawbasins; such constructions are usually placed behind architectural façades with a roof to shade (and keep cool) the drawbasins. These already existed in the 6th cent. bce (Enneakrounos at Athens, built by *Pisistratus). Pirene at Corinth was successively improved from Archaic to Roman times. The use of terracotta pipes and built or rock-cut conduits to lead water from a spring to a locality where it was needed develops from the Archaic period (see aqueduct).Cisterns may be rock-cut, but generally have to be lined with cement to retain water. They may be fed from rainwater trapped on roofs, or on the ground surface, led into settling tanks for cleaning before storage. Cisterns under the courtyards of houses in *Delos are reached by well heads, hollowed cylinders of marble, usually decorated (see puteal).

Article

weighing instruments  

Frederick Norman Pryce, Mabel L. Lang, and David William John Gill

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Material Culture: Bronze Age
  2. Greek Material Culture
  3. Roman Material Culture
The balance (σταθμός, libra, bilanx) of two pans at equal distance from the point of suspension is an invention of the earliest times; in Mycenaean tablets (see mycenaean language) it is the symbol for the largest unit of weight, and Homer is familiar with its use, which persisted through antiquity. The steelyard, in which the rod is unequally divided, the object to be weighed being suspended from the short arm against a sliding counterweight on the longer, does not appear before Roman times (statera: originally statera campana, from an alleged Campanian origin; see campania); but from its greater convenience it became the most popular form of balance. There may be alternative positions for the fulcrum, and two different scales can be marked on the bar. Inscriptions can guarantee the standard. Trutina is a pan-balance for large masses; momentana and moneta are for small objects, or coins. Weighing instruments were only as accurate as the weights used, and it seems that some error was created by using worn items. See weights.

Article

zooarchaeology  

Michael MacKinnon

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
19 July 2023
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Economy
  2. Greek Material Culture
  3. Science, Technology, and Medicine
  4. Roman Material Culture

Zooarchaeology/archaeozoology focuses on the investigation of animals in the past through analysis of recovered faunal remains, largely teeth and bones, from archaeological sites. As such zooarchaeological analyses can disclose much about the animals themselves, the environmental and ecological parameters in which they existed, as well as the cultures that kept, herded, controlled, hunted, manipulated, killed, ate, valued, symbolized, treated, and exploited them. The historical development of zooarchaeological study within classical archaeology showcases its expansion from earlier studies (in the 1970s and 1980s) that concentrated on reconstructing the core economic and ecological roles of animals in antiquity to its current state, which emphasizes more diversified, multidimensional investigations of animals across all spectra and components of ancient life. Key topics of interest in the discipline include ancient husbandry operations; the interaction between animals and ecological settings; the input of meat and other animal foodstuffs in ancient diets; the exploitation of non-consumable animal products, such as bones, hides, and wool in antiquity; breeding regimes and their effects on animals during Greek and Roman times; and the roles and characteristics of work, pet, and sacrificial animals in the past.