DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.786#0438
CHAP. LV.]
ANCIENT WALLS OF BRICK.
421
Etruria under the Empire.2 Though said to have been
destroyed by Totila, the Vandal, Arretium rose from her
ashes, withstood all the vicissitudes of the dark ages, -which
proved so fatal to many of her fellows, and is still repre-
sented by a city, which, though shorn of her ancient
pre-eminence, takes rank among the chief of Tuscany.
The walls of Arretium were renowned for the beauty
and peculiarity of their construction, being formed of
brick3—the only instance on record of such a material
being employed in an Etruscan town. It has been asserted
that those ancient fortifications still enclose the modern
city; but after a careful examination, I am convinced that
not a fragment of the existing walls can lay claim to
an Etruscan origin.4 In truth, as will be presently shown,
it is extremely questionable if Arezzo occupies the site of
the original city.
by Festus {sub voce), of which the inha-
bitants had the citizenship of Rome,
together with the internal administra-
tion of their own city.
2 Strabo, V. p. 226. He states that
it was the most inland city of Etruria,
and a thousand stadia (125 miles) from
Home ; which is less than the real
distance. The Antonine Itinerary is
nearer the truth in making the distance
139 miles. Vt supra, pp. 327, 413.
3 Vitruv. II. 8.—E latere .... in
Italia Aretii vetustum egregie factum
murum. cf. Plin. XXXV. 49.
4 The assertion is made in the
" Sepulchres of Etruria," p. 503, and
copied into Murray's Hand Book. I
speak confidently when I state that so
far are the walls of Arezzo from being
of Etruscan construction, that there is
not a fragment of such antiquity in the
entire circuit. I paid a third visit to
the city in order to satisfy myself on
this point. The walls are for the
most part of squared stones, not unlike
bricks, in size and form, put together
with cement ; and they are patched
here and there with larger masonry
also cemented, and of yet more recent
date—all undoubtedly the work of the
middle ages, and of no remote period.
In the walls in the higher part of the
town, around the Cathedral, there are
fragments of earlier construction, of
brick-work, possibly Roman, for it is
like that in Roman buildings of Impe-
rial times. The best fragments are
near the Porta del Casentino. This
brick-work, if it be Roman, cannot be
earlier than the close of the Republic,
but may be of very much later date, as
this style was employed for ages, and is
even imitated at the present day. The
brick-work of the Etruscans, the pre-
ceptors of the Romans in architecture,
would resemble the fragments found at
Veii (Vol. I. pp. 15, 16), or the earlier
structures of the Romans, rather than
any later style of that people.
ANCIENT WALLS OF BRICK.
421
Etruria under the Empire.2 Though said to have been
destroyed by Totila, the Vandal, Arretium rose from her
ashes, withstood all the vicissitudes of the dark ages, -which
proved so fatal to many of her fellows, and is still repre-
sented by a city, which, though shorn of her ancient
pre-eminence, takes rank among the chief of Tuscany.
The walls of Arretium were renowned for the beauty
and peculiarity of their construction, being formed of
brick3—the only instance on record of such a material
being employed in an Etruscan town. It has been asserted
that those ancient fortifications still enclose the modern
city; but after a careful examination, I am convinced that
not a fragment of the existing walls can lay claim to
an Etruscan origin.4 In truth, as will be presently shown,
it is extremely questionable if Arezzo occupies the site of
the original city.
by Festus {sub voce), of which the inha-
bitants had the citizenship of Rome,
together with the internal administra-
tion of their own city.
2 Strabo, V. p. 226. He states that
it was the most inland city of Etruria,
and a thousand stadia (125 miles) from
Home ; which is less than the real
distance. The Antonine Itinerary is
nearer the truth in making the distance
139 miles. Vt supra, pp. 327, 413.
3 Vitruv. II. 8.—E latere .... in
Italia Aretii vetustum egregie factum
murum. cf. Plin. XXXV. 49.
4 The assertion is made in the
" Sepulchres of Etruria," p. 503, and
copied into Murray's Hand Book. I
speak confidently when I state that so
far are the walls of Arezzo from being
of Etruscan construction, that there is
not a fragment of such antiquity in the
entire circuit. I paid a third visit to
the city in order to satisfy myself on
this point. The walls are for the
most part of squared stones, not unlike
bricks, in size and form, put together
with cement ; and they are patched
here and there with larger masonry
also cemented, and of yet more recent
date—all undoubtedly the work of the
middle ages, and of no remote period.
In the walls in the higher part of the
town, around the Cathedral, there are
fragments of earlier construction, of
brick-work, possibly Roman, for it is
like that in Roman buildings of Impe-
rial times. The best fragments are
near the Porta del Casentino. This
brick-work, if it be Roman, cannot be
earlier than the close of the Republic,
but may be of very much later date, as
this style was employed for ages, and is
even imitated at the present day. The
brick-work of the Etruscans, the pre-
ceptors of the Romans in architecture,
would resemble the fragments found at
Veii (Vol. I. pp. 15, 16), or the earlier
structures of the Romans, rather than
any later style of that people.