DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.847#0228
TARQUINIA. 209
Constant points of resemblance, or of difference,
struck me in every tomb between the Etruscans
and the Egyptians, or the ancient Greeks, and
constant evidences of those customs which the
Etruscans afterwards taught to Rome; the circus,
for instance, with its games, and the velarium
or covering which they folded over unroofed build-
ings to protect them from the sun and rain, and
which has generally been considered as a most in-
genious invention of the Romans. I have said that
all the painted tombs discovered in our day have
been found empty, excepting the Grotta del Tifone:
the places, however, remain marked off where the
sarcophagus has stood. In some of them, particu-
larly in the Grotta delle Iscrizioni and del Morto,
there is even a rim all round the place, and
marks where the four feet have indented the floor.
There are also nails remaining in some of the walls
from which the tazze and bronze shields have hung.
Much did we wish to see some of the plainer tombs,
out of which the very beautiful black figured vases
found here, the bronzes, gold-hilted swords, and
various rich ornaments, had been taken; especially
we should have liked to have seen the warrior's tomb of
Avolta's own discovery, but they were all filled up.
As I understood the matter, the original doors had
been broken to pieces or thrown inwards, and earth
and stones had covered over the spot where the
excavations had been made, so that fifty years hence
they may all be made over again, and cause money
Constant points of resemblance, or of difference,
struck me in every tomb between the Etruscans
and the Egyptians, or the ancient Greeks, and
constant evidences of those customs which the
Etruscans afterwards taught to Rome; the circus,
for instance, with its games, and the velarium
or covering which they folded over unroofed build-
ings to protect them from the sun and rain, and
which has generally been considered as a most in-
genious invention of the Romans. I have said that
all the painted tombs discovered in our day have
been found empty, excepting the Grotta del Tifone:
the places, however, remain marked off where the
sarcophagus has stood. In some of them, particu-
larly in the Grotta delle Iscrizioni and del Morto,
there is even a rim all round the place, and
marks where the four feet have indented the floor.
There are also nails remaining in some of the walls
from which the tazze and bronze shields have hung.
Much did we wish to see some of the plainer tombs,
out of which the very beautiful black figured vases
found here, the bronzes, gold-hilted swords, and
various rich ornaments, had been taken; especially
we should have liked to have seen the warrior's tomb of
Avolta's own discovery, but they were all filled up.
As I understood the matter, the original doors had
been broken to pieces or thrown inwards, and earth
and stones had covered over the spot where the
excavations had been made, so that fifty years hence
they may all be made over again, and cause money