Unit ETRUSCAN STUDIES AND ITALIC ANTIQUITIES
- Course
- Archaeology and history of art
- Study-unit Code
- GP003434
- Curriculum
- Generico
- Teacher
- Lucio Fiorini
- Teachers
-
- Lucio Fiorini
- Hours
- 36 ore - Lucio Fiorini
- CFU
- 6
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2026
- Offered
- 2026/27
- Learning activities
- Caratterizzante
- Area
- Archeologia dell'età pre-protostorica, classica e medievale
- Sector
- ARCH-01/C
- Type of study-unit
- Opzionale (Optional)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- The course is based on the assumption that Etruscan civilization cannot be fully understood without considering the role played by emporia, privileged places of encounter, exchange, and interaction among different communities. Landing places and port settlements were not merely spaces devoted to the circulation of goods, but genuine cultural laboratories in which people, technologies, religious practices, artistic models, and writing systems came into contact and were reworked by Etruscan societies.
Through a chronological framework extending from the early Orientalizing period to the Roman conquest, the course will examine the formation and development of the main emporia of pre-Roman Italy, focusing on their topographical organization, harbour structures, sacred areas, spaces intended for commercial and craft activities, and relationships with inland cities. Particular attention will be paid to the archaeological evidence concerning the movement of people and goods, ceramic production, inscriptions, cults practised in emporic sanctuaries, and the forms of coexistence and cultural mediation among Etruscans, Greeks, Phoenicians, and other Mediterranean communities.
By comparing sites such as Gravisca, Pyrgi, Spina, Populonia, Adria, and other port centres of the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic regions, students will acquire a critical understanding of the economic, social, and cultural processes that led to the integration of Etruscan cities into Mediterranean exchange networks. The course will also demonstrate how the study of emporia makes it possible to reconstruct not only trade routes, but also the formation of plural identities, the circulation of knowledge, and the transformation of coastal landscapes in the ancient world. - Reference texts
- Recommended readings
M. Torelli, Storia degli Etruschi, Rome-Bari, Laterza, various editions.
M. Torelli, Il rango, il rito, l’immagine. Alle origini della rappresentazione storica romana, Milan, Electa, 1997.
Further bibliographical references and additional study materials will be provided during the course. - Educational objectives
- The course aims to provide students with an in-depth understanding of the role played by emporia in the development of Etruscan civilization and in the formation of exchange networks across the ancient Mediterranean. Through the analysis of archaeological, topographical, and epigraphic evidence, students will acquire the tools needed to interpret the organization of port settlements, sacred areas, commercial and craft spaces, and the infrastructure associated with navigation and landing places.
Particular attention will be devoted to the movement of people, goods, technologies, artistic models, and religious practices, in order to understand emporia not merely as places of trade, but also as spaces of encounter, mediation, and cultural interaction. The comparative study of the main port centres of the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic regions will also highlight the relationships between emporia and inland cities, strategies for controlling the territory, and the forms of integration among Etruscans, Greeks, Phoenicians, and other Mediterranean communities. - Prerequisites
- No prerequisites are required. It is presumed that students are already familiar with basic themes of the subject matter
- Teaching methods
- The course is organized as follows:- Lectures will deal with all the issues and problems regarding the Etruscology - Educational trip, that will allow students to verify on the spot what is illustrated during the lessons (optional)
- Other information
- Since the topics are of great importance, the student follows with great interest and usually reaches optimal votes if not excellent. The attendance is strongly recommended as listening to the lessons can be extremely suitable for better and more thorough knowledge of the themes that will be covered by the test exam
- Learning verification modality
- The exam includes only the final oral test consisting of a discussion-interview on the topics discussed during the course and examined in-depth through recommended texts.The test aims at assuring the level of knowledge and understanding, as well as synthesis, achieved by the student. Moreover, this interview will verify that the student is able to communicate, with method, propriety of language and of exposure, what he has acquired. The duration of the test varies depending on the performance of the test itself For information on support services for students with disabilities and/or DSA visit the page http://www.unipg.it/disabilita-e-dsa
- Extended program
- The course offers a systematic investigation of emporia and port settlements in the Etruscan world, considered as places of economic exchange, mobility, cultural interaction, and religious mediation. Following a general introduction to the phenomenon of emporia in the ancient Mediterranean and a discussion of the historical and archaeological meaning of the term emporion, the course will examine the formation and development of the main landing places of Etruria and pre-Roman Italy, from the Orientalizing period to the Roman conquest.
Particular attention will be devoted to the topographical organization of coastal settlements, the relationship between ports, inland cities, and communication routes, as well as to the infrastructure associated with navigation, landing, storage, and the distribution of goods. The course will also examine spaces intended for craft and commercial activities and the role played by emporic sanctuaries as places of reception, protection, negotiation, and encounter among communities of different origins.
The analysis of material culture—including pottery, transport amphorae, metal objects, inscriptions, and votive offerings—will make it possible to reconstruct the circulation of goods, people, technologies, artistic models, religious practices, and writing systems. Considerable attention will be given to the relationships among Etruscans, Greeks, Phoenicians, and other Mediterranean peoples, with particular reference to processes of integration, adaptation, and cultural reworking.
The comparison of Gravisca, Pyrgi, Spina, Adria, Populonia, and other port centres of the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic regions will highlight continuities, regional differences, and the specific functions of individual settlements. The final part of the course will examine the transformation of emporia, coastal landscapes, and trade networks in the context of Roman expansion and the progressive political and economic reorganization of ancient Italy. - Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile
- Quality education