Hall X | 10

Hall X | 10

Aulus Caecina Severus, known for his strong morality, was one of Augustus’ main military commanders along the Danube; he is probably the father of Aulus and Largus, the two Caecina who were responsible for the construction of the theater of Volterra.

Villas, artisan neighborhoods for the production of amphorae and the most specialized crops, primarily wine, were concentrated along the coast. Inland and along the Cecina valley, in the heart of the Volterra area, the landscape was instead characterized by extensive cereal crops and small farms, where small quantities of wine were produced mainly for local consumption.

A settlement network consisting of small farms and numerous necropolises is organized around the villas of the nobles and the artisan plants. Throughout the imperial age, the most widespread funerary rite was inhumation, practiced through different types of tombs. Next to the simplest burials – a pit dug in the ground – there are tombs of the so-called cappuccina type, protected by tiles and tiles arranged to form a sort of roof.

In some cases the body of the deceased, usually a child or a woman, is inserted inside an amphora which, once its contents were exhausted, was reused for funerary purposes; the amphora that you can see in this room comes from the necropolis of Campo ai Ciottoli (near La Mazzanta) and is a container for the oil produced along the coasts of present-day Libya.

On the left there is a fresco and a marble decoration that adorned the Roman villa of Casale Marittimo. These few elements give the opportunity to understand the richness of Roman aristocratic people who dominated great landed properties along the fertile Etruscan coast.

On the right you can see a Roman stele. The inscription of Marcus Anaenus Pharianus (a Roman knight) belonged to a monumental tomb; (late 2nd – 3rd century AD). This gravestone was found near Bolgheri, where Pharianus villa was also located.

According to a typical Roman usage, the epigraph praises the deceased , recounting his political career; the text concludes with an invitation to prayer.

To the Gods Manes of Marcus Anienus Farianus, son of Marcus, of the Sabatine tribe, of equestrian rank, selected by the five decurias, pontifex, quaestor, aedile, quattuorvir, quinquennial, (This tomb) was built according to his will, by the freedman Autumnale. Every traveller who passes this way and reads this inscription says «Anieno Fariano, may the earth be light to you».