Chapter XI

.), and there is evidence of manufacture and export in the first century B.C. Horace’s table was supplied with _Campana supellex_.[3349] Surrentum ware is mentioned by Martial[3350] as well as Pliny, and, as indicated in the preceding chapter (p. 462), supplied amphorae of local wine to Pompeii.[3351] The pottery of Cumae, which place was at an earlier date an important centre for painted vases (Vol. I. p. 80), is mentioned by Martial[3352] It would also seem to have supplied clay for the vases made at the neighbouring Puteoli, which had no local clay suitable for the purpose, and is not mentioned by ancient writers. The latter has however yielded large numbers of vases of a type closely resembling the Arretine, and a pottery was discovered in 1874, with moulds.[3353] Some of the vases have Arretine stamps,[3354] which imply importations during the first century B.C., but names of local potters are also known, chief of whom is Numerius Naevius Hilarus, who employed eleven slaves. Q. Pomponius Serenus and L. Valerius Titus are also found here and elsewhere in Southern Italy and at Nismes.[3355] Some fragments of this Puteoli ware from various sources are in the British Museum.[3356]

Horace speaks of pottery from Allifae in Samnium,[3357] and Pliny mentions the popularity of that made at Rhegium and Cumac[3358]; this exhausts the list of sites known to us from ancient writers. In the provinces the only place which had any fame was Saguntum, alluded to by Pliny and more than once by Martial, who speaks of cups (_pocula_ and _cymbia_) fashioned from Saguntine clay[3359]; also of a _synthesis septenaria_ or nest of seven cups, “polished by the potter’s coarse tool, of clay turned on the Spanish wheel.”[3360] But modern researches on the site have not thrown any light on the character of the local fabric (p. 540)[3361]; it is only at Tarragona that _terra sigillata_ has been found.

The pottery of Arretium is more than once referred to by Martial, who notes that it compared unfavourably with the splendour of crystal vessels, but at the same time begs his hearer not to regard it altogether with contempt, for Porsena was well served with his Tuscan earthenware[3362]:

Arretina nimis ne spernas vasa monemus; Lautus erat Tuscis Porsena fictilibus.

An epigram in the Latin Anthology (259) says:

Arretine calix, mensis decor ante paternis, Ante manus medici quam bene sanus eras.[3363]

Other allusions are less direct.[3364] Coming down to more modern times, we actually find mention of the pottery in a manuscript written by Sig. Ristori of Arezzo in 1282, and by C. Villani in his _History of the World_, written in the fourteenth century. Subsequently Alessi, who lived in the time of Leo X., described the discovery of red ware about a mile from the city, and Vasari tells us that in 1484 his grandfather found in the neighbourhood three vaults of an ancient furnace. Further allusions are found in the writings of Gori (1734) and Rossi (1796); and in 1841 Fabroni published a history of Arretine ware,[3365] in which the above facts are recorded. He tells us that in 1779 potteries were unearthed at Cincelli or Centum Cellae, which contained, besides various implements, part of a potter’s wheel, resembling those in vogue at the present day. It was composed of two circular slabs placed round one pivot at an interval from one another, their diameter not being the same. The wheel actually found was of terracotta, about 11 inches in diameter by 3 inches in thickness, with a groove round the edge. It was bound with a leaden tyre, held in place by six cylinders of the same metal, and appears to have been the upper of the two slabs, the “table” on which the clay was placed.[3366]

The Arretine ware must be regarded as _the_ Roman pottery _par excellence_. The term was used anciently in an extended sense for all vases of a certain technique without regard to the place of manufacture, as a piece of evidence from Spain tends to show. Pottery has been found at Tarragona with the inscription, A TITII FIGVL ARRE, _A. Titii figul(i) Arre(tini_),[3367] which has generally been taken to mean a maker of Arretine ware living on the spot, just as now-a-days Wilton or Brussels carpets may be made at Kidderminster.

The general characteristics of the Arretine ware are: (1) the fine local red clay, carefully worked up and baked very hard to a rich coral-colour, or like sealing-wax; (2) the fine red glaze, composed chiefly of silica, iron oxide, and an alkaline substance, which, as we have seen (p. 437), was perhaps borax; (3) the great variety of forms employed, which show in a marked degree the influence of metal-work; (4) the stamps with potter’s names, which are almost invariably found. The duration of this pottery seems to have been from about 150 B.C. to the end of the first century of the Empire, at which time pottery in Italy had reached a very degenerate stage, and the height of its success and popularity was during the first century B.C. Analyses of the vases show that practically the same results as to their composition are obtained from different periods.

During the last century these vases have been found in large numbers at Arezzo, and there is now a considerable quantity of them collected in the public museum of that city, as well as in private collections and the museums of other countries. The official record of Italian excavations contains an account of finds made in 1883, 1884, 1890, 1894, and 1896 on various sites in the city and immediate neighbourhood,[3368] and gives the locality of the different potteries,[3369] as well as the names of their owners. The first potter’s name recorded was that of Calidius Strigo by Alessi; it was found in 1492 in the presence of Giovanni de’ Medici, afterwards Leo X. Others were given by Gori, and fuller lists (up to date) by Fabroni in 1841, Gamurrini in 1859, and Marini in 1884.[3370] At the present day the most complete information on this head may be found in the recently published volume of the _Corpus_ of Latin inscriptions dealing with Etruria,[3371] in which the results of the most recent excavations are incorporated. A large number have also been found at Rome, the names being identical with those found at Arezzo, and the ware consequently imported.[3372] It must be distinguished from the inferior relief wares either of local fabric (see p. 492) or imported from Gaul, Northern Italy, and elsewhere. Names of Arretine potters are also found in large numbers at Modena, Rimini, and other places in Northern Italy, in France, Spain, and elsewhere.

The stamps range in date from the second century B.C. down to the Christian era, but not beyond the first century of the Empire. The oldest of all, it is interesting to note, are found on black-glazed wares similar in character to those from the Esquiline.[3373] The red-glazed ware probably came in about 100 B.C., and the two methods appear to have been for a time contemporaneous. The initials Q A · F and C · V which occur on early red Arretine wares[3374] are also found on the Esquiline lamps. Next comes the red ware with quadrangular stamps repeated four or five times on the bottom, followed by single quadrangular stamps and those of varying form, especially some in the shape of a foot, which are not found in the best period at Arretium, and seem to belong only to the time of the Empire. This form of stamp is very common on lamps and plain pottery, and there are many examples of bronze stamps in this shape extant.[3375] Those vases which have stamps on the exterior in the midst of the design represent the middle or Augustan period. The older stamps are more deeply impressed in the surface of the vase than the later. On the whole, the palaeographical evidence of the stamps is very slight, and we can only roughly date them between 100 B.C. and 100 A.D.[3376] Dragendorff has, however, noted that the slaves’ names are mostly Greek, a detail which helps to establish a _terminus post quem_, placing them later than 146 B.C.

The Calidius Strigo of whom we have already spoken was a potter of some importance, employing twenty slaves, of whom the names of Protus and Synistor occur most frequently. But he only seems to have made plain table wares without reliefs, examples of which are found in Rome and elsewhere. A potter named Domitius had a workshop on the same spot, but only employed a few slaves. A more important name is that of Publius Cornelius, first found by Ferdinando Rossi in the eighteenth century at Cincelli, together with remains of his workshop; many additional examples were found in 1883 and 1892. He employed no less than forty slaves, of whom the best known are Antioc(h)us, Faustus, Heraclides, Primus, and Rodo. One vase by the last-named has medallions with the head of Augustus and the inscription, AVGVSTVS, which gives the date of the fabric.[3377] Previous to the discovery of this in 1893 Gamurrini had supposed that Cornelius was one of the colonists placed at Arezzo by Sulla. Many of his vases are found at Rome, and also in Spain and Southern Italy. The vases with CORNELI in a foot-shaped stamp are probably not his. He appears to have acquired the business of two other potters—C. Tellius and C. Cispius.

Among all the potters’ stamps few are commoner than that of M. Perennius, and his wares certainly take the highest rank for their artistic merit. All his relief designs are copied from the best Greek models, as will be seen later. Few of his vases seem to have been exported to Rome, but they are found in Spain and Southern Gaul. The form of the name on the stamps varies greatly,[3378] the commonest being M. PERENNI; M. PEREN., M. PERE., and M. PER. are also found, and even M. PE. with the letters joined in a monogram. He employed seventeen slaves, of whom the best known is Tigranes. His name appears as TIGRAN, TIGRA, or TIGR, and always in conjunction with that of Perennius. These two are found on a vase with Achilles and Diomede fighting against Hector,[3379] and on three Arretine moulds in the British Museum, the subjects of which are a dance of Maenads, masks of Maenads and Satyrs, and a banquet scene (Plate LXVI. figs. 4, 6). The name of Tigranes appears alone on a fine vase in the Louvre with the apotheosis of Herakles.[3380] Another slave, Cerdo, made a vase with the nine Muses, their names being inscribed over them in Greek.[3381] A third slave who produced vases of more than average merit was Bargates, whose name is found on a fine vase in the Boston Museum (Fig. 218),[3382] the subject of which is the fall of Phaëthon, who lies shattered in pieces on the ground, with Tethys coming to his rescue. Zeus with his thunderbolt and Artemis with her bow have brought about his downfall. Helios is seen collecting his terrified steeds; and the rest of the design is occupied with the transformation of the Heliades into poplars.

[Illustration:

From _Philologus_. FIG. 218. ARRETINE BOWL WITH DEATH OF PHAËTHON (BOSTON MUSEUM). ]

The site of Perennius’ principal workshop appears to have been in the city itself, close to the church of Sta. Maria in Gradi; but he may also have had a branch manufactory at Cincelli or Centum Cellae. Signor Pasqui[3383] notes that his name occurs alone on the interior of plain bowls and dishes. Next to these come the copies of Greek models by Cerdo, Pilades, Pilemo, and Nicephorus, followed by Tigranes, and then by Bargates, who also worked for Tigranes when he became a freedman (the stamps being in the form BARGATE / M · TIGR); lastly occur the names of Crescens and Saturninus.

Three Annii had a pottery near the church of San Francesco, and employed over twenty slaves, with both Greek and Roman names; the most important of the three is C. Annius, who made vases with reliefs, as did Lucius, but Sextus only made plain wares. There are also vases stamped ANNI only; they probably belong to the first century B.C. Aulus Titius is found frequently at Arezzo and Rimini, at Lillebonne in France, and, as we have seen, in Spain; his wares also penetrated to Africa and all parts of Italy. He has no names of slaves coupled with his, and his signature appears in the various forms, _A. Titi_, _A. Titi figul._, _A. Titi figul. Arret_. He was succeeded by C. Titius Nepos, who had fifteen slaves, and there is also a L. Titius. C. and L. Tettius occur at Rome, but only the latter at Arezzo[3384]; the word SAMIA, which occurs on his stamps, is more likely to be a proper name than to have any reference to Samian ware. The name of Rasinius, which is associated with more names of slaves than any except P. Cornelius, is found more often at Rome than at Arezzo[3385]; it also occurs at Pompeii,[3386] and at Neuss in Germany, which facts point to the time of Augustus and A.D. 79 as the limits of date. Of the numerous slaves, some were afterwards employed by C. Memmius. There appear to have been at least two representatives of the name, C. Rasinius in the Augustan period, and L. Rasinius Pisanus in the Flavian. The latter Déchelette has shown to be a degenerate Arretine, making imitations of Gaulish ware.[3387] L. and C. Petronius are found at Arezzo, together with remains of their potteries, and C. Gavius, who belongs to the Republican period, at Cincelli. Numerous other potters who are probably Arretine may be found in Ihm’s lists[3388]; on the other hand, there are stamps found at Rome and in Etruria which cannot have originated from Arretium. Such are _Atenio circitor refi(ciendum) curavit_,[3389] and _Faustus Salinator Seriae_[3390]; those with OF(_ficina_), such as OF · FELICIS, which are found at Rome, but are probably Gaulish[3391]; those with _fecit_ or _epoei_ (ἐποίει),[3392] with the exception of _Venicius fecit hec_, from Arezzo[3393]; and _Atrane_, a name found at Vulci, Chiusi, and many other sites in Etruria, but not at Arezzo.[3394]

The name usually given in the signatures on the stamps is that of the maker only; sometimes a slave’s name is added, either above or below the maker’s, or on a separate stamp. The maker’s name usually gives the _nomen_ and _praenomen_, implying a freedman, and when given in full is seen to be in the genitive; the slave’s name is usually in the nominative. Four typical varieties are given by the following stamps from the pottery of P. Cornelius, with the name of the slave Potus:

POTVS P·CORN POTI P·CORN P·COR POTVS P·CORN POTI

A difficulty sometimes arises in regard to these two-line stamps when the slave’s name occurs _below_ that of the master, on account of the frequent abbreviations; for instance, it is not easy to say whether such stamps as

A·VIBI or P·CORNELI DIOM ANTHVS

denote one name or two, for there are certain instances where the master has three names.[3395] It is always possible that the name denotes a slave become a freedman, as A. Vibius Diomedes or P. Cornelius Anthus, and in Dr. Dressel’s opinion[3396] this is the most probable explanation; but the alternative has much in its favour. There are, moreover, stamps such as

P·MESEINI or P·CORNELI AMPLIO S(_ervus_) FIRMVS F(_ecit_)

which, of course, leave no room for doubt. In later examples the _praenomen_ is often omitted, and occasionally the _praenomen_ and _cognomen_ are found without the gentile name[3397]; there are also a few instances of female names.[3398] An exceptional form of signature is given by CINNA C·L·TITI(_orum_) S(_ervus_); occasionally also, as in the example from Spain already quoted, FIGVL(_us_) ARRE(_tinus_), or simply ARRETI(_nus_), are found. Sometimes, again, two potters seem to have been in partnership, as Sura and Philologus, L. Gellius and L. Sempronius (L·GELLI L SEMP),[3399] or two firms, as the Umbricii and Vibieni.

The simple quadrangular form of stamp is by far the commonest, and, next to this, an outline of a foot; less frequent forms, and of later date, are the circular, oval, or lunate, and other varieties of marks, such as wreaths, stars, or branches. Dr. Dressel gives no less than eighty-seven types from Rome,[3400] of which thirty-three are rectangular with ornamental edges. The forms of the letters are not always an indication of date, but such forms as 15[14]Attic alpha 15[15]alpha for A, 15[12]E for E, and 15[12]F for F betoken an early date. Ligatured letters abound. The names are often written from right to left, or left to right with separate letters reversed or inverted; or the words are broken up as

MVS for Docimus, MVS for Romanu(s), DOCI ROM

and so on.[3401] The stamps were probably of wood, but some are taken from seal-rings.

* * * * *

The forms of Arretine vases are all, without exception, borrowed from metal originals, and in their contours display the same tendency. But, as compared with the Hellenistic forms they show great simplicity, and almost, as it were, a return to archaism. The vases are for the most part of small size, and indeed the dimensions of the furnaces at Arezzo seem to indicate that larger vases could not have been baked in them. They are principally cups, bowls, and dishes, the former of hemispherical or cylindrical form and devoid of handles—a characteristic which usually distinguishes Roman from Greek pottery. Some of the moulds for Arretine ware in the British Museum collection appear to have been used for a deep cup with flat base and spreading lip (Plate LXVI. fig. 5), of a type which finds no parallel in Greek shapes, but the hemispherical bowl on a low foot is the prevailing form. Other shapes are extremely rare, a notable exception being the beautiful krater in the British Museum with figures of the Seasons (Fig. 219), which, although found at Capua, is certainly Arretine in style and technique. The technical methods employed we have already described in the preceding chapter,[3402] and there do not appear to have been any variations peculiar to this fabric. Fabroni (p. 37) states that cinerary urns, tiles, lamps, and reliefs were also made in the potteries at Arretium.

[Illustration: FIG. 219. ARRETINE KRATER WITH THE FOUR SEASONS (BRITISH MUSEUM).]

The prototypes of the forms we have seen to be the Hellenistic vases of chased metal, for which Alexandria was the principal centre. But, apart from form, it is doubtful whether the Alexandrine toreutic work exercised much influence on the potters of Arretium. For the decoration and subjects they undoubtedly drew their inspiration chiefly from the New-Attic reliefs[3403] and the art of Asia Minor, as has been pointed out by more than one recent writer,[3404] who have urged that the influence of Alexandria on Roman art has been greatly over-estimated.[3405] Dragendorff points out that all the famous chasers known to us were natives of Asia Minor,[3406] and thinks that Rhodes was probably the centre of this art. It must also be borne in mind that the second century was the era of collecting works of art in Greece and Asia Minor and conveying them to Rome, so that the examples which were most prominently before the eyes of Italian artists under the later Republic were just these products of Greece and Asia Minor in the Hellenistic Age. Moreover, the Rhodian and Pergamene schools of art were still living when that of Alexandria was dying out under the later Ptolemies. The mixed style of art of the first century B.C. is essentially Roman, produced under the influence of the Greek works then collected in Rome, and does not extend beyond Italy.

But it is also conceivable that its predecessors in the line of ceramic development contributed to produce the ware of Arretium. It recalls in some respects the different Greek relief-wares discussed in