Chapter VIII

., p. 341). But so far no specimens of this ware have been found in the latter place, nor indeed anything earlier than the end of the fifth century. It is to be hoped that the earlier cemeteries are yet to be discovered. Mr. George Dennis and others, however, explored a considerable tract of country in the Cyrenaica between 1856 and 1868,[205] and found many vases of late R.F. style, some of considerable merit; also several Panathenaic amphorae of the fourth century on which the old B.F. method of painting is preserved. These were found on the site of _Teucheira_, but most of the vases came from _Benghazi_, the ancient Euesperitis, more to the south-west, the ancient name of which, Berenike, came from the queen of Ptolemy Euergetes. Nearly all the vases found here are of the late fine R.F. period, corresponding to those of the Crimea; they are, however, mostly smaller and inferior in merit. The Panathenaic amphorae can be dated by the names of Athenian archons which appear upon them: Nikokrates, 333 B.C.; Hegesias, 324 B.C.; Kephisodoros, 323 B.C.; Archippos, 321 B.C.; and Theophrastos, 313 B.C. (see p. 390). They are of course importations from Athens. Among the R.F. vases is one representing a Persian king attacked by a lion; some have polychrome designs, in one case combined with reliefs (B.M. G 12). Most of the Cyrenaica vases are now in the British Museum and the Louvre.

IV. ITALY

With the mainland of Italy we include in our review the two islands of Sicily and Sardinia. The remaining area in which Greek pottery has been found on classical sites thus corresponds with the modern kingdom of Italy. Beyond its borders there is only one site, that of _Massilia_ (Marseilles), which has produced Greek pottery. Vases of the primitive Thera style (see p. 261) were found here,[206] betokening a system of commerce between East and West in those times.

The vases found in Greece may be regarded as on the whole small in size and few in number, when compared with those discovered in the ancient cemeteries and on the sites of the old cities of Italy. These are indeed so numerous that (within certain limits) they might in themselves almost serve as a basis for the history of Greek vase-painting. Roughly speaking, the vases found in Italy fall into two geographical divisions.

[Illustration: FIG. 8. MAP OF ITALY.]

The first division comprises the vases discovered in Etruria, which are found in every Etruscan city of importance, from Atria or Hadria at the mouth of the Po to the very gates of Rome itself. In particular, the tombs of Caere, Tarquinii, and above all Vulci, have yielded an immense number of vases.

The second is formed by the vases found in the southern half of the peninsula, including the territories of Campania, Lucania, and Apulia, and the cities of Magna Graecia, such as Cumae, Locri and Tarentum. The establishment of the potter’s art in these maritime cities at an early stage of Greek history helped to infuse a certain degree of civilisation into the regions of the interior, and its influence is to be seen in the pottery of the semi-barbarous populations, such as the Osco-Samnites and Iapygians. The chief sites for the discovery of vases are: in Apulia and Calabria, Ruvo, Canosa, and Tarentum; in Lucania, Anzi; in Campania, Capua and Nola.

We now proceed to describe in detail these sites and the discoveries of which they have been the scene. It is obvious that it will be found impossible to enumerate every spot in Italy where painted vases have been found, but it is hoped that no place or site of interest has been omitted. The order followed in describing these sites is a geographical one from north to south, which on the whole will be found the most convenient.

We accordingly begin with the northernmost spot to which the exportation of Greek vases seems to have reached—namely, Atria or _Hadria_, at the mouth of the Po. This place down to the time of Pliny[207] continued to manufacture drinking-cups of fine quality, celebrated for their durability, and painted vases have also been found in its tombs. They were first excavated as early as the sixteenth century; and in later excavations undertaken by the Austrian Government fragments of Greek pottery were found at some depth below remains of the Roman period.[208]

The cities of _Asti_, _Modena_ (Mutina), and _Pollenza_ (Pollentia) were also celebrated in Pliny’s time for their cups, which he groups with those of Arretium under the heading of “Samian” ware[209]; specimens of this ware have been found in the two latter places.[210] Near Mantua a vase was discovered with the subject of Perseus and Andromeda[211]; and others at Gavolda on the Mincio.[212] At Genoa a fine R.F. krater was found in 1898.[213]

_Bologna_ has been the scene of discoveries sufficiently important to demand a separate paragraph. These were made by Signor Zannoni, in 1869–76, in the cloister of the Certosa convent, and a fully illustrated description was published by him at the conclusion of his labours.[214] The finds include, besides remarkable bronzes of the Villanova period of Italian civilisation (800–500 B.C.), a large number of B.F. and R.F. vases covering the whole period of exportations from Athens to Etruria (550–400 B.C.), and also some local imitations of B.F. fabrics. All these are now in the Museo Civico at Bologna.

Turning now to the important district of ETRURIA, which has been so prolific in discoveries of ancient vases, we come first to _Pisa_, where, in the beginning of the last century, a potter’s establishment was discovered. Since that time red-figured vases both of the severe and fine styles have been found, including a hydria figured by Inghirami.[215]

At _Volterra_ (Volaterrae) Jahn states that many painted vases have been found[216]; but the contents of the local museum are limited to inferior Etruscan pottery of the later period with yellow figures on black ground or staring heads painted in silhouette. On the other hand some of the plain black ware is remarkably good.[217]

_Arezzo_ (Arretium) enjoyed in Pliny’s time an even wider reputation than the places already mentioned, for its pottery of all kinds, not only cups[218]; its ware is also referred to by Martial and other authors. These allusions have been fully borne out by the extensive discoveries of potteries that have been made; the red glazed ware, stamped with the potter’s name and with designs in relief, has been found in large quantities, and fully justified the substitution of the name Arretine for the old “Samian” in relation to the whole class. It is more fully dealt with in the section on Roman pottery (