Chapter II: Sites and Circumstances of Discovery of Greek Vases (2)

Before we turn our attention to the continent of Asia we must hark back to the European mainland, working round by the northern coasts of the Aegaean and Euxine Seas. Macedonia and Thrace have yielded scarcely anything,[175] but when we come to the northern shore of the Black Sea we find at _Kertch_, in the Crimea (the ancient Panticapaeum), a remarkable centre of Greek artistic production. The finds here are practically limited to one period, covering little more than a hundred years, and mainly illustrate the art of the fourth century B.C. There are, however, many magnificent vases, which in style, if not in shape or composition of subjects, must belong to an earlier time—namely, that of the fine red-figured period.[176] The excavations have mostly been undertaken by the Russian Government, in whose museum at the Hermitage the collections are now to be seen, but much was done unsystematically by Englishmen and others at the time of the Crimean War. It cannot be said that more than about one-quarter of the total find of 400 vases have any merit; they are chiefly small, with red figures, and of the later fine period; some are polychrome and ornamented with gilding.[177] The most remarkable by far is the vase signed by the Athenian Xenophantos (p. 447); but that with the contest of Athena and Poseidon (Plate L.) is also an exceptionally fine specimen; and others have interesting subjects relating to the Eleusinian mysteries. At _Phanagoria_ an early B.F. vase of Ionic style came to light.[178] Vases have also been found at Olbia on the neighbouring mainland, at Kief, at Temir Gora in Circassia, and on the modern sites of Blisnitza, Iouz Oba, Melek Chesme and Pavlovski-Kourgane in the Crimea.[179]

II. ASIA MINOR

_The Troad_ first claims our attention. Here on the site of the second city of Troy, at Hissarlik, Dr. Schliemann found the earliest pottery at present known from Greek soil (see Chapter VI.). This has been generally dated about 2500–2000 B.C. In subsequent excavations Dr. Dörpfeld proved the sixth city to be the Homeric Troy, the remains from which, including pottery, are all of Mycenaean character. Later finds of pottery from the Troad are of no great importance[180]; some are of Aeolic or Ionian origin, and others seem to be from an inferior local fabric, consisting of flat bowls with looped side-handles, carelessly painted in matt-black silhouette with figures of ducks and other animals. Some of these were found in 1855–56 by Mr. Brunton on the sites of New Ilium and Dardanus; others by Mr. Calvert in 1875–76, and by Dörpfeld and Brueckner in 1893. The finds of the two first-named are in the British Museum, together with some poor R.F. vases of late style. From _Sigeion_ two polychrome lekythi have been reported, resembling the Attic white-ground fabric[181]; Jahn also records finds of painted vases from _Lampsakos_ and Parion,[182] and a fine gilded vase with figures in relief has recently been found on the former site.[183]

In _Aeolis_ and _Mysia_ the finds have not been considerable, but some are of importance as throwing light on the existence of local fabrics. In a private collection at Smyrna there is or was a late B.F. vase from Assos, with careless silhouette figures.[184] At _Pitane_ a very curious Mycenaean false amphora has been found, with figures of marine and other animals[185]; and at _Larisa_ Dr. Böhlau has found fragments of early painted vases, probably a local fabric imitating that of Rhodes.[186] MM. Pottier and Reinach, in the course of their excavations at Myrina (1884–85), found pottery of various dates and styles: Mycenaean, Ionian, Corinthian, Attic B.F. and R.F., late R.F., and vases of the so-called Gnatia style (see p. 488) or with reliefs.[187] Among those which can be traced to an Ionic or local fabric there is a very remarkable one with a head of a bearded man. Pergamon does not seem to have yielded any vases, but _Kyme_ may have been a centre of Ionic vase-manufacture (see Chapter VIII.). Some fragments of an early B.F. krater have been found there which presents similar characteristics to those of the Ionian fabrics mentioned below.[188]

Coming lower down the coast of Ionia we meet with the home of an important school of painting in the sixth century, which seems to have centred in the flourishing cities of Phocaea, Clazomenae and elsewhere round the Gulf of Smyrna. The actual finds of such vases in the neighbourhood is not great, but is compensated for by the remarkable series of painted terracotta sarcophagi discovered at Clazomenae, the finest of which is now in the British Museum. These, which obviously represent the characteristics of the Ionian school of painting, show such a close relation with a series of vases found at Naukratis and Daphnae in Egypt, and at Cervetri and elsewhere in Italy,

MAP OF ASIA MINOR & THE ARCHIPELAGO
Showing sites on which painted vases have been found.
FIG. 6.
]

that the latter classes can only be regarded as of Ionian origin, or, if not imported, local Italian imitations of the Ionic wares. Such are the Caeretan hydriae which were directly imitated by the Etruscans.[189]

A vase obtained at _Phocaea_ by Mr. W. M. Ramsay in 1880 (p. 254) appears to be an imported Cypriote fabric of late date, though archaic in appearance. At Smyrna little has been found, but there are some vases attributed thereto in the Leyden Museum. At _Clazomenae_ some fragments of painted vases in the style of the Caeretan hydriae have recently been found, which help to establish the theories above mentioned.[190] _Teos_ is associated with a particular kind of cup (Τήιαι κυλίχναι) mentioned by the poet Alcaeus,[191] but nothing has been found there, nor yet at Kolophon, Ephesos, or Miletos. In the interior regions of Asia primitive painted pottery is recorded from _Mount Sipylos_,[192] and also from _Sardis_ on the sites of the tombs of the Lydian kings. From the tumulus known as Bin Tepe on the latter site the British Museum has obtained (through the agency of Mr. Dennis) some early pottery, which is decorated apparently in direct imitation of Phoenician glass wares. Fragments of Mycenaean and other primitive fabrics are reported from Cappadocia and from Gordion in Galatia,[193] and have been recently picked up by Prof. W. M. Ramsay at Derbe in Lycaonia.

In _Caria_ early local fabrics seem to be indicated by finds at Mylasa and Stratonikeia (Idrias).[194] At _Assarlik_ Mr. W. R. Paton found pottery of a transitional character from Mycenaean to Geometrical. Tralles and Knidos were famous in antiquity for pottery,[195] but have left virtually nothing, nor has Halicarnassos. A Mycenaean false amphora is reported from Telmessos in Lycia, and fragments of B.F. and R.F. vases from Xanthos.[196]

From the distant site of _Susa_ in Persia an interesting find has been recently reported,[197] of part of a R.F. rhyton in the form of a horse’s head, on which is painted the figure of a Persian in polychrome on a white ground. It belongs to the period 500–480 B.C., and may have been carried off by the Persians when they sacked the Athenian Acropolis.

=Cyprus.=—This island is of special interest to us as being now the only classical land in our own possession. Although we have not perhaps utilised to the full extent the opportunities thereby afforded us for excavations, yet of late years much has been done, especially by the British Museum, to remedy this defect, and the collection of Cypriote antiquities in the national museum is now fully worthy of that institution and as representative as could be wished. Previous to the English occupation the island remained undisturbed, with a few exceptions, the first being the excavations of Mr. R. Lang at Dali (Idalion) in 1867. The finds here were chiefly of terracottas and sculpture, and are now in the British Museum, but, owing to the misconception of Cypriote history that formerly prevailed, have been somewhat incongruously placed in the Oriental Department. Meanwhile, another consul, General L. Cesnola, was not slow to make use of his opportunities, seeing in the obvious richness of the field, the chances of gaining great distinction as an explorer. Of his energy and liberality in the cause there can be little doubt; but he was not an archaeologist, and did not realise the value of scientific evidence, negative or positive. Hence, although he deserves a meed of praise as the pioneer of Cypriote exploration, his statements are not always sufficiently explicit to be used without hesitation. His extensive collections are now in the Metropolitan Museum at New York; the British Museum has a few of the vases, but lost the opportunity of acquiring the whole. Another English consul, Mr. Sandwith, also made a collection of Cypriote pottery, and, with an acuteness in advance of his time, made a successful attempt to classify it according to periods and styles. Lastly, a brother of General Cesnola’s, A. P. di Cesnola, who lived for some time in the island, made large collections in the same manner as his brother, but with the same lack of scientific accuracy.

The record of discoveries since 1878 has been carefully systematised by Mr. J. L. Myres, who has given an excellent summary of results.[198] The cemeteries in which the island is so extraordinarily rich may be divided into two classes: Bronze Age tombs, including Mycenaean and earlier remains; and Graeco-Phoenician, with tombs of Hellenistic and Roman date. On some sites, such as Curium and Salamis, tombs of all periods are found.

Mr. Myres notes about thirty sites on which Bronze Age pottery has been discovered, mostly in the centre and east of the island, _i.e._ in the more level and cultivated districts. The most important sites are Enkomi (Salamis), Curium, Alambra, Agia Paraskevi (Nicosia), Maroni, and Larnaka (several sites), at all of which Mycenaean pottery has been found, Enkomi being especially rich in this respect; others only contained local varieties, either of the earliest incised wares or of the hand-made pottery which seems to have been a later development.

Graeco-Phoenician pottery (700–300 B.C.) has been found in great quantities in all parts of the island, chiefly at Amathus, Dali, Larnaka (Kition), Curium, Poli (Marion), Paphos (Kouklia), Salamis, and Tamassos. In conjunction therewith Hellenic vases have appeared at Amathus, Curium, Salamis, and especially at Poli, where some really fine R.F. vases have been found, some with artists’ names.[199] Hellenistic pottery has appeared on most of the above sites, Poli and Curium supplying the best examples. The different varieties of Cypriote pottery are described in detail in Chapter VI.

III. AFRICA

Greek settlements in Africa were far fewer than in Asia, and in fact only two appear to have had any importance, these being the Ionic colony in the Egyptian Delta and the Dorian colony from Thera in the Cyrenaica. Mycenaean vases have, however, appeared spasmodically in Egyptian tombs of the eighteenth to twenty-first dynasties, the evidence for the date of those at Tell-el-Amarna (c. 1400 B.C.) being apparently well established. It should also be noted that pre-Mycenaean wares corresponding to the second city pottery at Hissarlik and the Kamaraes (Crete) pottery have been found at Kahun and elsewhere in the _Fayûm_, in tombs of the twelfth and thirteenth dynasties (2500–2000 B.C.).[200]

Painted and other pottery of the Hellenistic age has not infrequently been found in Egypt; the British Museum acquired a specimen from _Alexandria_ in 1898 with a boy riding on a fish painted in opaque pink and blue on a red unglazed ground. Other examples come from Naukratis,[201] and from the Fayûm.[202] At Alexandria, where for obvious reasons no vases earlier than the third century could have come to light, a hydria was found in the catacombs with a myrtle-wreath painted on a light ground; this when discovered was filled with bones.[203] Other vases of the same type are said to be in the Louvre. In Mons. G. Feuardent’s collection in New York, the late Prof. Merriam saw a group of seventy-five vases from rock-cut tombs at Alexandria, some with inscriptions.[204] They include hydriae of a dark red clay, covered with a white slip on which are polychrome designs (Gorgoneia, armour, etc.); others of unglazed salmon-coloured clay, painted with wreaths, monsters, etc.; two-handled vases of black ware with ribbed body and twisted handles, decorated with medallions in relief and wreaths in white, like the vases of Gnatia (p. 488). The inscriptions are laid on in ink with a reed, or incised, the former being in MS. type; the method of dating is difficult to interpret, but they seem to belong to the middle of the third century.

The Ionian settlements of _Naukratis_ and _Daphnae_ (Defenneh) in the Delta have yielded very important results for the history of Greek pottery, though differing in extent. The finds of pottery at Daphnae may from the circumstances of discovery be dated entirely between 600 and 550 B.C.; and though only fragmentary, they are interesting not only as showing the results of Egyptian influences, but for the points of comparison they afford with the pottery of Ionic origin and the Clazomenae sarcophagi. At Naukratis, on the other hand, the finds form a complete series extending from the foundation of the city by Milesians about 650 B.C., down to the end of the fifth century, at which point importations of Greek pottery ceased. The earlier fabrics are by far the most important, being almost entirely of local character and distinguished by the white ground on which the Naucratite artist painted his designs or figures in various colours. Among the fragments of B.F. pottery were many with names of artists. These finds were all made among the rubbish-heaps of temple-sites by the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1884–86, with the exception of some subsequent work by the British School in 1898–99. Most of the results are in the British Museum: see also p. 345 ff.

In the second season (1885–86) at Naukratis were found several interesting fragments of a B.F. white-ground ware, which from the nature of the designs has been connected with _Kyrene_ (see 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.

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 (Chapter XXII.). Few Greek vases have been found here; but _Lucignano_ in the neighbourhood is mentioned as a site where they have been discovered.[219]

_Perugia_ was another important town of ancient Etruria, but does not appear to have been a centre either for the manufacture or importation of pottery. The museum, however, contains several good Greek vases with mythological subjects, and some Etruscan imitations of R.F. vases have also been found here.[220]

At _Chiusi_ (Clusium), on the other hand, some very important discoveries have been made, including the magnificent krater of the Florence Museum, known as the “François Vase,” after its discoverer.[221] It was found in a tomb which had been already pillaged, and was broken to pieces, but entire. Many vases of the B.F. and R.F. periods have been found, some signed with artists’ names, including those of Pamphaios and Anakles. On the whole, this site has yielded more fine vases than any in Etruria, except Cervetri, and of course Vulci; it is also noteworthy for the early Etruscan black wares, of which there are many remarkable specimens in the Museum.[222] The Casuccini collection, which was very representative of Chiusi finds, has now been disposed of _en bloc_ to the Museum at Palermo.[223]

In the immediate neighbourhood is _Sarteano_, also remarkable for the specimens of early black ware which it has yielded, but almost entirely deficient in painted vases. At _Roselle_ (Rusellae) and _Orbetello_ in the Maremma the finds of pottery have been of a comparatively insignificant character, the vases of Orbetello being nearly all late Etruscan fabrics, of rude forms, with coarse ill-drawn subjects. The same remark applies to _Toscanella_, near Vulci, where Greek vases are seldom found.

_Bolsena_ (Volsinii) is specially distinguished by a curious class of late vases of coarse red ware with designs in relief, which show evident signs of having been coated with a solution producing the effect of silver.[224] They seem to be peculiar to this locality, though Athenaeus[225] tells us that a similar practice was in vogue at Naukratis. No other kinds of pottery have been found.

At _Orvieto_ excavations were first made in 1830, but without very great results; the site was then neglected until the ’seventies, during which years Signor Mancini’s excavations were so successful that a local Museum has been established, which now contains many good specimens of Greek vases, as well as Etruscan black wares.[226] At _Viterbo_ various Greek vases, mostly black-figured, were found in the early ’twenties, and later on a kylix by the master Euphronios came to light.[227] _Bomarzo_ has yielded some good Greek vases, including signed examples by Euphronios and Hieron.[228]

_Corneto_ is more famous for the splendid wall-paintings of its tombs and for its coloured sarcophagi than for painted vases, but has nevertheless yielded some vases of considerable interest, notably a fine R.F. kylix with representation of the Olympian deities, signed by Oltos and Euxitheos, the beautiful kylix representing the desertion of Ariadne by Theseus,[229] and some specimens of Corinthian wares. Under its ancient name of Tarquinii it was of course famous as the spot to which Demaratos and his artist-companions were said to have fled from Corinth. Excavations were first begun in 1825–27. Besides the collection now in the public Museum,[230] there is a large one made by Count Bruschi from excavations on his own lands, the majority of the vases being of the B.F. period.[231] Not far distant are _Civita Vecchia_, represented only by some remarkable early vases in the British Museum,[232] Italian imitations of the Greek Dipylon ware, and La Tolfa, where Etruscan, Corinthian, and Ionic B.F. vases have been found.[233]

Few finds, at least of Greek pottery, have been made at _Civita Castellana_, the ancient Falerii; but this town appears to have had a special manufacture of its own in the fourth or third century B.C., like all other Etruscan fabrics an imitation of Greek vases, but with certain strongly marked peculiarities of drawing and colouring. There is a fine specimen in the British Museum.[234] These vases have only been found in recent years. The British Museum also (among others) possesses an interesting collection of local early black and red wares from this site, including two large caldrons on open-work stands, with Gryphons’ heads projecting. _Isola Farnese_, the ancient Veii, again, is more celebrated for its local fabrics than for Greek importations. Painted vases were found in 1838–39,[235] and in 1843 Campana discovered a remarkable tomb containing vases of early character without human figures, and early Italian wares. The archaic paintings of this tomb are of special interest for comparison with the vases of the period.[236]

Next to Vulci, which we have reserved for the last, by far the most important discoveries in Etruria are those made in the tombs of =Cervetri= (Caere), mostly of early fabrics. In 1836 the famous Regulini-Galassi tomb came to light, a passage-like structure sixty feet in length, with doorway of slabs sloping forward to form an arch; but it contained few vases. In the same year was found a remarkable vase of plain black ware, on which was engraved an early Greek alphabet, with a sort of syllabic primer.[237] Another tomb contained a series of slabs painted with archaic Etruscan figures in the style of early B.F. vases, which are now in the British Museum. Others of similar character are in the Louvre.[238] But though these large tombs yielded little painted pottery, yet Cervetri has been the site of many notable discoveries, chiefly of early B.F. vases illustrating various developments of vase-painting. The most important is formed by the series of hydriae named “Caeretan,” after the site, which are fully discussed in Chapter VIII.; and among other finds we may note the Amphiaraos krater at Berlin,[239] of Corinthian style. Excavations went on for many years from 1831 onwards, and yielded also some interesting later vases, including examples with the signatures of Nikosthenes, Xenokles, Pamphaios, Euphronios,[240] and Charitaios, and the famous vase representing the oil-merchant.[241] Jahn[242] gives a list of the most important red-figured vases found here. At _Selva la Rocca_, near Monteroni in the same neighbourhood, the Duchessa di Sermoneta excavated a series of Greek painted vases of all periods. Other sites in Etruria on which vases have been found are Doganella,[243] Ferento near Viterbo,[244] Capannori,[245] Montepulciano,[246] Pitigliano,[247] Poggia Sommavilla on the border of the Sabine territory,[248] S. Filippo dei Neri, Tragliatella.[249]

But the discoveries made on all the other Etruscan sites combined are surpassed, both in number and interest, by those of =Vulci=, a name which eighty years since was scarcely known, but now represents to us one of the most important cities of antiquity. The site is represented by the modern Ponte della Badia, a district of about five miles in circumference round the bridge over the stream Fiora, between the estates of Canino and Montalto. The former estate lay on the left bank, distinguished by a hill named Cucumella.

The discovery of painted vases here was brought about purely by accident, about the year 1828. Some oxen in ploughing broke through into an Etruscan tomb containing two broken vases, and thus the local landlord, the Prince of Canino, was led to further researches. In the course of four months he discovered about 2,000 objects in tombs on one small plot of ground, and subsequently other explorers joined in emulating his good fortune. The number of painted vases alone discovered during the year 1829 is reckoned at over 3,000, according to the elaborate report published by Gerhard in the _Annali_,[250] describing and classifying the results. It would not be too much to assert that nine-tenths of the painted vases that have been brought to light in Etruria are from this site. Most of those now in the British Museum are from Camposcala, on the Montalto estate; but many are from the collections formed by Lucien Bonaparte, the Prince of Canino, who continued to excavate intermittently for many years, though the numbers of the finds materially diminished after the first great discovery.

In recent years the only important excavations on this site have been those conducted by M. Gsell on the estate of Musignano, at the expense of the proprietor, Prince Torlonia. The object was to exhaust the site by sporadic diggings over the three principal areas of Ponte della Badia, Polledrara, and Cucumella. In all 136 tombs were opened, ranging from the period of “well-tombs” (about the ninth or eighth century B.C.) down to the chamber-tombs of the early fifth century.[251] Besides local pottery of all kinds they contained imported Greek fabrics from the Geometrical ware down to the red-figure period. The later included Corinthian vases of various kinds, a good “Tyrrhenian” amphora, and one of the “affected” B.F. style, a cup signed by Tleson and one in the style of Epiktetos, and Etruscan imitations of B.F. fabrics.

M. Tyszkiewicz, the great collector, in his entertaining _Souvenirs_,[252] tells a curious story of the fate of one of the vases found in M. Gsell’s excavations:—

“One day I received a visit from a country fellow, who said he had
come from the neighbourhood of Canino, and brought with him a vase
painted in the early Corinthian manner, the names of the figures
being indicated by Greek inscriptions. The man declared he had
discovered it in a tomb which had fallen in after heavy rains. The
price asked was very reasonable, and the bargain was soon concluded.
At that time M. van Branteghem ... was one of the most eager buyers
of Greek vases, and he was so envious of my acquisition that I had
real pleasure in giving it up to him. A little while after this,
there called on me at my house a member of the French School in Rome,
M. Gsell.... He began by asking me if I had not lately purchased a
vase, which he closely described, and which proved to be the very one
I had bought from the native of Canino. Now M. Gsell inspected so
attentively the excavations under his care that it was impossible, he
assured me, for the workmen to have stolen anything. All objects
found were registered as soon as they were taken out of the tombs,
and were locked up every evening in a warehouse. However, one day M.
Gsell perceived that one had disappeared. He sent for the supposed
thief (one of his superintendents), and by means of threats extracted
a confession of the theft, and the name of the amateur to whom the
vase had been sold. In conclusion, M. Gsell entreated me to let him
have the vase.... Having parted with the vase, I felt the situation
very embarrassing, but I told my interlocutor what had happened, and
why I had handed the vase over to M. van Branteghem. The distress of
M. Gsell on hearing this news touched me to such a degree that I
ended by telling him that, knowing M. van Branteghem to be a
gentleman, I would inform him he had become the owner of stolen
goods, and throw myself on his mercy. The same day I wrote to the
Belgian amateur and made a clean breast of the matter, and the vase
was returned as quickly as possible. The vase was replaced in the
museum of the Prince Torlonia at the Lungara.

“Years passed away, when one morning I was told that a peasant, who
was waiting in the hall, desired to show me an antique work of art.
This was an event of daily occurrence—indeed, it happened several
times every day, and usually I found that the object for whose sake I
had been disturbed was either quite uninteresting or else a fraud.
But this time—astonishing fact!—I was shown the very vase that I had
restored to the French School, and had afterwards seen at the Lungara
Museum. Once again it had been stolen!”

The tombs in which the vases were found were mostly small grottoes hollowed in the tufa, and with a few exceptions only a few feet underground. There was nothing remarkable in them except the vases, for they were neither spacious nor decorated, nor finished with splendid ornaments like the tombs of Corneto and of Magna Graecia. Some had seats for holding the objects deposited with the dead; others pegs for hanging the vases on the walls. The wonder was to find such fine specimens of art in tombs so homely. These vases were of all styles and epochs from early Corinthian of about the seventh century to the Decadence. Besides these, an immense number of vases painted black only, without any subject, and others of the black _bucchero_ ware, were discovered in the various tombs, along with bronzes, ivories, and other objects peculiarly Etruscan.[253]

This vast discovery naturally attracted the attention of Europe. Notwithstanding the obvious fact of their possessing Greek inscriptions, and the light thrown upon them by the researches of Winckelmann, Lanzi, and other enlightened scholars, the Italian antiquaries, fired with a mistaken patriotism, insisted on claiming all the vases as Etruscan fabrics. The history of this error, long since discredited, is briefly summarised in the Introductory chapter.[254]

* * * * *

Turning now to Southern Italy, _Latium_ need not detain us long. It is true that Greek vases have from time to time been found at Rome, or at any rate fragments, as in the recent excavations in the Forum[255]; but few of these are of importance except as historical data. When Rome is given as the provenance of a vase, it probably implies nothing more than that it has been acquired from some dealer in that city. At Civita Lavinia Lord Savile found some fragments of painted pottery of different periods. Alba Longa is famous as the site whence the hut-urns, elsewhere discussed, have been obtained; but on the whole Rome and the cities of Latium seem to be quite barren in regard to finds of pottery. With the three main divisions of the southern half of Italy the case is quite different. It is true that there has been no Vulci in these districts, and indeed that no scientific excavations have taken place compared with those in Etruria; yet the yield of vases from these parts is extraordinarily large. In the eighteenth century the neighbourhood of Naples, Paestum, etc., was a favourite hunting-ground with dilettanti, such as Sir William Hamilton, who appear to have acquired their large collections chiefly from Campanian tombs; but unfortunately they have left no record of the sites on which these vases were found. In the Samnite district and north of the Apennines pottery-finds are almost unknown; while the barbaric regions of Bruttii and Calabria are only represented by a few late painted vases of the rudest local fabrics.

It may be noted that as a general rule the Greek colonies on the coast, which maintained from the earliest times a constant intercourse with Greece, have yielded from their tombs a fair proportion of the older Greek fabrics, whereas the inland cities are more remarkable for their remains of the later Athenian and local wares, being of more recent origin.

Beginning with Campania, we take first the famous colony of _Cumae_, the most ancient in Magna Graecia, which was founded by the Chalcidians of Kyme in Aeolis at an unknown date, but not later than the eighth century. Vases of all periods have been found here, though not in great numbers. The earliest belong to the infancy of the colony, and include the famous lekythos of Tataie found in 1843, and now in the British Museum.[256] It bears an inscription in the Chalcidian alphabet. But the majority of the finds belong to the period when there appears to have been a flourishing local fabric, about the third century B.C. They are the most typical representatives of the Campanian style, and may be studied to best advantage in the Raccolta Cumana of the Naples Museum, where they are collected together.[257] Many of these were found in 1842. Cumae was famous for its pottery even in Roman times,[258] and specimens of Roman ware with reliefs have been found here, as also at the neighbouring Puteoli (Chapter XXII.)

Next in importance for the history of local fabrics are the vases found at _S. Agata dei Goti_, the ancient Saticula, which can also claim a manufacture of its own.[259] They are for the most part bell-shaped kraters, and were chiefly excavated at the end of the eighteenth century. Signed vases by the Paestum masters Assteas and Python (see below) came from this site. The vases of _Abella_ form another class of Campanian ware, but of a degenerate and late type, mostly hydriae of very pale clay. Other sites which have yielded Campanian vases are: Naples (Neapolis), Telese, Teano, Acerra, Sessa, and Nuceria Alfaterna (Nocera).[260]

_Capua_, on the other hand, does not appear to have had any special fabric of its own, although the finds of all periods are as numerous as from any site in Southern Italy except Ruvo and Nola. Among the earlier specimens may be mentioned the inscribed Corinthian krater in the British Museum (B 37) from the Hamilton collection (Plate XXI.). The red-figured vases include cups signed by Euergides, Epiktetos, and Pistoxenos. The vases of the Decadence have, as indicated, no distinctive features of their own. Most of the late red-figured vases of fancy shapes (such as rhyta) in the British Museum are from this site, whence they passed into the hands of Castellani. The black vases with gilded ornamentation, of which the British Museum possesses some fine specimens, are also characteristic of Capua. A large number of the vases obtained by Sir William Temple are from this site, as is also one of the later Panathenaic amphorae.[261]

At _Calvi_ (Cales) Greek painted vases are almost unrepresented,[262] but this site is distinguished as the origin of two late varieties of fictile ware. One is formed by the Calene phialae (p. 502), or bowls of black ware with interior designs in relief, sometimes signed with the names of local potters; the other consists of large vases highly ornamented with terracotta figurines attached in different places, or else modelled in the form of female figures or heads. Strictly speaking, the latter must be classed under the heading of terracottas (see p. 119).

Lastly, we have to speak of _Nola_, which, like Capua, was always a city of considerable importance, and is represented by a large series of vases of all periods.[263] Here again we can detect no signs of a special local fabric, though for a long time the so-called “Nolan” amphorae of the red-figured period were thought to have been made on the spot, so frequently have they been found. The name is still retained as convenient for describing this particular form of amphora (see p. 162), with its exquisite black varnish, graceful outlines, and simple yet effective decoration; but it is, of course, quite conventional. The vases are purely Attic (some are signed by Athenian artists), and it can only be supposed that they found especial favour in the Nolan market. Corinthian and Attic black-figured vases occur in large numbers, and both here and at Capua there seems to have been a tendency to imitate the exported Athenian wares. Thus we find not only vases with black figures on buff ground on which the drawing is obviously free and developed, but also imitations of the “Nolan” amphorae, both classes dating from about the fourth century B.C.

At _Sorrento_ and the neighbouring Vico Equense a few vases of different periods have been found, including a fine R.F. krater signed by Polygnotos, which was discovered in 1893, and is now in the British Museum.[264] Salerno is also mentioned as a site where Greek vases have come to light.

The famous city of _Paestum_ lay actually within the borders of Lucania, but all its relations were with Campania, and it may practically be regarded as a Campanian city. Little has been found here except local fourth- and third-century fabrics, but these are for the most part so remarkable that they have established the existence of a school of vase-painting at Paestum quite distinct from and earlier than the fabrics of the three districts of Southern Italy.[265] Nearly all the vases found here (including three signed by the master Assteas) have the distinguishing characteristics of this class. They are mostly to be seen in the Naples Museum; a fuller account of them is given in