Roman Archeology

Discuss the characteristics of Greek settlements in Italy; include in your discussion the types of locations for colonies and what natural resources were require and the types of urban planning and city layout employed in the colonies

The Greeks migrated for several reasons, including commerce. Greeks wanted to trade their famous red pottery for metal resources found in Italy. These metal resources weren’t found in Greece, so they were valuable for molding things such as bronze for swords. The Greek colonies were mainly in the southern coastal regions in the country where the water provided a natural barrier and the fertile land near the mouths of rivers, were good for agriculture. Being in the coastal region made it easier for them to make trading posts, such as the one in Scolglio Del Tonno because it allowed traders from other countries who were sailing by to stop and trade their goods. They had independent city-state that were in a grid shaped pattern street layouts. This was later adapted by the Romans in the urbanization of Rome.

In the archaeological record how we distinguish between Villanovan and Etruscan culture; what is meant by the Orientalizing Period.

In the archeology record, we distinguish the Villanovan people from the Etruscans by the Orientalizing phase in the 7th century BC. Before the 7th century, the people were known as Villanocan, who were indigenous people settled in central Italy during the Iron Age. Then came the Orientalizing phase, which was the transition from Villanovan to Etruscan with the evidence of a written form of a language using the Greek alphabet. This provided evidence of cross-culture influence with the people around them, and from this they formed their own ethnic identity.

Discuss the intended effect of Caesar’s building program in Rome and how the building program was designed to affect his popularity with the masses in Rome.

Caesar building program was designed for him to gain popularity from the people because he was creating jobs and making public buildings for the people of Rome. He used the military victory spoils to finance the projects, and the victories of the battles were another way of gaining popularity by the people. He also said he was from the Aeneas blood line, whom is the founder of Italy, and used the goddess Venus (mother of Aeneas) as the state goddess and put her statue in the temple for everyone to worship.

Discuss how the Aeneas-Fall of Troy and Romulus and Remus legends fit into the mythological explanation of the foundations of Rome; include in your discussion why were explanations like these favored in antiquity.

The mythological stories of Aeneas and the fall of Troy and Romulus and Remus legends fit into the mythological explanation of the foundations of Rome because ancient Romans believed in Gods and Goddesses, and they would have liked to believe that their founder of the country was a mix between a human and a God. Aeneas is said to have come to Italy, not necessarily Rome, and Romulus was Rome’s first king. It makes sense to me that the Romans came up with a legend that would make their king tied to some of the Gods and Goddesses that they believed.