Giving Voice to a pre-Roman City: the case of Falerii

Pre-Roman Italy was widely characterised by the phenomenon of urbanisation, although in different ways and at different points in time. It has been widely recognised that the Tyrrhenian seaboard and the interior regions of the Italian peninsula underwent a two-speed process as far as social and political development is concerned. While the long-lasting phenomenon of what has been termed urbanisation came to an end in the coastal regions and the nearby hinterland stretching as far as the Tiber between the 7th and the 6th c. BC, following which it is possible to fully perceive the urban form of many settlements1, the regions of the interior remained connected to a non-urban model for a longer period, based on different approaches to managing territorial entities. Furthermore, as a consequence of this divide, the two areas have mainly been considered in isolation over the last century, thus creating a modern barrier that does not correspond to any real division. The ancient situation was undoubtedly more fluid and the process of osmosis that existed between the two areas of the Italian Peninsula can be traced throughout the centuries.Within this picture, Etruscan cities certainly played a major role in the central part of the Italian peninsula, especially those in the southern part of the region, which have been correctly described as “ancient Mediterranean metropoleis”. Notwithstanding the increasing awareness of the need to understand these urban contexts in more detail, as is often referenced in the scholarship, up until the last forty years the investigation of these sites remained largely in the shadows. Aim of the present research is to give a contribution in the direction of the better understanding of the urban phenomenon in central Tyrrhenian Italy, using the city of Falerii as a study case.