Caere

Caere

Caere (sēˈrē), ancient city of Etruria, c.30 mi (50 km) N of Rome, Italy, at the site of the modern Cerveteri. Although a few miles from the sea, it had ports at Alsium (near modern Palo) and Pyrgi (modern Santa Severa). During the 7th and 6th cent. B.C., Caere reached the period of its greatest prosperity. The cemeteries have been excavated, and the monumental tumuli have yielded vases, pottery, and other art objects, revealing much about Etruscan civilization.

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Caere

 

an Etruscan city-state, now Cerveteri, Italy. According to legend, the city was founded by Pelasgian tribes and named Agylla. In 535 B.C., Carthage and Caere defeated the Phocaean fleet off the shores of Corsica. During the Gallic invasion of Italy in 390 B.C., the Roman vestal virgins took refuge in Caere with their sacred vessels. Caere was conquered by the Romans in 358 B.C.

The foundations of the Manganello temple (sixth century B.C.) have been preserved, as well as the remains of the city wall (fifth and fourth centuries B.C.) and the ruins of a Roman theater. A necropolis containing burials from the seventh to third centuries B.C. (including the Regolini-Galassi tomb) is located northwest of the city on Banditaccia Hill.

REFERENCE

Pallottino, M. The Necropolis of Cerveteri. Rome, 1957.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.