Vulci (Velch) was an Etruscan city located 12 km from the western coast of central Italy by the banks of the Fiora River. Flourishing as a trading port between the 6th and 4th century BCE, it was an important member of the Etruscan League. The archaeological site has yielded many bronze works and a vast quantity of fine pottery, which has filled museums worldwide, but its most impressive contribution to our knowledge of the Etruscans is the many tombs at the site, including the 4th-century BCE Francois Tomb with its vibrant wall paintings.
武尔奇（Velch）是一座伊特鲁里亚城市，位于菲奥拉河畔，距意大利中部西海岸 12 公里。在公元前6世纪至4世纪期间，它作为一个贸易港口而繁荣，是伊特鲁里亚联盟的重要成员。该考古遗址出土了许多青铜器和大量精美的陶器，这些文物已被世界各地的博物馆收藏，但它对我们了解伊特鲁里亚人最令人印象深刻的贡献是该遗址的许多墓葬，包括公元前4世纪的弗朗索瓦墓，其壁画非常生动。
早期定居与地理环境
(资料图)
There are few written sources describing the history of Vulci, known as Velch to the Etruscans themselves, but substantial archaeological remains are testimony to its prosperity from the 6th to 4th century BCE. The site had been inhabited since the Neolithic period but was long overshadowed by nearby Tarquinii in the first centuries of the 1st millennium BCE. The wealth of the city was based on three factors: fertile agricultural lands, rich metal deposits in nearby Monte Amiata, and its strategic location on the Fiora River, allowing it to control trade from the coast to inland territories. The city's seaport has been identified by some scholars as Regae.
描述武尔奇历史的书面资料很少（伊特鲁里亚人称自己为Velch），但大量的考古遗迹证明了它在公元前6世纪到4世纪的繁荣。该遗址自新石器时代起就有人居住，但在公元前一千年的前几个世纪里，被附近的塔尔奎尼亚（Tarquinia）长期取代。武尔奇的财富基于三个因素：肥沃的农业用地、附近阿米亚塔山 (Monte Amiata)丰富的金属矿藏，以及其在菲奥拉河上的战略位置，使其能够控制从沿海到内陆地区的贸易。一些学者将这座城市的海港称为Regae。
繁荣的伊特鲁里亚城
Vulci did not just prosper as a trade centre passing on goods made by others (especially black-figure and red-figure pottery from Greece – often specifically made for the Etruscan market – and faience flasks from Egypt) but was also a major manufacturing centre in its own right. Fine decorated pottery, the bucchero wares with shiny dark grey surface, bronze work (especially utensils, tripods, braziers, and even chariots), gold jewellery, carved precious stones, wooden boxes inlaid with ivory plaques, bone and ivory spoons, ostrich eggs (imported and then painted by Etruscan artists), and large-scale stone carvings were all produced here. The latter were carved from the local volcanic stone known as nenfro in Vulci's school of stonemasons which influenced other Etruscan cities.
武尔奇不仅仅是作为一个贸易中心，运输其他国家制造的商品（尤其是来自希腊的黑陶和红陶，这些陶器通常是专门为伊特鲁里亚市场制造的，还有来自埃及的彩陶烧瓶），而且武尔奇本身也是一个主要的制造中心。精美的装饰陶器、表面有光泽的深灰色的布切罗（Bucchero）器皿、青铜制品（尤其是器皿、三脚架、火炉，甚至战车）、黄金珠宝、雕刻的宝石、镶嵌着象牙匾的木盒、骨质和象牙勺、鸵鸟蛋（进口后由伊特鲁里亚艺术家绘制）和大型石雕都是在这里生产的。后者是用当地的火山石雕刻而成的，该火山石在武尔奇的石匠学校中被称为“nenfro” ，这也影响了其他伊特鲁里亚城市。
All of these goods were exported throughout Italy and beyond, with Vulci-manufactured wares turning up in tombs across Europe. The high quality of the pottery finds, such items as finely-worked gold jewellery, and the sumptuous adornments and clothes of women depicted in tomb wall paintings all indicate the wealth of Vulci's elite. Further, the general prosperity and cultural pull of the city is illustrated by the presence of such foreign artists as the East Greek 'Swallow Painter,' who set up shop in Vulci and produced there his famous black-figure vases.
这些商品都出口到意大利各地及其他地区，而武尔奇制造的商品很多也都出现在欧洲各地的坟墓中。高质量的陶器、精工细作的金饰以及墓室壁画中描绘女性奢华装饰品和服装，都表明了武尔奇精英阶层的财富。此外，东希腊“燕子画家”等外国艺术家的出现也说明了这个城市的普遍繁荣和文化影响力，他们在武尔奇开店，并在那里制作其著名的黑彩陶器 (Black-figure pottery)。
Vulci was one of the twelve (or 15) members of the Etruscan League, a loose association of politically independent cities bound together by common religious ties. The other members included Cerveteri, Chiusi, Populonia, Tarquinia, and Volterra, but their exact relationship is not clear. Ancient authors group them together as Etruria or 'the peoples of Etruria,' and the Roman historian Livy describes an annual meeting of city leaders at the Fanum Voltumnae sanctuary near Orvieto. The inability of the Etruscans to form a cohesive political alliance would be an important factor in their downfall at the hands of their aggressive southern neighbours, the Romans.
武尔奇是伊特鲁里亚联盟的12个（或15个）成员之一，这是一个由政治上独立的城市组成的松散联盟，通过共同的宗教关系联系在一起。其他成员包括切尔韦泰里（Cerveteri）、丘西（伊特鲁里亚语：Clevsin）、波普洛尼亚（Populonia）、塔尔奎尼亚（Tarquinia，原名科尔内托）和沃尔泰拉（Volterra），但他们的确切关系并不清楚。古代作家将他们统称为伊特鲁里亚或“伊特鲁里亚人民”，罗马历史学家李维描述了在奥尔维耶托附近的Fanum Voltumnae（“沃尔图纳神殿”）举行的城市领导人年会。伊特鲁里亚人没有能力形成一个有凝聚力的政治联盟，这将是他们在咄咄逼人的南方邻居罗马人手中衰败的一个重要因素。
The city declined along with the Etruscan civilization in general between 450 and 350 BCE when Syracuse gained control of local shipping routes. Nevertheless, the city did recover somewhat, as attested by such artefacts as marble sarcophagi dating to the second half of the 4th century BCE. However, the revival was to be short-lived as the Romans, led by T. Coruncanius, conquered Vulci in 280 BCE. In 273 BCE a Roman colony was founded at Cosa which took over the lucrative trade routes and condemned Vulci first to be made only a municipium in 90 BCE and then eventual obscurity in the following centuries, a situation not helped by the presence of malaria in the region.
公元前450年至公元前350年，当锡拉库扎（Syracuse）获得对当地航运路线的控制权时，该城市与伊特鲁里亚文明一起普遍衰落。然而，这座城市确实在一定程度上得到了恢复，如公元前4世纪下半叶的大理石石棺等人工制品就证明了这一点。然而，这种复兴是短暂的，因为罗马人在提比略·科伦卡尼乌斯（Tiberius Coruncanius）的领导下，于公元前280年征服了武尔奇。公元前273年，罗马人在科萨（科萨是公元前 273 年在托斯卡纳西南部建立的拉丁殖民地，其土地是从伊特鲁里亚人手中没收的，以巩固罗马人的控制并为共和国提供一个受保护的港口）建立了一个殖民地，接管了有利可图的贸易路线，使武尔奇在公元前90年成为一个市镇，并在随后的几个世纪里最终被世人所遗忘，这种情况并没有因为当地疟疾的存在而得到改善。
考古遗迹
The site of Vulci today largely contains remains dating from the 4th century BCE, and so there are very few traces of the structures from Vulci's Etruscan heyday. These include portions of the city walls and a large temple platform which measures m x m. It once had four columns on the short sides and six along the long sides and was perhaps dedicated to Minerva. There are also the remains of several pottery workshops. A cemetery or necropolis has been an incredibly rich source of finds. These and its large size are indicative of the city's wealth in the Archaic period. Objects excavated include stone funerary sculptures, fine decorated pottery vases – both locally made and imports, – gold jewellery pieces, engraved bronze mirrors, a bronze urn in the form of a hut, and a fine 6th-century BCE bronze tripod with lion's claw feet and figures of satyrs, Hercules and Iole.
今天的武尔奇遗址主要包含了公元前4世纪的遗迹，因此武尔奇全盛时期的建筑痕迹非常少。其中包括部分城墙和一个米米的大型神庙平台。它的短边有四根柱子，长边有六根柱子，可能是供奉密涅瓦（拉丁语：Minerva）。这里还有几个陶器作坊的遗迹。墓地一直是考古资源极其丰富的宝库，这些及其庞大的规模表明了古风时期（英语：Archaic Greece，前800年-前480年）城市的财富。出土的物品包括石质陪葬雕塑、装饰精美的陶器花瓶（本地制造和进口）、黄金首饰、雕刻铜镜、小屋形式的青铜瓮，以及精美的公元前 6 世纪带有狮爪脚的青铜三脚架还有森林之神赫拉克勒斯和伊奥莱的形象。
The site has also provided two particularly fine 4th-century BCE marble sarcophagi. Each has a tenderly embracing couple carved on the lid while one has scenes of the husband and wife departing in a chariot for the underworld at either end and the second has scenes involving Amazons. Both these coffins are today in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts while many of the finest small-scale Etruscan art pieces are to be found in the Museo Etrsuco di Villa Giulia in Rome.
该遗址还出土了两个特别精美的公元前4世纪的大理石石棺。每口石棺的盖子上都雕刻着一对温柔相拥的夫妇，其中一口棺材的两端都有丈夫和妻子乘坐战车前往冥界的场景，第二口棺材则有涉及Amazons人（在希腊神话中，Amazons人是一个好战的女性种族，以骑术、勇气和骄傲而闻名）的场景。这两口石棺今天都存放波士顿艺术博物馆，而许多精美的小型伊特鲁里亚艺术作品则可以在罗马ETRU国家伊特鲁里亚博物馆找到。
武尔奇的墓穴
The larger tombs at Vulci were guarded by stone sculptures of Greek monsters such as centaurs, sphinxes, rams and winged lions, but it is their interiors which are of special interest. The 6th-century BCE tomb of 'Isis' was excavated by Napoleon's brother Lucien Bonaparte in 1839 CE, and it contained many fine artworks (now mostly at the British Museum). These include a hammered bronze bust of an unidentified goddess holding a horned bird, an 89 cm tall statuette of a standing woman, and a stamped gold sheet diadem. Another tomb, the Tomb of the Bronze Chariot, contained a 7th-century BCE embossed sheet bronze chariot.
武尔奇较大的墓穴由希腊怪物的石雕守护，如半人马、狮身人面像、公羊和带翼狮子，但它们的内部才是特别有趣的。公元前6世纪的“伊希斯”坟墓由拿破仑的兄弟吕西安·波拿巴于公元 1839 年挖掘，里面有许多精美的艺术品（现在大多在大英博物馆）。其中包括一尊手持角鸟的身份不明女神的锤击青铜半身像、一尊 89 厘米高的站立女性雕像，以及一顶压印金片王冠。另一个墓穴是青铜战车墓，里面有一辆公元前7世纪的浮雕青铜战车。
The Tomb of the Warrior dates to around 510 BCE and is so-called because of the bronze armour and weapons found therein. There was a large bronze shield, a Negau-type helmet decorated with images of the river god Achelos and a crest holder shaped in the form of the Dioscuri, greaves (shin protectors), a bronze sword with iron scabbard, and two spears. In addition, there was an entire banqueting set of bronze vessels and utensils – evidence of the Etruscan custom where leaders offered their followers free banquets as a symbol of their power and status.
勇士之墓可以追溯到公元前510年左右，之所以被称为勇士之墓，是因为在其中发现了青铜盔甲和武器。其中有一面巨大的青铜盾牌、一个装饰有河神阿克洛斯图像的内高式头盔和一个以迪奥斯库里（Dioscuri）为形状的冠饰架、护胫、一把带铁鞘的青铜剑和两支长矛。此外，还有一整套由青铜器皿和餐具的宴会设施（这是伊特鲁里亚习俗的证据），在这种习俗中，领导人向其追随者提供免费宴会，作为其权力和地位的象征。
Most spectacular of all the tombs is the late 4th-century BCE Francois Tomb with its painted walls, showing lively scenes from Greek and Etruscan mythology, various battle scenes with the Romans, and the Vulci rulers fighting against those of the rival Etruscan towns of Volsinii and Sovana. There are funeral games where prisoners are sacrificed in gladiator matches, and one fresco shows a man named in an inscription as Vel Saties, perhaps the occupant of the tomb. The figure, possibly a magistrate, wears a dark blue embroidered cloak and is accompanied by a dwarf holding a woodpecker attached to a string. The bird is about to be released and Vel Saties looks on, perhaps as he is about to follow it in a metaphor for his passage into the next life.
在所有的坟墓中，最壮观的是公元前4世纪晚期的弗朗索瓦墓，它的墙壁上绘有希腊和伊特鲁里亚神话中的生动场景，与罗马人的各种战斗场景，以及武尔奇统治者与敌对的伊特鲁里亚城镇沃尔西尼和索瓦纳的战斗场景。有一些葬礼游戏，囚犯在角斗士比赛中被献祭，还有一幅壁画铭文中展示了一个名叫维尔·萨蒂斯 (Vel Saties) 的人，也许就是坟墓的主人。这个人可能是一名行政官，穿着一件深蓝色的刺绣斗篷，身边有一个小矮人，手里拿着一只用绳子拴着的啄木鸟。啄木鸟即将被放飞，维尔·萨蒂斯在一旁看着，也许他正准备跟着啄木鸟一起走，隐喻着他进入来生。
参考书目：
Bagnall, . The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012
Haynes, S. Etruscan Civilization. J. Paul Getty Museum, 2005.
Heurgon, J. Daily Life of the Etruscans. Phoenix, 2017.
Hornblower, S. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2012.
Simon, E. The Religion of the Etruscans. University of Texas Press, 2006.
Spivey, . Etruscan Art. Thames & Hudson, 1997.
原文作者：Mark Cartwright
驻意大利的历史作家。他的主要兴趣包括陶瓷、建筑、世界神话和发现所有文明的共同思想。他拥有政治哲学硕士学位，是《世界历史百科全书》的出版总监。
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