The Ara della Regina temple at Tarquinia is probably one of the best known Etruscan monuments, both because of its size and because of its splendid roof decoration of terracotta winged horses. Although the foundation of the temple is seemingly well preserved, the complexity of the phases of its building history may come as a surprise. Thankfully, the present volume on the temples of the Archaic period serves to clarify the evidence.
The printed volume consists of an account of the architectural remains by Maria Bonghi Jovino and Giovanna Bagnasco Gianni, followed by chapters on the excavated areas by several authors. The types of objects found are described in separate chapters, followed by a presentation of the scientific analysis. Plans, illustrations in black-and-white and some in colour, and drawings appear at the end of the text volume, supplemented by fourteen separate plates, and a CD includes inventory lists of objects.
As B.J. acknowledges in the preface, of the four phases of the temple, the third phase, connected with the terracotta horses, usually receives the most attention. It is therefore particularly important to evaluate its predecessors as part of the architectural development of the city of Tarquinia. As background for the later discussion, B.J. provides the documentation for Temple III in the Introduction. The meticulous analysis by Romanelli singled out elements of a previous structure, further studied by Torelli, Colonna and Pianu, which allowed B.J. to identify the building materials used (macco, tufo rosso and nenfro, pl. V) and to number each wall unit, indicated on the main plan of the temple (pl. I).
The existence of archaic temple remains was confirmed by geophysical prospection and test trenches. Temple I, dated to c. 570 b.c. based on the related pottery finds, seems to have consisted of a narrow cella and pronaos (12.36 m by 7.25 m), set on a rectangular platform, and oriented east–west. Due to differences in levels, one set of steps provided access from the open space in front of the structure to the platform, and a second one from the platform to the temple proper (pl. VII).
A key factor for establishing the appearance of the temple, the platform and the open space in relation to each other and to the city hill and roads concerns the elevation of the different features. Of particular importance here is to establish whether the actual temple rested on a podium, and if so, of what height. B.J. postulates that the podium was 2.85 m, based on the difference between the floor level of the platform and of the temple, and the temple would thus be reached by a flight of steps. A second set of steps would have provided access from the open square to the platform in line with the temple.
Temple II, dated to c. 530 b.c., is characterized by four columns flanked by the side walls of the alae, or wings, on either side of the main cella. The date is based on related pottery, and on the stratigraphy that determines the relation between the temple and the open square to the east. As in Temple I, B.J. postulates that the structure was placed on a podium with a height determined by the difference between the platform and the temple floor, estimated at 3.35 m. Access to the temple was provided by two flights of steps, one from the open square to the platform, and the other from the platform to the temple proper.
As is clearly indicated in the text, the remains of the archaic temples are difficult to interpret. The virtue of B.J.'s presentation is that she analyses each feature of the temples and presents the evidence used for the interpretation, including texts such as Vitruvius and calculations of the superstructure by Barbara Binda, thus allowing the reader to evaluate the conclusions with an opportunity to propose other interpretations. It should be noted that the reconstructions on the loose-leaf plates clearly identify preserved remains, separate from the proposed elevations. In addition to the presentation of the architectural remains, B.J. places Temples I and II within the context of orientation in relation to other Etruscan temples, including the Capitoline temple in Rome (for which see also M. Bonghi Jovino in Annali Faina 17 (2010), 31–65), and discusses the lack of evidence for identifying the deity worshipped.
The chapters on specific soundings within the sanctuary and on the finds, including pottery and architectural terracottas, allow the reader to gain detailed information on contexts and stratigraphy, supplemented by comments on interpretations and bibliographical references. Most of the objects are illustrated by line drawings, but there are also magnificent colour photographs of the painted pottery and architectural terracottas, as well as a set of hypothetical reconstructions of both Temples I and II.
We must be grateful to B.J. and B.G. and their colleagues for providing such a thorough and complete presentation and analysis of the architectural remains and the small finds. Due to the price of the publication, it will most likely be used as a reference source in research libraries, in conjunction with B.J.'s article in F. Gaultier and D. Briquel (eds), Les Étrusques, les plus religieux des hommes (1997), 69–95 and G. Bagnasco Gianni's summary in N. T. de Grummond and I. Edlund-Berry (eds), The Archaeology of Sanctuaries and Ritual in Etruria (2011), 45–54.
