Translation: More on the Walls of Tarchna AncientSites >Rome > Groups >Etruria New Vines "Products Contest" with $500 in Prizes! Places To Go!Today's PostsRomeAthensEgyptBabylonTaraMachuPicchuNewYorkAncientSitesSite MapAncientVine Rome Board Index | Rome Daily Posts Board: Etruria Topic: Architecture and Engineering Topic Editor: Nesnut Hatshepsut Topic Description: Much of Roman architecture ... Email this post to a friend! Message: Translation: More on the Walls of Tarchna Author: Lauchum - Camitlnas Tullius, Patron Date: Jul 1, 2000 19:08 Translation of Velthur's post in the Italian language section: Velthur tells me he will be taking some photographs tomorrow, and will mail some to me. I will digitise them and post them here as soon as available. The ancient walls of Tarquinia (TARKNA) ---------------------------------------------------------- The ancient Etruscan city of Tarquinia rises on a plateau, 150 metres above sea level, and is shaped more or less like a half moon. It is basically composed of two parts called the Civita (height 165 m) and the Ara Del Regina (The location of the temple and excavations- height 170 m) Under the north side of the city the Albucci pit merges from the valley, while under the south side of the city is the "Fosse San Savino". Both pits are fed by the the river Marta (Which flows to the Tyrrhenian sea from Lake Bolsena) situated on a plateau to the South West. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WALLS Length (city perimeter): 8 km approximately Width (depth): 1 m Height: 4-6 m theoretically in relation to the surrounding land (the perimeter zone with least natural defense is from the North East through to the east). Area enclosed within the walls: 120 hectares Non built-up area (approximately 20 m from the walls): 8000 m x 20 m = 160 000 m² = 16 hectares Non built-up area (roads, Temple, pit): 14 hectares Built up area (Although we don't know how much of it was used): 80 hectares Maximum theoretical population (assigning 7.5 m² per person): 120,000 Theoretical length of the walls : 3.7 km The material used for the construction blocks is the characteristic Central Etrurian Limestone extracted from local quarries. The dimensions of a standard wall block are: Length: 0.8 m Width (depth): 0.45 m Height: 0.5 m The number of the blocks used in the construction (assuming an average wall height of 4 m and depth of 1 m) is approximately 160,000 (volume 30 000 m³). The number of blocks used in the construction (assuming an average wall height of 6 m and depth of 1 m) is approximately 240 000 (Total volume 45 000 m³). Access to and from the city was by way of 5 gates of which 3 are on the north side, 1 on the south and 1 to the south-east. Significant remains of the central doorway can only be found in one location on the north side. The other 4 are of questionable locations. From one of these however came the Via Latina (or Tarquiniensa) that joined Tarquinia to Blera. Traces remain of the ancient walls scattered in the perimeter. We could not find a study of merit that has supplied exact figures, but it can be estimated at approximately 1000 m. Of these perhaps only one worthwhile section more than 100 m exceeds a height of 3 m. These are situated on the north side and still preserved is the remains of the Gateway which was constructed according to advanced Military Engineering principles. In fact on the subject of skill, the walls are not of rectilinear construction, but they form a curvilinear shelf that overhangs in order to protect their left side, from direct attack. The general impression is that all this was highly effective. Considering also the large population of defenders, it would have been extremely difficult to take by force. In fact there is no record of there having ever been either a direct onslaught or a siege of the religious capital of the Etruscans by the Romans during the years of conflict between Tarquinia and Rome. Previous: Etruscan pottery ( - AULUS Sergius )