The Ethnicity of the Sea Peoples - RePub - Erasmus Universiteit ...

Trojans, nor will they change their language and alter their
attire and customs, but the Trojans will sink down and
merge in the mass, leaving them only the introduction of
some new religious rites. 320
Some of the elements of the Aeneas’ saga as summarized
above can be corroborated by archaeological, epigraphical
or historical data. Thus, the reported sojourn of
Aeneas with his Trojans on the Thracian coast, according
to Hellanikos in Pallene on the Khalkidike, is reflected in
the archaeological record by tetradrachms from the nearby
city of Aineia, dated to the period before 525 BC, which
depict the flight of Aeneas and his wife Creusa from
Troy. 321 Next, their stay at the court of Dido in the newly
founded city of Carthago can only be dated to the period
after 814/3 or 813/2 BC – the historical foundation date of
the city according to Timaios. 322 As the fact that, according
to Homeros’ Iliad, Aeneas already fought in the Trojan
war, which may well be assigned to c. 1280 BC, is incompatible
with a visit by the same person of Carthago in the
late 9th or early 8th century BC, i.e. some 5 centuries later,
Dionysios of Halikarnassos, whose focus is on chronology,
quite consistently rejected the historical validity of this
event. 323 It should be realized, however, that we are dealing
with myth and that in this category of evidence episodes
from various periods can be telescoped into a single
lifetime. Furthermore, the historical validity of one of the
adversaries of the Trojans in their war with the Latins is
greatly enhanced by the discovery of an Etruscan inscription
from Caere, dated to c. 680/675-650/640 BC, reading
mi Laucies Mezenties
“I (am) of Lucius Mezentius”. 324
Again, this evidence points to a date in the Early Iron Age
of the vicissitudes of Aeneas and his Trojans in the west.
Finally, in Lavinium, 100 metres southeast of the 13 altars
of the Latin League, a heroon has been found dated to the
4th century BC, which has been identified as the heroshrine
of Aeneas reported by Dionysios of Halikarnassos
320 Vergilius, Aeneid XII, 819-43.
321 Galinsky 1969: 111-2, Fig. 87.
322 Der Neue Pauly, s.v. Karthago; cf. Dionysios of Halikarnassos,
Roman Antiquities I, 74,1.
323 Loeb edition, p.160-1, note 1.
324 Heurgon 1992: 24. Note that this name corresponds with Lausus,
the son of Mezentius, in the literary tradition.
90
in his version of the myth. Now, this heroon is connected
with a grave from c. 675-650 BC, containing a few fragments
of bone, some 60 vases of impasto and bucchero sottile,
and the remnants of a chariot (see Fig. 16). 325 Clearly,
it was believed that the person commemorated by means of
the heroon had been buried in the grave underlying the
monument, which once again points to a date in the Early
Iron Age of Aeneas’ arrival in Latium.
Fig. 16. The Heroon of Aeneas at Lavinium (from Somella 1974:
Taf. VII).
More in general, the alliance of Aeneas with the
Etruscans finds its expression in the archaeological record
in a scarab326 and a large number of vases from Etruria
with scenes from the Aeneas legend, dated to the late 6th
and/or early 5th century BC. 327 The Etruscan town of Veii
even produced cult statues depicting Aeneas carrying his
father Anchises, dated to the early or mid 5th century
BC. 328 As it seems, then, the Etruscans considered the Aeneas
saga as part of their cultural heritage. It comes as no
surprise, therefore, that the poet who fashioned the legend
into its most famous form, Publius Vergilius Maro from
Mantua, ultimately originates from an Etruscan background,
his family name being derived from Etruscan Vercna-.
329 Yet, the aforesaid heroon at Lavinium should
warn us against the oversimplified conclusion of Karl Galinsky,
written, it must be admitted, before this sensational
find, that “when Aeneas appeared in Italy, (…) he be-
325 Somella 1974; Ross Holloway 1994: 135-8.
326 Galinsky 1969: 60; 103; Fig. 44.
327 Galinsky 1969: 122-3.
328 Galinsky 1969: 125; 133; Fig. 111.
329 Pauly-Wissowa Realencyclopädie, s.v. Vergilius; Schulze
1966: 101; 379; cf. Rix 1991: s.v. (esp. Perugia).