Perusia
Perusia, known today as Perugia, is a historic city located in the Umbria region of central Italy, perched on a hill at an elevation of 1,620 feet overlooking the fertile upper Tiber valley. Its origins date back to the sixth or fifth century BC, with early inhabitants believed to be the Sarsinates, a tribe of the Umbrians. The city played a crucial role in the cultural diffusion of the Etruscans into the surrounding areas, notably adopting their alphabet in the fourth century BC. Perusia gained prominence and power among Etruscan centers but became officially tied to Rome in the fourth century BC after a series of military engagements. Notably, during the Second Triumvirate, Perusia experienced a tumultuous period marked by the Perusine War, where it suffered a devastating siege by Octavian's forces. Despite this, the city was later reconstructed and elevated to the status of a Roman colony. Today, remnants of its ancient walls and significant structures, such as the Arco Etrusco and Porta Marzia, remain, highlighting its historical and architectural heritage. The city's legacy is further enriched by archaeological sites like the Tomb of the Volumnii, a testament to its ancient past.
Subject Terms
Perusia
(Perugia)
A city in Umbria (central Italy), situated upon a hill 1620 feet above sea level overlooking the fertile valley of the upper Tiber. The region had at one time been inhabited, according to Servius, by the Sarsinates, one of the tribes of the Umbrians (speaking an Indo-European Italic dialect), from whom Pliny the Elder records that the Etruscans seized three hundred towns. Perusia was among them, founded, apparently, by Clusium (Chiusi), which had only become a city in the sixth or fifth century BC. The place was largely responsible for the spread of the cultural influence of the Etruscans across the Tiber into Umbria, importing for example, their alphabet in the fourth century BC. The inhabitants of Perusia retained pretentious foundation legends that conceal the comparatively late date of its foundation, but testify to its importance in the subsequent epoch, when the stories were devised. In particular, these traditions tell of legendary northern expansion by the Perusians—asserting that their city was founded by Aulestes, the father or brother of Ocnus and mythical founder of Felsina (Bononia) and Mantua: the purpose of such tales was to eclipse the more authentic achievements of Clusium (Chiusi), at a time when the Perusians had thrown off its suzerainty. The artistic influence of Clusium is still to be seen in their sarcophagi of c 475–450 when they also produced important bronze work, including bizarre elongated statuettes that have appealed to modern sculptors.
After 400, Perusia, by now independent, became the most powerful Etruscan center in the upper Tiber valley. During the fourth century, however, after military operations c 310, it became officially bound to the Romans by a treaty which—following an attempted revolt in 295—was replaced by a truce. Thereafter the town remained loyal, notably in the Second Punic War (218–201).
During the Second Triumvirate, by now possessing the rank of municipium, it underwent a brief period of lurid and disastrous notoriety, known as the Perusine War. The eviction by Octavian (the future Augustus) of many Italian farmers from their properties had aroused protests that were backed by Antony's wife Fulvia and by his brother Lucius Antonius, without the knowledge of Antony himself (41). Forced out of Rome, these homeless men were driven into Perusia, where starvation compelled them to surrender after a harrowing siege. The city was given up to the victorious soldiers to be plundered and burned, and Octavian inflicted such merciless treatment that the designation of `Perusian altars’ for human sacrifice became proverbial. However, he later reconstructed the city, with the title of Augusta. A later emperor, Trebonianus Gallus (AD 251–53), was a native of the place, and promoted it to the status of a Roman colony.
Long stretches of walls of the later second century BC, built of travertine stone, can still be seen, and the Arco Etrusco or di Augusto and Porta Marzia—two of seven identified gates—contain materials of the same epoch, and remain in use today. Appian and Dio Cassius record temples of Juno, the tutelary diety of the city, and a shrine of Vulcan that stood outside the walls and escaped destruction in the conflagration of 40 BC. Among numerous graves surrounding its perimeter, the most conspicuous is the Tomb of the Volumnii (c 100), some three miles from the city, constructed in the form of a house centered on an atrium.