A Blurring Frontier: The Territory of Caere in the Fourth and Third Centuries B. C. E.

Abstract

Abstract At the end of a long history of increasingly close relationships with its neighbor, the Etruscan city of Caere became a sort of “satellite state” of Rome and was eventually transformed into a praefectura in 273 B. C. E. Historians have focused on the institutional aspect of the process, with its progressive “softening” of the political frontier between the two cities through the ciuitas sine suffragio, which paved the way for eventual assimilation. This paper examines the archeological record of the territory of Caere in the period between the late fourth and the third centuries B. C. E., tracking the development of settlement patterns and the cultural changes revealed by the material culture. Complex dynamics developed in the territory of Caere during this crucial period, with different groups adopting diverging strategies to adapt to the challenges and opportunities of the new situation.