Cosa (rather than those whose plots were closer to the

city, as it was assumed by the excavators). An

For a number of reasons, Cosa is an aristocracy of some sort existed, in all likelihood,
extremely instructive example of a colony ever since the colonists were selected, and the
founded by Rome. Principally, it is because of first leaders of the new city would naturally be
the quality and quantity of the archaeological chosen among them. For the rest of the colonists,
research conducted there. Field workers of the the city was mainly a place in which they
American Academy of Rome under the direction transacted business, gathered for political
of F. E. Brown were active in and around the city meetings and elections, worshiped the gods and
for almost twenty years and they exposed the retreated to in case of aggression.
entire center of the city, its citadel and a sizable Not surprisingly, the construction of the
sample of the rest. This was facilitated by the city walls was among the first items that the new
state of abandonment the site had been in since community took care of. They were built in the
the late Roman period, since there were no cyclopean masonry style that was typical of the
modern structures covering the ancient remains. period. This style employed large, irregular
The excavations could thus retrieve much more polygons made of locally quarried limestone,
of the city center and they have been extensively which were dressed to fit each other’s slanting
published. surfaces. Jutting towers reinforced the
Cosa is also a remarkable city in itself. fortification on the sides that were not naturally
Founded in 273 BC as a Latin colony (for the defended by steep cliffs. The circuit of the walls
meaning of this, see ch. 2), it represented an had an irregular shape dictated by the sloping
early example of the relatively large cities terrain on which the city was placed. The layout
created by Rome during the period of its of the city within the walls was in line with that
conquest of Italy. It was located on the western of contemporary Latin colonies, such as Alba
coast of the peninsula, some 80 miles to the Fucens. Elongated rectangular blocks covered
north of Rome. Its territory had been carved out most of the site’s surface. A triple-wide strip was
of the city-state of Vulci, one of the main south left to make space for the long Forum and the
Etruscan metropolises. There had probably been connected public buildings, adjacent to the main
a subsidiary administrative center, whose name North-South road. Smaller and odd-shaped
was Cusa, originally controlled by Vulci, in the blocks filled up the remaining space, closer to
area. The Romans decided to relocate it on a the walls. The summit of the hill was reserved
promontory that offered a great view of a large for the main urban sanctuary, the Capitolium.
tract of the coast. None of the South Etruscan The other area where work started right
main cities was very near to the sea and with the away was the Forum. This was the main square
foundation of Cosa the Roman state is clearly of the city and its economic, political and
aiming at establishing a coastal stronghold cultural heart. The citizens met in the Forum to
whose loyalty can be counted on. This happens do business, to hear the news, to browse the
at a time in which the Romans are beginning to shops, to attend trials, to take part in auctions
explore and expand overseas. It must be and other public events and even (at least early
significant that Cosa is founded (together with its on) to watch games. The city could not exist
twin in the South, Paestum) only a few years without its Forum, and an area was demarcated
before the first war that Rome ever fought and paved soon after the foundation. Around the
against an enemy overseas, its arch-rival in square, rock-cut tanks were dug for drainage and
northern Africa, Carthage. Known as the First water supply. Work also began on the other
Punic war, it mostly consisted of large naval structures that were essential to the politics and
battles fought along the western coasts of Italy administration in the city. An assembly space
and Sicily. (comitium) and council hall (curia) sprung up
Cosa probably had 2500 colonists, each along the eastern side of the square. The
of whom received a small land plot to cultivate comitium was a square open air space, fitted with
in the fertile coastal plain behind the wide round stone steps going down towards its
promontory. The city itself, however, does not center. This was a seating area that sat an
apparently have space for more than about 300 audience of about 600 for political meetings,
townhouses that could be used for private while the speakers stood in the center to make
habitation. So only a small minority of the their speeches. This was the traditional
settlers seem to have permanently lived there. architectural form for these buildings and it was
These were probably the ranking colonists derived from the council and assembly buildings,
the bouleuteria and ekklesiasteria that however, the terrain must have conditioned the
characterize Hellenistic Greek cities. On the side location of the main sanctuary. Since the whole
opposite the entrance, the steps led up to the city site sloped up to a summit at the southern
entrance of a rectangular covered building, end, this must have seemed the ideal location for
where the council of the city met to deliberate. a temple whose functions included that of
Later on, side rooms, probably used as archives observation post for events happening in the sky.
were added. Its shape was typically Roman, And, after all, Rome itself had a similar
imitating the Curia in the Forum of Rome, where arrangement, with the temple of Jupiter
the Senate of the Republic met. overlooking the Forum from some distance,
Towards the end of the 3rd c. BC public rather than actually lining up to one of its sides.
building activities gathered momentum. The The Capitolium at Cosa not only dominates the
comitium and curia were rebuilt with stronger whole city area, but must have been visible from
materials and a jailhouse was added (trials could outside the city and ever from ships at sea, with a
also be held in the Forum square). A little later, dramatic scenic effect. Built in the late 2nd c. BC,
most of the remaining space around the Forum the temple pretty much followed the Etruscan
was occupied by eight houses of very similar and Roman architectural tradition of the time. It
design. That all had a small central atrium (for a had a deep colonnaded space in front (the
definition, see ch. 4), a garden at the back and pronaos) and three chambers at the back, where
two shops (tabernae) open on the Forum front. the cult images were kept. It would have been
They have been interpreted as residences of city dedicated, in all likelihood, to the Capitoline
officials (atria publica) and, in any case, given triad: Jupiter (in the central cella), Juno and
their position, they must have been inhabited by Minerva (on the sides). This followed very
wealthy and prominent families. A temple of closely the arrangement of the Capitolium in
Concord also now faced the Forum, next to the Rome, the ancestral temple (dating to the 6th c.
Comitium and a colonnaded portico now BC) on the Capitoline hill overlooking the
surrounded the square on the other three sides. A Forum valley.
monumental archway framed the northern access
to the Forum.
The final touch in the beautification of
the square was the addition of a Basilica, around
the mid-2nd c. BC, on the northern side of the
Comitium. Basilicae were large colonnaded halls
that created a large unobstructed covered space.
This was meant as an expansion of the Forum
that would be sheltered from the weather. It
could serve the same multiple functions of
marketplace, meeting place, courthouse and
auction house. Its architectural design was
connected with that of Hellenistic Greek stoas on
the one hand, and Roman colonnaded courtyards
on the other. Basilicae had a central nave and
two or four lateral aisles separated by rows of
columns. The roof was pitched and taller in the
central part, so that openings (called clerestory
windows) could provide extra light to the central
part of the structure. The aisles were often
covered with flat roofs that served as balconies.
The Basilica at Cosa imitated contemporary
models in the Forum of Rome, and had Ionic
columns on two orders.
The only major monument at Cosa that
did not gravitate around the Forum was the main
temple. This was fairly unusual for Roman urban
layouts, in which the Capitolium almost always
faced one of the short sides of the Forum square
(for instance at Pompeii and Parma). At Cosa,