Volume 20, Issue 2

Etruscan architecture underwent a radical change in the mid-seventh century B. C. E., from oval huts with thatched roofs to rectangular buildings with stone foundations and tiled roofs. 1 Comparison is drawn with the architecture of the early Temple of Apollo at Corinth, dated ca. 670–660 B. C. E., and the story of Demaratus, a wealthy Corinthian trader who settled at Tarquinia around 657 B. C. E., according to ancient sources. A second set of changes took place after 540 B. C. E., introducing new artistic motifs and technical features into traditional Etruscan terracotta roofs; these innovations at Veii and Cerveteri can be traced to the influx of refugees from the area of Phocaea in Ionia, fleeing enslavement under the expanding Persian kingdom.