Ancient fertility clinics: What do the recently discovered Etruscan statues reveal?

Dhe great Roman pool of water bubbles up as a source of treasure: on the bottom rests an Ephebe, next to him stands Hygieia, the goddess of health and daughter of Asklepios, with a snake around her arm, followed by Apollo, the inventor of the art of healing, and other deities, Matrons, girls, a striking number of women, generals, children. A total of twenty-four bronze statues dating between the second century BC and the first century AD have emerged, five of them nearly a meter high, one commemorating L’Arringatore (Aule Meteli), the life-size statue of an Etruscan wearing a Roman toga .

All the sculptures are of great craftsmanship and in good condition – the thermal water and mud have preserved them well. The archaeological discovery that came to light in San Casciano dei Bagni (FAZ of November 9), a small town in south-eastern Tuscany, exceeds all expectations: the “treasure is intact”, according to Jacopo Tabolli of the University for Foreigners in Siena, who directs the project, “the greatest statuary find of Italian antiquity and certainly the only one whose context we can fully reconstruct”.

Labeled in two languages

Some statues are arranged on the branches of a mighty tree trunk fixed to the bottom of the pool. The inscriptions that show them and the countless votive offerings are written in two languages, Etruscan and Latin, and come from wealthy families of the region, from the Velimna in Perugia to the Marcni in the Siena area, the elite of the Etruscan and then also Roman society, landowners, local landlords, wealthy businessmen and even emperors.

The find is extraordinary in several respects: First, because up to now it has almost exclusively been necropolises that have handed down the material of the Etruscans and shaped their image, then because of the complex context of the find, which includes very different formats, and finally because the statues are made of bronze. Because from this time mainly sculptures made of terracotta are known, even if Etruria was a country with ore deposits and metal processing was highly developed there.

The presence of Hygieia and Apollo define the place as a place of worship and healing, as a thermal bath and temple. Is it an ancient spa, a luxury resort where those who could afford it sought healing, regeneration and relaxation? This is still a hypothesis, the finds have not yet been evaluated, but they do point in this direction: They also include scalpels and medical instruments as well as replicas of organs and body parts such as legs, breasts, a uterus and a penis. Is it possible, a more extensive assumption, since grace, healing and a healthy, strong child were prayed for at the holy basin, about the first fertility clinic in history?

The second century BC saw the process of Romanization in Etruria, which had begun in the fourth century BC and ended with the lex Iulia in 89 BC. BC found its formal conclusion, well advanced. The Etruscans were becoming assimilated into the Roman economic and political system, and the “caput mundi” soon struck many representatives of their local aristocracy as so attractive that they took office and successfully aspired to the Senate. They spoke Latin and considered themselves Romans without denying their origins. Maecenas, the patron of the arts who was proud of his Etruscan descent, is considered the best example.