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Ancient "Graeco-Italic" amphora

Late 4th - first half of 2nd century B.C.
Florence, Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Inv. 97286

 

On one of the handles and just under the shoulder are two cross-shaped graffiti; on the other handle, a digraph. On the shoulder appear the letters: M, E, X, I. Hard to interpret, they usually indicated the content and weight of the amphora and the name of the merchant.

APPROFONDIMENTI

Etruscan and Graeco-Italic amphorae

The identification of Etruscan amphorae has yielded important information on the maritime trade of this people in archaic times. Wine exportation, after declining in the 5th century B.C., was resumed on a vast scale in the 4th century, when the Etruscan amphorae were replaced by a new kind of vessel, called "Graeco-Italic", produced in Magna Graecia and Sicily from the late 4th to the 2nd century B.C. Starting from the end of the 3rd century, its production centres were situated in central Italy (Campania, southern Lazio, and Etruria), the most economically advanced areas of the peninsula.