Etruscan civilization

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Image:Etruscan civilization map.png
Etruscan culture developed in northern and central Italy after ca 800 BC without a serious break out of the preceding Villanovan culture. The Villanovan culture, the earliest Iron Age culture of central and northern Italy, gave way in the 7th century to an increasingly Orientalizing culture that was influenced by Greek traders and Greek neighbors in Magna Graecia, the Hellenic civilization of southern Italy.

The Etruscan civilization flourished in Etruria and the Po valley in the northern part of what is now Italy, prior to the arrival of Gauls in the Po valley and the formation of the Roman Republic.

Main article: Etruscan language.

The Etruscans are generally believed to have spoken a non-Indo-European language. Herodotus (c. 400 BC) records the legend that they came from Lydia (modern western Turkey). Contrarily, Dionysius of Halicarnassus (c. 100 BC) pronounced that the Etruscans were indigenous to Italy, calling themselves Rasenna and being part of an ancient nation "which does not resemble any other people in their language or in their way of life, or customs." Knowledge of the Etruscan language only began with the discovery of the bilingual Phoenician-Etruscan Pyrgi Tablets found at the port of Caere in 1964, and this knowledge is still incomplete.

Image:Etruscan cippus warrior head.jpg

Some researchers have proposed that the non-Greek inscriptions found on the island of Lemnos, appearing to be related to the Etruscan language and dated to the sixth century BC, support Herodotus' hypothesis. However, recent research, referencing burial rituals, shows that there was no break in practices from the earlier settlements of the Villanovan culture to the Etruscans, indicating that they were likely indigenous after all.


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Collapse of Etruscan politics

The fall of the Etruscan state can be attributed to a variety of factors, the most influential being its disunity. The Etruscan state government was essentially a theocracy. The Etruscans met annually at the shrine of Voltumna to discuss military and political affairs. Apart from this, the Etruscans could be considered, as many ancient sources describe them, “duodecim populi Eturiae” or “the twelve peoples of Eturia”. Although the divisions between the states were not as extreme as those found in ancient Greece, individual states were under no obligation to provide aid to one another, and frequently found it difficult to unify against one threat. For this reason, the Romans could simply attack and annex individual cities. This disunity is further illustrated by the fact that Rome created treaties individually with the Etruscan states, rather than the whole. With the fall of Veii to the Romans, a key southern defense was destroyed, leaving the Etruscans pressed in on from all sides by several different forces, and ripe for conquest.

Some Etruscan cities

The cities that composed the Etruscan Dodecapoli or league of "twelve cities" has no completely authoritative roster. Those Etruscan cities most often included (with their more familiar Latin and Italian equivalents) are:

Other Etruscan cities, not members of the Dodecapoli:


Some Etruscan rulers

  • Osiniu (at Clusium) probably early 1100s
  • Mezentius fl. c. 1100 ?
  • Lausus (at Caere)
  • Tyrsenos
  • Velsu fl. 8th century
  • Larthia (at Caere)
  • Arimnestos (at Arimnus)
  • Lars Porsena (at Clusium) fl. late 6th century
  • Thefarie Velianas (at Caere) late 500s–early 400s
  • Aruns (at Clusium) fl. c. 500
  • Volumnius (at Veii) mid 400s–437
  • Lars Tolumnius (at Veii) late 400s–428

Bibliography

  • Barker, G. and T. Rasmussen. The Etruscans. London: Blackwell, 1998.
  • Bloch, Raymond. The ancient civilization of the Etruscans. Translated from the French by James Hogarth. Ancient Civilizations Series. New York: Cowles Book Co, 1969.
  • Bonfante, Larissa et al. ed. Etruscan Life and Afterlife: a handbook of Etruscan studies. Warminster: Aris and Phillips, 1986.
  • Brendel, Otto. Etruscan art. 2nd edition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.
  • Maetzke, Guglielmo. The Art of the Etruscans. 1970. Originally published in Italian, 1969.
  • Richardson, Emeline. The Etruscans: their art and civilization. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964.
  • Spivy, N. and S. Stoddart. Etruscan Italy. London: Batsford, 1990.
  • Torelli, Mario. ed. The Etruscans. Milan: Bompiani, 2000.
  • Pallottino, M. tr. Cremona, J. The Etruscans. London: Penguin Books, 1975,
  • Hampton, C. The Etruscans: and the survival of Eturia. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1969.
  • Macnamara, E., Everyday Life of the Etruscans. London: B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1973.
  • Haynes, S., Etruscan Civilization. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Trust, 2000.
  • Ed. Bram, L., Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, Inc, 1975.
  • Greenidge, A., History of Rome: During the Later Republic Early Principate. 2003, from gutenberg.org, Last accessed, 8/05/2004


External links

This article incorporates some information taken from http://www.hostkingdom.net with permission

  • Mysterious Etruscans - Community dedicated to the preservation of Etruscan culture; includes forum.
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