Etruscan civilization: Encyclopedia - Etruscan civilization

Etruscan civilization

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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.

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.

Etruscan civilization - 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.

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.

Etruscan civilization - 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 attacked and annexed individual cities between 510 and 29 BC. 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.

Etruscan civilization - Influence

The Etruscan civilization influenced Roman civilization in many ways. The Romans took Etruscan architecture and perfected it. For example the arches used in the coliseum were also used in Etruscan sports stadium. In addition the Romans took many sports from the Etruscans which they later made famous.

Etruscan civilization - 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:

• Arretium (Arezzo)
• Caisra (Caere or modern Cerveteri)
• Clevsin, (Clusium or modern Chiusi)
• Curtun (modern Cortona)
• Perusna (Perugia)
• Pupluna (Populonium)
• Veii
• Tarchna (Tarquinii or modern Tarquinia-Corneto)
• Vetluna (Vetulonia)
• Felathri (Volaterrae or modern Volterra)
• Velzna (Volsinii, presumed modern Orvieto)
• Velch (Vulci or modern Volci).

Other Etruscan cities, not members of the Dodecapoli:

• Adria
• Spina
• Felsina (modern Bologna)
• Rusellae, near modern Roselle Terme
• Alalia in Corsica (Roman and modern Aleria)
• Capeva (Capua)
• Manthva (Mantua)

• "The Etruscan League of twelve cities"

Etruscan civilization - 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

Etruscan civilization - 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

See also

Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews

• Liber Linteus - An Etruscan inscription.
• Tabula Cortonensis - An Etruscan inscription.
• Cippus perusinus - An Etruscan inscription.
• Pyrgi Tablets - An Etruscan inscription.
• Lemnian language - A language closely related to Etruscan once spoken on the Aegean island of Lemnos.
• Eteocypriot - A language found in the Aegean, possibly related to Etruscan.
• Eteocretan - A language found in the Aegean, possibly related to Etruscan.
• Etruria - The region and kingdom of the Etruscan civilization.
• Cortona - Originally the Etruscan city of Curtun

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Etruscan civilization", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki