Etruscan Civilization

Encyclopedia Article

Find | Print | E-mail | Blog It

Multimedia

11 items

Article Outline

Introduction; History; Political and Military Structure; Economy; Religion; Language; Art and Architecture

Introduction

Print this section

Etruscan Civilization, culture created and developed on the Italian Peninsula by the ancient people of Etruria beginning as early as the 2nd millennium bc.

At the time of its greatest power, between the 7th and 5th centuries bc, Etruria probably embraced all Italy from the Alps to the Tiber River. The name Etruria is the Latin version of the Greek Tyrrhenia or Tyrsenia; the ancient Romans called the people of the country Etrusci or Tusci, from which is derived the name of the modern Italian region of Tuscany (Toscana).

Debate has surrounded the subject of Etruscan origins for at least 2,500 years. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus maintained that the Etruscans came from Lydia, in what is now western Turkey. The Roman historian Livy and the Greek historian Polybius agreed with Herodotus, as did the Roman poets Publius Papinius Statius and Tiberius Catius Silius Italicus. The ancient Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus held a dissenting view: He believed that the Etruscan people originated in Italy. The majority of modern archaeologists have supported his view. However, recent studies of the DNA of individuals buried in Etruscan sites in Italy give evidence that the Etruscans did in fact migrate to Italy.

Archaeological discoveries have shed much light on early Etruscan history. Authorities are now generally agreed that the earliest settlements of Etruria were along the low, marshy coastal land of Tuscany. The first permanent settlements, Vetulonia and Tarquinii (now Tarquinia), probably date to about the end of the 9th century bc. There archaeologists found types of sepulchres that differed greatly from earlier burial structures of the region and that contained quantities of articles from other regions (amber, silver, gold, and Egyptian gemwork) not found in any of the older tombs. The character of Etruscan art and many distinctive features of their religion show the influence of the Near East and East Asia.

History

Print this section

From very early times Etruscan society was dominated by a firmly entrenched aristocracy that exercised strict control over the political, military, economic, and religious aspects of the people’s lives. By the 6th century bc several city-states, including Tarquinii and Veii, dominated their respective geographic regions and dispatched colonists to adjacent areas. Some of their leaders, including the semilegendary Etruscan kings of Rome such as the Tarquins—Lucius Priscus and Lucius Superbus—may have achieved their positions because they were accomplished warriors. They continually aligned their independent cities with one another for economic and political gain. Warrior-kings also forged economic ties through marriage.

In response to the threat that these alliances posed to their own interests, the Romans, Greeks, and Carthaginians might also unite against the Etruscans. By the 5th century bc, Etruscan power was challenged and severely curtailed. The navy from the city of Syracuse soundly defeated an allied Etruscan fleet in a sea battle off the coast of Cumae in 474 bc. In an effort to regain the seas, an Etruscan federation aligned itself with Athens in the ill-fated assault on Syracuse in 413 bc. After a siege of some ten years, the city of Veii was defeated (396 bc) by Rome in its struggle to control the overland routes north. This victory marked the beginning of Rome’s gradual conquest of Etruria, which was not completed until 283 bc.

The 3rd century bc was a particularly dark period for the Etruscans, as the Romans, having subdued most of the central and southern peninsula of Italy, turned their major attention northward. In turn, the Etruscan cities of Caere, Tarquinia, and Vulci were forced to pay tribute and to cede some of their territories to Rome. Dissension among the aristocracy and insurrections by the lower classes followed, resulting in the total collapse of the social structure of cities such as Volsinii. Realizing their plight, several Etruscan cities then entered into alliances with Rome.

Such alliances linked many Etruscan cities with Rome in such a way that Roman laws often had an impact on the Etruscan people. Attempts to rebel against Roman rule, at one point in alliance with the Umbrians and the Gauls, were defeated. The ties between Rome and Etruria were strengthened in the 1st century bc, when the Etruscans accepted the offer of Roman citizenship. Their newly gained status was soon eroded, however, when they supported the losing side in the Roman civil wars (88-86 bc; 83 bc). The victor, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, took extreme vengeance, razing cities, seizing land, and imposing restrictions on Etruscan civil rights.

The brutality of Sulla so devastated the Etruscans that their subsequent attempts at revolt were inconsequential. Over a century later, Augustus sent new colonists to Etruria. These people worked with, not against, the Etruscans, and succeeded in accelerating the Romanization of the region.

III

Political and Military Structure

Print this section

Because the origins of the Etruscans are moot, one can only suggest that the warrior heads of aristocratic families conquered those areas that were eventually to become independent Etruscan cities, each ruled over by its own king. As a result, the Etruscans never achieved a true national unity, although individual cities sent out colonies to neighboring regions and often entered into diplomatic alliances not only with each other but also with foreign states. It is apparent from the course of the history of the region that each Etruscan city responded to crises in terms that were deemed beneficial for its own survival without regard for the interests of its neighbors.

The characteristic form of governmental organization in Etruria was the confederacy of cities. At one time there appear to have been three separate Etruscan confederacies—the northern, the southern, and the central—each made up of 12 cities. The only confederacy of historical significance was the central confederacy, a loose political and religious organization that convened annually at the shrine of the deity Voltumna, overlooking Lacus Volsiniensis (now Lake Bolsena) in Latium. Its accomplishments were meager, however, as it was probably preoccupied with religious rather than political matters.

No authoritative list of the 12 member cities of the central confederacy exists; their names, as deduced from allusions by Livy, by Dionysius, and also by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, were: Arretium (Arezzo), Caere (Cerveteri), Clusium, Cortona, Perusia (Perugia), Populonia, Rusellae, Tarquinii (Tarquinia), Veii (Veio), Vetulonia, Volaterrae (Volterra), and Vulci. Annually elected magistrates chosen from the nobility and apparently called lucumones governed each Etruscan city.

The Etruscans, at the height of their power, possessed imposing military strength, although it was probably not coordinated among the city-states. The infantry appears to have been the mainstay of the force. Principal weapons were the spear and the battle-ax, the latter being sometimes used for throwing as well as for striking. The bow and the javelin were also used; arrows and javelins are frequently found in excavated Etruscan tombs. Helmets and shields of various designs were adapted from those of the Greeks and of the tribes inhabiting the Eastern Alps. Swords were apparently rare and highly prized. It is considered likely that the cavalry formed an important part of the Etruscan army; chariots have been discovered in every large sepulchre. The navy was remarkably powerful and virtually dominated the Mediterranean for almost two centuries.

Economy

Print this section

The Etruscans were influenced by the many traders from the eastern Mediterranean who came to the Italian Peninsula. Evidence indicates that the Phoenicians were the first to arrive, probably in the 8th century bc. They were in search of raw materials, such as unworked metals and perhaps wood and leather, which they exchanged for the finished products of the Middle East. In time Greek merchants, established at Pithekoussai, began to challenge Phoenician mercantile supremacy. By 625 bc vases manufactured in Corinth filled the Etruscan markets. In the late 6th and 5th centuries bc Attic vases eclipsed Corinth ware, and these, including acknowledged masterpieces of Greek vase painting, were probably exchanged for Etruscan utensils in bronze, which the Athenians were thought to prize.

In the 6th century bc the Etruscan mercantile network included exchanges of early Iron Age goods with princes of Gaul (France) and the peoples of Tartessos and Ampurias, near Barcelona, in Spain. Many of the wars fought, and alliances forged, by the Etruscan cities after the 5th century bc were driven by economic forces.

‹

Prev.

Next

›