Etruscans

The Etruscans or Tyrrhenians were an ancient people whose geographical center was Tuscany (Italy), to which they gave their name. They were called Τυρσηνοί, tyrsenoi, or Τυρρηνοί, tyrrhenoi (Tyrrhenians), by the Greeks; and tusci, or later etrusci, by the Romans; they called themselves rasenna or rašna (Rasenas).

The first indications of a culture identifiable as Etruscan date from around 900 BC. It is the period of the Villanovan culture of the Iron Age, considered the earliest phase of Etruscan civilization, which in turn developed from the proto-Villanova culture of the late Bronze Age in the same region, the Etruscan civilization lasted until it was assimilated by Roman society. Assimilation began in the late IV century BCE. as a result of the Roman-Etruscan wars; it accelerated with the granting of Roman citizenship in 90 BC. C., and was completed in 27 a. C., when the territory of the Etruscans was incorporated into the newly created Roman Empire.

Ethnonymy and etymology

The Etruscans called themselves Rasenna, which was a syncopation to Rasna or Raśna (neo-Etruscan), with both etymologies unknown. Rasenna comes from. The syncopated form, Rasna, is inscriptional and inflected. In Attic Greek, the Etruscans were known as Tyrrhenians (Τυρρηνοί, Tyrrhēnoi, formerly Τυρσηνοί Tyrsēnoi), from which the Romans derived the names Tyrrhēnī, Tyrrhēnia (Etruria), and Mare Tyrrhēnum (Tyrrhenian Sea), leading some to associate them with the Teresh i> (one of the sea peoples named by the Egyptians).

The ancient Romans referred to the Etruscans as Tuscī or Etruscī (singular Tuscus). Their Roman name is the origin of the terms "Tuscany," which refers to its heart, and "Etruria," which can refer to its wider region. Linguists believe the term Tusci was the Umbrian word for 'Etruscan', based on an inscription on an ancient bronze tablet from a nearby region. The inscription contains the phrase turskum... nomen, literally "the Tuscan name". Based on knowledge of Umbrian grammar, linguists can deduce that the base form of the word turskum is *Tursci, which, through metathesis and a word-initial epenthesis, could lead to the form, E-trus-ci.

As for the original meaning of the root, *Turs-, a widely cited hypothesis is that, like the Latin word turris, it means "tower", and comes from from Greek for tower: τύρσις. According to this hypothesis, the Tusci were called "people who build towers" or "the builders of towers". This proposed etymology is made more plausible because the Etruscans preferred to build their cities on high precipices reinforced by walls. Alternatively, Giuliano and Larissa Bonfante have speculated that Etruscan houses may have resembled towers to simple Latins. The proposed etymology has a long history, as Dionysius of Halicarnassus observed in the 17th century I a. C., "There is no reason why the Greeks should not have called the Etruscans by this name, both because they lived in towers and because of the name of one of their rulers".

History

From Tuscany they spread towards Umbria and, to the south, towards Lazio and the northern part of Campania, where they collided with the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia (southern Italy); to the north of the Italian peninsula they occupied the area around the valley of the river Po, in the current regions of Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and the southern part of Veneto.

They became a great naval power in the western Mediterranean, which allowed them to establish factories in Sardinia and Corsica. However, around the V century B.C. C. its power began to deteriorate strongly, to a large extent by having to face, almost at the same time, the invasions of the Celts, from the north, and the competition of the Carthaginians for maritime trade, from the south.

Their definitive defeat, by the Romans, was facilitated by such confrontations and by the fact that the rasena (or Etruscans) never formed a solidly unified state but a kind of loose confederation of medium-sized cities.

In a certain way predecessors of Rome and heirs of the Hellenic world, their culture (they were outstanding goldsmiths, as well as innovative shipbuilders) and their superior military techniques, made this people the masters of the north and center of the Italian peninsula since the 8th century b.c. C. until the arrival of Rome.

From the IV century B.C. C., Etruria (name of the territory of the Etruscans), was gradually conquered and absorbed by the Roman Republic and, the Etruscans, like the other Italics, federated by the Romans, thus becoming an integral part of Roman Italy.

For a long time the origin of the Etruscans was considered unknown. As a result, three theories arose that tried to explain this problem:

1. The Orientalist theory, proposed by Herodoto, which believes that the Etruscans came from Lidia to the centuryXIIIa. C. To demonstrate it is based on the supposed oriental characteristics of his religion and customs, as well as on the fact that it was a very original and evolved civilization, compared to its neighbours.
2. The indigenous theory, proposed by Dionisio de Halicarnaso, which regarded the Etruscans as the origins of the Italian peninsula. To argue, this theory explains that there is no indication that Etruscan civilization has been developed in other places and that the linguistic stratum is Mediterranean and not Eastern.
3. Theory of a “Nordic” origin, defended by many at the end of the centuryXIX and first half XX.It was based only on the similarity of its self-determination (rasena) with the denomination that the Romans gave to certain Celtic peoples who lived north of the Alps, in what is currently eastern Switzerland and west of Austria: the ræthii or rhetic; such origin, based only on parophones, is already ruled out.

However, modern research on the origin of the Etruscans carried out by a group of geneticists and coordinated by Guido Barbujani, a member of the Department of Biology and Evolution at the University of Ferrara (Italy), came to the conclusion that that, genetically, the origin of the Etruscans corresponds to the second theory, that is, that of Dionysus of Halicarnassus, through a study of mitochondrial DNA:

"has consisted of comparing the samples of these Tuscan individuals of Etruscan descent with modern samples of individuals from the Anatolian region, currently occupied by the Asian part of Turkey. “We have used a method that has allowed us to calculate how long ago there was a migration between both groups”, explains Barbujani. “We have obtained very old dates, from more than 5,000 years ago. For Herodotus to be right, we should have found a date that goes back approximately 3,000 or 2,800 years, but this has not been the case. We conclude, therefore, that between Anatolia and Tuscany there have been migrations, but these did not originate the Etruscan civilization because they are much earlier," he adds.

This discovery, however, does not deny the cultural relationship that existed between the autochthonous people (Etruscan) and Anatolia, because there is sufficient evidence of a cultural nature that unites them; In general terms, the Etruscans were born as an autochthonous people who, however, adopted many oriental cultural traits from the Anatolian region.

Political and social organization

Etruscan dancers and musicians. Tomb of the leopards, necropolis of Monterozzi, Italy.

Politically, Etruria is made up of federations of twelve cities united by strictly religious ties, which is called the Dodecapolis, or Etruscan League, to which would be added Padan Etruria and Campana Etruria; but this alliance is neither political nor military, and each city is extremely individualistic.

The political structure is, at first, that of an absolute monarchy, where the king (lucumo) distributes justice, acts as high priest and commander-in-chief of the army. From the IV century BC. C. there is a transition where the government is a military dictatorship, which ends in a Republic, essentially oligarchic, with collegiate magistracies, where the oldest man belonging to the richest family governs, who had the support of a strong and stable senate and the participation of a popular assembly representing the people.

In the Etruscan social pyramid we can distinguish four levels:

• In the first place were the landowners, members of the oligarchy.
• Plebe free, bound by customer ties to the previous ones.
• Foreigners, generally Greek, who were artisans and merchants.
• Finally, slaves. Etruscans had a lot of domestic and agrarian service.

Empire or not Empire?

Historians such as Raymond Bloch or León Homo attribute the first unifying experience of Italy to the Tyrrhenians, comparing it with the experience of the Roman Empire, they gave it the category of Empire. Likewise, the Roman historian Tito Livio speaks of the fact that before Rome conquered the various peoples that inhabited it and made Italian lands their home, the Etruscans already extended their territories between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas, in addition to obtaining resources thanks to cities located in the Padana and Campania regions.

Considering Empire as a political entity that dominates other peoples in its most important activities such as politics, economy and military, among others, and under the guidance of an emperor, whose figure holds a absolute power. Therefore, under this definition, the Etruscans should not be considered an empire given their political organization into city-states, each of which —those belonging to the league— went from a monarchy to an oligarchic republic.

However, civilization as such cannot be pigeonholed in this concept; that is to say, this title cannot be given to the Etruscan league, but one cannot speak in the same way about the cities individually, since they had colonies and conquered territories, managing to establish their jurisprudence, their political forms and their organization. social to each space in which they were established. Politically, Etruria is made up of federations of twelve cities united by strictly religious ties, what is called the Dodecapolis, or Etruscan League, to which Padan Etruria and Campana Etruria would be added, but this alliance is not political, nor military, and each city is extremely individualistic.

The political structure is, at first, that of an absolute monarchy, where the king (lucumo) distributes justice, acts as high priest and commander-in-chief of the army. From the IV century BC. C. there is a transition where the government is a military dictatorship, which ends in a Republic, essentially oligarchic, with collegiate magistracies, where the oldest man belonging to the richest family governs, who had the support of a strong and stable senate and the participation of a popular assembly representing the people.

In the Etruscan social pyramid we can distinguish four levels:

First were the landowners, members of the oligarchy. Free mob, linked by clientele ties to the previous ones. Foreigners, generally Greek, who were artisans and merchants. Finally, slaves. The Etruscans had a great deal of domestic and agricultural service.

The family and the role of women

Both Greeks and Latins considered Etruscan culture "promiscuous" and "licentious." Such opinions were due to the contrast in the social situation of women among the Etruscans, much freer than between the Greeks and Romans; It must be remembered that between Hellenes and Latins, women were absolutely subordinate to men.

The Etruscan woman, unlike the Greek or the Roman, was not marginalized from social life, but rather participated actively taking part in banquets, gymnastic games and dances, and above all they helped in the work on public roads.

Women also had a relevant position among the Etruscan aristocrats, since the latter were few and often involved in war: for this reason, men were scarce. It was expected that the wife, in the event of her husband's death, would assume the task of ensuring the preservation of wealth and the continuity of the family. Also through her her inheritance was transmitted.

Known Etruscan Leaders

• Usuini (in Clusium) probably at the beginning of the centuryXIa. C.
• Mezentius 1100 a. C.
• Lausus (in Caere)
• Tyrsenos
• Velsu centuryVIIIa. C.
• Larthia (in Caere)
• Arimnestos (in Arimnus)
• Lars Porsena (in Clusium) at the end of the centuryVIa. C.
• Thefarie Velianas (in Caere) late centuryVa. C.-principles of the centuryIVa. C.
• Aruns (in Clusium) towards 500 a. C.
• Volumnius (in Veii) in the mid-centuryIVa. C.-437 a. C.
• Lars Tolumnius (in Veii) end of the centuryIVa. C.-428 a. C.
• Lucius Tarquinius SuperbusVIa. C.)

Relations with other peoples (allies and enemies)

The Etruscans were a purely trading people from the beginning to the end of their civilization, mainly maritime, although also terrestrial. On the other hand, their lands were invaded several times by barbarian peoples since their cities were very rich and coveted, they were an obligatory step towards the fertile lands of Campania and to reach Rome (as happened, for example, with the invasion of Hannibal).

At first they allied themselves and divided the areas of maritime influence with the Phoenicians, against the Hellenes. Around the VI century BC. C. strengthened relations with Corinth and hostility with the Greeks ceased. However, in 545 a. C. allied with the Carthaginians again against the Greeks.

As for the continental side, it had numerous enemies. From the beginning, the Latin League (with Rome as an ally or at the head of it), in Lazio; in Campania the Samnites; on the coasts and islands the Syracusans and Cumites and on the plains of the Po the Celtic peoples will be enemies of Etruria. They will only keep the Faliscans, a people settled west of the Tiber, as an unconditional ally throughout the history of this civilization.

Around 300 B.C. C. allied with the Hellenes against the Carthaginians and Romans, for control of trade routes.

Around 295 B.C. C. a league of Etruscans, Sabines, Umbrians and Cisalpine Gauls fought against Rome, leaving the latter victorious. However, in successive temporary alliances with the Gauls they continue to fight against the Romans, until an alliance with Rome against Carthage occurs. After this, the Etruscans, already in decline, began to be absorbed by the Romans.

Language, alphabet and inscriptions

Etruscan is a language apparently unrelated to the Indo-European languages. It is noteworthy that the phonetics is completely different from that of Greek or Latin, although it influenced it in various phonetic and lexical aspects. It is characterized by having four vowels that we represent as /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, reduction of diphthongs, special treatment of semivowels. In the consonants it lacked the opposition between voiceless and voiced, although in the plosives it had a contrast between aspirated and non-aspirated.

Alphabet

The Etruscans used the Chalcidic variant of the Greek alphabet, so it can be easily read, although not understood. From this basic Greek alphabet, some of the letters are not used in Etruscan (voice stops) and a grapheme is added for /f/ and the Greek digamma is used for the non-existent phoneme /v/ in Greek.

Registration

The main evidence of the Etruscan language is epigraphic, dating from the VII century B.C. C. (It is said that the Etruscans began writing in the VII century B.C., but their grammar and vocabulary differ of any other in the ancient world) until the beginning of the Christian era. We know of about 10,000 of these inscriptions, which are mostly short and repetitive epitaphs or votive formulas or that indicate the name of the owner of certain objects. Apart from this material we have some other more valuable testimonials:

1. The Liber Linteus or Text of Agram is the longest etruscan text with 281 lines and about 1300 words. Written in a roll of linen, it was later cut into strips and used in Egypt to wrap the mummified corpse of a young woman; it is currently preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Zagreb (probably when this happened it was considered to have more value the roll of linen than the text itself, which paradoxically today is our best testimony of the language; perhaps if it had not been preserved as wrapping or even arrived until us).
2. Some texts on non-perishable materials such as a clay tablet found near Capua of about 250 words, Magliano's disc written on two sides, Perugia's cipo written on two sides and with 46 lines and about 125 words or a model of bronze of a liver found in Piacenza (about 45 words).
3. Apart from these testimonies we have two most interesting inscriptions: the first of them is the inscription of Pyrgi, found in 1964, on gold foils which presents the peculiarity of being a bilingual text in Etruscan and Púnico-pheno and which has greatly expanded our knowledge of the language. The second of the inscriptions, is somewhat intriguing, since it was found on the island of Lemnos (N. of the Aegean Sea, Greece) of about 34 words, and it seems written in a dialect different from those found in Italy, perhaps this is symptomatic of the presence of Etruscan colonies in other parts of the Mediterranean or it is treated as other authors hold of a lemnio language, the very large presence of the

Surely the Pyrgi inscription is the only reasonably long Etruscan inscription that we can conveniently translate or interpret because the Punic text, which appears to be an almost exact translation of the Etruscan text, is perfectly translatable. Regarding access to the inscriptions: most of the known and published Etruscan inscriptions are found in the Corpus Inscriptionum Etruscarum (CIE).

Art

Etruscan music of the "Tumba del Triclinio", in Tarquinia.

It is noteworthy the funerary art and its relationship in painting and sculpture, standing out its terracottas and the carving of a local stone called "nenfro". They developed an important goldsmith industry, they worked in bronze, their metallurgy is characterized by their engravings, graining, filigrees and embossing, in relation to coroplasty they created the Bucchero style in ceramics. All these products were the basis for export both to northern Europe and to the East. Another important point is the painting where several schools produced admirable frescoes, but it has markedly narrative, anecdotal and mainly funerary themes. Although Etruscan art, like other arts of the Western Mediterranean, was strongly influenced by the art of Classical Greece and the magnificent Hellenistic art, it keeps unique characteristics, Etruscan art closely related to funerary rituals bequeathed to Rome an extraordinary naturalism in terms of to the representation of faces: the busts are practically an Etruscan invention, the bust itself, made of cast bronze, differs from the "bust" Greek, in the latter the person portrayed is usually idealized, but not in the genuine Etruscan bust. The preferred colors in painting by the Etruscans were red, green and blue, apparently because they assigned them religious connotations. Among the most notable works are:

• The Apollo of Veyes sculpture of the god Apollo of the centuryVIa. C. found in the temple/sanctuary in honor of the goddess Minerva of Portonaccio.
• The Chimera of Arezzo: dated between 380 a. C. and 360 a. C. The chimera, according to Roman mythology, was taken down by Belerofonte, to the loins of his Pegaso horse. After his discovery in 1553 he became a symbol of the Tuscan (see Quimera de Arezzo).
• Loba Capitolina or Lupa Capitolina: this famous sculpture has come in a way to be a symbol of Rome, however it all indicates that it is an etruscan work of the s.IVa. C., regarding the two children representing Rómulo and Remo, take into account that they were forged and added in the s.XVI.
• The call Mars of Todi, sculpture of an armed warrior in a way similar to that of the Greek hoplitas, although the armament (type of clamp etc.) is in the real, etruscan.
• L'Arringatore (the speaker): date between the centuryIIa. C. and the centuryIa. C. It seems to represent a nobleman named Aule Meteli, but it is unknown who he was.
• The sarcophagus of husbands: dated to 520 B.C. It was found in a necropolis in Cerveteri. Built in terracotta, the cover of the sarcophagus represents a couple lying in a triclinium.
• The Talamone Front, fronton with terracotta reliefs of an Etruscan temple of the centuryIIa. C.

Architecture

Adobe was used in the construction of houses, with a wooden structure and cladding of baked clay, and stone in the temples. They knew about the semicircular arch, the barrel vault, and the dome, elements that they used –among other things– for the construction of bridges. They also built canals to drain the low areas, built defensive stone walls but, above all, the funerary architecture stood out, in the form of impressive hypogea. The temples were inspired by the Greek model, although they presented notable differences: they used to be smaller, with a quadrangular plan, closed, without a peristyle, only with a row of columns of the order called "Tuscan" in the manner of the Greek pronaos, and the altar was over a pit called by the Latins mundus —cleanser, purifier— (the word is perhaps of Etruscan origin), that is, a hole that, symbolically, would serve to throw the remains of the sacrifices.

Literature

Etruscan writing samples, Liber linteus.

The Etruscan texts, written over the span of seven centuries, use a form of the Greek alphabet due to close contact between the Etruscans and the Greek colonies of Pithecusae and Cumae in the VIII a. C. (until it fell out of use, at the beginning of the I century AD). Etruscan inscriptions disappeared from Chiusi, Perugia, and Arezzo around this time. Only a few fragments remain, religious texts and, above all, funerary texts, mostly late (IV century B.C..). In addition to the original texts that have survived to this day, there are a large number of quotes and allusions to classical authors. In the I century a. C., Diodoro Sículo wrote that literary culture was one of the great achievements of the Etruscans. Little is known about her and even what is known about her language is due to the repetition of the same few words in the numerous inscriptions found (through modern epitaphs) contrasted in bilingual or trilingual texts with Latin and Punic. Of the genera mentioned, only one such Volnius (Volnius) is mentioned in classical sources. With a few exceptions, such as the Liber Linteus, the only surviving records written in the Etruscan language are inscriptions, mainly funerary. The language is written in the Etruscan alphabet, a script related to the early Euboean Greek alphabet. Many thousands of Etruscan inscriptions are known, mostly epitaphs, and some very brief texts have survived, which are mainly religious. Etruscan imaginative literature is only evidenced by references to later Roman authors, but it is evident from their visual artistry that Greek myths were well known.

Religion

There are certain analogies with oriental religions, especially with that of Sumer and Chaldea and even the Egyptian.

The type of religion is revelation, and it is embodied in a series of sacred books, which have topics such as the interpretation of rays, divination, the rectitude of the state and of individuals and even an analogue of the Book of the Egyptian Dead. The entire religious compendium is known as the "Etruscan Doctrine". This was divided into "Doctrine Theory" and "Practical Precepts", and was dedicated to the search for the interpretation of practically everything out of the ordinary to predict the future.

The priests were called haruspices, and they always had a privileged position in society. The haruspices specialized in interpreting what they considered various prophetic signs: divination based on the observation of the livers of sacrificed animals, the belief that the future could be divined by observing lightning (ceraunomancy) or other meteors, and interpretation with divinatory intentions of the flights of birds. There were rituals of all kinds, both addressed to the state and to individuals, extremely meticulous and formal, to the point that they are taken as science.

The Etruscan pantheon of gods is closely linked to Greek mythological influence, hence the worship of Greek counterparts, even though they form a triad, similar to the Cretomycenaean. The most important were: Tinia (Zeus), Uni (Hera) and Menrfa (Athena), who were venerated in tripartite temples. There was also the belief in the existence of malefic demons, in the Assyrian way.

The Etruscans believed in the afterlife, hence the highly significant manifestations at burial sites.

It is important to note that the sacred intervened uninterruptedly in their lives and its presence overwhelmed their spirits and hearts, although a way to alleviate or attenuate this was a morality that was "licentious" to the Greeks and Romans. It is almost certain that the Romans took the notion of "circus" from the Etruscans, not for theatrical performances but for fights between gladiators: indeed, among the Etruscans these fights used to be part of funeral sacrifices for elite subjects, or a " fun" performed with prisoners of war.

General problems

The Etruscan people only exist as such within Italy and only become aware of their identity and their past within it. However, even within the framework of this geographical context, its profound originality cannot be denied either, can only be explained by the peculiar features that characterize their trajectory, by the multiple contacts, but also by the specific circumstances that surely make up their primitive history. Be that as it may, the historical Etruscans are the result of a synthesis of diverse elements that take place during the Iron Age in a territory between the Tiber and Arno rivers, where Italic populations from before the Indo-European invasions create a very unique cultural community. On the one hand, there is a continuous and specific evolution of the Vilanovian culture with its own peculiarities, not identifiable as a whole with any other culture, and, at the same time, capable of being defined as evolved or civilized Vilanovian.

On the other hand, in that area, among the features that are usually considered characteristic and peculiar to the way Vilanovian culture evolved there, there are some that scholars identify as orientalizing. The first problem that arises is whether such orientalization is due to the presence of a wave of peoples coming from the eastern Mediterranean or if, on the contrary, it is the result of a general environment, a koiné of an orientalizing type that predominates throughout the Mediterranean Sea around 700 B.C. C.. From that date, of course, the creation of the characteristics of the Etruscan people began to be definitive. Even epigraphy began to be defined in favor of the existence of an Etruscan language with absolutely individualized features.

Here the problem arises as to whether the characteristics of the Etruscan people in the archaic period are due to the existence of a dateable emigration at this time or if it is the result of the complex vicissitudes that took place when the Etruscan people set out in contact with a Mediterranean koiné in which orientalizing traits have become a widespread common phenomenon.

Apart from this problem, which raises in a somewhat simplistic way the question that the orientalizing traits can come from the emigration of peoples or from contact with the predominant cultures of the Mediterranean at the time, there is another approach that, more than the traits specific to the material culture of the early archaic period, addresses that other problem, not insignificant, which is that of the mysterious language of the Etruscans. This is, of course, a problem that subsists in any case, whatever it may be. the attitude adopted before the nature of the Etruscan culture and civilization If in what refers to the cultural characteristics the adopted attitudes can be multiple, since it is possible to admit the autochthonous formation of any type of cultural phenomenon, the problem of the Etruscan language, especially mysterious, it remains without any obvious solution serving to clarify it.

When posed in this way, the problem takes on a new dimension, since it now affects the entire linguistic and cultural reality of the Mediterranean prior to the predominance of Indo-European languages.

It is in this context that one can observe the accumulation of data that the ancients themselves transmitted in relation to the Etruscan people. In this regard, there are several versions that the ancient sources transmit about the origin of the presence Etruscan in Italy. Of course, the 7th century B.C. C. is the date on which the first epigraphs that contain texts in the Etruscan language can be dated. However, such cannot necessarily be considered the date of introduction of a strange people.

We are in the era in which, throughout the entire Mediterranean, cultural movements of great importance were taking place, among which the dissemination of writing did not play a secondary role. This is also the era in which they were configured state formations, from certain economic and social transformations that make viable the introduction of techniques in which writing plays an important role as a useful instrument for organization and for economic and social control. The moment is key to determining the definition of the Etruscans as an ethnic group with a cultural personality capable of imposing its presence on the peninsula. But from there to identifying this moment with that of the arrival of the Etruscans goes an abyss in which both the data of tradition and the remains collide archaeological and, above all, the theoretical and methodological criteria. In general, it is no longer acceptable to identify the cultural phenomenon with the appearance of a p people carrying its main elements.