Etruscan Civilization

V

Religion

The lack of documents renders the study of Etruscan religion extremely difficult. According to Livy and Cicero, the religious laws of the land were codified in several sets of books that bore the generic title of Etrusca Disciplina and reveal a highly specialized art of divination. One set of books, the Libri Haruspicini, dealt with divination from the entrails of a freshly sacrificed animal. The Etruscans also foretold the will of the gods by observing the flight of birds entering and leaving certain sectors of the sky. Another set of books, the Libri Fulgurales, expounded the art of divination by lightning. A third set, the Libri Rituales, had a wider scope, and was concerned with ritual practices as well as Etruscan standards of social and political life. According to the 4th-century Latin writer Servius, a fourth set existed, dealing with animal gods.

The names of several deities have survived, but the precise functions of these gods are unknown. According to certain late Roman writers, the deities Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva are represented in the Etruscan religion by Tinis, Uni, and Menrva, respectively. Sethlans was the Etruscan counterpart of Vulcan; Fuflans, of Bacchus (as Dionysus was later known); and Turms, of Mercury. Catha was the Sun god; Tiv, the god of the Moon; and Thesan, the god of the dawn. Turan was Venus, and Aplu, Apollo. Presiding over these deities was a group of nameless powers, personifications of Fate, and probably the original chthonian (underworld divinities of the early Greeks). Many elements of Etruscan religion were embraced by the Romans, including the concepts of the cyclic return of the golden age and the rite of human sacrifice, which may have given rise to the gladiatorial games.

VI

Language

After the Roman conquest of Etruria the Etruscan language fell into disuse. Writing in the 1st century bc, the Greek historian Dionysius described the language as unlike any other, thus noting a difficulty that has since hindered attempts to translate surviving inscriptions and documents. Although knowledge of the semantics and morphology of the Etruscan language is still very limited, it appears not to be one of the Indo-European languages. Linguists have made some progress in deciphering the inscriptions on tombs, which represent most extant examples of Etruscan writing. By examining the subject matter of sculptures and paintings that decorate the tombs, they have identified many names of historical and religious figures. They have also deduced the probable meaning of many other words through a method, used in cryptography, of verifying the appropriateness of a particular word in all the places in which it appears. The Etruscan language is often cited as an important example of certain decoding problems.

The Etruscan alphabet contained 26 letters in its earliest known form and 20 in its latest form. It derives from the Greek alphabet, although the vocabulary and grammar of the two languages differ, and forms the basis of the Latin alphabet. Three of the earliest Etruscan inscriptions are on two statues and a black earthenware cup dating from before 700 bc. Although thousands of funerary inscriptions survive, most record names. The only extensive document, now in the Archaeological Museum of Zagreb, Croatia, is a liturgical text written on 12 linen strips, used to wrap an Egyptian mummy of the Graeco-Roman period.

VII

Art and Architecture

Etruscan art was related to that of the Greeks (in both Greece and southern Italy) and to that of Egypt and Asia Minor. It also exhibits local elements and reflects Etruscan religious beliefs. Etruscan art was a major influence on later Roman styles. Modern knowledge of it is based overwhelmingly on murals and frescoes that survive in tombs.

A

Architecture

Nothing remains of Etruscan palaces, public buildings, and early temples, which were built of wood and brick. Votive ceramic models of temples, as well as traces of later stone structures, indicate that temples were built in enclosures and had tiled, gabled roofs supported on pillars, like their Greek counterparts. A Greek temple, however, was built on an east-west axis on a low terrace and could be entered from a colonnade on all four sides; an Etruscan temple, to meet religious requirements, was located on a north-south axis and stood on a high podium with a four-columned porch in front of three doors leading to three parallel rooms for the three chief Etruscan gods. The brilliantly painted terracotta statuary that decorated the roof along the eaves, ridge pole, and at the gable ends also served the practical purpose of hiding and protecting tile joints and rafter ends. Plaques with low-relief figures adorned the entablature. Roman temples followed the plan developed by the Etruscans.

Most Etruscan cities were laid out in the form of a quadrangle, with fortifications and encompassing walls enforced by double gates and towers. These building methods were also used outside Etruria. The wall surrounding the early city of Rome, reputedly built during the time of Servius Tullius (reigned 578-534 bc) was of Etruscan construction.

Remains of Etruscan houses have been found at San Giovenale, Luni Sul Mignone, and Murlo. The interiors of tombs and house-shaped funerary urns suggest that they had flat or gabled roofs of tile and one to three rooms. Later examples had an atrium, with an open roof over a pool for rainwater, and a loggia—a plan continued by the Romans. The Etruscans also built aqueducts, bridges, and sewers.

Outside the cities were cemeteries containing family tombs. Some were built underground but, as at Cerveteri, had large vaults of overlapping stones covered by mounds of earth. Early tombs were simple structures, no more than a narrow passage partitioned into two rooms, with a small alcove on either side of the front room. Later tombs contained several rooms laid out to resemble a house. They held sarcophagi, funerary urns, and offerings, according to regional practice. In 2004 the cemeteries of Cerveteri and Tarquinia (see below) were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

B

Sculpture

The Etruscans, like most ancient peoples, did not value art for art’s sake but created objects for either utilitarian or religious purposes. Few artists are therefore known by name and few examples of public art or large-scale sculpture in stone survive. Moreover, Etruscan art, while sharing general characteristics, differed from one city to another, reflecting the political independence of each.

The most famous Etruscan works are in terracotta, or baked clay, and these include not only sculptures on sarcophagi lids such as the reclining couple (late 6th century bc, Villa Giulia, Rome) from Caere, but also works from temples, such as revetments to protect the wood as well as roof and pedimental sculptures. The artists from Vulci excelled in carving images from nenfro, a local limestone, such as the Sphinx and Winged Lion in Rome. The Etruscans were also exceptionally skilled bronze-workers. The She-Wolf (c. 500 bc, Museo Capitolino, Rome) and the Chimaera (5th-4th century bc, Museo Archeologico, Florence) from Arezzo are remarkable examples of bronze animal sculpture; the life-size statue of Aulus Metellus as an orator, known as Arringatore (1st century bc, Museo Archeologico, Florence), is one of the finest bronze statues of the period.