I.

Introduction

Etruscan Civilization, culture of the ancient people of Etruria, an area roughly equivalent to modern Tuscany, Italy, which flourished between about 800 and 300 bc.

At the height of its power, between the 7th and 5th centuries bc, Etruria probably covered a territory stretching from the Alps to the Tiber. The name “Etruria” is the Latin version of the Greek name “Tyrrhenia” or “Tyrsenia”; the ancient Romans called the people Etrusci or Tusci, from which is derived the name of the modern Italian region of Tuscany.

The origins of the Etruscans are obscure and even in antiquity there was much speculation about their identity. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus maintained that the Etruscans came from Lydia, an ancient country in western Asia Minor. The later Roman historian Livy and Greek historian Polybius agreed with Herodotus, as did the Roman poets Publius Papinius Statius and Tiberius Catius Silius Italicus. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, however, held that the Etruscans were an indigenous people, a view taken by many modern scholars.

Archaeological discoveries have shed much light on early Etruscan history. It is now generally agreed that the earliest settlements of Etruria were along the low, marshy coastal lands of Tuscany. The first permanent settlements, Vetulonia and Tarquinii (now Tarquinia), probably date to about the end of the 9th century bc. Finds from that period include new types of burial chambers that differ greatly from earlier tombs and that contain luxurious funeral goods of amber, silver, gold, and gems from other regions of the known world, such as Egypt and Asia Minor.

II.

History

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 sent colonists to adjacent areas. Some of their leaders, including the semi-legendary Etruscan kings of Rome such as the Tarquins Lucius Priscus and Lucius Superbus, may have achieved their positions because they were accomplished warriors. Their independent city states were continually forming alliances 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, the Romans, Greeks, and Carthaginians also united occasionally against the Etruscans. In the 5th century bc, Etruscan power was challenged and severely curtailed. The navy from the city of Syracuse defeated an allied Etruscan fleet in a naval battle off the coast of Cumae in 474 bc. In an effort to regain control over the seas, an Etruscan confederacy allied itself with Athens in the ill-fated assault on Syracuse in 413 bc. After a siege of about 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.

In the 3rd century bc the Etruscans began to lose their unique cultural identity as they increasingly came under the control of Rome. The Etruscan cities of Caere, Tarquinia, and Vulci were forced to pay tribute and to cede some of their territories. Dissension among the aristocracy and insurrections by the lower classes followed, resulting in the collapse of the urban social structure, as in Volsinii. Consequently, Etruscan cities entered into alliances with Rome.

As a result of these alliances Roman law began to affect the Etruscan people. Attempts to rebel against Roman rule, with the help of the Umbrians and Gauls on one occasion, were defeated. The ties between Rome and Etruria were further 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 came to nothing. Over a century later, the Roman emperor 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

Little is known about how individual Etruscan cities were organized. It has been suggested, however, 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 truly national unity, although individual cities sent colonists to neighbouring regions and often entered into diplomatic alliances not only with each other but also with foreign states. The history of the region indicates that each Etruscan city responded to crises in terms that were deemed beneficial for its own survival without regard for the interests of its neighbours.

The characteristic form of governmental organization in Etruria was the confederacy of the city states. 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 meagre, however, as it was probably preoccupied with religious rather than political matters.

No authoritative list of the 12 member city states of the central confederacy survives. Their names, however, can be deduced from information provided by Livy, Dionysius, and Diodorus Siculus: Arretium (Arezzo), Caere (Cerveteri), Clusium, Cortona, Perusia (Perugia), Populonia, Rusellae, Tarquinii (Tarquinia), Veii (Veio), Vetulonia, Volaterrae (Volterra), and Vulci. Magistrates, apparently known as lucomones, were elected annually from the nobility to govern each Etruscan city.

At the height of their power the Etruscans were an imposing military force, although this was probably not coordinated among the city states. The infantry appears to have been the mainstay of the force. The principal weapons were the spear and the battleaxe, the latter being 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, the Gauls, and of the tribes inhabiting the eastern Alps. Swords were apparently rare and highly prized. The cavalry was probably an important part of the Etruscan army, while chariots have been found in large tombs. The navy was remarkably powerful and virtually dominated the Mediterranean for almost two centuries.

IV.

Economy

The Etruscans had links with 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, including outstanding examples of Greek vase painting, eclipsed Corinthian ware, and were probably exchanged for Etruscan utensils in bronze, which the Athenians prized.

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

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.

C.

Painting

The finest surviving Etruscan murals (painted on to stone) and frescoes (painted on to plastered stone walls and ceilings) are those in tombs at Tarquinii (now Tarquinia) and around Clusium (now Chiusi). A few painted plaques are also extant. In the early murals of the 6th and 5th centuries bc the drawing is strong, and the colours bright and flat. Figures are stylized, heavy, and often outlined in black. The subjects depicted are religious, as on four slabs from Caere (c. 550 bc, British Museum, London), or are drawn from Greek literature, such as scenes from the life of Achilles in the Tomb of the Bulls (530-520 bc) at Tarquinii. Most murals from Tarquinii are lively depictions of the games, dancing, music, and feasting that accompanied Etruscan funerals, as are those from the Tomb of the Augurs (520-510 bc) and the Tomb of the Triclinium (480-470 bc).

Tombs from the 4th century onward were influenced by Hellenistic art when Etruscan power was in decline; they were painted in a more realistic style and were strikingly gloomy in character. Other scenes that feature prominently are bloody war scenes, as in the François Tomb (late 4th century bc) at Vulci (near Tarquinii), and frightening demons of the land of the dead, as in the Tomb of the Ogre (2nd century bc) at Tarquinii.

D.

Decorative Arts

The Etruscans at first imported or copied painted Greek pottery. They also developed a distinctive polished black bucchero ware with incised or relief decoration suggesting metalwork, which reached its peak of development in the late 7th and 6th centuries bc. Among works in bronze, the Etruscans created chariots, bowls, candelabra, cylindrical coffers, and especially polished mirrors, all richly engraved with mythological motifs. They also crafted fine gold, silver, and jewellery fashioned from ivory, using filigree and granulation.

The influence of Etruscan art on Roman art and architecture predominated from the 6th century to the 3rd century bc when the Hellenistic style became more influential.