The Etruscan Civilization of Ancient Italy and Its Influence on Early Rome

Overview

Etruscan civilization is the name given to an advanced civilization of ancient Italy created by the Etruscans. Its homeland was in the area of central Italy known as Etruria, just north of Rome, which is today called Tuscany.

In ancient times there was a strong legendary tradition that the Etruscans had emigrated from Lydia, on the eastern coast of present-day Anatolia. Modern historians have largely discounted this idea, and believe that the Etruscans were an indigenous Italian population – a belief largely confirmed by modern DNA studies – identified by modern scholars as descending from the Iron-age Villanovan culture, the earliest Iron Age culture of central and northern Italy.

Etruscan civilization lasted from the 8th century BC to the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. In the 6th century BC the Etruscans expanded their influence over a wide area of Italy. They founded city-states in the Po Valley in northern Italy, and to the south their influence expanded down into Latium and beyond into Campania. The Etruscans also gained control of Corsica. Early Rome was deeply influenced by Etruscan culture (the word “Rome” is Etruscan). Many famous Italian cities were founded by the Etruscans, such as Arezzo, Bologna, Capua, Fiesole, Grosseto, Lucca, Mantua, Modena, Montepulciano, Nola, Orvieto, Parma, Perugia, Piombino, Pisa, San Gimignano, Siena and Volterra.

Between the late 6th and early 4th centuries BC, Etruscan power declined. To the south, the rising power of the Greek city-states of Sicily and southern Italy weakened Etruscan political and military influence, and cities which they had either dominated or founded, such as Rome, threw out their overlords and became independent city-states. In the north, Gallic tribes invaded northern Italy and destroyed many of the Etruscan cities there. Some Etruscans were driven into the Alps, where they became known as Rhaetians. However, in their Tuscan homeland the Etruscan cities remained powerful, and were formidable opponents of the rising power of Rome. It was only in the 3rd century BC that they surrendered their independence to the Romans.

The Etruscans spoke a unique language, unrelated to those of their neighbours. Their culture developed primarily from local Villanovan culture. The Etruscan alphabet derived from Cumean. They in turn passed on their alphabet to the Romans.

Government

The Etruscans adopted the city-state as their political model earlier than their neighbours in central Italy. The Etruscan homeland was originally divided into twelve city-states, but new cities sprang up as the Etruscans expanded their sphere of influence.

The original twelve cities were: Arretium (Arezzo), Caere (Cerveteri), Clusium (Chiusi), Populonia (Piombino), Perusia (Perugia), Rusellae (Roselle), Tarquinii (Tarquinia), Veii (Veio), Vetulonium (Vetulonia), Volaterrae (Volterra), Volsinii (Bolsena or Orvieto) and Vulci (Volci).

Most Etruscan cities moved from monarchy to oligarchy in the 6th century BC. Some cities seem to have retained their monarchies.

The different city-states of Etruria were united by a common religion, and by a loose political confederacy. This did not stop the different states from going to war with one another from time to time.

Military and Religion

Like other ancient cultures, warfare was a major aspect of their political life. Like many ancient societies, the Etruscans conducted campaigns during summer months, raiding neighbouring areas, attempting to gain territory, and engaging in – or combating – piracy.

The Etruscans had the distinction of being the only people of ancient Italy to practice human sacrifice. It was a feature of their religion, and prisoners of war could end up on the altars of Etruscan gods. As a part of this sacrifice, prisoners were sometimes set to fight one another. The Romans later took this practice over, without however any religious meaning, and it grew into the gladiatorial entertainments of the Roman amphitheatres.

Art and Architecture

The surviving Etruscan art which has come down to us is figurative sculpture in terracotta (especially life-size tomb statues in temples) and cast bronze, wall-painting and metalworking (especially engraved bronze mirrors).

As with all ancient peoples, Etruscan art was strongly connected to religion; the afterlife was of major importance in Etruscan art.

The Etruscan musical instruments seen in frescoes and bas-reliefs are different types of pipes, such as pan pipes and double pipes, percussion instruments, and stringed instruments like the lyre.

The architecture of the ancient Etruscans was very advanced, and went on to influence that of early Rome. The Etruscans made a number of innovations in architecture and engineering, including the invention of the arch.

Etruscan Legacy

Rome is located on the edge of what was the Etruscan homeland. Certain institutions and customs of Rome came directly from the Etruscans. In fact, the name of Rome itself has an Etruscan origin, as do the names of its legendary founders, Romulus and Remus. There were strong Latin and Italic elements to Roman culture, as well as Etruscan elements, and later Romans proudly celebrated these origins. Before the Etruscans, however, Rome was most likely a collection of small farming settlements. The Etruscans provided it with its early political arrangements (monarchy, army) and urban infrastructure (walls, forum, drainage system); in short, it was probably they who turned Rome into a full-blown city-state.

The Etruscans were prolific writers and their texts were studied in schools by the Romans. The Etruscan alphabet was the basis for Old Italic script, which gave rise to the Latin alphabet. Today however their writings are lost. The only written records of Etruscan origin that remain are inscriptions, mainly funerary. Otherwise, Etruscan literature is evidenced only in references by later Roman authors.

Few Etruscan words entered the Latin language, but those that did tended to pertain to state authority: the toga palmata (a magistrate’s robe), the sella curulis (magistrate’s chair), and the fasces – a bundle of whipping rods surrounding a double-bladed axe, carried by magistrate’s attendants (lictors). The fasces symbolised magisterial power. Also, the word populus is of Etruscan derivation, and originally referred to the people assembled for war, as an army, rather than the general populace.

The early Romans were deeply influenced by their Etruscan rulers, whose imprint can be seen in the Romans’ writing, art and architecture, religion, military matters, entertainment and a host of other aspects of daily life. In thus helping to shape Roman civilization, the Etruscans had an enduring influence on Italian and later Western culture.