The Etruscan religion
At the basis of the Etruscan religion was the fundamental idea that nature strictly depended on the divinity. It followed that every natural phenomenon was an expression of the divine will; or rather, a signal that the divinity itself sent to man who, in turn, had to do everything to understand it, discover its meaning and adapt to it. That is, to behave according to the divine will. Everything else was consistent with these principles, starting with the very conception of divinity. This was essentially mysterious and coincided with forces above nature. In practice, they were supernatural beings, vague and uncertain in number; at least at the origins: since on such a primitive conception the influence of other religions and above all of the Greek one was grafted and partially overlapped.
The process of assimilation of the Etruscan divinities to the gods of the Greek Olympus began during the 7th century BC and was completed in the following 6th century when a series of precise correspondences is definitively documented.
- Thus Tin or Tinia appears assimilated to Zeus, (Jupiter);
- Turan to Aphrodite, (Venus);
- Turms to Hermes (Mercury);
- Fufluns to Dionysius (Bacchus);
- Sethlans to Hephaestus (Vulcan);
- Uni to Hera (Juno);
- Menerva to Athena (Minerva);
- Maris to Ares (Mars);
- Nethuns to Poseidon (Neptune).
At the same time new gods were directly "imported" from the Greek world keeping their newly Etruscan name, as in the case of Artemis (Diana), who became Aritimi; Apollon (Apollo), became Aplu; Herakles (Hercules) become Hercle; Castor and Pollux become Castur and Pultuce, etc.
Alongside all these divinities, however, there continued to be those who found no comparison with Greek divinities. Such, for example, are the goddess Northia, probably of fate, and that god Veltuna or Velta (Veltumnus or Voltumna in Latin) who, according to Varro, should be considered a sort of "national" god of the Etruscans.
However, numerous minor divinities continued to exist, even if unfortunately our knowledge is limited to a few quotations from Roman authors (Varrone, Pliny, Seneca, Marziano Capella, Arnobio); they speak of “superior gods” and “shrouded in darkness,” twelve in number; then of “dei consente”, advisers of Tinia, ruthless and nameless, also twelve in number; of "of the lightning strikers", nine in number; of "hidden gods", divided into four classes of deities, of the sky, the earth, the waters and human souls.
As for the relationship between gods and men, the belief in a constant influence of supernatural forces on the world and on human actions could only lead to the most complete annihilation of man in the face of the divine will. The relationship thus translated into a monologue of the divinity to which the man responded with an obligatory behavior. To do this, first of all, instruments of knowledge and research of the signs through which the divine will manifested itself were needed: lightning and certain peculiarities or imperfections of the entrails of some types of animals, unusual or prodigious events (sudden roars, strange sounds, comets, etc.). Furthermore, a code had to be available which would allow the correct interpretation of the signs themselves: to understand, for example, whether it was the manifestation of wrath or divine satisfaction, simple warnings or real omens. Finally, there needed to be someone particularly expert in the tools of knowledge, the code of interpretation and the rules of conduct.
The Etruscan religion was therefore a succession of ritualistic acts and formalities, scrupulously observed and meticulously carried out. With such intensity and such constant application as to strike contemporaries and the ancients in general that they did not hesitate to speak of the Etruscans as a very religious people or, according to what Tito Livio writes, as "people who among all the others he devoted themself particularly to religious practices and distinguished themself in knowing how to cultivate them”.
The doctrine that referred to the recognition of signs, their interpretation and the satisfaction of the divine will was indicated, in Latin, with the Etruscan expression Disciplina, which can be translated as “Etruscan science”. The foundations of this science were traced back by the Etruscans to the intervention of the same divinity, who would have made use of two intermediaries for this purpose, such as the boy with the appearance of an old man, Tagete, and the nymph Vegoia. These semi-divine characters would have literally dictated to men part of the supernatural truths and taught them how to approach them, with the practice and means of the art of divination. Only one original text has been saved and has come down to us: a manuscript on linen known as the "Mummy of Zagreb" because it is kept in the museum of this city which acquired it at the end of the last century after it had been found in Egypt, reduced to bandages used to wrap a mummy.
As regards the "sacred writing", three large groups of books were distinguished, which in the Latin version were called, respectively Aruspicini, Fulgurales and Rituales.
- The Libri Aruspicini, attributed to the teaching of Marigold, dealt with the interpretation of the entrails of animals.
- The Libri Fulgurales contained the doctrine of lightning and were traced back to the revelation of the nymph Vegoia.
- The Libri Rituales concerned the rules of behavior to be followed in the various circumstances of public and private life: they included the Libri Fatales, on the subdivision of time and destinies and the limits of the life of men and states, the Libri Acherontici, on the world of underworld and rites of salvation, and the Ostentarla, on the interpretation of prodigies and natural phenomena.
The priestly caste was the guardian and responsible for sacred literature and the expert in the discipline. The priests were normally gathered in colleges and were indicated by different names according to the sector in which they were experts: with the terms of netsvis and trutnvt, for example, they were called the interpreter of the bowels and that of lightning. A special name (cepen) designated those who were expressly connected to the cult, among whom the cepen spurana was the one who presided over the official cult of the community and the state. Probably each type of priest had a particular costume; however, all had the “lituo” as a distinctive sign of their caste, a sort of scepter with a curved upper end.
The art of divination
The instrument of knowledge for the approach to the signs with which the divine will manifested itself was divination; an art that the gods themselves had taught to men and which rested on the theoretical foundation of the correspondence between the celestial world and the earthly world: the world of the gods and that of men.
Within this system, the definition and partition of the celestial space, seat of the gods, were fundamental.
The celestial space was conceived as divided into sixteen parts, four for each of the quadrants resulting from the ideal conjunction of the four cardinal points by means of two perpendicular lines crossing each other in the center.
According to Latin terminology, the north-south line was called the cardo, the east-west line the decumanus. The seats or abodes of the divinities were placed in the sixteen boxes, according to an order that placed the superior gods in the eastern regions of the sky; the gods of earth and nature about noon; those of hell and fate in the western regions, considered as the most nefarious.
Since the seats of the gods were located in the celestial space, the sky was the most authoritative and direct source of information. It therefore constituted the first and fundamental field of observation for every divinatory practice. In fact, keeping in mind the distribution of the celestial vault and the placement of the individual boxes, it was possible to recognize, from the position of the signs that manifested themselves in the sky or from the point from which they came, to which divinity the single sign was to refer and whether it was a good or bad omen. The most frequent and therefore most observed sign in the sky was that represented by lightning.
The interpretation of lightning
The observation and interpretation of lightning was governed by a rather complex casuistry. Of great importance were the place and day in which they appeared, but also the shape, color and effects caused. The various deities who had the faculty of throwing them each had only one bolt at a time, while Tinia had three at her disposal. The first was the "warning" thunderbolt that the god threw of his own free will and was interpreted as a warning; the second was lightning that "frightens" and was considered a manifestation of anger; the third was the "devastating" lightning, a reason for annihilation and transformation.
Seneca writes that it "devastates everything it falls on and transforms every state of affairs it finds, both public and private”. Lightning was variously classified according to whether their warning was valid for a lifetime or only for a specific period or for a different time from that of the strike. Then there was the lightning that exploded from a clear sky, without anyone thinking or doing anything, and this, again according to what Seneca says, "either threatens, promises or warns"; therefore the one that "pierces", thin and without damage; the one that “crashes”; what “burns”, etc. But Seneca also speaks of lightning which helped those who observed them, which instead caused damage, which exhorted one to make a sacrifice, etc. With such a tangle of possibilities, only experienced priests could unravel. Pliny the Elder goes so far as to affirm that an expert priest could also be able to avert the fall of lightning or, conversely, succeed with special prayers, to obtain it. It remains to be said that after a lightning strike there was an obligation to build a tomb for it: a small well, covered with a mound of earth, in which all the remains of the things that the lightning itself had possessed had to be carefully buried, including any corpses of people killed by the discharge.
The place and the tomb were considered sacred and inviolable and since it was considered a bad omen to trample on them, they were fenced off and carefully avoided by people, as "nefarious to escape", as the Roman poet Persius, originally from Etruscan Volterra, wrote in the 1st century AD.
The interpretation of the bowels
The entrails of the animals used by the Haruspices (called in Latin exta) were of different types: lungs, spleen, heart, but especially the liver (in Latin hepas). They were torn still palpitating from the body of the animals that had just been killed and expressly reserved for divinatory consultation and therefore distinguished from those immolated for sacrifice. They were torn still palpitating from the body of the animals that had just been killed and expressly reserved for divinatory consultation and therefore distinguished from those immolated for sacrifices. These were usually oxen and sometimes horses, but above all sheep. Of the bowels the shape, dimensions, color and every minimum detail, especially any defects, had to be taken into consideration. When they revealed nothing appreciable for divination, they were considered "mute" and unusable; instead they were "auxiliary" when they indicated some remedy for escaping a danger;
- “gifts” if they promised honors to the powerful, inheritances to private individuals, etc.;
- "pestiferous" when they threatened mourning and misfortune.
The observation was more detailed in the case of the liver, given that in it, due to its general appearance and particular conformation, the "terrestrial temple" corresponding to the "celestial temple" was recognized.
Its importance was moreover connected to the widespread belief among the ancients that it was the seat of affection, courage, anger and intelligence. Considering that the division of the celestial vault was exactly projected in the liver, it was a matter of recognizing which of the boxes of that vault corresponded, in the liver, to the irregularities. The imperfections, the particular signs or even the regularities, and therefore take into consideration the messages of the deity who occupied the concerned box.
The observation of prodigies
The fame of unsurpassed interpreters of entrails and lightning, which the Etruscans enjoyed, was completed by what they considered also expert connoisseurs of the meaning of all kinds of prodigies. The Roman Varro, who evidently deduced from Etruscan sources, reports that the ostentum stood out among the prodigies, who predicted the future; the "prodigy", which indicated what to do; the "miracle", which manifested something extraordinary; the “monster,” who gave a warning. Among the most frequent prodigies were the rain of blood, the rain of stones and that of milk, animals that spoke, hail, comets, statues that perspired, etc. In addition to the manifestations of an extraordinary nature, the categories of prodigies also included completely natural facts: therefore there were "happy" or "unhappy" trees and animals, that is bearers of bad or good omens, edible plants that brought good and wild that brought bad luck. The casuistry was infinite: in general, everyone paid close attention to it, perhaps out of tradition or out of respect for common opinion.
Ritual practices
Since the knowledge of the divine will was achieved with the divinatory arts, it was a question of giving effect to everything that derived from it from the point of view of behavior. In other words, it was necessary to act on the basis of the rules prescribed by the "discipline" and object of the specific treatment of the "ritual books". These norms translated into an endless series of practices, ceremonies and rites. It was therefore necessary to determine the places, times and ways in which and with which what was called the "divine service" (aisuna or aisna, from ais which means god) was to be performed, in the indication of the persons to whom the action belonged and, of course, first of all, of the divinity to which it was dedicated. The places had to be circumscribed, delimited and consecrated; the times regulated by the chronological succession of the festivals and ceremonies foreseen and listed in the sacred calendars; manners respected down to the smallest detail, so much so that, if a single gesture was wrong or omitted, the whole action would have to be restarted from the beginning. In the functions there was ample space for music and dance; prayers could be of expiation, thanksgiving or invocation; the bloody sacrifices concerned particular categories of animals; the offerings included produce from the land, wine, cakes and other prepared foods. Particularly widespread, both at the level of "official" religiosity and at the level of popular religiosity, was the custom of votive gifts. In the first case it could be statues or other works of art, particularly precious objects, war prizes and sacred buildings;
The cult of the dead
Among the practices of a religious nature, a very special place was occupied by those which had deceased. In the early days, they were linked to the conception of the continuation after death of a special vital activity of the deceased. This conception was accompanied by the idea that that activity took place in the tomb and was somehow connected to the mortal remains. However, given that everything depended on the collaboration of the living, the relatives of the deceased were required to guarantee, facilitate and prolong "survival" as far as possible with adequate measures.
The first requirement to be met was to give the dead man a tomb, which would become his new home; immediately after came that of providing him with a set of clothes, ornaments, everyday objects and, at the same time, a supply of food and drink. The rest was an enrichment and could vary according to the social rank of the deceased and the economic possibilities of the heirs. In this way it was possible to shape the tomb in the appearance, albeit partial or only allusive, of the house, and equip it with furnishings and furnishings, and perhaps fresco it on the walls with scenes from daily life or the most significant moments in the life of the deceased.
As for the proper practices of funerals, they ranged from exposure to public mourning to the funeral procession to the banquet in front of the tomb.
All these practices, together with the ceremonies and rites that had to be performed in honor of divinities connected with the funerary sphere, were part of an authentic cult of the dead, sacred to be respected and venerated.
However, the situation changed over time: in fact, as a result of the suggestions coming from the Greek world, during the 5th century BC, the primitive belief in the survival of the dead in the tomb was replaced by the idea of a special kingdom of the dead. This was imagined on the model of the Greek Averno (or Acheron), the realm of the dead, governed by the divine couple of Aita and Phersipnai (Greek Hades and Persephone).
