The Etruscan civilization
Brief preamble
The Etruscan civilization (Latin Etruscans, Greek Tyrrenoi, Rasna or Rasenta in Etruscan) was born and developed for about a millennium (from the 10th century BC until the granting of Roman citizenship to the Italians in 80 BC, with characteristics maintained until the imperial age) on the soil of present-day Tuscany, extended to the territory between the Tiber to the east, the Apennines to the north and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, thus including some areas of upper Lazio and Umbria.
During this long historical period, the Etruscans expanded politically to occupy large areas of Italy:
- the Po Valley with the centers of Bologna-Felsina, Spina, a large port on the Adriatic Sea, Mantua-Manthva, Parma, Rimini-Arimna, Ravenna-Ravne, the city of Melpis of unknown location, Marzabotto-Misma?, etc.,
- Campania (S. Maria Capua Vetere-Capeva, Capua-Cazlanie, Pompeii, Ercolano, Pontecagnano-Irnthi?, Vietri sul Mare-Marcina?) etc.,
- Corsica (Aleria-Meane?),
- historical Lazio (i.e. the territory south of the Tiber up to the Volturno river); Rome, Velletri, Satrico, Palestrina (Prenestae), Tusculum, etc.,
- Etruscan colonies of a commercial nature were established in Liguria (Genoa-Porto Vecchio and Colle di San Silvestro, Busca in Piedmont) in Provence (Lattes. Pech Maho), in Catalonia (Tarragona), in Carthage, in Greece (islands of Lemnos and Imbros), in Sardinia, in Egypt, etc.
The Etruscans never formed a unitary state. Each city-state had a surrounding territory over which it exercised "potestas"; every commercial, military or economic initiative was limited to a city or a group of temporarily allied cities. In historical times the Etruscan territory consisted of a confederation, exclusively on a religious basis, traditionally composed of 12 cities (Etruscan Dodecapoli), and then proposed again in Campania and the Po Valley. Etruscan cities were often at war with each other, as well as with Greeks, Ligurians or other Italians in general.
The economic activities initially concerned agriculture, livestock farming and the exploitation of mines (iron, copper, silver). Subsequently, the Etruscans opened trade routes throughout the Mediterranean basin and towards continental Europe; Etruscan products have been found everywhere in Europe and in the Mediterranean basin, as far away as Poland and Ukraine. Etruscans spread the alphabet in the West.
This civilization in reality has nothing mysterious about it. For centuries, historians, archaeologists and linguists have asked themselves where Etruscans came from, on the basis of observations made by Herodotus and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, that is, whether they came from Lydia, in Asia Minor, as Herodotus claimed or if they were indigenous, as he instead Dionysius claimed.
The impasse was brilliantly overcome by Massimo Pallottino, the greatest Etruscologist ever, who already sixty years ago proposed evaluating the Etruscan civilization for what it had done on Italian, limiting himself to observing that the question of origins is a false problem. It would be like asking where Italians or French come from. Pallottino stated that there is no archaeological evidence of a mass arrival of exogenous populations in the historical period corresponding to the beginning of the Etruscan civilization, which imposed language and customs, especially religious and funerary, on the native populations.
It is a question of "formation": various groups contributed to the Etruscan people, in the historical meaning of the term, some coming from the Aegean sea, some from central-northern Europe, others decidedly indigenous and heirs of the previous “Villanovan Culture” (Iron Age, developed starting from the 10th century BC), preceded by the “Protovillanovian Culture” (Final Bronze Age 12th-10th century BC).
The linguistic problem, then, is anything but marginal: the Etruscans used to write (starting from the end of the 8th century BC) a Western Greek alphabet adapted to their phonetic needs (for example they did not use the letters O, B, D, G; they used different types of S, some borrowed directly from the Phoenician alphabet).
The Etruscan language (there are currently around 13,000 texts, mostly of a funerary nature) can be read perfectly, but still remains in many ways unintelligible, despite the existence of an established grammar, due to the lack of sufficiently long texts of a sacred nature (for example religious rituals) and profane (historical texts, annals, tragedies, comedies, public proclamations) which disappeared with the transition to Latin and the subsequent barbarian invasions.
It should also be remembered that the Etruscan language is a fossil, since it has no genetic kinship with any other European language with the exception of Rhaetian spoken in Trentino and Lombardy (with which a definitive protohistoric kinship has recently been recognized) and Lemnian (island in the Aegean Sea where some steles were found, written in a language similar to Etruscan).
The longest Etruscan texts (a real godsend for glottologists and linguists) are:
- the Cippo of Perugia (contract stipulated between two Etruscan families, the Veltina and the Afuna, regarding the division of some lands)
- the Table of Cortona (legal agreement stipulated between various characters)
- the Zagreb Mummy (long “volumen”, reused in Roman times to wrap an Egyptian mummy. It consists of a religious text and was discovered in Alexandria, Egypt, probably brought there by Etruscan emigrants at the end of the 2nd century BC)
- the Tile of Capua (religious calendar)
- the Sarcophagus of Laris Pulena (long inscription with "cursus honorum" of the character therein buried)
- the Inscription of the Hypogeum of San Manno (long inscription on the architrave of the Tomb of San Manno in Perugia)
- the Lamine di Pyrgi (today Santa Severa, ancient port of Cerveteri), bilingual Etruscan-Phoenician in gold, containing the text of an alliance pact between the Etruscans of Cerveteri-Cere and the Carthaginians.
Timeline of the Etruscan civilization
15th century: Bronze Age - Apennine civilisation, first villages
XII century: Final Bronze Age - Protovillanovian culture
X century: Iron Age - Villanovan culture: pastoral and agricultural economy. The land is shared among the farmers. Formation of the first proto-urban nuclei: Veio, Tarquinia, Vulci, Vetulonia etc. Trans-maritime contacts between coastal centers with Sardinia and southern Italy. Mobility (groups of proto-Etruscans move towards the Po Valley and towards Campania).
800 BC: Etruscan Foundation of Capua Vetere. Etruscans in Campania.
775 BC: Formation of warrior aristocracies: recognition of "Possession of the Land" to prominent families. Exploitation of mines (Colline Metallifere, Elba Island in Tuscany, Tolfa Mountains in Lazio). Beginning of differentiation into social classes. The Greeks colonized Sicily and part of southern Italy, but did not go beyond the island of Ischia for fear of the "Tyrrhenian pirates".
753 BC: Foundation of Rome, according to Varro, on the easiest transit point of the Tiber. Development of the road that leads from Etruria to Campania. Three lineages contributed to the foundation of Rome: Latin (indigenous), Sabine (coming from the east) and Etruscan who was hegemonic (especially from Caere and Veii). Romulus, the mythical founder, could be the Latinization of the Etruscan Rumelna. Beginning of the wars between Rome and Veii with its allies (Fidenae and the Falische population), for the possession of the salt pans at the mouth of the Tiber.
720 BC: Orientalizing Period. Culture of the Princes, development of trade with mainland Greece, Cyprus, Syria and Phoenicia. The Princes own the land for agriculture and own the iron and copper mines. Salt trade. Development of urban centres, which impose themselves on centres neighboring minors and provide themselves with a territory over which they exercise "power". Monarchical government (the king is called lucumone; in Etruscan LAUCHME). Beginning of writing.
700 BC: Cere controls southward trade. Occupation of sub-Tiberian Lazio (Anzio, Satrico, Velletri). Etruscans in Palestrina (lat. Prenestae) and Tusculum (on the Alban hills). Development of original artistic production. Foundation of Bologna-Felsina. Etruscans in the Po Valley. Opening of trade routes across Veneto, towards the east and north of Europe (Via dell'Ambra).
650 BC: Full urban civilization on the coast. Arrival of Greek emigrants in Tarquinia, Cere, Vetulonia, Populonia, Pisa and Vulci. They are craftsmen who work with precious metals, they are potters, painters and sculptors. Diversified economy: agricultural surplus is exported (especially wine and oil). The Etruscan power dominates almost the entire peninsula both from an economic, political and cultural point of view.
616 BC: Beginning of the Etruscan monarchy in Rome (in Etruscan Ruma). Original Etruscan products exported to southern Italy and Sicily. Imports from mainland Greece and Phoenicia.
616-578 BC: Tarquinius Priscus (coming from Cere, where the family tomb was found: Tarchunies in Etruscan) become king of Rome. Etruscanization of Rome and sub-Tiberian Lazio. Etruscan kings at Prenestae, Tusculum and perhaps Terracina. Etruscan artisans and farmers settled in Satricum and Velletri.
600-550 BC: Development of urban civilization in internal Etruria (Chiusi, Volterra, Arezzo, Perugina, Roselle). First arrival of Celtic tribes from beyond the Alps in the Po Valley. Battle of Ticino between Etruscans and Celts. Fall of Melpis?
578-534 BC: Servius Tullius, in Etruscan Macstarna is king of Rome. Macstarna comes from Vulci and arrives in Rome together with a group of associates led by the brothers Avele and Caile Vipinas (Aulo and Celio Vibenna) and seizes power with a coup d'état.
534-509 BC: Servius Tullius dethroned by Tarquinius Superbus (son or nephew of Priscus). He continues the Etruscanization of Rome. The official language of public documents is Etruscan, but the non-Etruscan resident population expresses itself and writes in Latin in private.
540 BC: Naval battle of Aleria between Etruscans from Cere, Populonia and perhaps Tarquinia and Carthaginians on one side and Greeks from Marseille on the other. Defeat of the Greeks who abandon Corsica, moving to Velia in Cilento.
530-500 BC: Naval clashes between Etruscans and Greeks on Lipari. Velthur Spurinna, admiral from Tarquina in Sicily, probably managed to occupy the Lipari islands for a couple of years.
524 BC: Urban civilization in Po Valley and Campania Etruria. Etruscan siege of Cuma (Greek city, only colony in Campania), in alliance with Umbrians and Daunians.
509 BC: Fall of the monarchy in Rome by other Etruscans. Expulsion of Tarquin the Proud. Foundation of the republic; the first consuls are of Etruscan origin.
507 BC: Descent of Laris Porsenna lucumone of Chiusi who occupies Rome, called by Tarquinius the Proud.
504 BC: Battle of Ariccia; the Etruscan army led by Porsenna's son, Arnth, who dies in battle, is defeated by a coalition of Latins and Greeks from Cuma. End of Etruscan domination of Lazio. Porsenna returns to Chiusi, abandoning Rome. Interruption of the two commercial routes between Etruria and southern Italy (one coastal and one internal).
500 BC: Thefarie Velianas is king of Cere. Colonization of Corsica (until 241 BC) by the Etruscans of Cere and Populonia and of the Tuscan coast beyond the Arno, previously occupied by Ligurian tribes, up to the Magra river. Territorial development of Pisa which together with Volterra occupies the coast, founding small centers in Massaciuccoli, Pietrasanta, Lucca. Colonial foundation of Genoa and opening of trade routes between Ligura and the Po Valley directly through the Giovi pass. Small emporiums near Asti, in Busca and on the Tanaro river. Opening of trade routes with Greece across the Adriatic with the centers of Spina and Adria. The descent of the Celts into the Po Valley continues. Battles between the Etruscans of Felsina and the Celts (Kaiknas-Caecina stele).
490 BC: Wars between Siceliotes (Greeks from Sicily) and Etruscans (from Campania and Tarquinia). Closure of the Etruscan trade routes with mainland Greece and Phoenicia to the Strait of Sicily.
474 BC: Naval battle of Cuma; serious Etruscan defeat. Collapse of Etruscan rule in Campania. Extremely serious economic crisis. Contraction in imports and exports.
The Etruscans of Etruria proper once again fell back on agricultural activity and livestock farming.
454 BC: Syracuse expeditions against Corsica and Elba.
421 BC: Capua, capital of Campanian Etruria, fell to the Samnites, who in the short space of a few years occupied the entire Campania, including Cuma. Groups of Etruscans wage war in the lower Tyrrhenian Sea.
413 BC: Some Etruscan cities (probably led by Avele Spurinas of Tarquinia) fought with the Athenians in the siege of Syracuse.
396 BC: Destruction of Veii by the Romans after 10 years of siege. The territory was annexed to the Roman state. For the first time foreign populations set foot on the soil of Etruria, within its natural borders.
386 BC: Groups of Celts occupy Rome (Brenno episode), but are defeated and driven out by the alliance between the Tiber city and Etruscan Cere.
384 BC: Looting of the sanctuary of Pyrgi. The Greeks of Syracuse again devastate Elba and Corsica.
358-351 BC: War between Tarquinia and Rome with alternating events.
353 BC: Cere allied with Rome.
350 BC: End of Etruscan rule in the Po Valley. Bologna-Felsina occupied by the Galli Boi. Migration of groups of Etruscans in the Trentino valleys, under the pressure of Celtic warriors. They will mix with the Nets. Only Mantua (built on an island in the middle of the Mincio river) and Spina (protected by swamps) remain independent. Mantua will maintain its Etruscan characteristics almost until the imperial age. Destruction by the Celts of the city of Marzabotto (Misma?) on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. Small mountain centers give rise to a mixed Etruscan-Celtic culture. The Etruscans abandon the territory between Arno and Magra again to the Ligurian tribes. Pisa allies itself with Rome and becomes a border outpost.
340-300 BC: Piracy and Etruscan mercenary in southern Italy. Piracy in the Adriatic Sea.
311, 309, 301 BC: Roman triumphs over the Etruscan cities of Vulci, Roselle, Tarquinia.
310 BC: Etruscan pirates in the Aegean Sea.
300 BC: Servile revolts in Arezzo, Cere and Roselle.
278 BC: The Romans began the policy of deducing colonies in Etruria (the first was Cosa in the territory of Vulci).
273 BC: Submission of Cere to Rome.
298 BC: Battle of Sentino: Rome defeats a coalition of Etruscans, Celts, Umbrians and Samnites.
298, 295, 281 BC: Roman triumphs over Etruscan cities.
280 BC: Roman triumph over Vulci and Volsinii-Orvieto.
264 BC: Destruction of Volsinii-Orvieto. The deduction of Roman and Latin colonies on the coastal territory continues.
264-241 BC: 1st Punic War.
259-238 BC: Roman occupation of Sardinia together with the Etruscans of Cere.
250 BC: Destruction of Falerii (Civita Castellana).
218-202 BC: 2nd Punic War. Hannibal's descent into Italy. The Etruscan cities tended to remain faithful to Rome, but groups of Etruscans impoverished by Roman confiscations enlisted under the Carthaginian flags.
205 BC: Aid from the Etruscan cities to Scipio's fleet.
200 BC: Appearance of the first bilingual Etruscan-Latin texts (especially in the tombs of the cities of southern Etruria). Migrations of Etruscan groups in Egypt and North Africa. Sunset of the Etruscan civilization.
150 BC: The first migrations of ancient Etruscan families to Rome begin.
1st century BC: Translation into Latin of Etruscan religious texts. Recovery of Etruscan traditions in late republican Rome.
90-88 BC: Social war between Marius and Sulla. The Etruscan cities, especially those of northern Etruria, are allies of Marius, who gathers soldiers from among them. Defeat of Mario. End of pre-Roman Italic cultures.
83-82 BC: Silla's campaigns against Etruscan populations and cities.
80 BC: Granting of Roman citizenship to all peoples south of the Po.
20 BC: During the government of Augustus, the first emperor, Etruria became the Roman VII Regio.
41-54 DC: Empire of Claudius who wrote a treatise on the Etruscans (Tà Tyrrhenikà) in Greek, which was lost.
II-VI century DC: Last vestiges of Etruscan culture. The language is now spoken only by settlers and soldiers of Etruscan origin, in some peripheral areas of the empire as an incomprehensible dialect. It will remain for some time as the liturgical language of the Etruscan priests, until the definitive triumph of Christianity.
The ten centuries of life of the Etruscan people and civilization, as predicted by the ancient soothsayers at the beginning of history, end here.
