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.

The Italian Fathers of Fairy Tales: Straparola and Basile

We are all familiar with the great anthologies of fairy tales written and collated by the likes of Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, but have you heard of Giambattista Basile or Straparola?

Children today may have come to associate fairy tales with big budget live action films or iconic Disney cartoons, but in fact the tradition of fairy tales predates even the written word. Before Disney, and even before the widely known fairy tale collectors like Charles Perrault, the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Andersen, these fantastical stories for children and adults (many tales in fact were much more gruesome than the versions we know today, with the content being made more child friendly as the decades went on), were passed on by minstrels or elders.

One of the first people to collate and record some of these tales, which are normally associated with the north of Europe was in fact an Italian, Straparola. Giovanni Francesco, known as Straparola (“The Babbler”) was born in 1480 in Caravaggio in Italy, and during his life he collated 75 folkloristic tales into two volumes: Le Piacevoli Notti published between 1550 and 1553, later published in English with the title ‘The Facetious Nights of Straparola’. Many of these stories are now classic fairy tales, including ‘Puss in Boots’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘The Golden Goose’.

The second Italian fairy tale collector is perhaps better known thanks to the film directed by Mattero Garrone in 2015, Tale of Tales starring Salma Hayek and Vincent Cassel. The film is inspired by a book written by poet Giambattista Basile, originally titled Lo cunto de li cunti (‘Tale of Tales’) and published in Naples between 1634 and 1636 in Neapolitan dialect.

Also called lo trattenemiento de peccerille – Entertainment for Little Ones – the book is composed of 50 fairy-tales recounted by 10 different storytellers in 5 days. It was in fact its structure that gave it its second name, in 1674: ‘The Pentamerone’, from Penta, meaning “five”.

The Pentamerone was published posthumously in two volumes by Basile’s sister Adriana in Naples in 1634 and 1636 under the pseudonym Gian Alesio Abbatutis with the name Lu Cunto. Just like Straparola’s volumes, this work too inevitably recalls the Tuscan work by Boccaccio, the Decameron, because of the similar structure of the two books.

While Basile’s work was unfairly forgotten for a long time, it was unearthed by the Grimm brothers, who then had it translated into German, resulting in its first integral publication, with the preface by Jacob Grimm in 1846, and in English in 1848. In 1925, the volumes made their way back into Italian literature with a stunning translation into Italian by philosopher Benedetto Croce who loved it and praised it.

But what fairy tales can be found in Basile’s opera magna? Early incarnations of the timeless princesses of fairy tales like ‘Rapunzel’, ‘Snow White’, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Cinderella’.

Italian Historians

Italian Historians of Antiquity

Ennius (239 BC - 169 BC) – Called the “Father of Roman Poetry”. His most important work is Annales, an epic poem on the early history of the Ancient Rome.

Cato the Censor (234-149 BC) – The first writer of Latin prose and the first author of a history of Italy in Latin.

Sallust (86-34 BC) – The earliest Roman historian whose complete works survive. The best known are The Jugurthine War, The Conspiracy of Catiline and Histories.

Titus Livius or Livy (59 BC - 17 AD) – One of the most important historians of ancient Rome, together with Pliny the Elder and Tacitus.

Marcus Velleius Paterculus (c. 19 BC - c. 31 AD) – Roman historian best known for his Compendium of Roman History.

Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) – The most important historian of ancient Rome. His Natural History is considered the world's first encyclopedia. He coined the two expressions, “Take it with a grain of salt” and “Fortune favors the bold”.

Tacitus (c.  56-120 AD) – Considered one of the greatest Roman historians. His two most important works are his Annals and Histories.

Suetonius (c. 69-126 AD) – Roman historian, best known for his Lives of the Caesars and Lives of Illustrious Men.

Florus (c. 70-145 AD) – Roman historian and poet, best known for writing an Epitome of Roman History.


Italian Historians of Late Antiquity

Sextus Aurelius Victor (c. 320 - c. 390) – Four historical works are attributed to him: Origo Gentis Romanae, De Viris Illustribus Romae, De Caesaribus and Epitome de Caesaribus, which are collectively known as Historia Romana.

Sofronius Eusebius Hieronymus or Jerome (347-420) – One of the most important early Christian writers and one of the four Latin Doctors of the Church. His most important historical works are his Chronicle and the biographical De Viris Illustribus.

Sulpicius Severus (c. 360 - c. 420) – Ecclesiastical writer known for his Chronicle and for his Life of St. Martin of Tours.

Cassiodorus (c. 485-580) – Statesman, scholar and monk. A prolific writer of histories, letters, panegyrics and theological works. Inventor of the world's first scriptorium. He enjoined his monks to collect and copy ancient manuscripts, thereby preserving the ancient works of both secular and Christian authors for posterity.

Gregory of Tours (c. 538-594) – Bishop and historian. His most notable work was his History of the Franks.

Secundus of Trent (5th century - 612) – His lost History of the Acts of the Langobards was a primary source for Paul the Deacon's Historia Langobardorum.


Italian Historians of the Middle Ages

Jonas Bobiensis (c. 600 - c. 659) – Monk and hagiographer. Best known for his Life of St. Columbanus.

Anastasius Bibliothecarius (c. 810 - c. 879) – Best known as one of the attributed authors of the Liber Pontificalis, the most important collections of papal biographies.

Thomas the Archdeacon (c. 1200-1268) – The most important chronicler of medieval Dalmatia. His Historia Salonitana is an essential source for the history of Dalmatia and the city of Spalato.

John the Deacon (c. 940 - c. 1018) – He compiled the Chronicon Sagornini, he oldest chronicle of the Republic of Venice.

Gregory of Catino (c. 1060 - c. 1133) – One of the most accomplished monastic historians of his age. His Chronicon set the tone for the writing of monastic history in 12th century Italy.

Giovanni Villani (1280-1348) – Best known for writing the Nuova Cronica on the history of Florence. The work contains the first introduction of statistics as a positive element in history.


Italian Historians of the Renaissance

Leonardo Bruni (c. 1370-1444) – Regarded as the first modern historian. He was the earliest person to write using the three-period view of history: Antiquity, Middle Ages, and Modern. His History of the Florentine People has been called the first modern history book.

Poggio Bracciolini (1380-1459) – Scholar, historian and writer. He authored numerous dialogues, essays, treatises, epistles and a History of Florence.

Flavio Biondo (1392-1463) – One of the first historians to use a three-period division of history (Ancient, Medieval, Modern) and was also one of the first archaeologists. His greatest works were Italia illustrata and the Historiarum ab inclinatione Romanorum imperii decades.

Pietro Martire d'Anghiera (1457-1526) – He wrote the first accounts of explorations in Central and South America in a series of letters and reports, collectively called the Decades. His De Orbe Novo describes the first contacts of Europeans and Native Americans, Native American civilizations in the Caribbean, North America and Mesoamerica, and includes the first European reference to India rubber.

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) – Diplomat, politician, historian, philosopher, writer, playwright and poet. His most important historical work is Florentine Histories.

Polidoro Virgili (1470-1555) – Scholar, historian, priest and diplomat. Called the “Father of English History”.

Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540) – One of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance. His masterpiece, The History of Italy, paved the way for a new style in historiography.

Paolo Giovio (1483-1552) – Physician, historian, biographer and bishop. Best remembered as a chronicler of the Italian Wars. His chief works include the Historiae, the Vitae and the Elogia.

Antonio Pigafetta (c. 1492 - c. 1531) – Explorer, navigator, geographer and writer. His surviving journal is the source for much of what is known about the voyage of Magellan and Elcano.

Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) – His Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects is considered the first important book on art history and still remains the most famous and most-read work of the older literature of art.

Onofrio Panvinio (1529-1568) – Called the “Father of All History”. One of the most important Roman historians of his time.


Italian Historians of the Counter-Reformation and Baroque Period

Caesar Baronius (1538-1607) – Best known for his Annales Ecclesiastici, considered by some to be the greatest history of the Church ever written.

Giovanni Baglione (1566-1643) – His Lives of Painters, Sculptors, Architects and Engravers is to this day an important historical source for artists living in Rome during Baglione's lifetime.

Giovanni Lucio (1604-1679) – The first Dalmatian historian to practice source criticism. He wrote works on the history of Dalmatia and the city of Traù.

Giovanni Pietro Bellori (1613-1696) – The most important art historian of the 17th century. His Lives of the Artists was influential in consolidating and promoting the theoretical case for classical idealism in art.

Filippo Baldinucci (1625-1697) – Considered one of the most significant biographers and art historians of the Baroque period.


Italian Historians of the Settecento

Lodovico Antonio Muratori (1672-1750) – A leading scholar of his age. Noted for his discovery of the Muratorian fragment, the earliest known list of New Testament books. His major work, Rerum Italicarum scriptores, is a large collection of sources on Italian history dating from 500 to 1500.

Daniele Farlati (1690-1773) – Best known for Illyricum Sacrum, a historical work dealing with history of the Catholic Church in the Balkans.

Giovanni Domenico Mansi (1692-1769) – Scholar, historian, theologian and bishop. Best known for his massive works on the councils of the Catholic Church.

Serafino Cerva (1696-1759) – Historian, theologian and bishop. Wrote numerous works on the history of the Republic of Ragusa. His most famous work is the Bibliotheca Ragusina, containing 453 biographies of notable Ragusans.

Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis (1712-1770) – Historian, linguist and priest. His major historical work is a history of Gozo in Malta.

Girolamo Tiraboschi (1731-1794) – The first historian of Italian literature. His major work, Storia della letteratura italiana, traces Italian literature from the time of the Etruscans to the end of the 17th century.


Italian Historians of the Napoleonic Period and Risorgimento

Vincenzo Cuoco (1770-1823) – Remembered for his Historical Essay on the Neapolitan Revolution of 1799.

Carlo Troya (1784-1858) – Historian and politician. Author of numerous works on Italian history.

Cesare Cantù (1804-1895) – Author of numerous novels, histories and historical essays. His masterpiece is the Universal History, which is considered the best work of its kind in Italian and perhaps in any language for its lucidity and rapidity of narration, unity of plan, justness of proportion and literary art.

Francesco De Sanctis (1817-1883) – One of the most important historians of Italian literature in the 19th century.


Italian Historians of the Modern Period

Bernardo Benussi (1846-1929) – One of the greatest Istrian scholars of the period. His major work, L'Istria nei suoi due millenni di storia, was the first attempt by a contemporary historian to organically trace the history of Istria in detail.

Gioacchino Volpe (1876-1971) – Historian and politician. One of the major Italian historians of the first half of the 20th century. Remembered for his works on the history of Italy.

Alessandro Dudan (1883-1957) – The most important historian of Italian art in Dalmatia.

Attilio Tamaro (1884-1956) – Historian, diplomat and journalist. Best known for his historical works on the Italian dominions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Giuseppe Praga (1893-1958) – Wrote more than one hundred books and articles on history, especially Dalmatian history. His major work is the History of Dalmatia.