Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/287

* ETRURIA. ■1.,., ETRURIA. makes them come by land across (he Rhictian Alps, with their earliest settlement in the north and inland. A second school believes them to have come by sea. Herodotus believed (hem to lie Lydians. Some modern writers conned them with the Pelasgians or Hittites. They certainly appear to have come from Asia Minor. Their own legends place the beginning of their power in Italy in B.C. 1044. The discoveries in the necropo Uses of Etruria would place the rudest of theearly tombs at a period only slightly subsequent to this date. For several centuries the tribe remained stationary and retired, probably in the region of Monte Amiata and the Ciminian forest, though I line may have been other centres as well. Be- tween the eighth and sixth centuries B.C. the tribe embarked on a career of conquest among the earlier nations of central Italy. The earliest cities to he subdued were those along the sea- board, such as Tarquinii and Caere, and only quite late did inland cities like Perusia and Irretium fall into their hands. The Etruscans in many eases appear to have found among the conquered a more advanced civilization, but their superior organization and vigor made them con- querors. They formed probably the governing class, an aristocratic oligarchy. For a time there were three separate Etruscan confederacies, each composed of twelve cities or States. The southern confederacy (Etruria Campaniana) in- cluded Capua and Xola ; the northern (Etruria Circumpadana) Felsina, Mantua, Ravenna, and Hadria. The central confederacy alone counts in history as important, and included many more important cities than the necessary twelve: Tar- quinii, Caere, Veii, Vulci, Volsinii, Falerii, Ne- pete, Sutrium, Populonia, Russella?, Clusium, Vetulonia, Volaterrae, Perusia, Cortona, Arretium were the largest, and the twelve confederates are probably to be found among them, the list varying at different times. Each separate State yas governed by magistrates annually elected, with the titles of Lucumo (lauehme), Porsena ( Purtevana ), and Marunueh. chosen from the ranks of the hereditary priestly nobles. In times of war a single supreme chief was chosen — like Porsena of Clusium — and his bodyguard con- sisted of twelve lietors, one from each city, as symbols of his authority. This is another point of resemblance with the Hittites. whose confeder- acy was similarly organized. The laws, both religious and civil, were embodied from early times in a triple series of books (libri disciplince) , the first being the libri haruspicini, treating of divination by sacrifice : the second, the libri fulgu- rates, on divination by lightning; the third, the libri rituales, of more general import, treating of the founding and consecrating of cities and build- ings, of the organization of the people, of the army, and the State in times of peace and war. Etruria was noted as a hotbed of superstition and profligacy even after her downfall. The Etruscans are closely connected with the earliest history of Pome, forming one of the three trihes, the latest (Lueeres), and finally reaching supremacy under the Tarquins, when Rome stood at the head of the Etruscan League. After the expulsion of the Tarquins, the Etruscans sought to reestablish them by force under the leadership of the Porsena of Clusium (B.C. 509 ?). At this time the Etruscan cities were great commercial centres: those situated at a little distance from the seaboard had their special ports: Caere had Pyrgi, Vetulonia had Tela Tarquinii had GraviscfC. Their onward march in companies was shown by their attack on the Greeks of Cumos in B.C. 523. The keen rivalry for commercial mas terj (lien pending between the waning Phceni cians and the Greeks led Carthage to seek an alliance with (he Etruscans, whose Reel must have been powerful and in control of local emu nieree. The terms of this treaty gave i to the Etruscans and Sardinia to the Cat nians. ( this time the inland conquests of the Etruscans were substantially completed. Their first great defeat came iii 474. w lien Hiero of Syracuse punished them for assisting the Athe- nians by practically annihilating then aea powei Between this time ami the final destruction of their independence by Koine, nt I lie battle of the Yadinmnian Lake in B.C. 283, were two centuries of steady political decay, marked by their defeat by the (.'aids, who overran Etruria 1 ii'-unipa dana; by the CJmbrians, who attacked on the cast; by the Samnites, who subjugated Etruria Campaniana, and by the Romans, whose pri sive stages of conquest were marked by tin cap ture of Veii in b.c. 396 after ten gears' siege, and by that of Falerii. But the practical nature of the Etruscans seems to have shown itself by the easy fashion in which they turned their down- fall into a further opportunity for a life of ease and luxury without responsibility. Hut they fell the influence of the far higher civilization of Rome. Certainly up to the time of the Gracchi Rome could not compare in magnificence or wealth with any of the greater Etruscan cities. Customs and Religion. Judging from the monuments, the Etruscans were a short and thick-set people, with heavy features, much given to good living, games, and amusements. Danc- ing, music, and the theatre flourished; festivals were frequent and sumptuous. There was great love of pomp and ceremony and of rich costumes. The Roman use of the toga picta and palmata and of the corona Etrusca in the triumph, the lietors, the system of slavery and clientship, the love of theatrical and amphitheatrical shows, the organization into tribes, the system of divination, and many other important customs and beliefs were derived by the Romans from Etruria. The Etruscan pantheon, as we know it. is a late piece of patchwork. The supreme trinity was Tinia (Jupiter), Uni (Juno), and Menrfa (Minerva). Other principal deities were Sethlaus (Vulcan), Turan (Venus), Phuphlans (Bacchus), and Turms (Mercury). Mantus was the ruler of Hades with his consort Mania, assisted by Charun and the Furioe. These Dii con scutes had above them a series of nameless deities, inexorable as fate, probably the original Chthonian divinities before Greek influence 1> ■■■■.in Language. The obscurity of Etruscan history is due largely to the absence of any literature and to the present inability to decipher the known inscriptions. The Etruscan language is still a mystery. The alphabet is clear. It contains nineteen letters, derived from a Grteco-Chalcidian prototype, which was first adopted along the southern seaboard. But critics have not yet even determined to what family the language belongs; the two principal theories are that it is Aryan or Semitic. Although about 0000 inscriptions have been found, they are nearly all (four-fifth pulchral and ~ n short and largely composed of proper names that only about 200 other word