According to Michelle Starr of Science Alert , the new study suggests the Etruscans managed to resist absorption by later migrations of Indo-European peoples and retain their unique language—at least for a time.
This linguistic persistence, combined with a genetic turnover, challenges simple assumptions that genes equal languages. The fact that the Etruscans were able to maintain their language despite waves of later migration testifies to the strength of their culture.
The study suggests that the ancient society passed along linguistic characteristics to other civilizations that later emerged on the Italian Peninsula. Though the language lasted for centuries after the collapse of its society, Etruria was eventually absorbed by Rome.
Later, Etruscan language and culture similarly disappeared. From the first half of the 5 th century BCE, the new international political situation signaled the beginning of Etruscan decline after they had lost their southern provinces. In the 4 th century, Etruria saw a Gallic invasion end its influence over the Po valley and the Adriatic coast. Meanwhile, Rome had started annexing Etruscan cities. These events led to the loss of the Northern Etruscan provinces. Etruria was conquered by Rome in the 3 rd century BCE.
The Etruscans governed using a state system of society, with only remnants of the chiefdom and tribal forms. In this way, they were different from the surrounding Italics. Rome was, in a sense, the first Italic state, but it began as an Etruscan one.
It is believed that the Etruscan government style changed from total monarchy to an oligarchic republic as the Roman Republic did in the 6 th century BCE, although it is important to note this did not happen to all city-states.
The Etruscan state government was essentially a theocracy. The government was viewed as being a central authority over all tribal and clan organizations. It retained the power of life and death; in fact, the gorgon, an ancient symbol of that power, appears as a motif in Etruscan decoration. The adherents to this state power were united by a common religion.
Political unity in Etruscan society was the city-state, and Etruscan texts name quite a number of magistrates without explanation of their function the camthi, the parnich, the purth, the tamera, the macstrev, etc. According to inscriptional evidence from tombs, aristocratic families were important within Etruscan society. Most likely, aristocratic families rose to prominence over time through the accumulation of wealth via trade, with many of the wealthiest Etruscan cities located near the coast.
The Etruscan name for family was lautn , and at the center of the lautn was the married couple. Etruscans were monogamous, and the lids of large numbers of sarcophagi were decorated with images of smiling couples in the prime of their life, often reclining next to each other or in an embrace.
Additionally, Etruscan women were allowed considerable freedoms in comparison to Greek and Roman women, and mixed-sex socialization outside the domestic realm occurred. The Etruscan system of belief was an immanent polytheism; that is, all visible phenomena were considered to be a manifestation of divine power, and that power was subdivided into deities that acted continually on the world of man and could be dissuaded or persuaded in favor of human affairs.
Three layers of deities are evident in the extensive Etruscan art motifs. One appears to be divinities of an indigenous nature: Catha and Usil, the sun; Tivr, the moon; Selvans, a civil god; Turan, the goddess of love; Laran, the god of war; Leinth, the goddess of death; Maris; Thalna; Turms; and the ever-popular Fufluns, whose name is related in an unknown way to the city of Populonia and the populus Romanus, the Roman people.
Ruling over this pantheon of lesser deities were higher ones that seem to reflect the Indo-European system: Tin or Tinia, the sky; Uni, his wife Juno ; and Cel, the earth goddess. The Greek heroes taken from Homer also appear extensively in art motifs.
The Greek polytheistic approach was similar to the Etruscan religious and cultural base. As the Romans emerged from the legacy created by both of these groups, it shared in a belief system of many gods and deities.
Knowledge of the Etruscan language is still far from complete. It is believed that the Etruscans spoke a non-Indo-European language, probably related to what is called the Tyrsenian language family, which is itself an isolate family, or in other words, unrelated directly to other known language groups.
This was possibly based upon the Etruscan preference for building hill towns on high precipices that were enhanced by walls. The word may also be related to the city of Troy, which was also a city of towers, suggesting large numbers of migrants from that region into Etruria.
Historians have no literature, or original Etruscan religious or philosophical texts, on which to base knowledge of their civilization. So much of what is known is derived from grave goods and tomb findings. Historians have no literature or original Etruscan religious or philosophical texts on which to base knowledge of their civilization, so much of what is known is derived from grave goods and tomb findings.
Princely tombs did not house individuals, but families who were interred over long periods. The decorations and objects included at these sites paint a picture of Etruscan social and political life. For instance, wealth from trade seems to have supported the rise of aristocratic families who, in turn, were likely foundational to the Etruscan oligarchic system of governance.
Indeed, at some Etruscan tombs, physical evidence of trade has been found in the form of grave goods, including fine faience ware cups, which was likely the result of trade with Egypt.
Additionally, the depiction of married couples on many sarcophagi provide insight into the respect and freedoms granted to women within Etruscan society, as well as the emphasis placed on romantic love as a basis for marriage pairings. Although many Etruscan cities were later assimilated by Italic, Celtic, or Roman ethnic groups, the Etruscan names and inscriptions that survive within the ruins provide historic evidence of the range of settlements constructed by the Etruscans.
Etruscan cities flourished over most of Italy during the Roman Iron Age. The republic fell for good when his great-nephew, Augustus Caesar, declared himself emperor in 27 B. Now, the sprawling state of Rome was officially the Roman Empire. The empire reached its peak in A. The bare-bones imperial structure that let provinces govern themselves made the whole thing manageable until , when the Roman Empire extended citizenship to all free people free women were still citizens even though they had fewer rights than men.
But the extension of imperial bureaucracy made the empire much harder to manage; and this was one of the reasons that the empire began to divide itself. The year was the last time that the whole empire was united under one emperor. After that, the western half split off and collapsed within a century. In the east, the Roman Empire—also known as the Byzantine Empire—continued on for over a millennium. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!
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