History of Etruscan civilization. Abstract: Etruscan civilization

(1494-1559)

Argumentation of the migration version

The second theory is supported by the works of Herodotus, which appeared in the 5th century BC. e. As Herodotus argued, the Etruscans were natives of Lydia, a region in Asia Minor, the Tyrrhenians or Tyrsenians, who were forced to leave their homeland due to catastrophic crop failure and famine. According to Herodotus, this happened almost simultaneously with the Trojan War. Hellanicus from the island of Lesbos mentioned the legend of the Pelasgians, who arrived in Italy and became known as the Tyrrhenians. At that time, the Mycenaean civilization collapsed and the Hittite Empire fell, that is, the appearance of the Tyrrhenians should be dated to the 13th century BC. e. or a little later. Perhaps connected with this legend is the myth about the flight to the west of the Trojan hero Aeneas and the founding of the Roman state, which was of great importance for the Etruscans. Herodotus's hypothesis is supported by genetic analysis data that confirm the kinship of the Etruscans with the inhabitants of the lands currently belonging to Turkey.

Until the middle of the 20th century. The “Lydian version” was subject to serious criticism, especially after the decipherment of the Lydian inscriptions - their language had nothing in common with Etruscan. However, there is also a version that the Etruscans should not be identified with the Lydians, but with the more ancient, pre-Indo-European population of the west of Asia Minor, known as the “Proto-Luvians”. A. Erman identified the legendary Tursha tribe, which lived in the eastern Mediterranean and carried out predatory raids on Egypt (XIII-VII centuries BC), with the Etruscans of this early period.

Argumentation of the complex version

Based on the material of ancient sources and archaeological data, we can conclude that the most ancient elements of prehistoric Mediterranean unity took part in the ethnogenesis of the Etruscans during the period of the beginning of the movement from East to West in the 4th-3rd millennium BC. e.; also a wave of settlers from the area of ​​the Black and Caspian Seas in the 2nd millennium BC. e. In the process of forming the Etruscan community, traces of Aegean and Aegean-Anatolian emigrants were found. This is confirmed by the results of excavations on the island. Lemnos (Aegean Sea), where inscriptions similar to the grammatical structure of the Etruscan language were found.

Geographical position

It is not yet possible to determine the exact limits of Etruria. The history and culture of the Etruscans began in the Tyrrhenian Sea region and is limited to the basin of the Tiber and Arno rivers. The country's river network also included the rivers Aventia, Vesidia, Tsetsina, Alusa, Umbro, Oza, Albinia, Armenta, Marta, Minio, and Aro. A wide river network created conditions for developed agriculture, in some places complicated by wetlands. Southern Etruria, whose soils were often of volcanic origin, had extensive lakes: Tsiminskoe, Alsietiskoe, Statonenskoe, Volsinskoe, Sabatinskoe, Trasimenskoe. More than half of the country's territory was occupied by mountains and hills. From the paintings and reliefs one can judge the diversity of flora and fauna of the region. The Etruscans cultivated cypress, myrtle, and pomegranate trees, brought to Italy from Carthage (an image of a pomegranate is found on Etruscan objects in the 6th century BC).

Cities and necropolises

Each of the Etruscan cities controlled a certain territory. The exact number of inhabitants of the Etruscan city-states is unknown; according to rough estimates, the population of Cerveteri in its heyday was 25 thousand people.

Cerveteri was the southernmost city of Etruria; it controlled deposits of metal-bearing ore, which ensured the well-being of the city. The settlement was located near the coast on a steep ledge. The necropolis was traditionally located outside the city. A road led to it along which funeral carts were transported. There were tombs on both sides of the road. The bodies rested on benches, in niches or terracotta sarcophagi. The personal belongings of the deceased were placed with them.

From the name of this city (etr. - Caere) the Roman word “ceremony” was subsequently derived - this is how the Romans called some funeral rites.

The neighboring city of Veii had excellent defenses. The city and its acropolis were surrounded by ditches, making Veii almost impregnable. An altar, a temple foundation and water tanks were discovered here. Vulka is the only Etruscan sculptor whose name we know was a native of Wei. The area around the city is notable for the passages carved into the rock, which served to drain water.

The recognized center of Etruria was the city of Tarquinia. The name of the city comes from the son or brother of Tyrrhenus Tarkon, who founded twelve Etruscan policies. The necropolises of Tarquinia were concentrated near the hills of Colle de Civita and Monterozzi. The tombs, carved into the rock, were protected by mounds, the chambers were painted for two hundred years. It was here that magnificent sarcophagi were discovered, decorated with bas-reliefs with images of the deceased on the lid.

When laying the city, the Etruscans observed rituals similar to the Roman ones. An ideal place was chosen, a hole was dug into which the sacrifices were thrown. From this place, the founder of the city, using a plow drawn by a cow and an ox, drew a furrow that determined the position of the city walls. Where possible, the Etruscans used a lattice street layout, oriented to the cardinal points.

Story

The formation, development and collapse of the Etruscan state took place against the backdrop of three periods of Ancient Greece - Orientalizing or Geometric, Classical (Hellenistic), and the rise of Rome. The earlier stages are given in accordance with the autochthonic theory of the origin of the Etruscans.

Proto-Villanovian period

The most important of the historical sources that marked the beginning of the Etruscan civilization is the Etruscan chronology of saecula (centuries). According to him, the first century of the ancient state, saeculum, began around the 11th or 10th century BC. e. This time belongs to the so-called Proto-Villanovian period (XII-X centuries BC). There is extremely little data on the Proto-Villanovians. The only important evidence of the beginning of a new civilization is a change in the funeral rite, which began to be performed by cremating the body on a funeral pyre, followed by burying the ashes in urns.

Villanova I and Villanova II periods

After the loss of independence, Etruria retained its cultural identity for some time. In the II-I centuries BC. e. local art continued to exist; this period is also called Etruscan-Roman. But gradually the Etruscans adopted the way of life of the Romans. In 89 BC. e. the inhabitants of Etruria received Roman citizenship. By this time, the process of Romanization of Etruscan cities was almost completed, along with Etruscan history itself.

Arts and culture

The first monuments of Etruscan culture date back to the end of the 9th - beginning of the 8th centuries. BC e. The development cycle of Etruscan civilization ends in the 2nd century. BC e. Rome was under its influence until the 1st century. BC e.

The Etruscans long preserved the archaic cults of the first Italian settlers and showed a special interest in death and the afterlife. Therefore, Etruscan art was significantly associated with the decoration of tombs, based on the concept that the objects in them should maintain a connection with real life. The most notable surviving monuments are sculpture and sarcophagi.

Etruscan language and literature

A special category were women's toiletries. One of the most famous products of Etruscan craftsmen were bronze hand mirrors. Some are equipped with folding drawers and decorated with high reliefs. One surface was carefully polished, the reverse was decorated with engraving or high relief. Strigils were made from bronze - spatulas for removing oil and dirt, cysts, nail files, and caskets.

By modern standards, Etruscan houses are rather sparsely furnished. As a rule, the Etruscans did not use shelves and cabinets; things and provisions were stored in caskets, baskets or hung on hooks.

Luxury goods and jewelry

For centuries, Etruscan aristocrats wore jewelry and acquired luxury items made of glass, earthenware, amber, ivory, precious stones, gold and silver. Villanovians in the 7th century BC e. wore glass beads, precious metal jewelry, and faience pendants from the Eastern Mediterranean. The most important local products were brooches, made of bronze, gold, silver and iron. The latter were considered rare.

The exceptional prosperity of Etruria in the 7th century BC. e. caused a rapid development of jewelry and an influx of imported products. Silver bowls were imported from Phenicia, and the images on them were copied by Etruscan craftsmen. Boxes and cups were made from ivory imported from the East. Most jewelry was produced in Etruria. Goldsmiths used engraving, filigree and graining. In addition to brooches, pins, buckles, hair ribbons, earrings, rings, necklaces, bracelets, and clothing plates were widespread.

During the Archaic era, decorations became more elaborate. Earrings in the form of tiny bags and disc-shaped earrings have come into fashion. Semi-precious stones and colored glass were used. During this period, beautiful gems appeared. Hollow pendants or bullas often played the role of amulets and were worn by children and adults. Etruscan women of the Hellenistic period preferred Greek-type jewelry. In the 2nd century BC. e. They wore a tiara on their heads, small earrings with pendants in their ears, disc-shaped clasps on their shoulders, and their hands were decorated with bracelets and rings.

• The Etruscans all wore short hair, with the exception of the haruspex priests [ ] . The priests did not cut their hair, but removed it from their foreheads with a narrow headband, a gold or silver hoop [ ] . In an earlier period, the Etruscans cut their beards short, but later they began to shave them clean [ ] . Women let their hair down over their shoulders or braided it and covered their head with a cap.

  Leisure

  The Etruscans loved to participate in fighting competitions and, perhaps, to help other people with housework [ ] . Also, the Etruscans had a theater, but it did not become as widespread as, for example, the Attic theater, and the manuscripts of plays found are not enough for a final analysis.

  Economy

  Crafts and agriculture

  The basis of Etruria's prosperity was agriculture, which made it possible to keep livestock and export surplus wheat to the largest cities in Italy. Spelled, oat and barley grains were found in the archaeological material. The high level of Etruscan agriculture made it possible to engage in selection - an Etruscan spelled variety was obtained, and for the first time they began to cultivate cultivated oats. Flax was used to sew tunics and raincoats, and ship sails. This material was used to record various texts (this achievement was later adopted by the Romans). There is evidence from antiquities about the strength of linen thread, from which Etruscan artisans made armor (6th century BC tomb, Tarquinia). The Etruscans quite widely used artificial irrigation, drainage, and regulation of river flows. The ancient canals known to archaeological science were located near the Etruscan cities of Spina, Veii, in the Coda region.

  In the depths of the Apennines lay copper, zinc, silver, iron, and on the island of Ilva (Elba) iron ore reserves - everything was developed by the Etruscans. The presence of numerous metal products in the tombs of the 8th century. BC e. in Etruria it is associated with an adequate level of mining and metallurgy. Remains of mining are widely found in ancient Populonia (Campiglia Marritima region). The analysis allows us to establish that the smelting of copper and bronze preceded iron processing. There are finds made of copper inlaid with miniature iron squares - a technique used when working with expensive materials. In the 7th century BC e. iron was still a rare metal for processing. Nevertheless, metalworking in cities and colonial centers has been identified: the production of metal utensils was developed in Capua and Nola, and an assortment of blacksmith items was found in Minturni, Venafre, and Suessa. Metalworking workshops are noted in Marzabotto. For that time, the mining and processing of copper and iron was significant in scale. In this area, the Etruscans succeeded in constructing mines for manual extraction of ore.

We would know much more about them if the 12-volume history of this people, written in the 1st century, had reached us. n. e. Etruscophile Emperor Claudius. However, ancient authors unanimously recognized the Etruscans as immigrants from Asia Minor (the exception is the 1st century BC writer Dionysius of Halicarnassus, who argued that the Etruscans were indigenous Italians). The Etruscans themselves retained the memory of their exodus from Lydia as a result of the eighteen-year famine that befell them, as mentioned by Herodotus. Modern archeology is inclined to accept the opinion of their Asia Minor origin.

Walls of the Etruscan city of Volsinia

Etruscan settlements were initially concentrated in Etruria. In the 7th-5th centuries. BC e. Etruscan tribes spread their influence to Northern and Southern Italy and, in particular, developed the Po Valley, where they came into close contact with the Adriatic Veneti, who are believed to have borrowed writing from them, among other acquisitions [ Nemirovsky A. I. Etruscans. From myth to history. M., 1983. P. 234].The Etruscan writing remains undeciphered to this day. Nowadays their language is considered non-Indo-European.

From time to time, the Etruscans managed to place their rulers in the cities of Latium, including Rome. Thanks to this, the uncouth Romans became acquainted with the achievements of Etruscan civilization. The most important borrowings, according to legend, were made under the first Etruscan king of Rome - Lucius Tarquinius Prisca.

Tarquin built the Circus Maximus in Rome, a gigantic oval stadium for chariot racing that could accommodate 60,000 spectators.

Ruins of the Circus Maximus

He also introduced athletic competitions. By the way, the Romans also borrowed gladiator fights from the Etruscans. In the valley between the Palatine and Capitoline hills there was a Roman forum, that is, a market where trade took place and public meetings were held. This valley was swampy, and in order to drain it, Tarquin ordered the construction of special drainage ditches, which formed the basis of the famous Roman Cloaca Maximus. This luxurious name in Russian simply means “Big Sewer”.

Tarquin led victorious wars with neighboring tribes and established the Etruscan custom of organizing triumphs in Rome. The victorious commander entered the capital at the head of his army; Captives from the defeated country brought up the rear. The procession moved to the Capitol, where the grand temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was located.

This was the Etruscan deity of thunder and lightning, whose cult was also introduced in Rome by Tarquinius. Along with Jupiter, in this temple the Etruscans made sacrifices to two more of their deities - Juno and Minerva.

The Etruscans had an amazing idea of ​​the historical doom of their civilization. At the annual festival held in the city of Volsinia, the high priest-haruspex drove a nail into the wall of the temple of the goddess Nortia; it was believed that when the wall was completely covered with nails, the Etruscan people would cease to exist. Roman writer of the 3rd century. BC e. Censorinus reports that, according to the ideas of the Etruscans, their civilization was set at ten “centuries,” the duration of which, however, was unknown and was determined by the college of haruspices on the basis of various signs. The fifth "century" began in 568 BC. e., and the four previous centuries lasted a hundred years each. This adds up to 968 BC. e. - a period that does not coincide with modern data: the oldest archaeological monuments of Etruscan culture date back no earlier than 750 BC. e. The beginning of the last, tenth “century” was proclaimed by the haruspex Vulcatius in the year of the death of Julius Caesar (44 BC), and it ended in 54 AD. e. with the death of Emperor Claudius, who tried to revive Etruscan culture [Pennick N., Prudence D.History of pagan Europe. St. Petersburg, 2000. pp. 61-63].

Etruscan tomb of the 6th century. BC e.

For three hundred years, Etruscan civilization dominated the Western Mediterranean. At one time they kept Carthage at bay. The Etruscans introduced the Romans to the benefits of civilization, taught them arts and crafts, and enriched Roman culture and religion. Almost everything that the Etruscans built in Rome was subsequently designated by the Romans with the epithet “greatest.” But the Romans created their social structure themselves, otherwise they would never have become a great people.

Haruspex priest tells fortunes by reading the entrails of a bull

The authority of the Etruscan haruspex priests, who were considered unsurpassed specialists in fortune telling and magic, was especially high. Already at the beginning of the 5th century. n. e., when the era of the power of the Etruscan civilization had sunk into the distant past, the inhabitants of Rome (Christians!) accepted the proposal of the pagan Etruscan priests to hold a public ceremony, which was supposed to bring thunder and lightning on the head of the Goth leader Alaric, whose troops besieged the “Eternal City”. The magical performance did not take place only because the pope energetically opposed it.

The Etruscans are rightfully considered one of the most amazing mysteries in history. Scientists don't know exactly where they came from or what language they spoke. The question of a possible connection between the Etruscans and Russians has still not been clarified.

Under the Veil of Secrets

In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. On the territory of Italy, between the Tiber and Arno rivers, stretched the legendary state of Etruria, which became the cradle of Roman civilization. The Romans eagerly learned from the Etruscans, borrowing from them systems of government and gods, engineering and mosaics, gladiator fights and chariot races, funeral rites and clothing.

Despite their fame, the Etruscans are one complete mystery for us. Much evidence has been preserved about the Etruscans, but they do not give us a convincing and reliable picture of the life of this people. Scientists do not know for certain how the Etruscans appeared and where they disappeared. The exact boundaries of Etruria have not yet been established and the Etruscan language has not been deciphered.

The Roman Emperor Claudius I, who ruled in the 1st century AD, left to his descendants the 20-volume History of the Etruscans, as well as a dictionary of the Etruscan language. But fate would have it that these manuscripts were completely destroyed in the fire of the Library of Alexandria, depriving us of the opportunity to lift the veil of secrets of the Etruscan civilization.

People from the East

Today there are three versions of the origin of the Etruscans. Titus Livius reports that the Etruscans penetrated the Apennine Peninsula from the north along with the Alpine Rhets, with whom they were related. According to the hypothesis of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, the Etruscans were natives of Italy who adopted the achievements of the previous Villanova culture.

However, the “Alpine version” does not find any material evidence, and modern scientists increasingly associate the Villanova culture not with the Etruscans, but with the Italics.

Historians have long noticed how the Etruscans stood out from their less developed neighbors. This served as a prerequisite for the third version, according to which the Etruscans settled the Apennines from Asia Minor. This view was held by Herodotus, who argued that the ancestors of the Etruscans came from Lydia in the 8th century BC.

There is a lot of evidence of the Asia Minor origin of the Etruscans. For example, the way of creating sculptures. The Etruscans, unlike the Greeks, preferred not to carve an image from stone, but to sculpt it from clay, which was typical for the art of the peoples of Asia Minor.

There is also more important evidence of the eastern origin of the Etruscans. At the end of the 19th century, on the island of Lemnos, located near the coast of Asia Minor, archaeologists discovered a tombstone.

The inscription on it was made in Greek letters, but in a completely unusual combination. Imagine the surprise of the scientists when, after comparing this inscription with Etruscan texts, they discovered striking similarities!

Bulgarian historian Vladimir Georgiev offers an interesting development of the “eastern version”. In his opinion, the Etruscans are none other than the legendary Trojans. The scientist bases his assumptions on the legend according to which the Trojans, led by Aeneas, fled from war-torn Troy to the Apennine Peninsula.

Georgiev also supports his theory with linguistic considerations, finding a relationship between the words “Etruria” and “Troy”. One might be skeptical about this version if in 1972 Italian archaeologists had not excavated an Etruscan tomb-monument dedicated to Aeneas.

Genetic map

Not long ago, scientists from the University of Turin, using genetic analysis, decided to test Herodotus’ hypothesis about the Asia Minor origin of the Etruscans. The study compared the Y chromosomes (transmitted through the male line) of the population of Tuscany and residents of other regions of Italy, as well as the island of Lemnos, the Balkan Peninsula and Turkey.

It turned out that the genetic samples of residents of the Tuscan cities of Volterra and Murlo are more similar to those of residents of the Eastern Mediterranean than to neighboring Italian regions.

Moreover, some genetic characteristics of the inhabitants of Murlo absolutely coincide with the genetic data of the inhabitants of Turkey.

Researchers from Stanford University decided to use computer modeling to reconstruct the demographic processes that affected the population of Tuscany over the past 2,500 years. This method initially involved data from anthropological and genetic examination.

The results were unexpected. Scientists have been able to rule out a genetic connection between the Etruscans, the ancient inhabitants of central Italy, and the modern inhabitants of Tuscany. The data obtained suggest that the Etruscans were wiped off the face of the earth by some kind of catastrophe, or that they represented a social elite that had little in common with the ancestors of modern Italians.

The leader of the Stanford project, anthropologist Joanna Mountain, notes that “the Etruscans were different from the Italians in every way and even spoke a language that was not an Indo-European group.” “Cultural and linguistic characteristics have made the Etruscans a real mystery to numerous researchers,” Mountain sums up.

“Etruscan is Russian”

The phonetic proximity of the two ethnonyms – “Etruscans” and “Russians” – gives rise to hypotheses among researchers about the direct connection of the two peoples. Philosopher Alexander Dugin understands this connection literally: “Etruscan is Russian.” The plausibility of this version is also given by the self-name of the Etruscans - Rasenna or Raśna.

However, if the word “Etruscan” is compared with the Roman name of this people – “tusci”, and the self-name “Rasena” is associated with the Greek name of the Etruscans – “Tyrseni”, then the closeness of the Etruscans and Russians no longer looks so obvious.

There is enough evidence that the Etruscans could leave the territory of Italy.

One of the reasons for the exodus may have been climate change, accompanied by drought. It coincided with the disappearance of this people in the 1st century BC.

Presumably, the Etruscan migration routes should have extended to the north, which was more favorable for farming. Evidence of this, for example, are urns discovered in Upper Germany for storing the ashes of the deceased, which are similar to Etruscan artifacts.

It is likely that some of the Etruscans reached the territory of the present Baltic states, where they could assimilate with the Slavic peoples. However, the version that the Etruscans laid the foundations of the Russian ethnic group is not supported by anything.

The main problem is the absence of the sounds “b”, “d” and “g” in the Etruscan language - the structure of the larynx did not allow the Etruscans to pronounce them. This feature of the vocal apparatus is more reminiscent not of Russians, but of Finns or Estonians.

One of the recognized apologists of Etruscology, the French scientist Zachary Mayani, turns the vector of Etruscan settlement immediately to the east. In his opinion, the descendants of the Etruscans are modern Albanians. Among the justifications for his hypothesis, the scientist cites the fact that the capital of Albania, Tirana, bears one of the names of the Etruscans - “Tyrrenians”.

The overwhelming majority of scientists believe that the Etruscans simply disappeared into the ethnic group of the peoples who inhabited the Roman Empire. The speed of assimilation of the Etruscans may well be a consequence of their small numbers. According to archaeologists, the population of Etruria, even at the time of its heyday, did not exceed 25 thousand people.

Lost in translation

The study of Etruscan writing has been carried out since the 16th century. What languages ​​were used as a basis to decipher Etruscan inscriptions: Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Celtic, Finnish, even the languages ​​of the American Indians. But all attempts were unsuccessful. “Etruscan is unreadable,” said skeptical linguists.

However, scientists still achieved certain results.

They established that the Etruscan alphabet originates from Greek and consists of 26 letters.

Moreover, the alphabet borrowed from the Greeks did not correspond well to the peculiarities of the phonetics of the Etruscan language - some sounds, depending on the context, had to be denoted by different letters. Moreover, late Etruscan texts were guilty of omitting vowel sounds, which created an almost impossible task of deciphering them.

And yet, some linguists, in their words, managed to read part of the Etruscan inscriptions. Three 19th century scientists at once - the Pole Tadeusz Wolanski, the Italian Sebastiano Ciampi and the Russian Alexander Chertkov - declared that the key to deciphering Etruscan texts lies in the Slavic languages.

Russian linguist Valery Chudinov followed in Volansky’s footsteps, proposing that the Etruscan language be considered the successor to the “Slavic runic writing.” Official science is skeptical about both Chudinov’s attempts to “antiquate” Slavic writing and his ability to read inscriptions where an inexperienced person sees a “play of nature.”

Modern researcher Vladimir Shcherbakov tries to simplify the problem of translating Etruscan inscriptions, explaining that the Etruscans wrote as they heard. With this method of decoding, many Etruscan words in Shcherbakov sound completely “Russian”: “ita” - “this”, “ama” - “pit”, “tes” - “forest”.

Linguist Peter Zolin notes in this regard that any attempt to read texts of such antiquity using modern words is absurd.

Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Andrei Zaliznik adds: “An amateur linguist willingly immerses himself in the discussion of written monuments of the past, completely forgetting (or simply not knowing anything) that in the past the language he knew looked completely different from what it is now.”

Today, most historians are convinced that the Etruscan inscriptions will never be deciphered.

University: VZFEI

Introduction 3-4

Architecture 5-7

Painting 7-9

Pottery art 10

Sculpture 11-13

Conclusion 14

Literature 15

Introduction

Civilization(from the Latin language - state, civil) - a special socio-cultural community of people with its inherent economic, political and cultural specifics.

Etruscan civilization- This is the predecessor of the Ancient Roman civilization, it is the first period in the development of the artistic culture of Ancient Rome. The Etruscan civilization arose in the 7th-4th centuries. BC. The Etruscans appeared in the north-west of the Apennine Peninsula at the turn of the 2nd-1st millennium BC. The territory they occupied became known as Etruria (modern Tuscany). In ancient times, the Etruscans were called “peoples of the sea” because they brought terror and awe to Mediterranean traders and sailors. Disputes about the origin of the Etruscans are still ongoing. Perhaps they came from Asia Minor, perhaps from Lydia, but this is only a guess. It is also not known what race the Etruscans belong to. The past of this people is shrouded in mystery, because scientists still do not fully understand their writing, and the Romans, freed from the power of the Etruscans in the 4th century. BC, wiped out their cities from the face of the earth.

Many Etruscan monuments are known, but the content of the myths that are embodied in them is unknown. There are many Etruscan inscriptions, but they are very difficult to read, although the Etruscans used the Greek alphabet. They wrote from right to left and without spaces between words. The Etruscan gods are very similar to the Greek ones, and the names of the gods, in all likelihood, were eventually used by the Romans to call their own, for example: Uni - Juno, Menva - Minerva, Tini - Jupiter. Numerous images of Etruscan gods are found on mirrors, coins, and ceramic vases (the functions of these gods are special and have not been fully studied). The servants of the gods were numerous Laz demons. The universe seemed to the Etruscans in the form of three stages - heaven, earth and the underground kingdom, connected by passages and faults in the earth's crust, along which the souls of the dead descended to Hades. Pits for sacrifices to the underground gods and souls of ancestors, which existed in every city, were similar to faults. It is also known for sure that the Romans borrowed from the Etruscans gladiator fights and baiting of animals, stage games and sacrificial rituals, fortune telling and belief in evil and good spirits. The Etruscans, like the Egyptians, believed in life after death, so the main monuments preserved after the Etruscans are associated with burial.

Architecture

The Etruscans left behind entire “cities of the dead” - cemeteries, which sometimes exceeded the cities of the living in size. One got the impression that life was happening right here, maybe different, otherworldly, but life. The Etruscans had a cult of the dead: they believed in the afterlife and wanted to make it as pleasant as possible for the dead. Therefore, their art, which served death, was full of life and bright joy. The cult of ancestors and the veneration of the dead contributed to the development of a special type of tomb among the Etruscans, which were more like a dwelling with richly furnished chambers. The only thing that reminded us of the purpose of these structures were the funeral urns in them in the shape of a human figure, in the shape of a house, and so on, or monumental sarcophagi with sculptural images of the dead on the lids. Reclining on them are sculptural images of married couples (in all likelihood, resembling the dead) having a friendly conversation or a meal. Hugging each other, they gesticulate cheerfully, discuss something heatedly, forgetting that their bed is a bed of death and they will never rise from it. BUT they do not believe in death, but are only waiting for the transition to a world no less joyful than the earthly other world.

The Etruscan tombs were magnificently decorated, decorated with colorful frescoes depicting scenes of death, travel in the afterlife, and the trial of the souls of the dead. The paintings on the walls of the tombs depicted the best aspects of life - festivals with music and dancing, sports competitions, hunting scenes or a pleasant stay with the family. The tombs were filled with furniture and rich utensils, they contained many luxurious funeral gifts, even carts, and the dead were showered with gold jewelry. Etruscan tombs were varied in shape - chamber tombs with a bulk mound (bulk mounds - tumuli), rock, and shaft. The Etruscan tombs had geometric shapes, and this is no coincidence. In ancient times, the shape of objects carried a deep meaning, for example: a square was a symbol of the earth, and a circle was a symbol of the sky. If the deceased was buried in a round tomb, it means that in the eyes of the living he was already an inhabitant of the sky, that is, a god. Therefore, the history of Etruscan art begins and ends with tombs.

It is known for sure that the Etruscans were the first to use a regular layout when building a city, but they adopted it from the Greeks

planning city blocks in a checkerboard pattern, where an acropolis with temples and altars was built at the highest point of the city.

Their cities (Tarquinia, etc.) were surrounded by powerful walls made of huge stone blocks. It was from them that the Romans learned to build bridges and arches, pave roads and drain swamps.

Based on Greek images, the Etruscans created a type of temple that stood on a podium (i.e., a high pedestal), with a canopy in front of the entrance to the building or a gallery with arches. Etruscan temples were built from wood and brick. The Etruscan temple was square in plan, decorated with columns on three sides (wooden floor beams made it possible to place the columns at a considerable distance from each other), the roof had a strong slope, and rows of painted clay slabs served as a frieze. The temple stood on a high base (stone foundation) and had a deep portico that opened into three rooms at once into the depths of the temple. This was due to the fact that the Etruscans worshiped the gods in triads - triplets.

The main triad was Tinia, Menrva, Uni. If we draw an analogy with the Greeks and Romans, we get the following - Zeus, Hera, Athena and Jupiter, Juno, Minerva. The Etruscan temple hid everything hidden inside itself, and it was not accessible or visible. The walls of the temples were decorated with terracotta reliefs depicting scenes borrowed from Greek mythology or related to sacrifices and bloody battles. The will of the gods could be interpreted and conveyed to people only by priests and soothsayers who mastered the art of divination by the flights of birds, by lightning, and by the entrails of animals. Legends say that the main shrine of the Romans - their first temple of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva on the Capitol (one of the 7 hills on which Rome was built) - was created by the Etruscans. It probably differed little from Etruscan buildings both in architecture and in the chosen material for the buildings. The Etruscans also left a legacy to the Romans - the technique of raising vaults. Thus, the Romans achieved unprecedented heights in the construction of vaulted ceilings.

Painting

The Etruscans were not only skilled sculptors, their tombs are replete with the bright colors of fresco painting. The walls of Etruscan tombs were decorated with frescoes. The scenes often depicted Etruscan feasts after

solemn funerals of noble people. There are also scenes of equestrian competitions, fist fights, fencing games, hunting and fishing. There are even images of the bliss of souls in the kingdom of the dead. And if it were not for the figures of mourners or priests, reminiscent of the funerary meaning of the paintings, one could simply forget about this, since the human figures on the frescoes are filled with ebullient energy and the joy of life. Feasting people enjoying the holiday; fishing; hunting; Those who go in for sports live and rejoice in the other world. Among them, on the frescoes, there is the god Fufluns - the Etruscan Dionysus, who is endowed with special power to grant immortality. It is interesting that, for example, in the tomb of the “leopards” (about 520 BC) in Tarquinia, the god Fufluns is depicted not in human form, but as a huge crater in the center of one of the wall frescoes. Elsewhere in the same tomb, Fufluns is represented as a pillar to which leopards bow, hence the name of the tomb. All this suggests that the painting of Etruscan tombs cannot be perceived only as “pictures from life.” They contain a strictly structured, complex religious and mythological system, which is still largely unclear. The paintings of Etruscan tombs in their technique are close to the Greek ones of the archaic period. The same contour of lines, done with different colors. The outline of the Etruscan design is not as elegant and subtle as that of the Greeks, but still quite expressive. But in other respects the Etruscans are much inferior to the Greeks. Their painting lacks that sense of proportion for which Greek art was famous. The fresco figures of Etruscan tombs are sometimes visible on the light tones of the wall plaster, and sometimes someone’s attire “jumps out” as a bright spot from the entire composition. Among Etruscan artists, images of human figures do not come to life. For the Etruscans, this task turned out to be insoluble. Their figures either freeze in eternal peace or tense in imaginary action.

Pottery art

The Etruscans decorated their ceramics with plastic and modeling. The Etruscans decorated funeral vessels intended for the ashes of the deceased, the so-called canopies, with lids in the form of human faces, which, in all likelihood, were not devoid of portrait features - “facial” urns. The Etruscan canopy is a complex combination of a vessel and a human figure into one whole. The master of the canopy sought to humanize the vessel, that is, to turn it into a monument to a deceased person, hence such a strange mixture of forms. Etruscan ceramics were also special. Vessels of very complex shapes with molded handles, molded or engraved decoration and a surface that give the impression that this is a vessel made of metal have survived to this day. In fact, the Etruscans possessed a special technique for making ceramic vessels; they produced them in black color with a surface that had a matte sheen; this style was called bucchero. An even more ancient method was when the ceramics had a dark red color with the same matte sheen. This technique was called impasto.

Sculpture

The Etruscan temple had sculptural decorations. The pediments of the temple were filled with figures of deities, but made not in stone, but in clay (terracotta). The edges of the roof were decorated with terracotta masks: Gargon Medusas; Satyrs, Selenes and Maenads, constant companions of the god Fufluns. They were brightly colored and were intended to protect the interior of the temple from the invasion of evil gods and demons.

Etruscan sculptors loved to work in bronze and clay. Their work often had a functional, that is, practical, significance. They decorated mirrors, tall figured lamps - candelabra, tripod-vessels, stands for anything with a base in the form of three legs. It is known that in Etruscan art the technique of bronze casting reached high perfection. The best monument of Etruscan sculpture is “Capitolian

she-wolf”, which became the symbol of the “eternal city” - Ancient Rome. The legend of the she-wolf who suckled the twins Remus and Romulus, the founders of the city of Rome, served as the theme for the sculptural group. The Etruscan master managed to embody in this image both a formidable animal and a merciful mother who fed a person. The she-wolf has retracted sides and ribs protruding through the skin, an expressive muzzle with a bared mouth and alert ears, and her front legs are elastically tense. An ornamental pattern of the mane is applied with fine chasing, conveying the curls of the fur. But the main thing is that the master was able to show the spiritual power of wild nature.

Etruscan sculptors sought not so much to convey the structural features of the human body, but to emotionally influence the viewer, which was facilitated by the bright contrasting coloring of the statues. Terracotta figures - a warrior, Apollo from Vei, the torso of Hercules, a sculptural image of a married couple on the lid of a sarcophagus - amaze with their vitality and internal dynamism. Apparently, the characteristic smile on the faces of Etruscan statues was borrowed from the Greeks - it strongly resembles the “archaic” smile of early Greek statues. And yet, these painted terracottas retained the facial features inherent in Etruscan sculptors - a large nose, slightly slanted almond-shaped eyes under heavy eyelids, full lips. A joyful look, smiles on faces, liveliness of the entire figure - these are the features that distinguish the works of Etruscan sculptors during the heyday of Etrurian art. Life was full of joy and confidence in a future happy existence, and this was reflected in the works of Etruscan craftsmen, even decorating the tombs.

Sculpture was widespread, serving the function

architectural decor. An example is the terracotta statue of the god Apollo that adorned the upper corner of the roof of the temple in Veii, which was presumably made by the master Vulca in 520-500. BC. This is the only name of the famous Etruscan sculptor that has come down to us. The statue of Apollo shows a man with an athletic build, which can be seen through thin clothes. The master managed to convey rapid movement. Apollo's figure is full of strength, energy and youth, his facial expression is filled with bright joy, and a smile is frozen on his lips.

An unknown master made it from limestone in the middle of the 5th century. BC work called “Master of Matuta”. It represents the eternal theme - mother and child, the brightest and most heartfelt theme of the world. However, this image is shrouded in deep melancholy. The Etruscan mother no longer has vitality and no interest in life; she has a dead child in her arms. “Master Matuta” was not just a group, it served as an urn for the ashes. The thought of the afterlife among the Etruscans turned from joyful to sad.

3rd century BC - a time of unprecedented flowering of Etruscan portrait art. The sculptors' attention focused on the person himself and his character, mood, and unique facial features. The plastic works decorating the Etruscan tombs of the bygone era amaze with their ugly faces and limp poses, swollen bodies. But the art of portraiture has risen to such a high level that in these works, repulsive with their external forms, there were unique and highly artistic faces, in each of which a unique spiritual world was conveyed; not only personal

the doom of a particular person, but also the doom of the existence of Etruria itself.

Not only were the last centuries of the ancient world approaching, but the predictions of the Etruscan soothsayers about the decline of the Etruscans were visibly confirmed. But Roman veterans were strong on their lands, peoples mixed, the Etruscans became Latinized and forgot their language. Over time, the Etruscans came to terms with their fate, stopped perceiving the Romans as conquerors, and became simply fellow citizens of the same country for each other. An example of this is the portrait of the orator Aulus Metellus, which was made in bronze by an unknown artist after 89 BC. Aulus Metellus crosses the border of eras and peoples. He testifies that now there are no vanquished or victors, and from now on the Apennines are inhabited by a single Roman people.

Conclusion

Culture of the Etruscan people, one of the most mysterious peoples of the world became the basis for the development of a new nation - the Romans. Etruscans

disappeared, they disappeared among the newcomers, but taught the Romans how to build and defend themselves, forge weapons and build aqueducts (a multi-tiered or single-tiered bridge with a tray or pipeline through which water is transferred through ravines, gorges, roads, river valleys).

The fine art of the Etruscans revealed to us the rich soul of this amazing people, who were attentive to reality and strived for its accurate, concrete transmission. Therefore, the famous portrait art of the Romans has roots of Etruscan origin, it originates from the small heads of funeral canopics and plastic portraits, sarcophagus lids.

The customs, rituals and beliefs of the Etruscans were also adopted by the Romans and later reworked, according to new times and new conditions of existence. Therefore, it cannot be said that the Etruscans disappeared from the face of the earth; they live in geographical names, and in the monuments they left behind, and in the history of the Great Roman Empire.

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Their borders converged in the area where Rome arose.

The Etruscans, who were the most powerful tribe in Italy before the Romans, lived in a country rich in olives and grapes in the valleys and slopes of the Apennines, along the coast of this region, and from the mouth of the Padus to the northern bank of the Tiber. They early formed a federation consisting of twelve independent cities (the Etruscan Twelve Cities). These Etruscan cities were: in the north-west Cortona, Arretium, Clusium and Perusia (near Lake Trasimene); in the southeast of Volaterra, Vetulonia (which had its harbor at Telamon), Rusella and Volsinia; in the south of Tarquinia, Caere (Agilla), Veii, Faleria (near Mount Sorakte, rising alone on the plain). At first, all these states had kings, but early (even before the 4th century) the kingship was abolished, and all spiritual and temporal power began to belong to the aristocracy. There was no union government in the Etruscan federation. During the war, some cities probably entered into alliances with each other by voluntary agreement.

Etruria and the conquests of the Etruscans in the VIII-VI centuries. BC

The legend of Demaratus indicates that the Etruscan federation from an early time was in relations with the commercial and industrial city of Corinth. She says that the Corinthian Demaratus settled in Tarquinia, that the painter Clephant and the sculptors Euheir (“skillful-handed”) and Eugram (“skillful draftsman”) came with him, that he brought the alphabet to Tarquinia. Written monuments and drawings that have come down to us from the Etruscans also show Greek influence on this wonderful people. Their language shows no trace of kinship with either Greek or Italic; We have not yet learned to understand what is written on it, but we reliably see that it did not belong to the Indo-Germanic family. The Etruscans borrowed the alphabet from the Greeks, no doubt in very ancient times, and not through the Latins, but directly from the Greek colonists of Southern Italy, as can be seen from the differences in the forms and meanings of the letters of the Etruscan alphabet from the Latin ones. Clay urns and other vessels with black designs found at Tarquinia and Caere also show the connection between Etruscan painting and plastic art and Greek art: these vases are strikingly similar to Greek ones from the ancient period.

Etruscan trade and industry

The development of cities was facilitated by the fact that the Etruscans took up trade and industry. Since a very long time, Phoenician, Carthaginian and Greek merchant ships sailed to the Etruscan coast, which had good harbors; Agilla, located near the mouth of the Tiber, was a convenient pier for the exchange of goods.

Judging by the shape of the Etruscan vases and the exceptional love of Etruscan artists for depicting scenes from Greek myths and tales of heroes, it must be assumed that the school of art that flourished in southern Etruria was a branch of the Peloponnesian school. But the Etruscans did not borrow the later, more advanced style from the Greeks; they remained forever with the ancient Greek. The reason for this could be that the influence of the Greeks on the Etruscan coast subsequently decreased. It weakened, perhaps because the Etruscans, in addition to honest maritime trade, were also engaged in robbery; their piracy made the Tyrrhenian name a terror to the Greeks. Another reason for the weakening of Greek influence on the Etruscans was that they developed their own commercial and industrial activities. Owning the coastal region from Tarquinia and Caere to Capua, to the bays and capes near Vesuvius, very convenient for navigation, the Etruscans themselves soon began to export expensive products of their country to foreign lands: iron mined on Ilva (Etalia, i.e. Elbe), Campanian and Volaterran copper, Populonian silver and amber that reached them from the Baltic Sea. By bringing goods themselves to foreign markets, they made more profit than when trading through intermediaries. They began to strive to oust the Greeks from the northwestern part of the Mediterranean Sea. For example, they, in alliance with the Carthaginians, drove the Phocians out of Corsica and forced the inhabitants of this poor island to pay them tribute with its products: resin, wax, honey. In addition to pottery, the Etruscans were famous for their foundry art and metal work in general.

Etruscan civilization

Etruscan funeral urn. VI century BC

It is very likely that the Romans borrowed their instruments of military music and attire from the Etruscans, just as they borrowed from them their haruspices, religious rituals, folk festivals, construction art, and land surveying rules. Ancient writers say that from Etruria the Romans took their religious-dramatic games, circus games, common theaters in which actors, dancers and jesters played crude farces; that they also borrowed from the Etruscans gladiator fights, magnificent processions of victors returning from war (triumphs) and many other customs. These ancient reports are confirmed by the latest research. The development of the building art of the Etruscan civilization is evidenced by the remains of huge structures, such as, for example, the colossal walls of Volaterr and other cities, the tomb of Porsena in Clusia, the ruins of huge temples, the remains of huge mounds, roads, tombs and other underground structures with arches, canals (for example, called Philistine ditches). The very name “Tyrrenians”, in the ancient form “Tyrseni”, is derived by ancient writers from the fact that the Etruscans built high towers (“thyrsi”) on the seashore to repel enemy landings. Like the Cyclopean walls of the Peloponnese, the structures of the Etruscan civilization are built of large blocks of stone, sometimes hewn, sometimes rough, and lying on top of each other without cement.

The development of technical arts among the Etruscans was favored by the fact that their land had a lot of good materials: soft limestone and tuff were easy to cut to build strong walls; Fat plastic clay took all forms well. The abundance of copper, iron, gold, and silver led to foundry, to the minting of coins, to the manufacture of all kinds of metal tools and accessories. The main difference between Greek and Etruscan art was that among the Greeks art strove for ideal goals and developed according to the laws of beauty, while among the Etruscans it served only the needs of practical life and luxury; remaining fixed in its ideals, Etruscan art tried to replace their improvement with the preciousness of material and pretentiousness of style. It has forever preserved the character of handicraft work.

Social system of the Etruscans

The Etruscan people were formed from a mixture of different tribes: the newcomers conquered the former population and placed them in the position of a class subject to them; We see this reliably from many facts that have been preserved in historical times. The diversity of the population is especially evidenced by the fact that the Etruscans had a class of subject people, which the rest of the Italian peoples did not have; the subject people were, without a doubt, descendants of the former population of the country, conquered by the newcomers. The Etruscan cities were ruled by an aristocracy, which was both a military and priestly class: it performed religious rites, commanded the army, and carried out justice; the owner of the estate was at the court the representative of the commoner under his control in his litigation; commoners were subordinate to the owners, whose land they cultivated, paid taxes to their masters or worked for them. “Without this enslavement of the masses of the people, it would hardly have been possible for the Etruscans to erect their enormous structures,” says Niebuhr. Scientists have different opinions about which tribes were the classes of owners and subject people. But in all likelihood the natives belonged to the Umbrian tribe, which in ancient times occupied a very wide area, or were closely related to them. It seems that the descendants of this former population remained especially numerous in the southern parts of the Etruscan land between the Tsimin forest and the Tiber. The dominant, so-called Etruscan tribe, undoubtedly came from the north from the Po Valley. Ancient writers had a very widespread opinion that the Etruscans moved to Italy from Asia Minor; it is also proven by modern research.

Aristocrats called Lucumoni ruled the Etruscan cities. Their general meeting probably decided on union affairs and, in cases of need, elected a union ruler, who, as a distinction of his rank, had an ivory chair, called a curule, and a toga with a purple trim, and who was accompanied by twelve police officers (lictors) who had bunches of sticks with an ax inserted into them (chamfers, fasces). But this elected head and high priest of the union had quite little power over the cities and aristocrats. The Etruscans loved to give outward shine to their rulers, but did not give them independent power. The twelve cities that made up the union had equal rights, and their independence was little constrained by the allied ruler. Even for the defense of the country they were probably rarely united. The Etruscans, alien to the Italians, early became accustomed to sending mercenary troops to war.

The Etruscans did not have a free middle class; the oligarchic social system was inevitably associated with unrest; therefore, in the Etruscan states, a decline in energy began early, resulting in political impotence. Agriculture and industry once flourished in them, they had many military and trading ships, they fought with the Greeks and Carthaginians for dominion in the western part of the Mediterranean Sea; but the enslavement of the masses weakened the Etruscan states; The townspeople and villagers had no moral energy.

The Etruscan aristocracy, which at the same time was the priestly class, left with its monopoly those astronomical, physical and other information on which worship was based. The Lucumons performed public sacrifices and fortune-telling using sacrificial animals (haruspices), established an annual calendar, i.e., holiday times, and managed military and peaceful public affairs. They alone knew how to explain signs and recognize the will of the gods from them; They alone knew the laws and customs that had to be observed when founding cities, building temples, when surveying the land, when setting up a military camp. They spread the Etruscan culture across the Pada plain, brought it into the mountains, taught the wild mountain tribes the simplest crafts, and gave them the alphabet. In the early days of Rome, as Livy says, noble Roman youths came to them to learn sacred knowledge. Among the Etruscans, women could also interpret the will of the gods. The Romans had a legend about the soothsayer Tanaquila, the wife of Tarquin the Elder; The Romans kept her spinning wheel in the temple of Sanca.

The Etruscan culture was at a fairly high level of development; the ruins of their structures testify to the enormity and daring of their architectural and engineering work; their painted vases, copper statues, beautiful dishes, elegant decorations, their coins and carved stones surprise us with their beautiful technique; but Etruscan art and, in general, all Etruscan education did not have a folk character, were deprived of creative power, therefore they did not have strength, they were alien to progressive development. The Etruscan culture soon stagnated and was subjected to the numbness of craft routine. Knowledge did not have a beneficial, softening effect on social life among the Etruscans. It remained the privilege of the ruling class, isolated from the people by the right of birthright into a closed caste, was inextricably linked with religion and surrounded by the horrors of dark superstition.

The Etruscans loved to excess to enjoy the abundant gifts of nature of their country and early indulged in luxury. Twice a day they ate long and a lot; This gluttony seemed strange and bad to the Greeks, who were moderate in food. The Etruscans loved effeminate music, skillful dancing, the cheerful singing of the Fescennian folk festivals, and the terrible spectacles of gladiatorial combat. Their houses were full of patterned carpets, silver dishes, bright paintings, and all sorts of expensive things. The Etruscan servants consisted of whole crowds of richly dressed male and female slaves. Their art did not have Greek idealism and was alien to development; there was no moderation and simplicity in their way of life. The Etruscans did not have that strict family life like the rest of the Italic tribes, there was no complete subordination of the wife and children to the will of the householder, there was no strict sense of legality and justice.

Etruscan painting. Around 480 BC.

Etruscan colonies

The Etruscans founded colonies, the most famous of which were: in the north Fezula, Florence, Pistoria, Luca, Luna, Pisa; in the south Capua and Nola. Etruscan names are also found on the southern bank of the Tiber. Tradition says that on the Caelian hill there was an Etruscan village founded by a newcomer from Volsinia, Celes Vibenna, and after his death, which had as its ruler his faithful associate, Mastarna; in Rome, on the lowland adjacent to the Palatine Hill, there was a part of the city called Etruscan; this name shows that there was once an Etruscan colony here too. Some scholars even believed that the legend about the Tarquin kings means the period of Etruscan rule over Rome and that Mastarna is the king whom the Roman chronicles call Servius Tullius. The Etruscan colonies preserved the laws, customs, and federal structure of their homeland.

Etruscan gods

Alien to the Old Italian tribes by origin, language, way of life, character, culture, the Etruscans also had a religion significantly different from their beliefs and rituals. Greek influence, manifested throughout the Etruscan civilization and explained by their trade relations with Greece and with the Italian colonies of the Greeks, is also found in the Etruscan religion; It is obvious that the Etruscans from a very long time succumbed to the attractiveness of Greek culture and mythology, the spread of which among different peoples united different religions and introduced a cosmopolitan character into aesthetic ideas and their poetry.

Etruscan painting. Feast scene. V century BC

The Etruscans still had their own deities, who were highly respected in those cities in which they were objects of local cult. Such were in Volsinia the patron goddess of the Etruscan federation Voltumna and Nortia (Northia), the goddess of time and fate, in whose temple a nail was driven into the crossbar annually to count the years; in Caere and in the seaside city of Pyrgi such were the forest god Silvanus and the benevolent “mother Matuta,” the goddess of the day of birth and every birth, at the same time the patroness of ships, bringing them safely to the harbor. But besides these native deities, we find among the Etruscans many Greek gods and heroes; They especially revered Apollo, Hercules and the heroes of the Trojan war. The Etruscans respected the Delphic Temple so much that a special treasury was built in its sacred enclosure for their offerings.

The Etruscan king of the gods, the thunderer Tina, whom the Romans called Jupiter, corresponded to Zeus; the Etruscan goddess Cupra (Juno), goddess of the citadel of the city of Veii, patroness of cities and women, corresponded to Hera, and her service was accompanied by the same magnificent games and processions. Menerfa (Minerva) was, like Pallas Athena, the divine power of reason, the patroness of crafts, the female art of spinning wool and weaving, the inventor of the flute, which was played during worship, and the military trumpet; the goddess of heavenly heights, throwing lightning from them, she was also the goddess of military art. Apollo (Aplou) was also among the Etruscans the god of light, a healer of diseases, and a cleanser from sins. Vertumnus, the god of fruits, who changed his appearance according to the seasons, the correct change of which he produced by the rotation of the sky, was among the Etruscans, like the Greek Dionysus, the personification of the course of annual changes in vegetation and in field labor; the change of flowers by fruits and the diversity of vegetation are expressed by the fact that Vertumnus takes on different forms and different emblems. Its main holiday, called Vertumnalia by the Romans, took place in October, at the end of the grape and fruit harvest, and was accompanied by folk games, amusements and a fair. The Etruscans borrowed from the Greeks, and from the Etruscans other Italic peoples borrowed the system of six gods and six goddesses, which was generally accepted in the colonies of the Greeks, as in Greece itself. These twelve deities formed a council, and therefore the Romans, who borrowed this idea of ​​them from the Etruscans, were called consentes “co-sitters”; they ruled the course of affairs in the universe, and each of them was in charge of human affairs in one of the twelve months of the year. But they were lesser deities; Above them, the Etruscans had other deities, the mysterious forces of fate, the “veiled gods,” not known by name or number, who lived in the innermost region of the sky and grouped around Jupiter, the king of the gods and ruler of the universe, who questioned them; Their activity manifested itself to the human spirit only during great catastrophes.

Spirits in the Etruscan religion

In addition to these "covered" and lower deities, who were independent personal beings, separated from the infinite divine power, the Etruscans, other Italic peoples and subsequently the Romans, like the Greeks, had an innumerable number of spirits, the activity of which, indefinite in its extent, supported the life of nature and of people. These were the patron spirits of clans, communities, localities; for a family, city, district, under the patronage of famous spirits, serving them was of the greatest importance. Among the Etruscans, whose character was gloomy, prone to painful thoughts, the activity of these spirits, and especially the terrible side of it, had a very wide scope.

The cult of death and ideas about the underworld among the Etruscans

The Etruscan religion, equally far from the clear rationalism of the Roman and the bright, humane plasticism of the Greek, was, like the character of the people, gloomy and fantastic; symbolic numbers played an important role in it; there was a lot of cruelty in its dogmas and rituals. The Etruscans often sacrificed slaves and prisoners of war to angry gods; the Etruscan kingdom of the dead, where the souls of the dead wandered (manes, as the Romans called them) and mute deities, Mantus and Mania, ruled, was a world of horror and suffering; in it, fierce creatures in the form of women, called furies by the Romans, tormented the dead; there, to suffer from beatings with sticks and biting snakes, Harun, a winged old man with a large hammer, took souls.

Chimera from Arezzo. An example of Etruscan art. V century BC

Fortune telling among the Etruscans

The Etruscans were very inclined to mysterious teachings and rituals; They greatly developed and from them passed on to the Romans state fortune telling (divinatio, as this art was called by the Romans): fortune telling by the flight of birds (augury), by the flash of lightning (fulgury), by the entrails of sacrificial animals (haruspicy); the art of fortune telling, based on superstition and deception, was developed by the Etruscans and acquired such respect among the Romans and the Italians in general that they did not undertake any important state business without questioning the gods through auguries or haruspices; when unfavorable signs occurred, rituals of reconciliation with the gods were performed; extraordinary natural phenomena (prodigia), happy or unlucky omens (omina) had an influence on all decisions. This feature of the Italians came from their deep faith in fate. The belief in oracles, in omens by which the gods give advice and warnings, borrowed from the Etruscans, was as strong in the Italian folk religion and then in the official religion of Rome as in any other, and the service of the deities of fate, Fortune and Fate (Fatum) was not was nowhere as widespread as in Italy.

The Romans adopted many types of fortune telling from the Etruscans. Auguries were the name given to fortune-telling about the future, about the will of the gods by the flight or cry of certain birds and especially eagles. The augur (“bird teller”) stood in an open place (templum), from which the entire sky was visible, and divided the sky into parts with a crooked rod (lituus); The flight of birds from some parts foreshadowed happiness, from others - misfortune. Another way to find out from the actions of the birds whether the planned business would be successful was to give food to the sacred chickens and see if they eat; Not only the priests, but also all patricians who wanted to occupy government positions should have known the rules of this fortune-telling in Rome. The fulgurators observed the appearance of lightning (fulgur), through which the gods also proclaimed their will; if the lightning was unfavorable, then rituals were performed to soften the anger of the gods; - The Etruscans considered lightning to be the most reliable of all heavenly signs. The place where lightning fell was sanctified; They sacrificed a lamb on it, made a cover on it in the shape of a covered frame of a well, and surrounded it with a wall. Most often, the Etruscans performed fortune-telling through haruspices; they consisted in the fact that the fortuneteller who performed them, the haruspex, examined the heart, liver, other internal parts, and sacrificial animals; the rules of these fortune-telling were developed in great detail by the Etruscans. The art of fortune telling - auspices, as the Romans called them, was taught to the Etruscans by Tages, a dwarf with the face of a child and gray hair, who emerged from the ground near Tarquinia in a plowed field; Having taught the Lucumoni (Etruscan priests) the science of fortune telling, he immediately died. Tages's books, containing the doctrine of lightning, of fortune-telling, of the rules that must be observed when founding cities, of land surveying, were the source of all Etruscan and Roman manuals for the art of fortune-telling. The Etruscans had schools in which the art of auspices was taught by the Lucumoni, who knew this science well.

Literature about the Etruscans

Zalessky N.N. Etruscans in Northern Italy. L., 1959

Richardson E. The Etruscans: Their Art and Civilization. Chicago, 1964 (in English)

Mayani Z. The Etruscans begin to speak. M., 1966

Hampton K. The Etruscans and the Antiquities of Etruria, London, 1969 (in English)

Burian Jan, Moukhova Bogumila. Mysterious Etruscans. M., 1970

Pallotino M. Etruschi. London, 1975 (in English)

Kondratov A. A. Etruscans - mystery number one. M., 1977

Nemirovsky A.I. Etruscans. From myth to history. M., 1983

Sokolov G.I. Etruscan art. M., 1990

Brendel O. Etruscan Art. New Haven, 1995 (in English)

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