Etruscan civilization

is the name given today to the culture and way of life of a people historically thought to be of ancient Italy, whom ancient Romans called Etrusci or Tusci, ancient Greeks called Tyrrhenoi or Tyrrsenoi, and who called themselves Rasenna, syncopated to Rasna or Raśna. As distinguished by its own language, the civilization endured from an unknown prehistoric time prior to the foundation of Rome until its complete assimilation to Italic Rome in the Roman Republic; numerous vestiges of Etruscan culture do survive the Roman conquest. At its maximum extent during the foundation period of Rome and the Roman kingdom, it flourished in three confederacies: of Etruria, of the Po valley and Latium and of Campania. Rome was sited in Etruscan territory. There is considerable evidence that early Rome was dominated by Etruscans until the Romans sacked Veii in 396 BC.

There is also evidence of different origins than prviously believed, which seem to corroborate what Herodotus said ("The History of Herodotus" parallel English/Greek, tr. G. C. Macaulay, [1890]). Dr Phil Perkins of The Open University tells us about his research into the Etruscans, and some recent scientific contributions to the debate about Etruscan origins.

Culture that is identifiably and certainly Etruscan developed in Italy after about 800 BC approximately over the range of the preceding Iron Age Villanovan culture.

The latter gave way in the 7th century to an increasingly orientalizing culture that was influenced by Greek traders and Greek neighbors in Magna Graecia, the Hellenic civilization of southern Italy. Of the various theories about the ethnic origins of the people who were culturally Villanovan, the non-committal expression "Proto-Etruscan" is preferred: if the Etruscans were not already on the Villanovan range, they would have had to enter Italy in numbers from the sea, have fought a major war to displace the indigenes, and to have developed into three confederacies of 36 cities, all within 100 years and without leaving any legends or other evidence.

"Pyrgi tablets"

The Etruscans are generally believed to have spoken a non-Indo-European language. After generations of speculation, secure knowledge of the Etruscan language only began with the discovery of the bilingual Phoenician-Etruscan Pyrgi Tablets found at the port of Caere in 1964, and this knowledge is still incomplete.

As distinguished by its unique language, this civilization endured from the time of the earliest Etruscan inscriptions (ca. 700 BC) until its assimilation into the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. At its maximum extent, during the foundational period of Rome and the Roman kingdom, it flourished in three confederacies of cities: of Etruria, of the Po valley with the eastern Alps, and of Latium and Campania. Rome was founded within or adjacent to Etruscan territory, and there is considerable evidence that early Rome was dominated by Etruscans until the Romans sacked Veii in 396 BC.

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Etruscans Part 1-2
Etruscan DNA? Part 1-2