Who were the Etruscans

The Ancient Age is made up of a large number of civilizations that have left their mark over the centuries. In this lesson from a TEACHER we will talk about who were the etruscans, a town that inhabited Tuscany, which was called by the Romans themselves as Etruria. This town is considered the ancestors of Italians and, therefore, we will talk about its history, its achievements and its legacies.

We begin the lesson on who the Etruscans were, by summarizing their territorial history. Today it is not known exactly where they could come from said people, although the most accepted theories are:

• Eastern: some authors warn that possibly around the XIII century a. C. this town left Lidia to end up in the Tuscany region. This theory is based on the great technological advance that they had, with respect to the rest of the surrounding populations.
• From North: the other great strong theory is based on the possibility that the Etruscans would come from the area of ​​Switzerland. This trend was very fashionable between the XIX-XX centuries, that is, at the height of nationalism and defended that the Etruscan language was closely related to the populations of those places.
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• Autochthonous: it is the least followed theory and is based on the fact that indications of possible populations closely related to the Etruscans for the rest of the Italian peninsula and for part of the Mediterranean. These statements are not very meticulous, since the Etruscans soon began to travel the Mediterranean, as they were great sailors.

Be that as it may, the Etruscans they arrived towards the XIII century a. C. to the Italian Peninsula settling in Tuscany. From there, little by little they were expanding through various areas such as Umbria, Lazio, Campania and the Po Valley, reaching the Veneto.

During these expansions, they had clashes with the Greeks since they had formed a series of colonies on the coast to be able to trade with the surrounding populations, in addition to exploiting the resources of the place themselves. One of the most characteristic facts is found in his learning about maritime activities, which allowed him to colonize the islands of Corsica and Sardinia.

All this would raise great misgivings about the various civilizations in its surroundings, such as the Celts, Carthaginians or the Greeks themselves, something that made that from the 5th century BC C. this great civilization will begin to decline in a big way. In addition, they were receiving a series of attacks from the various civilizations mentioned above, which were occupying a large part of the territories conquered by the Etruscans.

As a culmination of this series of invasions suffered, they suffered another one, coming from the Romans themselves, who began their great expansion through the Italian peninsula, remaining totally reduced in 40 BC. C. However, we have to say that the Etruscans did not disappear but joined the Romans, so we can understand that the last Roman kings were of Etruscan origin.

We continue the lesson on who the Etruscans were, focusing on how they were made up. First of all, we will talk about how they were politically organized and, for this, we know that they were divided into 12 cities, which were commanded by a king, in the form of absolute monarchy.

But from the 4th century BC. C. went on to become a republican system where the members of the oligarchy commanded. This created enormous chaos, and it ended up becoming a dictatorship. This is one of the facts that we can propose to understand that they could not defend themselves against invasions, since they were in political conflicts.

On the other hand, we know that the society divided into:

• Oligarchy: composed of large landowners.
• Plebs: free people who were in a clientele system with the oligarchs.
• Foreign: the Etruscan community knew how to differentiate their own from the rest of the people, this meant that this group had to live in specific neighborhoods and have different laws from theirs. Normally when they refer to these, they speak of the Greeks, who carried out the work of crafts and commerce.
• Slaves: from the great territorial expansions were members of the subject populations. It is known that this activity was in a great boom and its use both domestically and in the field was of great importance for its economy.

To end the lesson we will talk about religion and art. It left us with a great unknown because it is known that this civilization is highly influenced by others, as is the case of the Egyptian or even from the Anatolian region, since it had a lot to do with both cultures. So much so, that the Etruscans also possessed a book of the dead and mythology was closely linked to that of Anatolia with changes in the names of the deities and little else.

Regarding art, we have to say that practically the same thing happens, frescoes and paintings were made in ceramics, greek style, This is undoubtedly due to the relationship they had with the Greek colonies.