The Etruscans

Question 1

Origins

Answer 1

• May have been natives from before the Indo-European language
• May have been settlers from a non-Indo-European area

Question 2

Political Organization

Answer 2

• Never unified
• Independent city-states
• Aristocratic
• Ruled by a lucumon (king) until they began electing zilath (magistrates)

Question 3

Art Influences

Answer 3

• Mostly influenced by Greece, whom they traded with in the Mediterranean
• Influenced Rome

Question 4

Warfare

Answer 4

• Hoplite warfare adopted from Greece

Question 5

Writing

Answer 5

• Adopted the Greek alphabet, modified for their language
• Passed their writing on to Rome

Question 6

Gender

Answer 6

• Ideals influenced those of Rome, causing them to be more liberal than Greece
• Women were more important than in Greece
• Women could drink and partake in symposia
• Women are depicted mostly clothed and men are naked

Question 7

Disciplina Etrusca

Answer 7

• Asking questions to the gods and respecting the answer no matter what
• Haruspex could ask and interpret signs in the livers of animals
• Augur could ask and interpret signs in the flight patterns of birds

Question 8

Afterlife

Answer 8

• Strong cult of the dead
• Death and afterlife depicted in a positive light compared to the Greeks