In the first material on the history of military affairs of the peoples of the Apennine Peninsula, it was about the Samnites, since the author thought that their influence on the military affairs of Rome was more significant. It is clear that we had to touch on the Etruscans, about whose military organization only two proposals were given in the same Wikipedia. But … everything happened as it should have happened: there were "experts" who knew for sure that the Etruscans were the ancestors of the Russians (Slavs), and it started. And although such people on this site, fortunately, are few, they are. And this is already like on a ship: if there is a small "hole" in the skin, then expect a big leak. It must be patched before it starts. Therefore, apparently, it makes sense to return to the topic of the Etruscans and see who they are, where they are from, and further study their military history, weapons and armor in more detail.
Warrior and Amazons - mural from Targinia, 370 - 360 BC Archaeological Museum of Florence.
About where they came to the Apennine Peninsula was reported by Herodotus, who wrote that the Etruscans came from Lydia, a territory in Asia Minor, and that their name was Tyrrens or Tyrsenes, and the Romans called them Tuski (hence Tuscany). For a long time it was believed that the culture of Villanova is their culture, but now it is more associated with another local population - the Italians. However, after the deciphering of the Lydian inscriptions, this point of view was criticized, since it turned out that their language has nothing to do with Etruscan. The modern point of view is that the Etruscans are not Lydians as such, but an even more ancient, pre-Indo-European people of the western part of Asia Minor, belonging to the "peoples of the sea." And it is very possible that the ancient Roman myth about Aeneas, the leader of the beaten Trojans, who moved to Italy after the fall of the fortified Troy, was associated with them. For some reason, archeological data today a sufficiently large number of people do not convince: “all these are fakes, buried in the ground” - they assert, although it is completely unclear what purpose these “burials” may have (or had). In general, it turns out that the goal is the same: "to offend Russia." However, the purpose of this "event" is again incomprehensible. Before the 1917 revolution, Russia was an empire whose rulers were in the closest relationship with the ruling houses of Europe. That is, there was no point in it. After the revolution, at first, no one took it seriously, that is, why offend an already offended one and bury money in the ground? But when we really began to represent something from ourselves, then it was already too late to bury something - the achievements of science make it possible to recognize any fake.
And it was precisely science that gave us the most important proof that Herodotus and the archaeologists were right. It can be considered proven that the ancient Etruscans moved to Italy from Asia Minor, where they lived in the territory of modern Turkey. Comparing the genetic data of the inhabitants of the Tuscan region (ancient Etruria) with the data of citizens from Turkey, scientists at the University of Turin concluded that they are obvious similarities. That is, the Asia Minor origin of the ancient inhabitants of the Apennine Peninsula, which was reported by Herodotus - rightly so! At the same time, the DNA of the inhabitants of the Tuscan Valley of Casentino and the cities of Volterra and Murlo was studied. The donors of genetic material are men from families who have lived in the area for at least three generations, and whose surnames are unique to this region. The Y-chromosomes (which are just passed from father to son) were compared with the Y-chromosomes of people from other regions of Italy, from the Balkans, Turkey and also the island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea. There were more coincidences with genetic samples from the East than from Italy. Well, the inhabitants of Murlo were found to have a genetic variant, which is generally found only in the inhabitants of Turkey. At this point, as they say - everything, there is nothing further to argue about.
Etruscan swastika pendant, 700 - 600 AD BC. Bolsena, Italy. The Louvre museum.
True, there is still linguistics, but it cannot yet give an exhaustive answer to the question of the origin of the Etruscan language. Although more than 7000 Etruscan inscriptions are known, its relationship with any family of languages has not been established. Well, that's not installed and that's it! And even by researchers from the USSR. But if the Etruscans are from Asia Minor and have Lydian ancestors, then their language must belong to the extinct Hittite-Luwian (Anatolian) group of Indo-European languages. Although the data on its Indo-European origin are not convincing enough.
Etruscan warriors carry a fallen comrade. Villa Giulia National Museum, Rome.
And here the final answer to these disputes was given by … cows! A study of the mitochondrial DNA of cows from Tuscany, carried out by a group of geneticists led by Marco Pellecchia from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Piacenza, showed that their distant ancestors have cows from Asia Minor as their direct relatives! At the same time, animals from all regions of Italy were studied. And it turned out that about 60% of the mitochondrial DNA of cows from Tuscany is identical to the mitochondrial DNA of cows from the Middle East and Asia Minor, that is, in the homeland of the legendary Etruscans. At the same time, this study did not establish a relationship between Tuscan cows and cattle from the north and south of Italy. Well, since cows are domestic animals, since they do not fly, do not swim and do not migrate in herds, it becomes clear that they could get from one part of the Mediterranean to another only by sea on ships. And who in that period of time could sail the Mediterranean Sea on ships and "inherit" in this way with their own and "bestial" genes? Only the "peoples of the sea", first settled in Sardinia, and then on the mainland. By the way, the oldest tribal name of the Etruscans "Tursha" or "Turusha" is also known from the Egyptian monuments of the era of Ramses II - that is, the time when he was at war with the "peoples of the sea".
Well, then they just assimilated. They did not leave Italy, as some Slavophils claim, to become the ancestors of the Slavs, namely they assimilated. Otherwise … we would not find their genes on its territory today. To do this, it takes a very long time … to copulate in order to "inherit" so well. And then they would also have stolen cattle, because at that time it was of great value. But no: both people and livestock - all this remained in Italy. And this means that no Etruscans are Russian, and they have never been our ancestors!
Chimera from Arezzo. Bronze statue of the 5th century BC NS. Archaeological Museum, Florence.
Now culture. Its characteristic features, be it spiritual or material culture, never completely disappear during resettlement. This is especially true for religion. It is known that the Etruscans believed in the afterlife of the deceased and, like the Egyptians, tried to provide him “in the next world” with everything he needed. As a result, the Etruscans built tombs for them so that they resemble the deceased's home and filled them with utensils and furniture. The deceased were cremated, and the ashes were placed in a special urn. Famous and beautiful sculptural sarcophagi.
Etruscan sarcophagus of the spouses from the Banditaccia necropolis. Polychrome terracotta, VI century BC NS. Villa Giulia National Museum, Rome.
Personal belongings and jewelry, clothes, weapons and various household items were subject to burial along with the urn, that is, there was a strong faith in the human soul, not connected with the body! Scenes that were pleasant in every respect, such as feasts, sports games and dances, were painted on the walls of the tombs. Memorial games, gladiator fights, sacrifices to the dead - all this was supposed to facilitate their fate in the “next world”. In this, the religion of the Etruscans was very different from the ideas of the Greeks, for whom the tomb was just a tomb, a place for a dead body, but nothing more!
The main Etruscan deities were the goddess of love Turan, Tumus - an analogue of the Greek god Hermes, Seflans - the god of fire, Fufluns - the god of wine, Laran - the god of war, Thesan - the goddess of dawn, Voltumna, Nortia, Lara and the gods of death - Kalu, Kulsu, Leyon and Etruscans recorded their religious views in sacred books, and the Romans later translated them and learned a lot of interesting things from them, in particular, about fortune telling by the entrails of animals, about heavenly signs and various rituals with which one can "act" on the gods.
Etruscan black-figure vase depicting fighting hoplites, circa 550 BC Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Like many ancient societies, the Etruscans carried out military campaigns during the summer months; raided neighboring areas, tried to seize land, valuable goods and slaves. The latter could be sacrificed on the graves of the dead to honor their memory, similar to how Achilles tried to honor the memory of the murdered Patroclus.
Etruscan helmet of the Corinthian type, 6th - 5th centuries BC. Dallas Museum of Art, Texas.
The written records of the Etruscan period are fragmentary, but they also suggest that the Etruscans competed with the early Romans for dominance in central Italy for almost two centuries (c. 700 BC - 500 BC), but the first of the neighboring cultures to Rome began to succumb to Roman expansion.
Etruscan helmet from the British Museum.
