Etruscan+Warfare

Etruscan| Fall | Research Summary

__Transportation & Weaponry__

- Helmets were curved and cast from a heavy metal (Stoddart 33) - helmet was dedicated at Olympia after a battle (Stoddart 33) - foot soldiers were a popular combat method, greek term was hoplite (Stoddart 57) - hoplite body armour was cast in bronze (Stoddart 57) - hoplites also wore face covering helmets (Stoddart 57) - large round shield, often decorated, used to overlap with other hoplites (Stoddart 58) - carried a long spear as main weapon (Stoddart 58)

- Villanovan helmets consisted of domes with pointed crests (Stoddart 12) - corinthian style helmets were also used-they had protection for nose, cheeks and neck- these were cumbersome (Stoddart 12) - more like a liability, restricted vision and hearing (Stoddart 12)

- most cities had fortified walls- also ditches, terraces and moats (Stoddart 112) - farms and livestock held outside fortifications (Stoddart 112) - armed dancing rituals were common (Stoddart 72) - Etruscans had/have a reputation for piracy at sea (Stoddart 59) - The gladiator practice originated in Etruscan Italy. (Stoddart 57) -possible restrictions placed on centres Pyrgi & Vetulona, evidence of a Sea treaty (Mysterious Etruscans, Sea) - a treaty was made with Carthage and it shows evidence that the Etruscans were unable to reach the western Mediterranean (Mysterious Etruscans, Sea)

__Geography & Climate__ - Land known as Etruscan cradle (Stoddart 3) - By 1200 BC the physical environment was replaced by the socio-political environment (Stoddart 2) - By 400 BC a political landscape had been formed, it's people had developed the means and technology to control their environment (Stoddart 2) - Rocky landscape and foundation (Stoddart 4) - Area full of volcanoes (Stoddart 4) - Lots of limestone (Stoddart 4) - Lots of plains (Stoddart 4) - Unstable shore line, floods were common (Stoddart 4) - Etruscans built complex drainage basins, there is evidence of human tampering with the landscape (Stoddart 2) __CLIMATE__ - Etruscan coast was dry with arid summers and had mild damp winters like the typical Mediterranean climate (Stoddart 6) - Relief would have brought variations (Stoddart 6) - Annual rain fall varied from 600 mm on the coast to 1500 mm in the mountains (Stoddart 6) - More than 15 days of snow on the mountains (Stoddart 6) - Differences in climate put constraints on degree of economic development (Stoddart 6)

- Etruria spread out over many different kinds of country (Massa 67) - “Morenmman Plains” did not have water but irrigation allowed cereals to flourish (Massa 67) - Flax and hemp produced around Faraquinii (Massa 70) - Apennine heights had more forest then and pine allowed for boating building (Massa 67)

- Mild Mediterranean climate (Bonfante 16) - Had many mineral deposits (Bonfante 16) - Initial towns build around those mineral deposits (Bonfante 16)

__Events & Leaders__

524 BCE - Etruscan ships attack Cumae and are defeated (Nardo 77) 506 BCE - An alliance of Cumae Greeks and Latins defeated Porsenna at Aricia (Nardo 77) 480 BCE - Carthage launches offensive against Greek-Sicilian cities, they were defeated (Nardo 77) 474 BCE - Greeks at Cumae initiate a new conflict (Nardo 78) 423 BCE - Cupua falls to Samnite (Nardo 78) 480 BCE - Veii, a major city state, enters battle with Rome (Nardo 78) 477 BCE - Veii ambushes group of 300 Romans near a fort (Nardo 80) 405 BCE - Veii is laid seige to by the Romans (Nardo 81) 396 BCE - Romans dig a tunnel under Veii (Nardo 81) 349 BCE - A 40 year truce is negotiated between Etruscans and Rome (Nardo 84)

__Art Literature & Music__ - Not much Etruscan bronze exists today, the Romans smelted a lot of it. (Mysterious Etruscans, Art) - Most Etruscan pottery was imported from Greece (Nardo 60) - Winged Horses of Tarquinia considered one of the finest examples of Classical Art (Borelli 76) - Inscribed gold sheets of Pyrgi oldest epigraphic sources from Eturia (Borelli 82) - The mythical creature known as the Chimera was a common motif during the Classical Age (Borelli 94)

__Socio-political Structure__ - Etruscan dwellings were called city-states (Spivey 43) - Originally Etruscan beliefs were shaped by the forces of nature (Borelli 88) - Elemental beings resided in the heavens and the core of the Earth (Borelli 88) - They possessed frightening features and assorted sexual connotations (Borelli 88) - In the mid-seventh century religious beliefs shifted from the nobility to collective society (Borelli 88) - Greek gods were adopted soon after (Borelli 88) - The loss of maritime control in the southern cities forced the northern cities to turn to new rural resources (Borelli 96)

__Industrial and Artistic Technology__ - Liquid goods were shipped in amphoras (Mysterious Etruscans, Sea) - An amphora is a two handled pot with a narrow neck. (Mysterious Etruscans, Sea) - Have been used for four millenniums (Mysterious Etruscans, Sea) - one of the most common vessels in Roman & Etruscan history (Mysterious Etruscans, Sea) - inefficient by today's standards, hard to roll (Mysterious Etruscans, Sea) - Had an early form of serial numbers (Mysterious Etruscans, Sea) 