Sources, Volume VII
The Etruscan World
How to weigh the evidence for this room, where to read the texts, and what survives for each of its four bays.
How to read the evidence
Evidence for the civic cult, divination, iconography, and underworld religion of the Etruscan cities should be read in a hierarchy: dated and provenanced primary objects first; critically edited literary or ritual texts second; ancient reception and interpretation third; modern synthesis last.
Read the texts online
- Etruscan Texts Project, University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Department of Classics database projects, UMass Amherst
Further reading
- Bonfante, Giuliano, and Larissa Bonfante. The Etruscan Language: An Introduction. 2nd edition. Manchester University Press, 2002.
- de Grummond, Nancy Thomson. Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend. University of Pennsylvania Museum, 2006.
- de Grummond, Nancy Thomson, and Erika Simon, eds. The Religion of the Etruscans. University of Texas Press, 2006.
- Haynes, Sybille. Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History. J. Paul Getty Museum, 2000.
- Pallottino, Massimo. The Etruscans. Revised edition. Indiana University Press, 1975.
- Rix, Helmut, ed. Etruskische Texte. 2 vols. Gunter Narr, 1991.
- Steingräber, Stephan. Abundance of Life: Etruscan Wall Painting. J. Paul Getty Museum, 2006.
- Turfa, Jean MacIntosh. Divining the Etruscan World: The Brontoscopic Calendar and Religious Practice. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
- Turfa, Jean MacIntosh, ed. The Etruscan World. Routledge, 2013.
- Wallace, Rex E. Zikh Rasna: A Manual of the Etruscan Language and Inscriptions. Beech Stave Press, 2008.
The Sky Triad and the Civic Cult
What survives
- Inscriptions
- Short dedicatory and funerary texts securely establish names, kinship terms, offices, and local spelling.
- Mirrors and engraved objects
- Labeled scenes connect Etruscan names to mythic iconography but often adapt Greek narrative.
- Tomb painting and sarcophagi
- Funerary imagery is central for underworld figures and elite beliefs, though iconography is not a prose creed.
- Sanctuaries and votives
- Context, deposition, anatomy, and dedicant identity reveal practiced cult.
- Piacenza Liver and divinatory models
- These map divine sectors within technical divination; interpretation remains contested.
- Roman literary testimony
- Indispensable for the Etrusca disciplina, but late, translated, and framed by Roman concerns.
- Temple architecture and votives
- Primary for civic cult, patronage, and regional form.
- Labeled mirrors
- Securely identify divine names in adapted mythic scenes.
- Roman antiquarian reports
- Preserve the triadic and federal interpretations through Roman categories.
Entry by entry (4)
- Tinia §1.1 The cult at the Capitoline triad is described by Livy (1.55-56), Dionysius of Halicarnassus (4.59-61), and Tacitus (Histories 3.72).
- Uni §1.2 Uni is named on the Piacenza Liver, on the Pyrgi Tablets (the standard edition of the tablets is Pallottino-Garbini, 1964; revised by Schmitz, 1995), and on numerous mirrors.
- Menrva §1.3 The transmission to Rome is described by Livy (1.55, the Capitoline temple foundation) and is the subject of much scholarship on Etruscan-Roman religious relations; Stefan Weinstock's various articles and Robert Schilling's contributions are key references.
- Voltumna §1.4 Voltumna is named in Livy (4.23.5, 4.25.7, 4.61.2, 5.17.6, 6.2.2 — the meetings of the Etruscan League at the Fanum Voltumnae are referenced multiple times in the early books) and in Propertius (4.2, the Vertumnus elegy).
The Powers of the Sun, Moon and Earth
What survives
- Inscriptions
- Short dedicatory and funerary texts securely establish names, kinship terms, offices, and local spelling.
- Mirrors and engraved objects
- Labeled scenes connect Etruscan names to mythic iconography but often adapt Greek narrative.
- Tomb painting and sarcophagi
- Funerary imagery is central for underworld figures and elite beliefs, though iconography is not a prose creed.
- Sanctuaries and votives
- Context, deposition, anatomy, and dedicant identity reveal practiced cult.
- Piacenza Liver and divinatory models
- These map divine sectors within technical divination; interpretation remains contested.
- Roman literary testimony
- Indispensable for the Etrusca disciplina, but late, translated, and framed by Roman concerns.
- Mirrors and bronze objects
- Labeled imagery is central for solar, dawn, and mythic associations.
- Piacenza Liver
- Technical divine placement, not a simple family tree.
- Sanctuary dedications
- Local epithets and worshippers define cult beyond iconographic comparison.
Entry by entry (7)
- Usil §2.1 The etymology of the name Usil is unclear; some scholars connect it with the Indo-European root *usus- (dawn, found in Latin Aurora and Greek Eos) but Etruscan is not Indo-European, so any such connection would be a borrowing, possibly from an unattested para-Italic source.
- Catha §2.2 Catha is named on the Piacenza Liver, in inscriptions from Pyrgi (where her temple is well-attested), and on a number of votive objects.
- Thesan §2.3 Thesan is named on the Piacenza Liver and on numerous mirrors.
- Tiur §2.4 Tiur is named on the Piacenza Liver.
- Cel §2.5 The sulcus primigenius rite is described by Plutarch (Romulus 11), Varro (De Lingua Latina 5.143), and Servius (commentary on Aeneid 5.755), all of whom attribute the rite explicitly to Etruscan origin.
- Nethuns §2.6 Nethuns is named on the Piacenza Liver, on bronze mirrors, and in numerous inscriptions.
- Selvans §2.7 Selvans is named on the Piacenza Liver and in numerous inscriptions, particularly votive ones from rural shrines.
The Gods of Love, Wine, War and Craft
What survives
- Inscriptions
- Short dedicatory and funerary texts securely establish names, kinship terms, offices, and local spelling.
- Mirrors and engraved objects
- Labeled scenes connect Etruscan names to mythic iconography but often adapt Greek narrative.
- Tomb painting and sarcophagi
- Funerary imagery is central for underworld figures and elite beliefs, though iconography is not a prose creed.
- Sanctuaries and votives
- Context, deposition, anatomy, and dedicant identity reveal practiced cult.
- Piacenza Liver and divinatory models
- These map divine sectors within technical divination; interpretation remains contested.
- Roman literary testimony
- Indispensable for the Etrusca disciplina, but late, translated, and framed by Roman concerns.
- Engraved mirrors
- The richest named iconographic corpus for love and mythic relations.
- Tomb and temple art
- Context separates funerary symbolism from public cult.
- Dedications
- Direct cult evidence prevents art-historical equation from becoming total identity.
Entry by entry (6)
- Turan §3.1 The Gravisca sanctuary was excavated by Mario Torelli from 1969 onwards and yielded a remarkable bilingual dedication ('I am of Sostratos of Aegina') showing the sanctuary's role as a meeting-place for Greek and Etruscan religious life.
- The Lasa §3.2 The Lasa are named on numerous bronze mirrors (with named individuals on at least a dozen) and in inscriptions.
- Fufluns §3.3 The Bacchanalia controversy of 186 BCE is described by Livy (39.8-19), whose account of the suppression preserves much of the legal and social context; the surviving inscription of the senatusconsultum (CIL I² 581, found in Calabria in 1640) is one of the most important early Latin documents.
- Aplu §3.4 The transmission from Cumae to Etruria is described in many ancient sources (Livy, Strabo, Dionysius of Halicarnassus); the Sibylline Books episode is in Livy 1.34, 1.56, with the famous story of the Sibyl burning books to drive up the price.
- Laran §3.5 The Roman fetial priesthood and its Etruscan origin is described in Livy (1.24, 1.32) and in Dionysius of Halicarnassus (2.72).
- Sethlans §3.6 The Roman Volcanal is described by Dionysius of Halicarnassus (2.50, 6.67) and Plutarch (Romulus 24); its identification with the Etruscan Sethlans-cult is plausible but not direct.
The Underworld and the Spirits of Death
What survives
- Inscriptions
- Short dedicatory and funerary texts securely establish names, kinship terms, offices, and local spelling.
- Mirrors and engraved objects
- Labeled scenes connect Etruscan names to mythic iconography but often adapt Greek narrative.
- Tomb painting and sarcophagi
- Funerary imagery is central for underworld figures and elite beliefs, though iconography is not a prose creed.
- Sanctuaries and votives
- Context, deposition, anatomy, and dedicant identity reveal practiced cult.
- Piacenza Liver and divinatory models
- These map divine sectors within technical divination; interpretation remains contested.
- Roman literary testimony
- Indispensable for the Etrusca disciplina, but late, translated, and framed by Roman concerns.
- Tomb paintings
- Sequence, tomb ownership, and date are essential to interpretation.
- Sarcophagi and urns
- Funerary objects show regional and chronological variation in attendant figures.
- Inscriptions and mirrors
- Labels secure identifications otherwise based only on attributes.
Entry by entry (5)
- Aita §4.1 Aita is named on inscriptions in the Tomba dell'Orco at Tarquinia (where he is depicted with the wolf-skin) and elsewhere.
- Phersipnai §4.2 Phersipnai is named in the Tomba dell'Orco at Tarquinia and on a small number of other inscriptions and mirrors.
- Charun §4.3 Charun is depicted in numerous Etruscan tomb-paintings and on funerary urns; the Tomba dei Caronti at Tarquinia (so named for the figures it contains, fourth century BCE) is the most concentrated set of representations.
- Tuchulcha §4.4 Tuchulcha is depicted on one tomb-painting only, in the Tomba dell'Orco I (also called the Tomba dell'Orco di Murina) at Tarquinia.
- Vanth §4.5 Vanth is depicted on numerous Etruscan tomb-paintings (Tomba degli Anina at Tarquinia, Tomba dei Demoni Azzurri, and many others) and on countless funerary urns and sarcophagi.