Editing Etruscan civilization (section)

==Legend and history==
{{Main|Etruscan history}}

===Ethnonym and etymology===
[[File:Tular Rasnal 1.jpg|thumb|Boundary stone from Cortona
<br>Etruscan: Tular Rasnal<br>English: Boundary of the People]]

According to [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus|Dionysius]] the Etruscans called themselves '''Rasenna''' (Greek Ῥασέννα), a stem from the Etruscan Rasna (𐌛𐌀𐌔𐌍𐌀), the people. Evidence of inscriptions as Tular Rasnal (𐌕𐌖𐌋𐌀𐌛 𐌛𐌀𐌔𐌍𐌀𐌋), "boundary of the people", or Mechlum Rasnal (𐌌𐌄𐌙𐌋 𐌛𐌀𐌔𐌍𐌀𐌋). "community of the people", attest to its autonym usage. The [[Tyrsenian languages|Tyrsenian]] etymology, however, remains unknown.<ref>Rasenna comes from {{cite book |author=Dionysius of Halicarnassus |author-link=Dionysius of Halicarnassus |title=Roman Antiquities |at=I.30.3}} The syncopated form, Rasna, is inscriptional and is inflected.</ref><ref>The topic is covered in Pallottino, p.&nbsp;133.</ref><ref>Some inscriptions, such as the cippus of Cortona, feature the Raśna (pronounced Rashna) alternative, as is described at {{cite web |first=Gabor Z. |last=Bodroghy |url=http://users.tpg.com.au/etr/etrusk/po/origins.html |series=Etruscan |title=Origins |website=The Palaeolinguistic Connection |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416143745/http://users.tpg.com.au/etr/etrusk/po/origins.html |archive-date=2008-04-16 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In [[Attic Greek]] the Etruscans were known as [[Tyrrhenians]] ({{lang|grc|Τυρρηνοί}}, ''Tyrrhēnoi'', earlier {{lang|grc|Τυρσηνοί}} ''Tyrsēnoi''),<ref>{{LSJ|*turrhno/s|Τυρρηνός}}, {{LSJ|*turshno/s|Τυρσηνός|ref}}.</ref> from which the Romans derived the names ''Tyrrhēnī'', ''Tyrrhēnia'' (Etruria),<ref>{{L&S|Tyrrheni|ref}}</ref> and ''Mare Tyrrhēnum'' ([[Tyrrhenian Sea]]).<ref name=Grummond>{{cite book |last1=Thomson de Grummond |first1=Nancy |date=2006 |title=Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend |pages=201–208 |language=English |location=Philadelphia |publisher=Penn Museum of Archaeology |isbn=9781931707862}}</ref>

The ancient Romans referred to the Etruscans as the ''Tuscī'' or ''Etruscī'' (singular ''Tuscus'').<ref>According to Félix Gaffiot's ''Dictionnaire Illustré Latin Français'', the major authors of the [[Roman Republic]] ([[Livy]], [[Cicero]], [[Horace]], and others) used the term ''Tusci''. Cognate words developed, including ''Tuscia'' and ''Tusculanensis''. ''Tuscī'' was clearly the principal term used to designate things Etruscan; ''Etruscī'' and ''Etrusia''/''Etrūria'' were used less often, mainly by Cicero and Horace, and they lack cognates.</ref><ref>According to the {{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=etruscan&searchmode=none |title=Online Etymological Dictionary}} the English use of ''Etruscan'' dates from 1706.</ref><ref>{{L&S|Tusci|ref}}</ref> Their Roman name is the origin of the terms [[Tuscany|Toscana]], which refers to their heartland, and [[Etruria]], which can refer to their wider region. The term ''Tusci'' is thought by linguists to have been the Umbrian word for Etruscan, based on an inscription on an [[Iguvine Tables|ancient bronze tablet]] from a nearby region.<ref>{{cite web |title='Cui bono?' The beneficiary phrases of the third Iguvine table |first=Michael |last=Weiss |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University |url=http://ling.cornell.edu/people/Weiss/Cuibono.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://ling.cornell.edu/people/Weiss/Cuibono.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref> The inscription contains the phrase ''turskum ... nomen'', literally ‘the Tuscan name’. Based on a knowledge of Umbrian grammar, linguists can infer that the base form of the word turskum is *Tursci,<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Carl Darling Buck |author=Carl Darling Buck |year=1904 |title=Introduction: A Grammar of Oscan and Umbrian |location=Boston |publisher=Gibb & Company }}</ref> which would, through [[Metathesis (linguistics)|metathesis]] and a word-initial [[epenthesis]], be likely to lead to the form, ''E-trus-ci''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Eric |last=Partridge |year=1983 |title=Origins |url=https://archive.org/details/originsshortetym0000part |url-access=registration |publisher=Greenwich House |location=New York |isbn=9780517414255 |entry=tower |page=730}}</ref>

As for the original meaning of the root, *Turs-, a widely cited hypothesis is that it, like the Latin ''turris'', means ‘tower’ and comes from the ancient Greek word for tower: {{lang|grc|τύρσις}},<ref name=B51>The Bonfantes (2003), p. 51.</ref><ref>{{LSJ|tu/rsis|τύρσις|shortref}}.</ref> likely a loan into Greek. On this hypothesis, the Tusci were called the ‘people who build towers"<ref name=B51 /> or "the tower builders".<ref>Partridge (1983)</ref> This proposed etymology is made the more plausible because the Etruscans preferred to build their towns on high precipices reinforced by walls. Alternatively, [[Giuliano Bonfante|Giuliano]] and [[Larissa Bonfante]] have speculated that Etruscan houses may have seemed like towers to the simple Latins.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Etruscan Language: An Introduction, Revised Edition|last1=Bonfante|first1=Giuliano|last2=Bonfante|first2=Larissa|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0719055409|page=51}}</ref> The proposed etymology has a long history, [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] having observed in the first century BC, "[T]here is no reason that the Greeks should not have called [the Etruscans] by this name, both from their living in towers and from the name of one of their rulers."<ref name=DHI30>Book I, Section 30.</ref> In his recent ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Robert Beekes claims the Greek word is a "loanword from a Mediterranean language", a hypothesis that goes back to an article by [[Paul Kretschmer]] in ''Glotta'' from 1934.<ref>Beekes, R. ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'' Brill (2010) pp.1520-1521</ref><ref>Kretschmer, Paul. "Nordische Lehnwörter im Altgriechischen" in ''Glotta'' 22 (1934) pp. 110 ff.</ref>

===Origins===
{{Main|Etruscan origins}}

====Ancient sources====
[[File:Exekias Dionysos Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2044.jpg|thumb|The [[Dionysus Cup]], a {{Lang|grc|[[kylix]]}} painted by the Athenian [[Exekias]] ca. 530&nbsp;BCE, showing the narrative of Dionysus's capture by Tyrrhenian pirates and transfiguration of them into dolphins in the seventh ''Homeric Hymn''{{Sfn|Strauss Clay|2016|pp=32–34}}]]
[[File:Urna cineraria biconica con coperchio a elmo crestato, da pozzo cinerario a monterozzi, loc. forse fontanaccia.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|Biconical cinerary urn with crest-shaped helmet lid, 9th–8th century BC, from Monterozzi (Fontanaccia), [[Tarquinia]], [[Tarquinia National Museum|Museo archeologico nazionale]]]]
[[File:Urne cinéraire imitant une habitation traditionnelle. Attribuée à l'atelier de Vulci (Etrurie). Impasto et plaque de bronze découpée. 8e siècle av. J.-C..jpg|thumb|upright=.7|Urn in the shape of a hut, which represents the typical Etruscan house of the Villanovan phase, 8th century BC, from [[Vulci]], [[Musée d'Art et d'Histoire (Geneva)|Musée d'art et d'histoire de Genève]]]]
[[File:Etruscan pendant with swastika symbols Bolsena Italy 700 BCE to 650 BCE.jpg|thumb|right|[[Etruscan art|Etruscan]] pendant with a large equilateral cross of concentric circles flanked by four small right-facing [[swastika]]s among its symbols from [[Bolsena]], [[Italy]], 700–650&nbsp;BC. [[Louvre]]]]

Literary and historical texts in the Etruscan language have not survived, and the language itself is only partially understood by modern scholars. This makes modern understanding of their society and culture heavily dependent on much later and generally disapproving Roman and Greek sources. These ancient writers differed in their theories about the origin of the Etruscan people. Some suggested they were [[Pelasgians]] who had migrated there from Greece. Others maintained that they were indigenous to central Italy.

The first Greek author to mention the Etruscans, whom the Ancient Greeks called [[Tyrrhenians]], was the 8th-century BC poet [[Hesiod]] in his work the [[Theogony]]. He mentioned them as residing in central Italy alongside the Latins.<ref>Hesiod, ''Theogony'' 1015.</ref> The 7th-century BC ''Homeric Hymn'' to Dionysus<ref>Homeric Hymn to Dionysus, 7.7–8</ref> referred to them as pirates.<ref name=Brown545560>John Pairman Brown, ''Israel and Hellas'', Vol. 2 (2000) p. 211</ref> Unlike later Greek authors, these authors did not suggest that Etruscans had migrated to Italy from the east and did not associate them with the Pelasgians.

It was only in the 5th century BC, when the Etruscan civilization had been established for several centuries, that Greek writers started associating the name "Tyrrhenians" with the "Pelasgians", and even then some did so in a way that suggests they were meant only as generic, descriptive labels for "non-Greek" and "indigenous ancestors of Greeks" respectively.<ref>[[Strabo]]. ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+6.2&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239 Geography]''. Book VI, Chapter II. Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220902170714/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+6.2&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239 Archived] from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.</ref> The 5th-century BC historians [[Herodotus]],<ref>6.137</ref> and [[Thucydides]]<ref>4.109</ref> and the 1st-century BC historian [[Strabo]],<ref name="5.2, citing Anticlides">[[Strabo]]. ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+5.2&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239 Geography]''. Book V, Chapter II. Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University.[https://web.archive.org/web/20220902165216/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+5.2&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239 Archived] from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.</ref> did seem to suggest that the Tyrrhenians were originally Pelasgians who migrated to Italy from [[Lydia]] by way of the Greek island of [[Lemnos]]. They all described Lemnos as having been settled by Pelasgians, whom Thucydides identified as "belonging to the Tyrrhenians" ({{lang|grc|τὸ δὲ πλεῖστον Πελασγικόν, τῶν καὶ Λῆμνόν ποτε καὶ Ἀθήνας Τυρσηνῶν}}). As Strabo and Herodotus told it,<ref name="1.94">1.94</ref> the migration to Lemnos was led by [[Tyrrhenus]] / Tyrsenos, the son of [[Atys of Lydia|Atys]] (who was king of Lydia). Strabo<ref name="5.2, citing Anticlides" /> added that the Pelasgians of Lemnos and [[Imbros]] then followed Tyrrhenus to the [[Italian Peninsula]]. According to the logographer [[Hellanicus of Lesbos]], there was a Pelasgian migration from [[Thessaly]] in Greece to the Italian peninsula, as part of which the Pelasgians colonized the area he called Tyrrhenia, and they then came to be called Tyrrhenians.<ref>{{cite book |author=Dionysius of Halicarnassus |author-link=Dionysius of Halicarnassus |title=Roman Antiquities |at=1.28–3}}</ref>

There is some evidence suggesting a link between Lemnos and the Tyrrhenians. The [[Lemnos stele]] bears inscriptions in a language with strong structural resemblances to the language of the Etruscans.<ref name=Morritt545560>{{cite book |first=Robert D. |last=Morritt |title=Stones that Speak |year=2010 |page=272}}</ref> The discovery of these inscriptions in modern times has led to the suggestion of a "[[Tyrsenian languages|Tyrrhenian language group]]" consisting of Etruscan, Lemnian, and the [[Raetic language|Raetic]] spoken in the [[Alps]].

But the 1st-century BC historian [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], a Greek living in Rome, dismissed many of the ancient theories of other Greek historians and postulated that the Etruscans were indigenous people who had always lived in Etruria and were different from both the Pelasgians and the Lydians.<ref name=Dionysius>{{cite book |author=Dionysius of Halicarnassus |author-link=Dionysius of Halicarnassus |title=Roman Antiquities |at=Book I, Chapters 30 1}}</ref> Dionysius noted that the 5th-century historian [[Xanthus of Lydia]], who was originally from [[Sardis]] and was regarded as an important source and authority for the history of Lydia, never suggested a Lydian origin of the Etruscans and never named Tyrrhenus as a ruler of the Lydians.<ref name=Dionysius/>

{{blockquote|For this reason, therefore, I am persuaded that the Pelasgians are a different people from the Tyrrhenians. And I do not believe, either, that the Tyrrhenians were a colony of the Lydians; for they do not use the same language as the latter, nor can it be alleged that, though they no longer speak a similar tongue, they still retain some other indications of their mother country. For they neither worship the same gods as the Lydians nor make use of similar laws or institutions, but in these very respects they differ more from the Lydians than from the Pelasgians. Indeed, those probably come nearest to the truth who declare that the nation migrated from nowhere else, but was native to the country, since it is found to be a very ancient nation and to agree with no other either in its language or in its manner of living.}}

The credibility of Dionysius of Halicarnassus is arguably bolstered by the fact that he was the first ancient writer to report the [[endonym]] of the Etruscans: Rasenna.

{{blockquote|The Romans, however, give them other names: from the country they once inhabited, named Etruria, they call them Etruscans, and from their knowledge of the ceremonies relating to divine worship, in which they excel others, they now call them, rather inaccurately, Tusci, but formerly, with the same accuracy as the Greeks, they called them Thyrscoï [an earlier form of Tusci]. Their own name for themselves, however, is the same as that of one of their leaders, Rasenna.}}

Similarly, the 1st-century BC historian [[Livy]], in his ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri]]'', said that the Rhaetians were Etruscans who had been driven into the mountains by the invading Gauls; and he asserted that the inhabitants of Raetia were of Etruscan origin.<ref>{{cite book |first=Titus |last=Livius |author-link=Livy |title=Ab Urbe Condita Libri |trans-title=The History of Rome |at=Book 5|title-link=Ab Urbe Condita Libri }}</ref>

{{blockquote|The Alpine tribes have also, no doubt, the same origin (of the Etruscans), especially the Raetians; who have been rendered so savage by the very nature of the country as to retain nothing of their ancient character save the sound of their speech, and even that is corrupted.}}

The first-century historian [[Pliny the Elder]] also put the Etruscans in the context of the [[Rhaetian people]] to the north, and wrote in his ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' (AD&nbsp;79):<ref>{{cite book |last1=Plinius Secundus |first1= Gaius |title=Naturalis Historia, Liber III, 133 |language=Latin}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Adjoining these the (Alpine) [[Noricum|Noricans]] are the Raeti and [[Vindelici]]. All are divided into a number of states. The Raeti are believed to be people of Tuscan race driven out by the [[Gaul]]s, their leader was named Raetus.|source=}}

====Archeological evidence and modern etruscology====
{{Main|Proto-Villanovan culture|Villanovan culture}}
[[File:Bronze chariot inlaid with ivory MET DP137936.jpg|thumb|[[Monteleone chariot]], one of the world's great archaeological finds, 2nd quarter of the 6th century BC]]
[[File:Putto graziani, con dedica al dio tec sans, da sanguineto al trasimeno, 200-150 ac ca..JPG|thumb|upright=.7|Putto Graziani, hollow-cast bronze on which is engraved the Etruscan inscription "To the god Tec Sans as a gift" (Tec Sans was the protectress of childhood), 3-2nd century BC, [[Rome]], [[Vatican Museums|Museo Gregoriano Etrusco]]]]
[[File:Museo guarnacci, urna degli sposi, I sec. ac. 01.JPG|thumb|right|Sarcophagus of the Spouses, about 1st century BC, [[Volterra]], Museo etrusco Guarnacci]]

The question of the Etruscans' origins has long been a subject of interest and debate among historians. In modern times, all the evidence gathered by prehistoric and protohistoric archaeologists, anthropologists, and etruscologists points to an autochthonous origin of the Etruscans.<ref name=Barker/><ref name=DeGrummond2014/><ref name=Turfa2017/><ref name=Shipley2017/><ref name=Benelli2021/> There is no archaeological or linguistic evidence of a migration of the Lydians or Pelasgians into Etruria.<ref name=Wallace2010>{{cite book |last1=Wallace |first1= Rex E.|author-link1=Rex E. Wallace |year=2010 |chapter=Italy, Languages of |editor1-last=Gagarin |editor1-first=Michael |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome |language=English |location=Oxford, UK |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=97–102 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195170726.001.0001 |isbn=9780195170726|quote=Etruscan origins lie in the distant past. Despite the claim by Herodotus, who wrote that Etruscans migrated to Italy from Lydia in the eastern Mediterranean, there is no material or linguistic evidence to support this. Etruscan material culture developed in an unbroken chain from Bronze Age antecedents. As for linguistic relationships, Lydian is an Indo-European language. Lemnian, which is attested by a few inscriptions discovered near Kamania on the island of Lemnos, was a dialect of Etruscan introduced to the island by commercial adventurers. Linguistic similarities connecting Etruscan with Raetic, a language spoken in the sub-Alpine regions of northeastern Italy, further militate against the idea of eastern origins. |mode= }}</ref><ref name=Turfa2017/><ref name=DeGrummond2014/><ref name=Shipley2017/><ref name=Benelli2021/> Modern [[etruscology|etruscologists]] and archeologists, such as [[Massimo Pallottino]] (1947), have shown that early historians' assumptions and assertions on the subject were groundless.<ref name=Pallottino1947>{{cite book |last1=Pallottino |first1=Massimo |author-link1=Massimo Pallottino |title=L'origine degli Etruschi |language=it |location= Rome|publisher= Tumminelli |date=1947 }}</ref> In 2000, the etruscologist [[Dominique Briquel]] explained in detail why he believes that ancient Greek narratives on Etruscan origins should not even count as historical documents.<ref name=Briquel2000>{{cite book |last1=Briquel |first1=Dominique |author-link1=Dominique Briquel |year=2000 |chapter=Le origini degli Etruschi: una questione dibattuta sin dall’antichità |editor1-last=Torelli |editor1-first=Mario |editor1-link=Mario Torelli|title= Gli Etruschi|language= it|location=Milan |publisher= Bompiani|pages=43–51 }}</ref> He argues that the ancient story of the Etruscans' 'Lydian origins' was a deliberate, politically motivated fabrication, and that ancient Greeks inferred a connection between the Tyrrhenians and the Pelasgians solely on the basis of certain Greek and local traditions and because there had been trade between the Etruscans and Greeks.<ref name=Hornblower2014>{{cite book |editor1-last=Hornblower |editor1-first=Simon |editor2-last=Spawforth |editor2-first=Antony |editor3-last= Eidinow |editor3-first=Esther |title=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0awiBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA292|series=Oxford Companions |language=en |edition=2 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2014 |pages=291–292 |isbn=9780191016752 |quote=Briquel's convincing demonstration that the famous story of an exodus, led by Tyrrhenus from Lydia to Italy, was a deliberate political fabrication created in the Hellenized milieu of the court at Sardis in the early 6th cent. BCE. }}</ref><ref name=Briquel2013>{{cite book |last1=Briquel |first1=Dominique |year=2013 |chapter=Etruscan Origins and the Ancient Authors |editor1-last=Turfa |editor1-first= Jean|title= The Etruscan World |language=en |location=London and New York |publisher=Routledge Taylor & Francis Group |pages= 36–56|isbn=978-0-415-67308-2 }}</ref> He noted that, even if these stories include historical facts suggesting contact, such contact is more plausibly traceable to cultural exchange than to migration.<ref name=Briquel1990>{{cite journal |last1=Briquel |first1=Dominique |author-link1=Dominique Briquel |year=1990 |title=Le problème des origines étrusques |journal= Lalies |series=Sessions de linguistique et de littérature |language=fr |location=Paris|publisher= Presses de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure|publication-date=1992 |pages=7–35 }}</ref>

Several archaeologists specializing in [[Prehistory]] and [[Protohistory]] who have analyzed Bronze Age and Iron Age remains that were excavated in the territory of historical Etruria have pointed out that no evidence has been found, related either to [[material culture]] or to [[social practices]], to support a migration theory.<ref name=Bartoloni2014>{{cite book |last1=Bartoloni |first1=Gilda |year=2014 |chapter=Gli artigiani metallurghi e il processo formativo nelle "Origini" degli Etruschi |title=" Origines " : percorsi di ricerca sulle identità etniche nell'Italia antica |series=Mélanges de l'École française de Rome: Antiquité|language=it|volume=126-2 |location=Rome |publisher= École française de Rome|publication-date=2014 |isbn=978-2-7283-1138-5}}</ref> The most marked and radical change that has been archaeologically attested in the area is the adoption, starting in about the 12th century BC, of the funeral rite of incineration in terracotta urns, a Continental European practice derived from the [[Urnfield culture]]; nothing about it suggests an ethnic contribution from [[Asia Minor]] or the [[Near East]].<ref name=Bartoloni2014/>

A 2012 survey of the previous 30 years' archaeological findings based on excavations of the major Etruscan cities showed a continuity of culture from the last phase of the Bronze Age (13th–11th century BC) to the Iron Age (10th–9th century BC). This is evidence that the Etruscan civilization, which emerged around 900 BC, was built by people whose ancestors had inhabited that region for at least the previous 200 years.<ref name=Bagnasco2012>{{cite book |last1=Bagnasco Gianni |first1=Giovanna |chapter=Origine degli Etruschi |editor1-last=Bartoloni |editor1-first=Gilda |title=Introduzione all'Etruscologia |language=it |location=Milan |publisher=Ulrico Hoepli Editore |pages=47–81 }}</ref> Based on this cultural continuity, there is now a consensus among archeologists that Proto-Etruscan culture developed, during the last phase of the Bronze Age, from the indigenous [[Proto-Villanovan culture]] and that the subsequent Iron Age [[Villanovan culture]] is most accurately described as an early phase of the Etruscan civilization.<ref name=Moser1996/> It is possible that there were contacts between northern-central Italy and the [[Mycenaeans|Mycenaean world]] at the end of the Bronze Age, but contacts between the inhabitants of Etruria and inhabitants of [[Greece]], [[Aegean Sea]] Islands, Asia Minor, and the Near East are attested only centuries later, when Etruscan civilization was already flourishing and Etruscan [[ethnogenesis]] was well established. The first of these attested contacts relate to the [[Magna Grecia|Greek colonies in Southern Italy]] and [[Phoenician–Punic Sardinia|Phoenician-Punic]] colonies in [[Sardinia]], and the consequent [[orientalizing period]].<ref name=Stoddart>{{cite book |last1=Stoddart |first1=Simon |author-link1=Simon Stoddart |year=1989 |chapter=Divergent trajectories in central Italy 1200–500 BC |editor1-last=Champion |editor1-first=Timothy C. |title=Centre and Periphery – Comparative Studies in Archaeology |language=en |location= London and New York|publisher=Taylor & Francis |publication-date= 2005|pages=89–102 }}</ref>

One of the most common mistakes for a long time, even among some scholars of the past, has been to associate the later [[Orientalizing period]] of Etruscan civilization with the question of its origins. Orientalization was an artistic and cultural phenomenon that spread among the Greeks themselves and throughout much of the central and western Mediterranean, not only in Etruria.<ref name=Burkert1992>{{cite book |last1=Burkert|first1= Walter |year=1992 |title=The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age |series=Enciclopedia del Mediterraneo |language=English |location=London |publisher=Thames and Hudson}}</ref> The Etruscan orientalizing period was due, as has been amply demonstrated by archeologists, to contacts with the Greeks and the Eastern Mediterranean and not to mass migrations.<ref name=d'agostino2003>{{cite book |last1=d'Agostino|first1= Bruno |year=2003 |chapter=Teorie sull'origine degli Etruschi |title= Gli Etruschi |series=Enciclopedia del Mediterraneo |language=Italian |volume=26 |location=Milan |publisher=Jaca Book |pages=10–19}}</ref> The facial features (the profile, almond-shaped eyes, large nose) in the frescoes and sculptures and the depiction of reddish-brown men and light-skinned women, influenced by archaic Greek art, followed the artistic traditions from the Eastern Mediterranean that had spread even among the Greeks themselves, and to a lesser extent also to several other civilizations in the central and western Mediterranean up to the [[Iberian Peninsula]]. Actually, many of the tombs of the Late Orientalizing and Archaic periods, such as the [[Tomb of the Augurs]], the [[Tomb of the Triclinium]] and the [[Tomb of the Leopards]], as well as other tombs from the archaic period in the [[Monterozzi necropolis]] in [[Tarquinia]], were painted by Greek painters or at least foreign artists. These images have, therefore, a very limited value for a realistic representation of the Etruscan population.<ref name=deGrummond2014>{{cite book |last1=de Grummond |first1=Nancy Thomson |year=2014 |chapter=Ethnicity and the Etruscans |title=Companion to Ethnicity in the Ancient Mediterranean |language=en |location=Chichester, Uk |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |pages= 413–414 |quote= The facial features, however, are not likely to constitute a true portrait, but rather partake of a formula for representing the male in Etruria in Archaic art. It has been observed that the formula used—with the face in profile, showing almond-shaped eyes, a large nose, and a domed up profile of the top of the head—has its parallels in images from the eastern Mediterranean. But these features may show only artistic conventions and are therefore of limited value for determining ethnicity. }}</ref> It was only from the end of the 4th century BC that evidence of physiognomic portraits began to be found in Etruscan art and Etruscan portraiture became more realistic.<ref name=Bandinelli1984>{{cite book |last1=Bianchi Bandinelli |first1=Ranuccio |author-link1=Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli |year=1984 |chapter=Il problema del ritratto |title=L'arte classica |language=it |location=Roma |publisher= [[Editori Riuniti]]}}</ref>

====Genetic research====
There have been numerous biological studies on the Etruscan origins, the oldest of which dates to the 1950s, when research was still based on blood tests of modern samples and DNA analysis (including the analysis of ancient samples) was not yet possible.<ref name=Ciba1959>{{cite book |last1=A Ciba Foundation Symposium |year=1959 |orig-year=1958 |editor1-last= Wolstenholme|editor1-first= Gordon|editor1-link= Gordon Wolstenholme |editor2-last=O'Connor |editor2-first=Cecilia M.|title=Medical Biology and Etruscan Origins |language= English |location=London |publisher=J & A Churchill Ltd |isbn= 978-0-470-71493-5}}</ref><ref name=Perkins2017>{{cite book |last=Perkins |first=Phil |editor-last=Naso |editor-first=Alessandro |title=Etruscology |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter |date=2017 |pages=109–118 |chapter=Chapter 8: DNA and Etruscan identity |isbn=978-1934078495 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uk8_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA109 }}</ref><ref name=Perkins2009>{{cite book |last= Perkins |first=Phil |editor-last1=Perkins |editor-first1=Phil|editor-last2=Swaddling |editor-first2=Judith |title=Etruscan by Definition: Papers in Honour of Sybille Haynes|publisher=The British Museum Research Publications |id=173 |location=London |date=2009 |pages=95–111 |chapter=DNA and Etruscan identity |isbn=978-0861591732}}</ref> Only very recently, with the development of [[archaeogenetics]], have comprehensive studies containing the [[whole genome sequencing]] of Etruscan samples been published, including [[autosomal DNA]] and [[Y-DNA]], autosomal DNA being the "most valuable to understand what really happened in an individual's history", as stated by geneticist [[David Reich (geneticist)|David Reich]], whereas previously studies were based only on [[mitochondrial DNA]] analysis, which contains less and limited information.<ref name=Reich2018>{{cite book |last1=Reich |first1=David |author-link1=David Reich (geneticist) |year=2018 |chapter=Ancient DNA Opens the Floodgates |title= Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past |language=English |location= Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=53–59 |isbn=9780198821250 |quote="But mitochondrial DNA only records information on the entirely female line, a tiny fraction of the many tens of thousands of lineages that have contributed to any person’s genome. To understand what really happened in an individual’s history, it is incomparably more valuable to examine all ancestral lineages together."}}</ref>

An archeogenetic study focusing on Etruscan origins was published in September 2021 in the journal ''[[Science Advances]]'' and analyzed the [[autosomal DNA]] and the uniparental markers (Y-DNA and mtDNA) of 48 Iron Age individuals from [[Tuscany]] and [[Lazio]], spanning from 800 to 1 BC and concluded that the Etruscans were autochthonous (locally indigenous) and had a genetic profile similar to their Latin neighbors. In the Etruscan individuals the ancestral component [[Steppe-related ancestry|Steppe]] was present in the same percentages as those found in the previously analyzed Iron Age Latins, and the Etruscan DNA bore no trace of recent admixture with Anatolia and the Eastern Mediterranean. Both Etruscans and Latins were firmly part of the European cluster, west of modern Italians. The Etruscans were a mixture of WHG, EEF and Steppe ancestry; 75% of the Etruscan male individuals were found to belong to [[Haplogroup R-M269|haplogroup R1b (R1b M269)]], especially its clade [[Haplogroup R-M269#R-P312|R1b-P312]] and its derivative [[Haplogroup R1b-L2|R1b-L2]], whose direct ancestor is [[Haplogroup R-M269#R-U152|R1b-U152]], whilst the most common mitochondrial DNA haplogroup among the Etruscans was [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)|H]].<ref name=Posth2021>{{cite journal |last1=Posth |first1= Cosimo |last2=Zaro |first2=Valentina |last3=Spyrou |first3=Maria A. |date=September 24, 2021 |title=The origin and legacy of the Etruscans through a 2000-year archeogenomic time transect |journal= [[Science Advances]] |language=English |location=Washington DC |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |volume=7 |issue= 39 |pages= eabi7673 |pmid=34559560| doi=10.1126/sciadv.abi7673| pmc=8462907 |bibcode= 2021SciA....7.7673P }}</ref>

The conclusions of the 2021 study are in line with a 2019 study published in the journal ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' that analyzed the remains of eleven [[Iron Age]] individuals from the areas around Rome, of whom four were Etruscan, one buried in [[Veio|Veio Grotta Gramiccia]] from the Villanovan era (900-800 BC) and three buried in La Mattonara Necropolis near [[Civitavecchia]] from the Orientalizing period (700-600 BC). The study concluded that Etruscans (900–600 BC) and the [[Latins (Italic tribe)|Latins]] (900–500 BC) from [[Latium vetus]] were genetically similar,<ref name=Antonio2019>{{cite journal |last1= Antonio |first1=Margaret L.|last2=Gao |first2=Ziyue |last3=M. Moots |first3= Hannah |year=2019 |title=Ancient Rome: A genetic crossroads of Europe and the Mediterranean |journal=Science |language=en |location= Washington D.C.|publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |publication-date= November 8, 2019|volume= 366 |issue= 6466|pages=708–714 |doi=10.1126/science.aay6826 |pmid=31699931|pmc=7093155|bibcode=2019Sci...366..708A|quote=Interestingly, although Iron Age individuals were sampled from both Etruscan (n=3) and Latin (n=6) contexts, we did not detect any significant differences between the two groups with f4 statistics in the form of f4(RMPR_Etruscan, RMPR_Latin; test population, Onge), suggesting shared origins or extensive genetic exchange between them. |hdl=2318/1715466 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> with genetic differences between the examined Etruscans and Latins found to be insignificant.{{sfn|Antonio et al.|2019|p=3}} The Etruscan individuals and contemporary Latins were distinguished from preceding populations of Italy by the presence of {{c.|30%}} [[steppe ancestry]].{{sfn|Antonio et al.|2019|p=2}} Their DNA was a mixture of two-thirds [[Copper Age]] ancestry ([[Early European Farmers|EEF]] + [[Western Hunter-Gatherer|WHG]]; Etruscans ~66–72%, Latins ~62–75%) and one-third [[Steppe-related ancestry]] (Etruscans ~27–33%, Latins ~24–37%).<ref name=Antonio2019/> The only sample of [[Y-DNA]] belonged to [[Haplogroup J (Y-DNA)|haplogroup J-M12 (J2b-L283)]], found in an individual dated 700-600 BC, and carried the M314 derived allele also found in a Middle Bronze Age individual from [[Croatia]] (1631{{ndash}}1531 BC).  The four samples of [[mtDNA]] extracted belonged to haplogroups [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U5|U5a1]], [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)|H]], [[Haplogroup T (mtDNA)|T2b32]], [[Haplogroup K (mtDNA)|K1a4]].{{sfn|Antonio et al.|2019|loc=Table 2 Sample Information, Rows 33-35}}

Among the older studies, based only on mitochondrial DNA, a mtDNA study, published in 2018 in the [[American Journal of Physical Anthropology]] compared both ancient and modern samples from Tuscany, from [[Prehistory]], the Etruscan age, [[Ancient Rome|Roman age]], [[Renaissance]] and the present day and concluded that the Etruscans appear to be a local population, intermediate between the prehistoric and the other samples, placing them in the temporal network between the [[Eneolithic|Eneolithic Age]] and the Roman Age.<ref name=Leonardi2018>{{cite journal |last1= Leonardi|first1=Michela |last2=Sandionigi |first2=Anna |last3=Conzato |first3=Annalisa |last4=Vai |first4=Stefania |last5=Lari |first5= Martina |year=2018 |title=The female ancestor's tale: Long-term matrilineal continuity in a nonisolated region of Tuscany |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.23679 |journal= American Journal of Physical Anthropology |language=en |location= New York City|publisher= John Wiley & Sons |publication-date= September 6, 2018|volume=167 |issue=3 |pages=497–506 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.23679 |pmid= 30187463 |s2cid=52161000|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

A couple of [[mitochondrial DNA]] studies published in 2013 in the journals [[PLOS One]] and [[American Journal of Physical Anthropology]], based on Etruscan samples from Tuscany and Latium, concluded that the Etruscans were an indigenous population, showing that Etruscan mtDNA appears to be very close to a Neolithic population from [[Central Europe]] ([[Germany]], [[Austria]], [[Hungary]]) and to other Tuscan populations, strongly suggesting that the Etruscan civilization developed locally from the [[Villanovan culture]], as supported by archaeological evidence and anthropological research,<ref name=Moser1996/><ref name=Claassen2004>{{cite journal |last1=Claassen |first1=Horst |last2= Wree |first2= Andreas|year= 2004 |title=The Etruscan skulls of the Rostock anatomical collection – How do they compare with the skeletal findings of the first thousand years B.C.? |url= https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0940960204800323|journal=Annals of Anatomy |language=en |location=Amsterdam |publisher= Elsevier |volume=186 |issue=2 |pages=157–163 |doi=10.1016/S0940-9602(04)80032-3 |pmid=15125046 |quote= Seven Etruscan skulls were found in Corneto Tarquinia in the years 1881 and 1882 and were given as [a] present to Rostock's anatomical collection in 1882. The origin of the Etruscans who were contemporary with the Celts is not yet clear; according to Herodotus they had emigrated from Lydia in Asia Minor to Italy. To fit the Etruscan skulls into an ethnological grid they were compared with skeletal remains of the first thousand years B.C.E. All skulls were found to be male; their age ranged from 20 to 60 years, with an average age of about thirty. A comparison of the median sagittal outlines of the Etruscan skulls and the contemporary Hallstatt-Celtic skulls from North Bavaria showed that the former were shorter and lower. Maximum skull length, minimum frontal breadth, ear bregma height, bizygomatical breadth and orbital breadth of the Etruscan skulls were statistically significantly less developed compared to Hallstatt-Celtics from North Bavaria. In comparison to other contemporary skeletal remains the Etruscan skulls had no similarities in common with Hallstatt-Celtic skulls from North Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg but rather with Hallstatt-Celtic skulls from Hallstatt in Austria. Compared to chronologically adjacent skeletal remains the Etruscan skulls did not show similarities with Early Bronze Age skulls from Moravia but with Latène-Celtic skulls from Manching in South Bavaria. Due to the similarities of the Etruscan skulls with some Celtic skulls from South Bavaria and Austria, it seems more likely that the Etruscans were original inhabitants of Etruria than immigrants.|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and that genetic links between Tuscany and western [[Anatolia]] date to at least 5,000 years ago during the [[Neolithic]] and the "most likely separation time between Tuscany and Western Anatolia falls around 7,600 years ago", at the time of the migrations of [[Early European Farmers]] (EEF) from Anatolia to Europe in the early Neolithic. The ancient Etruscan samples had mitochondrial DNA haplogroups (mtDNA) [[Haplogroup JT (mtDNA)|JT]] (subclades of [[Haplogroup J (mtDNA)|J]] and [[Haplogroup T (mtDNA)|T]]) and [[U5b|U5]], with a minority of [[Haplogroup H1 (mtDNA)|mtDNA H1b]].<ref name=Ghirotto2013>{{cite journal|first1=Silvia|last1=Ghirotto|first2=Francesca|last2=Tassi|first3=Erica|last3=Fumagalli|first4=Vincenza|last4=Colonna|first5=Anna|last5=Sandionigi|first6=Martina|last6=Lari|first7=Stefania|last7=Vai|first8=Emmanuele|last8=Petiti|first9=Giorgio|last9=Corti|date=6 February 2013|title=Origins and evolution of the Etruscans' mtDNA|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=8|issue=2|pages=e55519|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0055519|pmid=23405165|pmc=3566088|first10=Ermanno|last10=Rizzi|first11=Gianluca|last11=De Bellis|first12=David|last12=Caramelli|first13=Guido|last13=Barbujani|df=dmy-all|bibcode=2013PLoSO...855519G|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=Tassi2013>{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/ajpa.22319| journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |title=Genetic evidence does not support an Etruscan origin in Anatolia.|first1=Francesca|last1=Tassi|first2=Silvia|last2=Ghirotto|first3=David|last3=Caramelli| first4=Guido| last4=Barbujani|date=2013|pmid=23900768 | volume=152 | issue= 1| pages= 11–18|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

An mtDNA study published in 2004, based on about 28 samples of individuals who lived from 600 to 100 BC in [[Veneto]], Etruria and Campania, found that the Etruscans had no significant heterogeneity and that all mitochondrial lineages observed among the Etruscan samples appear typically European or [[West Asia]]n but only a few [[haplotype]]s were shared with modern populations. Allele sharing between the Etruscans and modern populations is highest among [[German (people)|Germans]] (seven haplotypes in common), the [[Cornwall|Cornish]] from the South West of Britain (five haplotypes in common), the [[Turkish peoples|Turks]] (four haplotypes in common) and the [[Tuscany|Tuscans]] (two haplotypes in common).<ref name=Vernesi2004>{{cite journal |author=C. Vernesi e Altri |title=The Etruscans: A population-genetic study |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |date=March 2004|volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=694–704 |doi=10.1086/383284 |pmid=15015132 |pmc=1181945 }}</ref> The modern populations with the shortest genetic distance from the ancient Etruscans, based solely on mtDNA and FST, were [[Tuscans]] followed by the Turks, other populations from the Mediterranean and the Cornish after.<ref name=Vernesi2004/> This study was much criticized by other geneticists, because "data represent severely damaged or partly contaminated mtDNA sequences" and "any comparison with modern population data must be considered quite hazardous",<ref name=Bandelt2004>{{cite journal |last1= Bandelt |first1= Hans-Jürgen|date= 2004|title= Etruscan artifacts |language=English |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=75 |issue= 5|pages= 919–920 |doi=10.1086/425180 |pmid= 15457405|pmc= 1182123}}</ref><ref name=Bandelt2005>{{cite journal |last1= Bandelt |first1= Hans-Jürgen|date=2005 |title= Mosaics of ancient mitochondrial DNA: positive indicators of nonauthenticity |language=English |journal=European Journal of Human Genetics |volume=13|issue= 10|pages= 1106–1112 |doi=10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201476 |pmid= 16077732|s2cid= 19958417 |doi-access= free}}</ref><ref name=Thomas2005>{{cite journal |last1=Gilbert |first1= Marcus Thomas Pius |date=2005 |title= Assessing ancient DNA studies |url=https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(05)00226-0 |language=English |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |volume=20|issue=10 |pages= 541–544 |doi=10.1016/j.tree.2005.07.005 |pmid= 16701432|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and by archaeologists, who argued that the study was not clear-cut and had not provided evidence that the Etruscans were an intrusive population to the European context.<ref name=Perkins2009/><ref name=Perkins2017/>

In the collective volume ''Etruscology'' published in 2017, British archeologist Phil Perkins, echoing an article of his from 2009, provides an analysis of the state of DNA studies and writes, "none of the DNA studies to date conclusively prove that [the] Etruscans were an intrusive population in Italy that originated in the Eastern Mediterranean or Anatolia" and "there are indications that the evidence of DNA can support the theory that Etruscan people are autochthonous in central Italy".<ref name=Perkins2017/><ref name=Perkins2009/>

In his 2021 book ''A Short History of Humanity'', German geneticist [[Johannes Krause]], codirector of the [[Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History|Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] in [[Jena]], concludes that it is likely that the [[Etruscan language]] (as well as [[Basque language|Basque]], [[Paleo-Sardinian]] and [[Minoan language|Minoan]]) "developed on the continent in the course of the [[Neolithic Europe|Neolithic Revolution]]".<ref name=Krause2020>{{cite book |last1=Krause |first1=Johannes |author-link1=Johannes Krause |last2=Trappe |first2= Thomas |translator-last1= Waight |translator-first1=Caroline |year= 2021 |orig-year= 2019 |title=A Short History of Humanity: A New History of Old Europe |trans-title=Die Reise unserer Gene: Eine Geschichte über uns und unsere Vorfahren |language=English |edition=I |location=New York |publisher=Random House |page=217 |isbn=9780593229422 |quote=It's likely that Basque, Paleo-Sardinian, Minoan, and Etruscan developed on the continent in the course of the Neolithic Revolution. Sadly, the true diversity of the languages that once existed in Europe will never be known.}}</ref>

===Periodization of Etruscan civilization===
{{main|Villanovan culture}}
The Etruscan civilization begins with the early Iron Age [[Villanovan culture]], regarded as the oldest phase, that occupied a large area of northern and central Italy during the Iron Age.<ref name=Neri/><ref name=Bartolonivillanoviana/><ref name=Torellicolonna2000/><ref name=Torellibriquel2000/><ref name=Torellibartoloni2000/> The Etruscans themselves dated their nation's origin to a date corresponding to the 11th or 10th century BC.<ref name=Bartolonivillanoviana/><ref name="BartoloniTreccani">[[Gilda Bartoloni]], "La cultura villanoviana", in ''Enciclopedia dell'Arte Antica'', Treccani, Rome 1997, vol. VII, p. 1173 e s 1970, p. 922. (Italian)</ref> The Villanovan culture emerges with the phenomenon of regionalization from the late Bronze Age culture called "[[Proto-Villanovan culture|Proto-Villanovan]]", part of the central European [[Urnfield culture|Urnfield culture system]]. In the last Villanovan phase, called the recent phase (about 770–730 BC), the Etruscans established relations of a certain consistency with the first [[Magna Grecia|Greek immigrants in southern Italy]] (in [[Ischia|Pithecusa]] and then in [[Cuma (Italy)|Cuma]]), so much so as to initially absorb techniques and figurative models and soon more properly cultural models, with the introduction, for example, of writing, of a new way of banqueting, of a heroic funerary ideology, that is, a new aristocratic way of life, such as to profoundly change the physiognomy of Etruscan society.<ref name=BartoloniTreccani/> Thus, thanks to the growing number of contacts with the Greeks, the Etruscans entered what is called the [[orientalizing period]]. In this phase, there was a heavy influence in Greece, most of Italy and some areas of Spain, from the most advanced areas of the [[Aegean Sea|eastern Mediterranean]] and the [[ancient Near East]].<ref>[[Walter Burkert]], ''The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age'', 1992.</ref> Also directly Phoenician, or otherwise Near Eastern, craftsmen, merchants and artists contributed to the spread in southern Europe of Near Eastern cultural and artistic motifs. The last three phases of Etruscan civilization are called, respectively, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic, which roughly correspond to the homonymous phases of the ancient Greek civilization.

====Chronology====
{| class="wikitable" width=700px
|rowspan=10|'''Etruscan civilization'''<br>(900–27 BC)<ref name=Bartoloni2012h/>
|rowspan=4|Villanovan period<br>(900–720 BC)
| Villanovan I
| 900–800 BC
|-
| Villanovan II
| 800–720 BC
|-
| <small>Villanovan III (Bologna area)</small>
| <small>720–680 BC<ref name=Montanari2004 >{{cite web |url= http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/l-italia-preromana-i-siti-etruschi-bologna_%28Il-Mondo-dell%27Archeologia%29/|title=L'Italia preromana. I siti etruschi: Bologna |author=Giovanna Bermond Montanari|date=2004 |publisher=[[Treccani]]|language=it|access-date=October 12, 2019 }}</ref></small>
|-
| <small>Villanovan IV (Bologna area)</small>
| <small>680–540 BC<ref name=Montanari2004 /></small>
|-
|rowspan=3| Orientalizing period<br>(720–580 BC)
| Early Orientalizing
| 720–680 BC
|-
| Middle Orientalizing
| 680–625 BC
|-
| Late Orientalizing
| 625–580 BC
|-
|rowspan=1| Archaic period<br>(580–480 BC)
| Archaic
| 580–480 BC
|-
|rowspan=1| Classical period<br>(480–320 BC)
| Classical
| 480–320 BC
|-
|rowspan=1|Hellenistic period<br>(320–27 BC)
| Hellenistic
| 320–27 BC
|-
|}

===Expansion===
{{main|Etruria Padana|Etruria Campana}}
[[File:Map of Europe with indication of the directions of the traffic of Etruscan and Greek products - (English language version).svg|thumb|right|Etruscan territories and major spread pathways of Etruscan products]]
Etruscan expansion was focused both to the north beyond the [[Apennine Mountains]] and into Campania. Some small towns in the sixth century&nbsp;BC disappeared during this time, ostensibly subsumed by greater, more powerful neighbors. However, it is certain that the political structure of the Etruscan culture was similar to, albeit more aristocratic than, [[Magna Graecia]] in the south. The mining and commerce of metal, especially [[copper]] and [[Iron (material)|iron]], led to an enrichment of the Etruscans and to the expansion of their influence in the Italian peninsula and the western [[Mediterranean Sea]]. Here, their interests collided with those of the Greeks, especially in the sixth century&nbsp;BC, when [[Phocaea]]ns of Italy founded colonies along the coast of [[Sardinia]], [[Spain]] and [[Corsica]]. This led the Etruscans to ally themselves with [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]], whose interests also collided with the Greeks.<ref name="historyone">{{cite book|first=Larissa |last=Bonfante |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4QaXZky58FIC&q=Etruscan+League&pg=PA58 |title=Etruscan life and afterlife|via=Google Books | access-date=2009-04-22 | isbn=978-0-8143-1813-3|year = 1986|publisher=Wayne State University Press }}</ref><ref name="historytwo">{{cite book |author=John Franklin Hall |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bUhT7i7XhOAC&q=Etruscan+League&pg=PA198 |title=Etruscan Italy |via=Google Books |access-date=2009-04-22 |isbn=978-0-8425-2334-9 |df=dmy-all|year = 1996| publisher=Indiana University Press }}</ref>

Around 540&nbsp;BC, the [[Battle of Alalia]] led to a new distribution of power in the western Mediterranean. Though the battle had no clear winner, [[Carthage]] managed to expand its sphere of influence at the Greeks' expense, and Etruria saw itself relegated to the northern [[Tyrrhenian Sea]] with full ownership of [[Corsica]]. From the first half of the 5th&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC, the new political situation meant the beginning of the Etruscan decline after losing their southern provinces. In 480&nbsp;BC, Etruria's ally Carthage was defeated by a coalition of Magna Graecia cities led by [[Syracuse, Sicily]]. A few years later, in 474&nbsp;BC, Syracuse's tyrant [[Hiero I of Syracuse|Hiero]] defeated the Etruscans at the [[Battle of Cumae]]. Etruria's influence over the cities of [[Latium]] and Campania weakened, and the area was taken over by Romans and [[Samnites]].

In the 4th century&nbsp;BC, Etruria saw a [[Gaul|Gallic]] invasion end its influence over the [[Po Valley]] and the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic coast]]. Meanwhile, [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] had started annexing Etruscan cities. This led to the loss of the northern Etruscan provinces. During the [[Roman–Etruscan Wars]], Etruria was conquered by Rome in the 3rd century&nbsp;BC.<ref name="historyone"/><ref name="historytwo"/>

===Etruscan League===
{{main|Etruscan cities}}
[[File:0 Mars de Todi - Museo Gregoriano Etruscano (1).JPG|thumb|The [[Mars of Todi]], an Etruscan [[bronze sculpture]], c.&nbsp;400&nbsp;BC]]
According to legend,<ref>Livy VII.21</ref> there was a period between 600&nbsp;BC and 500&nbsp;BC in which an alliance formed among 12 Etruscan settlements, known today as the ''Etruscan League'', ''Etruscan Federation'', or ''Dodecapolis'' ({{langx|grc|Δωδεκάπολις}}). According to a legend, the Etruscan League of 12 cities was founded by [[Tarchon]] and his brother [[Tyrrhenus]]. Tarchon lent his name to the city of [[Tarquinia|Tarchna]], or Tarquinnii, as it was known by the Romans. Tyrrhenus gave his name to the [[Tyrrhenians]], the alternative name for the Etruscans. Although there is no consensus on which cities were in the league, the following list may be close to the mark: [[Arezzo|Arretium]], [[Cerveteri|Caisra]], [[Chiusi|Clevsin]], [[Cortona|Curtun]], [[Perugia|Perusna]], [[Populonia|Pupluna]], [[Veii]], [[Tarquinia|Tarchna]], [[Vetulonia|Vetluna]], [[Volterra]], [[Bolsena|Velzna]], and [[Vulci|Velch]]. Some modern authors include [[Rusellae]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/etruschi_(Dizionario-di-Storia)/ |title=Etruschi |access-date=29 March 2016 |language=it |trans-title=Etruscans |publisher=[[Treccani]] |website=Dizionario di storia}}</ref> The league was mostly an economic and religious league, or a loose confederation, similar to the Greek states. During the later [[Roman Empire|imperial]] times, when Etruria was just one of many regions controlled by Rome, the number of cities in the league increased by three. This is noted on many gravestones from the 2nd century&nbsp;BC onwards. According to [[Livy]], the 12 [[city-state]]s met once a year at the [[Fanum Voltumnae]] at [[Volsinii]], where a leader was chosen to represent the league.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=http://www.mysteriousetruscans.com/cities.html |title=The Etruscan League of 12 |website=mysteriousetruscans.com |date=2 April 2009 |access-date=2015-04-25 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

There were two other Etruscan leagues ("[[Lega dei popoli]]"): that of [[Campania]], the main city of which was [[Capua]], and the [[Po Valley]] city-states in northern Italy, which included [[Bologna]], [[Spina]] and [[Adria]].<ref name=":1" />

===Possible founding of Rome===
{{Main|Founding of Rome}}
[[File:20090414-Cività-di-Bagnoregio.jpg|thumb|right|A former Etruscan walled town, [[Civita di Bagnoregio]]]]
[[File:Lupa Capitolina, Rome.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Capitoline Wolf]]'', long considered an Etruscan bronze, feeding the twins [[Romulus and Remus]]]]
Those who subscribe to a [[Latins (Italic tribe)|Latin]] foundation of Rome followed by an Etruscan invasion typically speak of an Etruscan "influence" on Roman culture – that is, cultural objects which were adopted by Rome from neighboring Etruria. The prevailing view is that Rome was founded by Latins who later merged with Etruscans. In this interpretation, Etruscan cultural objects are considered influences rather than part of a heritage.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GrnsU27t2X8C&q=Rome+was+founded+by+Italics&pg=PA810 |title=The Shakespeare Name Dictionary |year=2004 |access-date=2011-09-14 |first1=Madison |last1=Davis |first2=Daniel |last2=Frankforter|publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780203642276 }}</ref> Rome was probably a small settlement until the arrival of the Etruscans, who constructed the first elements of its urban infrastructure such as the drainage system.<ref>{{cite book |author=Cunningham, Reich |title=Cultures and Values: A survey of the humanities |publisher=Thomson/Wadsworth |year=2006 |url=https://archive.org/details/culturevaluessur02cunn |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/culturevaluessur02cunn/page/92 92] |quote=The later Romans' own grandiose picture of the early days of their city was intended to glamorize its origins, but only with the arrival of the Etruscans did anything like an urban center begin to develop.|isbn=978-0534582272 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hughes |title=Rome: A cultural, visual, and personal history |year=2012 |page=24 |quote=Some Roman technical achievements began in Etruscan expertise. Though the Etruscans never came up with an aqueduct, they were good at drainage, and hence they were the ancestors of Rome's monumental sewer systems.}}</ref>

The main criterion for deciding whether an object originated at Rome and traveled by influence to the Etruscans, or descended to the Romans from the Etruscans, is date. Many, if not most, of the Etruscan cities were older than Rome. If one finds that a given feature was there first, it cannot have originated at Rome. A second criterion is the opinion of the ancient sources. These would indicate that certain institutions and customs came directly from the Etruscans. Rome is located on the edge of what was Etruscan territory. When Etruscan settlements turned up south of the border, it was presumed that the Etruscans spread there after the foundation of Rome, but the settlements are now known to have preceded Rome.

Etruscan settlements were frequently built on hills—the steeper the better—and surrounded by thick walls. According to [[Roman mythology]], when [[Romulus and Remus]] founded Rome, they did so on the [[Palatine Hill]] according to Etruscan ritual; that is, they began with a ''[[pomerium]]'' or sacred ditch. Then they proceeded to the walls. Romulus was required to kill Remus when the latter jumped over the wall, breaking its magic spell (see also under [[Pons Sublicius]]). The name of Rome is attested in Etruscan in the form ''Ruma-χ'' meaning 'Roman', a form that mirrors other attested ethnonyms in that language with the same suffix ''-χ'': ''Velzna-χ'' '(someone) from Volsinii' and ''Sveama-χ'' '(someone) from [[Sovana]]'. But this in itself does not prove Etruscan origin conclusively. If Tiberius is from ''θefarie'', then Ruma would have been placed on the ''Thefar'' ([[Tiber]]) river. A heavily discussed topic among scholars is who was the founding population of Rome. In 390&nbsp;BC, the [[Battle of Allia|city of Rome was attacked]] by the [[Gauls]], and as a result may have lost many, though not all, of its earlier records.

Later history relates that some Etruscans lived in the ''[[Vicus Tuscus]]'',<ref>Tacitus, Cornelius. ''The Annals & The Histories''. Trans. Alfred Church and William Brodribb. New York, 2003.</ref> the "Etruscan quarter", and that there was an Etruscan line of kings (albeit ones descended from a Greek, [[Demaratus of Corinth]]) that succeeded kings of Latin and Sabine origin. Etruscophile historians argue that this, together with evidence for institutions, religious elements and other cultural elements, proves that Rome was founded by Etruscans.

Under Romulus and [[Numa Pompilius]], the people were said to have been divided into 30 [[curia]]e and three [[Roman tribe|tribes]]. Few Etruscan words entered [[Latin]], but the names of at least two of the tribes—''Ramnes'' and ''Luceres''—seem to be Etruscan. The last kings may have borne the Etruscan title ''lucumo'', while the [[regalia]] were traditionally considered of Etruscan origin—the golden crown, the sceptre, the ''toga palmata'' (a special robe), the ''sella curulis'' ([[Curule seat|curule chair]]), and above all the primary symbol of state power: the ''[[fasces]]''. The latter was a bundle of whipping rods surrounding a double-bladed axe, carried by the king's [[lictor]]s. An example of the fasces are the remains of bronze rods and the axe from a tomb in Etruscan [[Vetulonia]]. This allowed archaeologists to identify the depiction of a fasces on the grave [[stele]] of Avele Feluske, who is shown as a warrior wielding the fasces. The most telling Etruscan feature is the word ''populus'', which appears as an Etruscan deity, [[Fufluns]].

=== Roman families of Etruscan origin ===
{{columns-list|colwidth=15em |
* [[Ancharia gens]]
* [[Arruntia gens]]
* [[Caecinia gens]]
* [[Caelia gens]]
* [[Caesennia gens]]
* [[Ceionia gens]]
* [[Cilnia gens]]
* [[Herminia gens]] – [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|Patrician]]
* [[Erucia gens]]
* [[Lartia gens]] – Patrician
* [[Perpernia gens]]
* [[Persia gens]]
* [[Rasinia gens]]
* [[Sanquinia gens]]
* [[Spurinnia gens]]
* [[Tapsennia gens]]
* [[Tarquinia gens]] – Patrician (?)
* [[Tarquitia gens]] – Patrician
* [[Urgulania gens]]
* [[Verginia gens]] – Patrician
* [[Volumnia gens]] – Patrician
}}