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Origin and history[edit]

Main articles: Etruscan origins and Etruscan history

Etruscan pendant with swastikasymbols, Bolsena, Italy, 700-650 BC.Louvre Museum.

The origins of the Etruscans are mostly lost in prehistory. Historians have no literature and
no original texts of religion or philosophy; therefore, much of what is known about this
civilization is derived from grave goods and tomb findings.[9]Historians have first relied on
the historical accounts of prominent Greek and Roman authors such as Herodotus andPliny
the Elder, who both described the Etruscan people and theorized about their origins, for
example by comparing their coins to others from different regions. Herodotus, based on
such metallurgic examinations, speculated that the Etruscans emigrated from Lydia, at the
Western coast of Anatolia, and were sent by their king to find a better land (Umbria) after a
drought ravaged their homeland. Due to the fanciful and hypothetical nature of these
tales, modern historians have been skeptical of these accounts. Pliny the Elder put the
Etruscans in the context of the Raetic people to the north and wrote in his Natural History
(79 CE):[10]
"Adjoining these the (Alpine) 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 Gauls, their leader was named Raetus".
A mitochondrial DNA study of 2013 has suggested that the Etruscans were probably an
indigenous population. The study extracted and typed the hypervariable region of
mitochondrial DNA of fourteen individuals buried in two Etruscan necropoles, analyzing
them along with other Etruscan and Medieval samples, and 4,910 contemporary
individuals from theMediterranean basin. Comparing ancient (30 Etruscans, 27 Medieval
individuals) and modern DNA sequences (370 Tuscans), has suggested that the Etruscans
can be considered ancestral. By further considering two Anatolian samples (35 and 123
individuals) it could estimate that the genetic links between Tuscany and Anatolia date
back to at least 5,000 years ago, strongly suggesting that the Etruscan culture developed
locally, and not as an immediate consequence of immigration from the Eastern
Mediterranean shores. Among ancient populations, ancient Etruscans are found to be
closest to a Neolithic population from Central Europe.[8][11]
An mtDNA study of 2007 confirmed that the Etruscans were not related substantially to the
Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherer populations of Europe and also that they showed no
similarities to populations in the Near East. Another earlier DNA study performed in Italy,
however, partly gave credence to the theory of Herodotus, as the results showed that 11
minor mitochondrial DNA lineages extracted from different Etruscan remains occur
nowhere else in Europe and are shared only with Near Eastern Anatolian people. [12] Local
tradition asserts the Etruscans arrived first at Piombino, earlier Populonia or Populonia
Alta (Etruscan: Pupluna, Pufluna orFufluna, all
pronounced Fufluna; Latin: Populonium, Populonia, or Populonii), after crossing from the
iron mines at Elba and Corsica, before spreading inland.

The latter hypothesis gives credence to the main hypotheses, which state that the
Etruscans are indigenous, probably stemming from the Villanovan culture or from the Near
East.[13] Etruscan expansion was focused both to the north beyond the Apennines and into
Campania. Some small towns in the 6th century BC disappeared during this time,
ostensibly consumed by greater, more powerful neighbours. 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, 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 6th century BC,
when Phoceans of Italy founded colonies along the coast of Sardinia, Spain and Corsica.
This led the Etruscans to ally themselves with the Carthaginians, whose interests also
collided with the Greeks.[14][15]
Around 540 BC, the Battle of Alalia led to a new distribution of power in the
western Mediterranean Sea. Though the battle had no clear winner, Carthage managed to
expand its sphere of influence at the expense of the Greeks, and Etruria saw itself
relegated to the northern Tyrrhenian Sea with full ownership of Corsica. From the first half
of the 5th century BC, the new international political situation meant the beginning of the
Etruscan decline after losing their southern provinces. In 480 BC, Etruria's ally Carthage
was defeated by a coalition of Magna Graecia cities led by Syracuse. A few years later, in
474, Syracuse's tyrant Hiero defeated the Etruscans at the Battle of Cumae. Etruria's
influence over the cities of Latium and Campania weakened, and it was taken over by
Romans and Samnites. In the 4th century, Etruria saw a Gallic invasion end its influence
over the Po valley and the Adriatic coast. Meanwhile, Rome had started annexing Etruscan
cities. This led to the loss of the Northern Etruscan provinces. Etruria was conquered by
Rome in the 3rd century BC.[14][15]
Etruscan League[edit]
According to legend, there was a period between 600 BCE and 500 BCE in which
an alliance was formed between twelve Etruscan settlements, known today as
theEtruscan League, Etruscan Federation, or Dodecapoli (in Greek ).
The Etruscan League of twelve cities was founded by two Lydian noblemen:Tarchon and his
brother Tyrrhenus. Tarchon lent his name to the city of Tarchna, or Tarquinnii, as it was
known by the Romans. Tyrrhenus gave his name to theTyrrhenians the alternative name
for the Etruscans. Although there is no total consensus on which cities were in the league,
the following list may be close to the
mark: Arretium, Caisra, Clevsin, Curtun, Perusna, Pupluna, Veii, Tarchna, Vetluna, Volterra,
Velzna, and Velch. Some modern authors include Rusellae. The league was mostly an
economic and religious league, or a loose confederation, similar to the Greek states.
During the later 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 later
grave stones from the 2nd century onwards. According to Livy, the twelve city-states met
once a year at the Fanum Voltumnae at Volsinii, where a leader was chosen to represent
the league.[16]
There were two other Etruscan leagues: that of Campania, the main city of which
was Capua, and the Po Valley city-states in the North, which included Spina andAdria.

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