Rasna (Etruscan) Social Structure AncientSites >Rome > Groups >Etruria New Vines "Products Contest" with $500 in Prizes! Places To Go!Today's PostsRomeAthensEgyptBabylonTaraMachuPicchuNewYorkAncientSitesSite MapAncientVine Rome Board Index | Rome Daily Posts Board: Etruria Topic: Business and Suggestions Topic Editor: Nesnut Hatshepsut Topic Description: This is the place to post ... Email this post to a friend! Message: Rasna (Etruscan) Social Structure Author: - Tuscus Sempronius Date: Feb 5, 1999 21:57 Bearing in mind that much of the following information is presented with hedges, qualifications and generalizations, which at times seem to outnumber the actual assertions made, it is possible to discern something of Etruscan life during the 500s and 400s. I realize in re-reading this that it rambles somewhat, but I hope it proves useful anyway. Having begun it, I see it deserves a monograph length work. I'd welcome any correction of errors of fact or interpretation! At the top of the social arena was the aristocracy, from which the lauchum (“princes” or “nobles” or sometimes even “kings”) came. These noble families held hereditary positions in their cities/regions as descendants of the leaders of earlier clans, which Grant (in his The Etruscans) says were originally considerably more egalitarian. By around the 700s, however, Etruria had become largely oligarchic, with one or a few “first families” holding power in most cities or regions. Presumably through political marriages, alliances and mutual benefit such as trade and military authority, power was shared among the families. In this regard, names closely associated with particular cities prove helpful in tracing boundaries and directions of influence. For example, it can be established that some of the “newer” Etruscan cities were founded by “colonists” from a mother city (or “metropolis” as the Greeks called it) in part through the otherwise strongly localized family names the cities share. Next were the magistrates, often synonymous with or at least drawing from the aristocracy. But in some cases they seem to have been connected to the very small “middle” class of the probably “nouveau riche” merchants and tradesmen. Many of the magistracies -- zilach/zilath, maru (which may also have been more of a religious office) and others -- apparently held defined areas of responsiblity, comparable to Roman tribunes, praetors and other officials. Note especially the zilach mechl rasnal, the “zilach of the Etruscan people,” apparently elected (?) annually (?) from the nobility, at the meeting of the Etruscan League near Volsinii, northeast of Lake Bolsena (known as the “Etruscan Lake”). Many writers observe, however, that this position was a sinecure and had no real authority or consequence. Another official, the zilach eterau, was apparently repsonsible for the freedmen. Again coming principally from the upper class were the priests and priestesses, and perhaps some affiliated temple officials, though slaves would have attended to the more menial tasks. The maru, netsvis, cepen, fronta, trutnut, etc. were all religious specialists of some kind, concerned above all to interpret the prophecies of Tarchies (Tages) and the signs of the Gods. It is most likely from the aristocracy and priesthood that writing spread, but also perhaps from the merchants and craftsmen, many of whom were Greek and Phoenician, and who would have benefited from knowing how to read the tallies, records, inventories, orders, etc. of their customers, as well as to speak with them in Etruscan. Clients of the aristocracy, who depended on the noble families for protection, advancement, business, etc., and the military forces, who were often attached to a particular ruling family rather than conscripted and maintained by the city-state, composed a sort of extended household of the aristocracy. Among others in a noble’s entourage were the entertainers which the tomb paintings depict in such variety: actors, musicians, dancers, jugglers, wrestlers, painters, sculptors, etc. -- again either clients or slaves of the aristocracy. Foreign craftsmen seemed at least in some regions to live in enclaves outside the cities themselves--a kind of ancient “artists’ colony,” though conditions must have varied widely. After the mid-500s there is increasing evidence of smaller Etruscan landowners, with more modest and simpler tombs by which they are identified, existing side by side with the nobles and great landholders. Yet Etruria apparently never developed the broader base of authority and involvement in public life of both higher and lower classes which helped Rome survive and prosper even as Etruria was declining. The slaves themselves were either native and foreign, obtained through wars, trading, or piracy, for which the Etruscans were infamous among their rivals on the Mediterranean. Etruscan slaves enjoyed some privileges not accorded those in other nations. “The Greek philosopher Posidonius . . . noted with particular disapproval that Etruscans allowed even their slaves to dress flamboyantly. Other commentators reported that some fashions were, at times, adopted enthusiastically by both sexes: draped mantles that were the precursors to the Roman toga, certain types of footwear, and short hair styles were cases in point” (Etruscans: Italy’s Lovers of Life, 98). “Like the contemporary Greek polis, or a Tuscan city of the Renaissance, each Etruscan city was characterized by its individualism and independence,” observes Luisa Banti (The Etruscan Cities and Their Culture). Together with distinctive variations of language and alphabet, their food, clothing, houshold furnishings and festivals must have differed as well. Cremation vs. burial separates north and south Etruria, and there were likely many other differences that also set apart each city/region through pride in their unique traditions and history. Next: Thank you, Tuscus! ( Lauchum Nesithva Hathisna - Nesnut Hatshepsut ) Previous: Tentative notes on social structure coming soon ( - Tuscus Sempronius )