Etruscan piracy

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Board: Etruria
Topic: The Sea People 
Topic Editor: Nesnut Hatshepsut
Topic Description: The Etruscans were famous s...

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Message: Etruscan piracy
Author: - Tuscus Sempronius, Patron 
Date: Mar 22, 1999 15:35
      Considering the "bad press" the Etruscans received from less than 
      objective Romans and Greeks, it's possible that an Etruscan "pirate" was 
      probably no different than any other Mediterranean "adventurer" or 
      colonist (i.e., Greek or Roman!) "defending" local waters and insisting on 
      a "tribute" from passing ships. I like the idea of piracy as a profession; 
      certainly it's a matter of public record that pirates sometimes made 
      "arrangements" with local authorities in return for a portion of the 
      takings.  And considering the merchant competition for markets and the 
      struggle for naval supremacy between the Etruscans and Carthaginians, the 
      Phoenicians, and the Greeks, it makes sense that there was frequent casual 
      harrassment at sea of competitors' vessels.  Populonia on the west coast 
      brought ore from the nearby island of Elba, which also had a Greek name 
      (Aethalia -- "smokey," from all the smelting furnaces, apparently), so the 
      Greeks must have had an eye on some territories also claimed by the 
      Etruscans.








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