The Mysterious Etruscans by Steven L. TuckMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Excellent overview of the Etruscans, which had been very hard for me to find, whether in English or Italian.
There seemed to be a couple times where he was overreaching and exaggerating a bit. I understand that the evidence is limited, so we have to guess and surmise quite a bit, but sometimes it just seemed taken a tad too far (No, the Romans would not have been going around in fig leafs if the Etruscans hadn't given them togas).
But I shouldn't overemphasize the fact. It doesn't detract (too much) from the overall story of the Etruscans.
Some of my notes:
Ostrich eggs were signs of international trade. Some were engraved by Phoenicians, others by Etruscans.
Warfare: Etruscans were very courageous, but bad at overarching strategies (just charge in for personal glory/machismo, with no real macro strategy)
Women had more power than Greece. Portrayals of childbirth and child rearing. Also literature aimed at women. Also portrayals of women at games and religious rites.
"The Etruscans are almost completely responsible for for the western notion of family, and they originated the very idea of the Family name in Europe."
"Tuscany" comes from the Latin for 'Etruscan'. "Tyrrhenian" comes from the Greek for 'Etruscan'. "Rome" comes from 'Rumon', the Etruscan word for the Tiber river.
Etruscan games were always religious in nature, so bleeding (although not necessarily death) was required in fights as an offering, unlike in Greek games. This then led to Gladiator fights of Ancient Rome.
More things we got from the Etruscans: togas, and aqueducts and stone archways were Etruscan inventions. Agrippa was Etruscan too.
Etruscan was still being used (at least in temples) up to the 4th century (so pretty much to the end of the Roman empire).
Capua (Etruscan city) sided with Hannibal, since he was fighting the Romans.
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