Who were the Etruscans?
The Etruscan civilisation developed in Italy around 800 BC and remained powerful for 400 years, until the Romans conquered it in 396 BC. However, the Romans didn’t wipe out the Etruscans with a snap of their fingers like Thanos in ‘Avengers Infinity War’, but occupied the Etruscan territories, obliging the Etruscans to follow Roman laws and customs. Etruscans and Romans integrated, living together in the countryside and in the cities. While the Etruscans referred to themselves as the ‘Rasenna’ or ‘Rasna’, they were known as the ‘Tusci’ by the Romans, a name which then came to describe the region in which they lived - Tuscany.
The Etruscans in Populonia
Etruscan Museum of Populonia
At the beginning of their history, long before the Romans conquered them, the Etruscans were a thriving population scattered in villages throughout the central Italy. To give you an idea of the size of the territory they ruled over, it would have taken 25 days to walk from the northernmost Etruscan city to reach that at the southernmost point. The Etruscans excelled in two activities: sailing and mining copper, silver, gold and iron. They extracted the metals from mines in Sardinia and Elba, loaded them onto ships and brought them to the town of Populonia, where the ruins of an ancient artisan district specialised in ironworking can be can still be seen today.
From the Gulf of Baratti to Greece
Populonia, overlooking the Gulf of Baratti
Of the 12 Etruscan city-states, which were linked by economic, political and trade agreements, Populonia was the only costal town. Today you can enjoy a splendid view of the Gulf of Baratti from the Etruscan acropolis. The Etruscans forged weapons, hoes and ploughs with the iron and traded the other precious metals for products from the Greeks. Vases, clothes, shoes, carpets, jewellery, oil: the Greek’s had a refined style, and the Etruscans adored their workmanship. Like many peoples of the ancient world, they believed that life continued on after death exactly as it did before. So when a loved one died, his or her grave was filled with the most beautiful things the family possessed, because they believed the deceased would need them in the next life. Of course, the most beautiful and precious items came from Greece, which explains why the Etruscan tombs, such as those in the Populonia area, are full of Greek objects. To learn more, visit the fascinating Archaeological Museum of Populonia.
An Etruscan meal
What did the Etruscans eat? More or less what we eat, apart from sugar, chocolate, tomato, coffee, corn, pasta, rice, potatoes... Hey! Wait a minute... Really, what did they eat? Okay…meat, fish, legume soups, flatbreads, cheese, fruit, and certainly a lot of sweets things - (life would be too sad without them!) - only they didn’t have sugar, so they used honey. The Museum of Populonia houses a reconstruction of an Etruscan banquet, which can also be explored by the visually impaired.
And then they drank a lot of wine. Except that it was not stored in bottles like today’s wine, but in earthenware amphorae, and it was very alcoholic: it had to be diluted with water before drinking and was then mixed with honey and grated cheese... there’s no accounting for taste!
A mysterious but fun-loving population!
Etruscan tomb
Not much is known about the Etruscans: they built wooden houses and temples that have been almost completely lost to time, and very few written records of their language remain. What little we know comes mainly from the paintings that decorate the walls of the tombs, and to be fair, the life they lived doesn’t seem all that bad. They hunted birds with slingshots, caught fish with nets, set up big colourful tents in the middle of the countryside where they spent their days dancing, listening to music, eating and having fun. The Roman conquest may have all but erased their culture, but we should not forget that the Etruscans were a proud, strong people. Did you know that 3 of the 7 kings of Rome were Etruscans? So it is not so hard to imagine that they could have conquered the Romans and not vice versa, meaning today in Italy Etruscan would be studied and not Latin! Discover Populonia here and all the archaeological parks, museums and nature parks in the Val di Cornia.
