Essays on Etruscans

Introduction

Etruscan is an ancient italic culture that was developed from a prehistoric civilization referred to as Villanova. The Etruscans mainly settled within the central region of Italy specifically between Tiber and Arno rivers. The Etruscan civilization was once a brilliant culture that has disappeared over time but represents the foundation for ancient development of Roman art and culture as well as the Italian Renaissance. The Etruscans were considered as the first “superpowers” in the entire peninsula currently referred to as Italy. In fact the Etruscans established most cities in Western Mediterranean by working alongside Greeks. Cities such as Pisa, ...

In What Ways Were the Romans Heirs to the Greek Civilization?

Introduction There is a consensus among scholars that the major influences of the Roman culture were the Greeks. Among the major proponents for this theory are authors, Roy Matthews, Dewitt Platt and Thomas Noble; and the renowned historian, Eugen Weber. In their book, ‘The Western Humanities, Volume 1: Beginnings through the Renaissance,’ Matthews, Platt and Noble developed the idea that Western culture, which developed from the Romans, was actually a product of the Hellenistic culture that dominated the Mediterranean region in the past (Matthews, Platt, & Noble, 2010). Similarly, in his video instructional series, ‘The Western Tradition,’ Eugen Weber presented ...

Before Rome became the glorious icon of power in the ancient European region, there was an ancient culture that ruled over them: this culture – has in modern times – been referred to as the Etruscan civilization. The Etruscan people ruled over much of what today is Italy. In fact, the most notable area named after the Etruscan people is known as Tuscany in Europe. So where did they originate from? Here’s the kicker though: nobody really knows where the Etruscan people originated from. Theories have been put forth by various scholars both ancient and contemporary, to trace the origin ...

Did you enjoy studying the art of the Etruscans? Why or why not? Many people know very little about the Etruscans. If this was your first time studying them, why do you suppose they aren’t discussed very often? If you had studied the Etruscans before, what did you learn that was new?

I thoroughly enjoyed the art of the Etruscans, a culture I’ve only heard of but never studied in the past. I was particularly surprised by the powerful pieces of sculpture created by the Etruscans, almost exclusively made from terracotta. I believe that this culture is not ...

Influence of Etruscan Literature on Ancient Rome Architecture

The architecture of ancient Rome is often described as distinctive in nature due to its hugely unique characteristics. However, a deeper analysis of this architecture reveals that it was significantly influenced by other civilizations. Ancient Rome architecture was inspired by architectural styles that preceded it and the influence of these civilizations is evident in most of the classic roman architecture pieces. The emergence of Roman civilization was contemporary with of the Etruscans, the Egyptian and the Greek dynasties. However, unlike all these cultures, the importance and relevance of the Rome Empire continued going as the first millennium BCE faded. The ...

The Beginning of the Geometric Period continuing onto the Hellenistic Period, Greek art has continuously created an enormous number of potteries, which have been handed down as heirloom. During the Archaic Period, when the art of pottery flourished, adventurous Greek mythology provided the basis of inspiration for many artists. Stories of gods and heroes, wars and feasts were the main topics of the world. During this period, trade and commerce in Greece made even further advancements and actively sought out the expansion of colonies. As a result, they came into contact with Etruria, an area of Italy, in which through ...

One of the writers whose name is William Faulkner said: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” As he said, past is still going. His quote is similar to the history of art. Throughout art history, we learn and imagine about our past and how people used art to represent their lives on their period. One of the artworks that people used to represent their lives is vase. People used vase both, as art work and as household item. It was used to store water or wine in it or something else. As the time passes ...

The art of the ancient Greeks and Romans is called classical art. Classical art is a name used to describe certain periods in which various artists searched for their inspiration to this archaic style. The Romans learned painting and sculpture mainly from the Greeks which assisted in transmitting Greek art to ages. Greek and Roman sculpture has had a profound effect throughout the ages. Greek sculpture took early inspiration from Egyptian and Near Eastern monumental art from 800 to 300 BC (Singh 563). However, this evolved over the centuries all this evolved into a sole Greek version of the art form. Arguably, ...

In classical mythology, the Greek goddess Artemis (Roman Diana) is the virgin protector of fields, hunters, forests, mountains, wild places and animals, and her temples and shrines existed in throughout the Mediterranean Sea and Middle East up until the Christian era. Her temple at Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, and had been constructed on a spot considered scared for thousands of years. In addition to the Greeks and Romans, Artemis was known under various names to the Minoans, Persians, Etruscans and many other ancient peoples, dating back long before recorded history. In the Greek ...

Etruscans held their dead in very high regard. The tombs of the Etruscan’s reflect their obsession with ornamentation and the reverence of the dead. By looking at the tombs of the past we can gain a better understanding of the culture as a whole. Often tombs were filled to the brim with a wide variety of both decorative and sacred objects. Large statues of animals often graced the door ways meant as guardians for the tombs. Ceramic vases and pottery was often used to hold the ashes of the dead or to serve as decorative elements. This indicates that the ...

Strangely, the Romans by 750bc had no women. Some historians believe they attacked a nearby city and took the women to their country. This is believed to have led to the growth of Rome. Rome was founded by Romelus and Remus. This were said to be the descendants of Aenied. As they grew up, Romelus killed Remus as they started to struggle for power. Etruscans ruled the city during the early years. It is documented that they came from Etruria, a city in the North (Bury and Edward, 130). Bury and Edward describes Rome as a hierarchical and stratified society. It ...

Individual Project

(937 words) Latin became the language of Roman Imperial power and therefore all the land and peoples were familiar with the common form of ancient Latin after they were conquered by Roman military force. The question is - Why from all the languages did Latin become so popular. On the one hand Latin was the official language of the Roman bureaucracy. On the other hand a less formal Latin was used by the soldiers who conquered different regions and because some of them stayed to marry local women and raise their family, the military helped spread Latin. Latin carried ...

Every schoolchild remembers distinctly alphas, betas and gammas the letters from geometry, used to denote angles, triangles and squares, and it is a common knowledge that these letters refer to one of the most ancient alphabets in the history of the Indo-European languages. However, not everyone is aware of the fact that the Greek alphabet took its origin from the Phoenicians, who used the consonantal Semitic alphabet to create their manuscripts. The Greeks added vowels to the existing variant and converted it into the truly phonetic alphabet. Apart from being the oldest alphabet in the Indo-European history, Greek alphabet had ...