KEY IDEAS

• From the Tuscany area of Northern Italy before the Romans. Once the Romans gained significant power, the Etruscans were assimilated into the Roman Empire and eventually given Roman citizenship. 

• Influenced by the Archaic time period of the Greeks but avoid nudity.

• What we know of the Etruscans is from their tombs (tumuli) which are part of larger necropoli. 

• Tumuli are round structures with a door leading to an interior that is brightly painted to reflect a domestic space.

• Death is focused on the celebration of life. 

• Literary tradition is mostly lost. Vitruvius, an ancient historian wrote about the Etruscans' history.

• Temples are built of mud brick and stone, unlike the Greeks.

• Sculptures are created out of terra-cotta, stucco, and bronze.

• Fun Fact! "It was an Etruscan custom for the king to be preceded by a lictor (an officer attending the consul or other magistrate), who carried an axe held together by a bundle of rods. Thus the symbols of royal power apparently came to Rome from Etruria and were mostly related to political authority (crown, throne, sceptre, and fasces.)" From The Etruscans: A new investigation by Mauro Cristofani)