SURVIVAL OF ETRUSCAN RELIGION
The etrusca disciplina was popular among the politically active intelligentsia of Rome during the final centuries BCE and the first century CE, quoted by authors such as Tarquitius Priscus, Aulus Caecina and Nigidius Figulus (Weinstock 1950, 1951; Rawson 1978).
During the later empire and Byzantine periods, a steady stream of scholars discussed the etrusca disciplina, although much material actually came from Mesopotamian sources, Ptolemaic astrological texts, or classical philosophy (Platonism, Epicureanism, Stoicism and Gnosticism). Haruspices still occasionally involved themselves in the affairs of the Roman state (Briquel 1997), accompanying the army of Julian in 363 CE with “military books” to consult (libris exercitualibus, Ammianus Marcellinus 23.5.10). In 410 CE, when Alaric was at the gates of Rome, a group of Etruscan haruspices offered to call down thunderbolts on the attackers, but were engaged too late to be of use. Today, Etruscan rituals, expressed in inscriptions, structures and artistic representations, may be traced from Late Bronze Age antecedents, but the personal beliefs, moral teachings, myths and explanations have disappeared with the Etruscan literature.NOTES
1. Unless otherwise noted, all translations of ancient authors are by the author.
2. The warrior’s sword wound was healing, and the unhealed blow came from overhead from a ceremonial flanged axe of the type normally used for a sacrifice. Besides, only a sacrifice would be buried inside a sanctuary.
3. One plaque, inscribed in Phoenician-Punic language, speaks of the goddess Ashtart, while the plaque with its Etruscan paraphrase calls her “Unialastres” - Uni-Ashtart; Greek authors equated this cult with that of the birth-goddess Eileithyia, as well.
SUGGESTED READING
For general background on Etruscan culture, including religion, see S. Haynes, Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History (Los Angeles, CA, 2000).
de Grummond, N. T. & I. Edlund-Berry (eds) 2011. The Archaeology of Sanctuaries and Ritual in Etruria (JRA Suppl. Series 81). Portsmouth, RI.
de Grummond, N. T. & E. Simon (eds) 2006. The Religion of the Etruscans (Proceedings of the Sixth Langford Conference, Florida State University, 1999). Austin, TX.
Edlund, I. E. M. 1987. The Gods and the Place: Location and Function of Sanctuaries in the Countryside of Etruria and Magna Graecia (700-400 BC) (Skrifter utgivna av Svenska Institutet i Rom 43). Stockholm.
Gaultier, F. & D. Briquel (eds) 1997. Les Etrusques, les plus religieux des hommes. Etat de la recherche sur la religion etrusque. Paris.
Jannot, J.-R. 2005. Religion in Ancient Etruria, J. K. Whitehead (trans.). Madison, WI.
Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum (ThesCRA). (2004-ongoing). Los Angeles, CA & Basel. [Multiple volumes with articles on all aspects of Etruscan, Greek and Roman religion.]
Turfa, J. M. 2012. Divining the Etruscan World: The Brontoscopic Calendar and Religious Practice. Cambridge.
Turfa, J. M. (ed.) 2013. The World of the Etruscans. London. (See “Part V. Religion in Etruria”, chs 24-33, various authors.)
van dor Meer, L. B. 2007. Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis. The Linen Book of Zagreb. A Comment on the Longest Etruscan Text. Leuven.
van der Meer, L. B. (ed.) 2010. Material Aspects of Etruscan Religion (Proceedings of the International Colloquium Leiden, May 29 and 30, 2008). Leuven.
van der Meer, L. B. (ed.) 2010. Etrusco Ritu: Case Studies in Etruscan Ritual Behavior. Leuven.
See also: Bonfante and Swaddling (2006); de Grummond (2006c); Turfa (2006a); van der Meer (1987, 2007) (for bibliographic details, see the Bibliography).