ETRURIA. 256 ETRURIA. have been detected. Only 15 inscriptions arc bilin- gual, and these are of little use. The longest in- scription, on the Perugia Cippus, contains 46 lines. A great deal is expected from the study of the recently discovered linen mummy-cloths at Agram, containing over 200 lines of an Etruscan book. It was recognized in 1891 by Professor Krall of Vienna. In such prog- ress as has been made, the. stages have been marked by Lepsius's study of the alphabet, bv Corssen's first attempt at laying a scien- tific basis for linguistic study (Die Sprache der Etrusker, Leipzig, 1874 ) . and by the subsequent st udies of Pauli and Deecke, who hold opposite theories. A few facts are known. The Etruscan language expresses relationship, both by separate words and by suffixes: it possesses gender and enclitics : it does not distinguish accusative from nominative case: but has genitive (-s) and dative (-si or -thi) as well as plural (-r or -1). AECHiEOLOQY AND ART. — ARCHITECTURE. It is through archaeological excavation that nearly everything known about the Etruscans has been discovered. More is known of Etruscan engineer- ing than of architecture. The cities were carefully laid out on a quadrangular plan, with well- fortified citadels and walls: the walls were strengthened by towers and double gates. The Etruscans themselves used tufa and other stones squared and laid in horizontal courses, but there is some dispute whether the polygonal and irregular cyclopean masonry of some cities in Etruria was built by them or another and earlier race, perhaps the Pelasgians (q.v.). The city of Marzabotto, in the Province of Bologna, is the best instance of an Etruscan colony, laid out in regular streets, with pavements, sidewalks, and drainage. The Servian wall in Rome is of Etruscan construction. On the other hand, Russella?, C'osa, Vetulonia, Veil and other cities are built in the polygonal style. Almost nothing of their temple architec- ture remains. From Vitruvius, and the descrip- tions of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in Rome, from remains at Alatri, Satricum, Segni, Norba, and Falerii, it is evident that the Etrus- cans, Latins. Volseians, and other' tribes adopted tlicir temple from the early Greeks, taking as form the early temple in (nitis (not peristyle). with very deep portico. The usual material was a wooden core, covered with terracotta, for col- umns, entablature, gables, etc., while the cella walls were of brick or stone. Hence, their easy destruction by fire and disintegration. Nearly all the remain- consist of the terra-cotta ornaments, such as antefixes (q.v.), sculptured friezes, and gable statuary, [itarble sculpture, on account of iN weight, could never be used in connection with these light wooden structures, but terra cotta sculpture was carried to greal perfection between the fifth and third centuries, as is shown by the remains at Satricum, Falerii, and Luni, which arc unique in plastic history, and in some cases purely Greek in style. The order employed "as a modification of the Doric, called the Tuscan, the proportions of which, owing to the influence of the material, were much lighter: they can best be studied in Vitruvius and in early Roman ex- les i opied from Etruscan buildings. In their tombs the Etruscans showed as much genius as the ( hi el i ghoul Etruria thej are large and early domical and vaulted tombs for gn il clii.is. which remind : of the tombs of the Ho met 1 1 1 . 1 of t lie Lydian Alyattes. Such arethoseat Veii, Vetulonia, Vulii, Chhisi, discov- ered full of antiquities, mostly imported from the East. These all date from the eighth, seventh, and sixth centuries. To another class, and cer- tainly to the Etruscans themselves, belong the flat-roofed tombs imitated from the house, of which fine series exist at Caere and IVrugia, dating between the sixth and third centuries n.c. These were often painted like the Egyptian tombs, with frescoes, from which we gain our principal knowledge, not only of Egyptian funeral rites, but of their beliefs and daily life. Xo remains of royal palaces or of public buildings have come to light, so that there is but a meagre remnant of Etruscan architecture. Sculpture. It is different with sculpture. In character Etruscan sculpture lacks beauty of style, poetry, and imagination. It is essentially utilitarian and material. Stone, bronze, and terra-cotta were used at a very early date. It is cither in the tombs, as at Vetulonia. or above them that' the early stone sculptures are found, in the form of statues or steles carved in relief to mark the site. During this early stage (sev- enth to sixth century), when Oriental influence dominated, there was a peculiar mixture of real- ism and archaic style, as shown in the great terracotta sarcophagi at the British Museum, the Louvre, and the Papa Giulio Museum in Rome, in which the husband and wife are represented in life-size figures reclining on the funeral couch in conversation, while scenes in low relief are carved on the faces of the sarcophagus. Later, marble came into use for sarcophagi. Sometimes it was painted, as in the wonderful sarcophagus at Flor- ence of the Hellenic period (fourth century) ; but when the burial after incineration became the rule the small carved ash-urns were produced in thousands. The largest collections are in the Vatican, at Perugia, Florence, Corneto, etc. Their scenes are very instructive as to Etruscan myth- ology, but they show a great and growing depend- ence on Greek thought. Bronze sculpture was an Etruscan specialty. Even the Greeks recog- nized this fact and imported the Etruscan works. This was the case not only with statues, like the Mars of Todi and the Orator of Florence, with busts like the Brutus in the Capitol, and with statuettes innumerable, but with articles of fur- niture and decoration, such as candelabra, jewel* cases, the famous cistcr, and mirrors. The FicorB cista, with its exquisite engraved scenes, belongs to a class not found elsewhere in the artistic world. Many of the mirrors also are beautifully engraved with figured scenes. Minor Arts. The Etruscan tombs, beginning in the eighth century, are filled with a wealth of objects unparalleled except in Egypt, and excava- tions .lo licit seem to exhaust their riches. Tlicir contents, however, do not illustrate merely Ktrns- can, but ancient Oriental and Greek art as well, especially in the cities of maritime and southern Etruria. This i- the case especially with gold jewelry (q.v.) and vase-painting. It is nmv quite certain that a large part of what has generally been called Etruscan jewelry came to Etruria from Greece, and the great majoritj of Vttic and other Creek vases have been recovered in this way. die tombs of Orvieto (Falerii) are especially rich in Greek vases, many of them Bigned. it is easj to distinguish the native Etrus- can ware: not so eas the jewelry. Of the jewel ry. arms, and armor then' were two classes; thai
