Etruscan League. Etruscan civilization

Does Etruria have its own history? A dozen cities allied to each other, the development of which did not proceed simultaneously, and which had completely different, and sometimes opposite destinies, could they have a common and unified history? Without a doubt, it would be more correct to talk about the history of the Etruscan civilization, about the history of people who used the same language and who were united by a common religion.

In fact, these cities, at the same time so different and so similar, united in the consciousness of their belonging to the same nation and celebrated this unity every year by choosing a god in the temple Voltumny, located on the territory of Volsinia, the head of the union - rex Etruriae, a symbol of their cultural and religious ties. The Romans, however, considered this somewhat differently, they spoke of Etruscan domination in Italy, without singling out the dominance of this or that city.

The question of the origin of the Etruscans is not central today.

Since ancient times, three versions have been put forward regarding the origin of the Etruscans: the version of eastern origin, the version of their arrival from the northern Alpine countries, and the version of their local origin.

After opening in Villanova(a village located near Bologna) In the middle of the 19th century, the tomb, which was considered by archaeologists to belong to a culture immediately preceding the Etruscan, the entire period stretching from the beginning of the formation of Etruria to the end of the 8th century BC, began to be called villanovian. By this term is meant, therefore, the whole early history of the Etruscans.

The burials found at Villanova are associated with the earliest practice in Italy of cremation of the dead, a practice also known in central Europe under the name urn field cultures, did not exist on the Apennine Peninsula in the Bronze Age. Burials of this "Apennine culture" are found ubiquitously in all regions where Italic languages ​​of Indo-European origin were spoken, concurrently with the so-called "pit burial" culture (where the dead were buried in pit graves in an outstretched position, along with objects of their daily life).

Thus it is tempting to identify the emergence of the Etruscan civilization with the rite of cremation in Tuscany. However, this in no way solves the question of the origin of the Etruscans.

Two important dates associated with the formation of the Etruscan civilization should be remembered: 1200 BC. and 900 B.C. The first date corresponds to the emergence of this new culture and possibly to the arrival of groups of people who emerged from the East, although nothing can prove this. Late 13th century BC was marked by serious upheavals, especially in the east of the Mediterranean: the fall of the Hittite empire, acts of piracy and attempts to conquer, especially in Egypt, the "peoples of the sea"

If there were once migratory movements of people who came from the East to join the population of Tuscany in order to change the culture and bring the foundations of a new civilization, then they should be dated to the beginning of the 12th century.

Second date, 900 B.C. (beginning of the Iron Age, after the gradual expansion of the practice of cremation to all that would later be Etruscan territory), marks the beginning of pre-urbanization, which marks the new growth and apogee of the Villanovian culture.

in the case of cities, this period sees a regrouping of scattered habitats into places that in the future will become major cities — Veii, Caere, Volsinia, Vulci.

Let's take an example Tarquinius, holy city Etruria. Excavations of numerous necropolises located on all its hills have revealed several habitats scattered at heights, in particular, on the Monterozzi plateau.

Approximately in 750-720. BC. all these habitats were abandoned in favor of a single site where the city of Tarquinia was created, while Monterozzi became the necropolis of the new city. Here, as in Rome, the choice of a single place of residence was determined by the place intended for the burial of the dead. Archaeologist Mario Torelli compares these two famous cities and notes the commonality in the process of regrouping the surrounding inhabitants and in the process of their founding.

The same in the formation of cities was observed almost throughout Etruria with some differences in different eras and regions.

Etruscans in Italy

A study of the influences and confrontations in the Apennine peninsula before the advent of Rome allows us to note the enormous role that the Etruscans played not only in Italy, but throughout the Western Mediterranean. It is obvious that they occupied a dominant position there, in contrast to the Greeks and Carthaginians. Relations between these three peoples were constantly becoming more complicated.

It can be said, therefore, that the Etruscans played a major role in the formation of Italy.

Italy began to transform under the Greek model. Contacts, especially trade, of the cities of Magna Graecia with Campania, Latium and Etruria favored the evolution of these regions and contributed to their development. However, it should be noted the absence of Greek colonies on Etruscan soil. At the same time, Etruria, fertile and rich in metals, had everything to attract the Greeks. But Etruscan cities, which had already formed by this time, themselves showed colonial inclinations. They competed with the Greeks on Italian soil.

7th century BC this is the time when Carthage also decided to establish itself in the Western Mediterranean. In the 6th century BC, the Greek presence intensified even more: the Greek colony-polises intended to block the Etruscans from reaching Sicily.

The appearance of Greek colonists in southern Italy greatly influenced the customs of the Etruscans. This period was marked by the most a high degree sophistication of the Etruscan civilization and the prosperity of such large cities. Rome's position became even more strategic, and the Etruscan cities began to squabble over the possession of this point.

But the brilliance and sophistication of the Etruscan culture of this period hid the reality of the decline that was already emerging in the life of Etruria. In 545 BC. a victory was won over the Phocians at Alalia, but she put the Etruscans in an even more difficult position. The Carthaginians, united with the Etruscans in the fight against, gave Alalia to their Etruscan allies, and they themselves gained control over a much larger part of the island. At the same time they settled in Western Sicily and began

there is a war against the Greeks. At the same time, the Carthaginians constantly relied on their Etruscan allies, with whom they had an agreement of friendship. However, this notorious treaty seems to have imposed on the Etruscans something like a Carthaginian protectorate.

To these foreign policy problems, one should add internal upheavals in the Greek colonies, which began at the end of the 6th century BC, which could not but affect the Etruscans.

Tarquinius the proud ruled in Rome like a tyrant, causing the hatred of the Romans. Ultimately, Rome rebelled and the tyrant and his family were expelled. It is believed that Tarquinius was expelled from Rome in 509 BC.

However, the struggle did not end with the expulsion of Tarquinius. Tarquinius fled to Porsenne, king of the Etruscan city of Chiusi. Porsenna, considering it useful for the Etruscans to restore the power of Tarquinius, went to Rome. According to some versions, he captured the city.

After that, the Etruscan detachment, led by the son of Porsenna Arunta moved against the Latins, but was defeated by the Greek army under the command Aristodeme.

Some time later, in 474 BC, a new tyrant Hieron, having united the Greek coalition, defeated the Etruscans near Kum, allies of the already thoroughly weakened Carthaginians. The Etruscans, they were forced to retreat beyond their original borders, and it is from this defeat that the time must be counted when they finally left Rome.

Etruscans in Rome

It is believed that the Etruscans invented a legend that could justify their presence at the head of Rome from the moment it was founded. We know that the "official" legend of Romulus appeared gradually and was formalized only in the 4th century BC... According to the legend, the Etruscan king Taphetius was the grandfather of the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.

Tarhetius reigned in Alba Lonra and was obviously considered a descendant of Aeneas, that is, ultimately, Zeus himself. A magical phallus suddenly appeared in the hearth of his house, which supposedly happened to the Roman twins, fed by a she-wolf.

The presence of Tuscan merchants in Rome long before the reign of Tarquinius is undeniable, but Etruscan domination would change the city so profoundly in so many areas that it would take too long to compile an exhaustive list.

The Etruscan influence was most clearly manifested in the area of ​​​​improvement. The skill of hydraulic engineers made it possible to drain the swampy land of the Forum, create the first drain and, in fact, a new urban landscape. The Capitol was equipped and the temple of Jupiter was built on the model of the Etruscan temples, stone buildings covered with tiles were built. They were decorated with painted terracotta items, the remains of which have been found in all important places center (Forum, Capitol), the Great Circus (Circus Maximus) was equipped, several streets were laid on the territory of the Forum, including the famous Vicus Tuscus(Tuscan street) with a statue of a god Vertumnus.

The Etruscan kings were not content with changing the urban landscape. They also introduced certain ceremonies (triumphs, games), established a calendar, and mainly, thanks to Servius Tullius, held important reforms by creating new public and military structures. All the citizens of Rome were divided into classes according to their condition, and these classes became represented in the army by different detachments with different levels of weapons.

To these basic changes can be added a number of innovations of a legal and cultural order, which for a long time took root in the manners and customs of the Romans, to such an extent that they themselves began to forget about their origin. Most important:

of these innovations was, no doubt, the alphabet, which the Etruscans themselves borrowed from the Greeks.

All this means that, despite the desire of the Romans themselves to downplay the Etruscan influence, the presence of the Etruscans in Rome was real and left a very deep impression.

Like torture with bamboo, many researchers consider the "iron maiden" a terrible legend. Perhaps these metal sarcophagi with sharp spikes inside only frightened the defendants, after which they confessed to anything. The "iron maiden" was invented at the end of the 18th century, i.e. already at the end of the Catholic Inquisition.
How it works?
1) The victim is stuffed into the sarcophagus and the door is closed;
2) The spikes driven into the inner walls of the "iron maiden" are rather short and do not pierce the victim through, but only cause pain. The investigator, as a rule, in a matter of minutes receives a confession, which the arrested person only has to sign;
3) If the prisoner shows fortitude and continues to be silent, long nails, knives and rapiers are pushed through special holes in the sarcophagus. The pain becomes simply unbearable;
4) The victim never confesses to his deed, then she was locked in a sarcophagus for a long time, where she died from blood loss;
5) In some models of the “iron maiden”, spikes were provided at eye level in order to quickly poke them out.
3. Skafism
The name of this torture comes from the Greek "skafium", which means "trough". Skafism was popular in ancient persia. During the torture, the victim, most often a prisoner of war, was devoured alive by various insects and their larvae that were not indifferent to human flesh and blood.
How it works?
1) The prisoner is placed in a shallow trough and wrapped in chains.
2) He is force-fed with large amounts of milk and honey, which causes the victim to develop copious diarrhea that attracts insects.
3) A prisoner, shabby, smeared with honey, is allowed to swim in a trough in a swamp, where there are many hungry creatures.
4) Insects immediately start the meal, as the main dish - the living flesh of the martyr.
4. Terrible pear


“There is a pear - you can’t eat it,” it is said about the medieval European tool for “educating” blasphemers, liars, women who gave birth out of wedlock, and men of non-traditional orientation. Depending on the crime, the tormentor put the pear into the sinner's mouth, anus or vagina.
How it works?
1) The tool, consisting of pointed pear-shaped leaf-shaped segments, is thrust into the client's desired hole in the body;
2) The executioner slowly turns the screw on the top of the pear, while the “leaves”-segments bloom inside the martyr, causing hellish pain;
3) After the pear is opened, the completely guilty person receives internal injuries incompatible with life and dies in terrible agony, if he has not already fallen into unconsciousness.
5. Copper bull


The design of this death unit was developed by the ancient Greeks, or to be more precise, the coppersmith Perill, who sold his terrible bull to the Sicilian tyrant Falaris, who simply adored torturing and killing people in unusual ways.
Inside the copper statue, through a special door, they pushed a living person.
So
Falaris first tested the unit on its creator, the greedy Perilla. Subsequently, Falaris himself was roasted in a bull.
How it works?
1) The victim is closed in a hollow copper statue of a bull;
2) A fire is kindled under the belly of the bull;
3) The victim is roasted alive, like a ham in a frying pan;
4) The structure of the bull is such that the cries of the martyr come from the mouth of the statue, like a bull's roar;
5) Jewelry and amulets were made from the bones of the executed, which were sold in the bazaars and were in great demand ..
6. Torture by rats


Rat torture was very popular in ancient China. However, we will look at the rat punishment technique developed by the leader of the 16th century Dutch Revolution, Didrik Sonoy.
How it works?
1) The naked martyr is laid on a table and tied;
2) Large, heavy cages with hungry rats are placed on the prisoner's stomach and chest. The bottom of the cells is opened with a special valve;
3) Hot coals are placed on top of the cages to stir up the rats;
4) Trying to escape from the heat of hot coals, rats gnaw their way through the flesh of the victim.
7. Cradle of Judas

The Cradle of Judas was one of the most painful torture machines in the arsenal of the Suprema - the Spanish Inquisition. The victims usually died from the infection, due to the fact that the peaked seat of the torture machine was never disinfected. The cradle of Judas, as an instrument of torture, was considered "loyal", because it did not break bones and did not tear ligaments.
How it works?
1) The victim, whose hands and feet are tied, is seated on the top of a pointed pyramid;
2) The top of the pyramid pierces the anus or vagina;
3) With the help of ropes, the victim is gradually lowered lower and lower;
4) Torture continues for several hours or even days, until the victim dies from powerlessness and pain, or from blood loss due to rupture of soft tissues.
8. Elephant trampling

For several centuries, this execution was practiced in India and Indochina. The elephant is very easy to train and to teach him to trample the guilty victim with his huge feet is a matter of several days.
How it works?
1. The victim is tied to the floor;
2. A trained elephant is brought into the hall to crush the head of the martyr;
3. Sometimes before the "control in the head" animals squeeze the victims' arms and legs in order to amuse the audience.
9. Rack

Probably the most famous, and unsurpassed in its kind, death machine called "rack". It was first experienced around 300 AD. on the Christian martyr Vincent of Zaragoza.
Anyone who survived the rack could no longer use their muscles and turned into a helpless vegetable.
How it works?
1. This instrument of torture is a special bed with rollers at both ends, on which ropes were wound, holding the wrists and ankles of the victim. When the rollers rotated, the ropes stretched in opposite directions, stretching the body;
2. Ligaments in the hands and feet of the victim are stretched and torn, bones pop out of the joints.
3. Another version of the rack was also used, called strappado: it consisted of 2 pillars dug into the ground and connected by a crossbar. The interrogated person was tied with his hands behind his back and lifted by the rope tied to his hands. Sometimes a log or other weights were attached to his bound legs. At the same time, the hands of a person raised on a rack twisted back and often came out of their joints, so that the convict had to hang on twisted arms. They were on the rack from several minutes to an hour or more. This type of rack was used most often in Western Europe.
4. In Russia, a suspect raised on a rack was beaten with a whip on the back, and “applied to the fire”, that is, they drove burning brooms over the body.
5. In some cases, the executioner broke the ribs of a person hanging on a rack with red-hot tongs.
10. Paraffin in the bladder
A savage form of torture, the actual use of which has not been established.
How it works?
1. Candle paraffin was rolled out by hand into a thin sausage, which was injected through the urethra;
2. Paraffin slipped into bladder, where the precipitation of solid salts and other nasty things began on it.
3. The victim soon developed kidney problems and died of acute kidney failure. On average, death occurred in 3-4 days.
11. Shiri (camel cap)
A monstrous fate awaited those whom the Zhuanzhuans (the union of nomadic Turkic-speaking peoples) took into their slavery. They destroyed the memory of the slave with a terrible torture - by putting Shiri on the head of the victim. Usually this fate befell young guys captured in battles.
How it works?
1. First, the slaves shaved their heads, carefully scraping out every hair under the root.
2. The executioners slaughtered the camel and skinned its carcass, first of all, separating its heaviest, densest part.
3. Having divided the neck into pieces, it was immediately pulled in pairs over the shaved heads of the prisoners. These pieces, like a plaster, stuck around the heads of slaves. This meant putting on wide.
4. After putting on the width, the neck of the doomed was shackled in a special wooden block so that the subject could not touch his head to the ground. In this form, they were taken away from crowded places so that no one would hear their heartbreaking cries, and they were thrown there in an open field, with hands tied and feet, in the sun, without water and without food.
5. The torture lasted 5 days.
6. Only a few remained alive, and the rest died not from hunger or even from thirst, but from unbearable, inhuman torments caused by drying out, shrinking rawhide camel skin on the head. Inexorably shrinking under the rays of the scorching sun, the width squeezed, squeezing the shaved head of a slave like an iron hoop. Already on the second day, the shaved hair of the martyrs began to sprout. Coarse and straight Asian hair sometimes grew into the rawhide, in most cases, finding no way out, the hair bent and again went into the scalp with its ends, causing even greater suffering. A day later, the man lost his mind. Only on the fifth day did the Zhuanzhuans come to check whether any of the prisoners had survived. If at least one of the tortured was caught alive, it was believed that the goal was achieved. .
7. The one who was subjected to such a procedure either died, unable to withstand the torture, or lost his memory for life, turned into a mankurt - a slave who does not remember his past.
8. The skin of one camel was enough for five or six widths.
12. Implantation of metals
A very strange means of torture-execution was used in the Middle Ages.
How it works?
1. A deep incision was made on a person’s legs, where a piece of metal (iron, lead, etc.) was placed, after which the wound was sutured.
2. Over time, the metal oxidized, poisoning the body and causing terrible pain.
3. Most often, the poor fellows tore the skin in the place where the metal was sewn up and died from blood loss.
13. Dividing a person into two parts
This terrible execution originated in Thailand. The most hardened criminals were subjected to it - mostly murderers.
How it works?
1. The accused is placed in a hoodie woven from lianas, and he is stabbed with sharp objects;
2. After that, his body is quickly cut into two parts, the upper half is immediately placed on a red-hot copper grate; this operation stops the bleeding and prolongs the life of the upper part of the person.
A small addition: This torture is described in the book of the Marquis de Sade "Justine, or the successes of vice." This is a small excerpt from a large piece of text where de Sade allegedly describes the torture of the peoples of the world. But why supposedly? According to many critics, the Marquis was very fond of lying. He had an extraordinary imagination and a couple of manias, so this torture, like some others, could be a figment of his imagination. But the field of this is not worth referring to Donatien Alphonse as Baron Munchausen. This torture, in my opinion, if it did not exist before, is quite realistic. If, of course, a person is drugged before this painkillers (opiates, alcohol, etc.), so that he does not die before his body touches the bars.
14. Inflation with air through the anus
A terrible torture in which a person is pumped with air through the anus.
There is evidence that in Russia even Peter the Great himself sinned with this.
Most often, thieves were executed in this way.
How it works?
1. The victim was tied hand and foot.
2. Then they took cotton and stuffed the ears, nose and mouth of the poor fellow with it.
3. Furs were inserted into his anus, with the help of which a huge amount of air was pumped into a person, as a result of which he became like a balloon.
3. After that, I plugged his anus with a piece of cotton.
4. Then they opened two veins above his eyebrows, from which all the blood flowed under great pressure.
5. Sometimes connected person they put him naked on the roof of the palace and shot him with arrows until he died.
6. Prior to 1970, this method was often used in Jordanian prisons.
15. Polledro
The Neapolitan executioners lovingly called this torture "polledro" - "foal" (polledro) and were proud that it was first used in their native city. Although history did not preserve the name of its inventor, they said that he was an expert in horse breeding and came up with an unusual device to pacify his horses.
Only a few decades later, lovers of mocking people turned the horse breeder's device into a real torture machine for people.
The machine was a wooden frame, similar to a ladder, the transverse rungs of which had very sharp corners so that when a person was placed on them with his back, they crashed into the body from the back of the head to the heels. The staircase ended with a huge wooden spoon, in which, like a cap, they put their heads.
How it works?
1. Holes were drilled on both sides of the frame and in the “bonnet”, ropes were threaded into each of them. The first of them was tightened on the forehead of the tortured, the last tied thumbs legs. As a rule, there were thirteen ropes, but for especially stubborn ones, the number was increased.
2. With special devices, the ropes were pulled tighter and tighter - it seemed to the victims that, having crushed the muscles, they dug into the bones.
16. Dead man's bed (modern China)


The "dead man's bed" torture is used by the Chinese Communist Party mainly on those prisoners who try to protest their illegal imprisonment through a hunger strike. In most cases, these are prisoners of conscience who went to prison for their beliefs.
How it works?
1. The hands and feet of a naked prisoner are tied to the corners of the bed, on which, instead of a mattress, there is a wooden board with a hole cut out. A bucket for excrement is placed under the hole. Often, ropes are tightly tied to the bed and the body of a person so that he cannot move at all. In this position, a person is continuously from several days to weeks.
2. In some prisons, such as Shenyang City No. 2 Prison and Jilin City Prison, the police still place a hard object under the victim's back to increase the suffering.
3. It also happens that the bed is placed vertically and for 3-4 days a person hangs, stretched by the limbs.
4. Force-feeding is added to these torments, which is carried out with the help of a tube inserted through the nose into the esophagus, into which liquid food is poured.
5. This procedure is done mainly by prisoners on the orders of the guards, and not by health workers. They do it very rudely and unprofessionally, often causing more serious damage. internal organs person.
6. Those who have gone through this torture say that it causes displacement of the vertebrae, joints of the arms and legs, as well as numbness and blackening of the limbs, which often leads to disability.
17. Collar (Modern China)

One of the medieval tortures used in modern Chinese prisons is the wearing of a wooden collar. It is put on a prisoner, which is why he cannot walk or stand normally.
The collar is a board from 50 to 80 cm long, from 30 to 50 cm wide and 10 - 15 cm thick. There are two holes for the legs in the middle of the collar.
The shackled victim is difficult to move, must crawl into the bed, and usually must sit or lie down, as the upright position causes pain and injury to the legs. Without assistance, a person with a collar cannot go to eat or go to the toilet. When a person gets out of bed, the collar not only presses on the legs and heels, causing pain, but its edge clings to the bed and prevents the person from returning to it. At night, the prisoner is not able to turn around, and in winter, a short blanket does not cover his legs.
An even worse form of this torture is called "crawling with a wooden collar." The guards put a collar on the man and order him to crawl on the concrete floor. If he stops, he is hit on the back with a police baton. An hour later, fingers, toenails and knees bleed profusely, while the back is covered with wounds from blows.
18. Impaling

Terrible wild execution that came from the East.
The essence of this execution was that a person was placed on his stomach, one sat on him to prevent him from moving, the other held him by the neck. A person was inserted into the anus with a stake, which was then driven in with a mallet; then they drove a stake into the ground. The weight of the body forced the stake to go deeper and deeper, and finally it came out under the armpit or between the ribs.
19. Spanish water torture

To the best way to perform the procedure of this torture, the accused was placed on one of the varieties of the rack or on a special large table with a rising middle part. After the victim's hands and feet were tied to the edges of the table, the executioner went to work in one of several ways. One of these methods was that the victim was forced with the help of a funnel to swallow a large number of water, then beat on the inflated and arched stomach. Another form involved placing a rag tube down the victim's throat, through which water was slowly poured in, causing the victim to bloat and suffocate. If that wasn't enough, the tube was pulled out, causing internal damage, and then reinserted and the process repeated. Sometimes they used torture cold water. In this case, the accused lay naked on the table for hours under a jet of icy water. It is interesting to note that this kind of torment was regarded as light, and confessions obtained in this way were accepted by the court as voluntary and given to the defendants without the use of torture. Most often, these tortures were used by the Spanish Inquisition in order to knock out confessions from heretics and witches.
20. Chinese water torture
The person was seated in a very cold room, they tied him so that he could not move his head, and in complete darkness cold water was dripped on his forehead very slowly. After a few days, the person froze or went crazy.
21. Spanish chair

This instrument of torture was widely used by the executioners of the Spanish Inquisition and was a chair made of iron, on which the prisoner was seated, and his legs were enclosed in stocks attached to the legs of the chair. When he was in such a completely helpless position, a brazier was placed under his feet; with hot coals, so that the legs began to slowly roast, and in order to prolong the suffering of the poor fellow, the legs were poured with oil from time to time.
Another version of the Spanish chair was also often used, which was a metal throne, to which the victim was tied and a fire was made under the seat, roasting the buttocks. The well-known poisoner La Voisin was tortured on such an armchair during the famous Poisoning Case in France.
22. GRIDIRON (Grate for torture by fire)


Torture of Saint Lawrence on the gridiron.
This type of torture is often mentioned in the lives of saints - real and fictional, but there is no evidence that the gridiron "survived" until the Middle Ages and had at least little circulation in Europe. It is usually described as a simple metal grate, 6 feet long and two and a half wide, set horizontally on legs so that a fire can be built under it.
Sometimes the gridiron was made in the form of a rack in order to be able to resort to combined torture.
Saint Lawrence was martyred on a similar grid.
This torture was rarely resorted to. Firstly, it was easy enough to kill the interrogated person, and secondly, there were a lot of simpler, but no less cruel tortures.
23. Pectoral

In ancient times, a pectoral was called a breast adornment for women in the form of a pair of carved gold or silver bowls, often strewn with precious stones. It was worn like a modern bra and fastened with chains.
By a mocking analogy with this decoration, the savage instrument of torture used by the Venetian Inquisition was named.
In 1885, the pectoral was red-hot and, taking it with tongs, put it on the chest of the tortured woman and held until she confessed. If the accused persisted, the executioners heated up the pectoral, cooled by the living body again, and continued the interrogation.
Very often, after this barbaric torture, charred, torn holes remained in place of the woman's breasts.
24. Tickle Torture

This seemingly harmless influence was a terrible torture. With prolonged tickling, a person’s nerve conduction increased so much that even the most light touch caused at first twitching, laughter, and then turned into terrible pain. If such torture was continued for a long time, then after a while spasms of the respiratory muscles arose and, in the end, the tortured person died from suffocation.
In the simplest version of torture, sensitive places were tickled by the interrogated either simply with hands or with hairbrushes and brushes. Rigid bird feathers were popular. Usually tickled under the armpits, heels, nipples, inguinal folds, genitals, women also under the breasts.
In addition, torture was often used with the use of animals that licked some tasty substance from the heels of the interrogated. A goat was often used, because its very hard tongue, adapted for eating herbs, caused very strong irritation.
There was also a form of beetle tickling, most common in India. With her, a small bug was planted on the head of the penis of a man or on the nipple of a woman and covered with half a nut shell. After some time, the tickling caused by the movement of the legs of an insect over a living body became so unbearable that the interrogated person confessed to anything.
25. Crocodile


These tubular metal tongs "Crocodile" were red-hot and used to tear the penis of the tortured. At first, with a few caressing movements (often performed by women), or with a tight bandage, they achieved a stable hard erection and then the torture began.
26. Serrated crusher


These serrated iron tongs slowly crushed the testicles of the interrogated.
Something similar was widely used in Stalinist and fascist prisons.
27. A terrible tradition.


Actually, this is not torture, but an African rite, but, in my opinion, it is very cruel. Girls from 3-6 years old without anesthesia were simply scraped out the external genitalia.
Thus, the girl did not lose the ability to have children, but was forever deprived of the opportunity to experience sexual desire and pleasure. This rite is done “for the good” of women so that they will never be tempted to cheat on their husband
28. Blood Eagle


One of the most ancient tortures, during which the victim was tied face down and his back was opened, the ribs were broken off at the spine and spread apart like wings. In Scandinavian legends, it is stated that during such an execution, salt was sprinkled on the wounds of the victim.
Many historians claim that this torture was used by pagans against Christians, others are sure that spouses convicted of treason were punished in this way, and still others claim that the bloody eagle is just a terrible legend.

From the very beginning of its existence, the Etruscan people appear in the eyes of ancient worldrich and powerful nation. The self-name of the Etruscans is "rasena", their name inspired great fear, constantly appeared in "Annalach" which notes: "Even the Alpine tribes, especially the Rhaetians, are of the same origin as the Etruscans”; and Virgil, in his epic about the rise of Rome, recounts ancient Etruria in detail.

The Etruscan civilization was predominantly an urban civilization, in antiquity, which played an important role in the fate of Rome and the entire Western civilization. Etruria fell under the onslaught of the Roman legions by the middle of the 3rd century BC. e., but it has not lost its cultural role. Etruscan priests spoke the Etruscan language both in Tuscany and in Rome until the fall of the Roman Empire, that is, until the end of the 5th century AD. e. Beginning Greek sailors began to settle on the southern coasts of Italy and Sicily and traded with the inhabitants of the Etruscan cities.

The inhabitants of Etruria were known to the Greeks as "Tyrrhenians" or "Tyrsenians", and the Romans called them Tusks, hence the current name of Tuscany. According to Tacitus("Annals", IV, 55), during the time of the Roman Empire, retained the memory of his distant Etruscan origin; the Lydians even then considered themselves brothers of the Etruscans.

"Tyrrenians" is an adjective, most likely derived from the word "tirrha" or "tirrah"in Lydia there is a place called Tirra - turris - "tower", that is, "Tyrrhenians" are "people of the citadel." Root very common in the Etruscan language. The king of Tarhon, brother or son of Tyrrhenus, founded Tarquinia and the dodecapolis -. Names with the root tarch were given to the gods or, the Black Sea and Asia Minor.

The Etruscans are one of the peoples of an ancient civilization, survived the Indo-European invasion from the north in the period from 2000 to 1000 BC. e., and the catastrophe of the destruction of almost all tribes. The relationship of the Etruscan language with some pre-Hellenic idioms of Asia Minor and the islands of the Aegean was discovered - proves connection Etruscans and the Middle Eastern world. The whole history of the Etruscans unfolded in the Aegean Sea, it is from here that the Etruscans originate. religious submissions and rituals, their unique art and crafts that were not previously known on Tuscan soil.

On the island Lemnos in the 7th century BC e. spoke a language similar to Etruscan. The Etruscans, apparently, came from a mixture of ethnic elements of various origins. No doubt the diversity of the roots of the Etruscan people, born through the fusion of various ethnic elements.

Etruscans have Indo-European roots and appeared on the land of the Apennine Peninsula in the early years of the 7th century BC. e. Etruscan haplogroup G2a3a and G2a3b found in Europe; haplogroup G2a3b went to Europe through Starchevo and further through the archeological culture of Linear Band Pottery, was discovered by archaeologists in the center of Germany.

The Etruscan culture had a significant impact on the culture of the Romans. : the inhabitants of Rome adopted from the Etruscans their writing and the so-called Roman numerals that were originally Etruscan .The Romans adopted the skills of Etruscan urban planning, ancient Etruscan customs and religious beliefs and the entire pantheon of Etruscan gods was adopted by the Romans.

Under the Etruscan king Tarquinius the Ancient (VI century BC) in Rome began draining the swampy areas of the city through irrigation canals, a sewage system was arranged in Rome sewerage system and built Cloaca maxima, cloaca in Rome operates to this day.

stood on a high foundation – podium and had only one entrance facing south. The podium and foundations of the temples of the Etruscans were built of stone, and the buildings themselves, arches, vaults ceilings, complex rafter system they built from wood. This speaks of the ancient tradition of the Etruscan masters of wooden architecture a. The Romans are still surprised that The Etruscans built their houses out of wood. (log cabins), and did not build houses of marble.

Rome borrowed from the Etruscans the foundations of their, The monumental character of Roman architecture was inherited from the Etruscans and embodied in marble and stone. Architectural layout of the interior , atriums - the central premises in the houses of the Etruscans, borrowed by the Romans from the Etruscans. "Signor Piranesi claims that,when the Romans first wanted to build massive buildings, the solidity of which astonishes us, they were forced to turn to their neighbors for help.- Etruscan architects. The Romans in all the occupied lands built the Capitoline Temple with a southern entrance - a copy of the legendary building Etruscan architects Tarquinii and observed the rituals of all Etruscan religious holidays.

The Etruscans understood geodesy and measuring technique, and Roman surveyors learned from them. The division of Italian lands and the territory of all provinces into squares with a side 710 meters - this is the merit of the Etruscans.

In fact, the Etruscan civilization settled on the seven hills in Rome. By the end of the 4th century BC. e. Etruscan letters. Initially, the Etruscan cities had a monarchy.

Etruscan kings Tarquinii in Rome wore a golden crown, a golden ring and a scepter. Their ceremonial red toga-palmata served as clothing, and the royal procession was led lictors carrying on the shoulders fascia is a sign of the unlimited power of the ruler. Fasces consisted of a rod and an ax- a ceremonial weapon and a symbol of the political and religious power of the Tarquins.

In the VI century BC. e. the monarchy in Rome was replaced by a republic; the king was replaced, regularly re-elected, officials. The new state was essentially oligarchic with constant and strong Senate and annually changing magistrates. All power was in the hands oligarchy, consisting of principes - leading citizens. aristocratic class- ordo principum - controlled the interests of the community.

Etruscan families differed in names - nomen gentilicum, Etruscan "gens" - "gens" - a family group and cognomen- family branches, and each Etruscan had a personal name. The onomastic system of the Etruscans was exactly adopted by the Romans. Onomastics(from other Greek ὀνομαστική) - the art of giving names, was adopted by the Romans from the Etruscans.

The Etruscans influenced the history of Rome and the fate of the entire West. Latin peoples were part of the Etruscan confederation created by religious grounds.

In the VI century BC. e. the Etruscan League arose, which was a religious association of the Etruscan lands. political assembly Etruscan League was held during the general Etruscan annual religious holidays, a large fair was held, elected supreme leader of the Etruscan League, wearing title rex (king), later sacerdos (high priest), and in Rome - elected praetor or aedile of the fifteen peoples of Etruria.

The symbol of supreme power was preserved in Rome after the exile Etruscan dynasty Tarquinius from Rome to 510 BC e., when the Roman Republic arose, which existed for 500 years.

The loss of Rome was a serious blow to Etruria, and there were heavy battles on land and at sea with the Roman Republic and in the period 450-350. BC e.

Throughout Roman history, the Romans repeated all religious rituals performed by the Etruscan kings. During the celebration of triumph, victory over the enemy, solemn procession went to the Capitol, for sacrifice to Jupiter, and the commander stood in his war chariot, at the head of a cortege of captives and soldiers, and temporarily likened to the supreme deity.

The city of Rome was founded according to the plan and rite of the Etruscans. The bookmark of the city was accompanied by the Etruscans sacred rituals. The place of the future city was outlined in a circle by the city limits, and along it plowed the ritual furrow, protecting the future city from the external hostile world. The plowed circle around the territory of the city corresponded to the ideas of the Etruscans about the Heavenly world - Templum (lat. templum) - "Temple". The sacred walls of the city were called in Etruscan TULAR Spular (lat. tular spular) became known to the Romans as pomerium.

In the Etruscan city, three main streets, three gates, three temples were necessarily built - dedicated to Jupiter, Juno, Minerva. The rituals of building Etruscan cities - Etrusco ritu - were adopted by the Romans.

Mundus - a pit in the ground where the souls of ancestors lived, in Rome was located on the Palatine Hill. Throwing a handful of earth brought from the homeland into a common pit (Mundus) is the most important rite when laying a city, since the Etruscans and Italics believed that in the native land are the souls of the ancestors. That's why, city ​​founded according to this rite became their true the homeland where the souls of the ancestors moved.

Other Etruscan cities were founded and built in Etruria (on the Apennine Peninsula) in compliance with all Etruscan urban planning rules and in accordance with religious canons. So the Etruscan city was built Volterra, in Etruscan - Velatri, Lucumonius and others were surrounded by high city walls, and the city gates of Velatri Porta del Arco, decorated with sculptures - the heads of deities have survived to this day. AT Southern Italy the Etruscans founded the cities of Nola, Acerra, Nocerra and the city - the fortress of Capua (Italian Capua), the Etruscan city of Manthua, later Mantua.

The famous ancient Roman roads that still exist today, for example, the Via Appia, were built not without the participation of the Etruscans.

The Etruscans built the largest hippodrome ancient rome- Circus Maximus, or the Big Circus. According to legend, the first chariot races were held at the hippodrome in the 6th century BC. Etruscan king of Rome Tarquinius Priscus, who was originally from the Etruscan city of Tarquinia.

The ancient tradition of gladiator fights originates from the Etruscan culture of sacrifice, when captive warriors began to be given a chance to survive, and if the prisoner happened to survive, they believed that the gods wanted it so.

In Etruria, tombs located outside the city walls Etruscan rule was invariably observed throughout the ancient Mediterranean: the settlements of the dead must be separated from the settlements of the living.

The Romans took as a model the arrangement of Etruscan tombs, the interior decoration of tombs, sarcophagi, urns with ashes, as well as the funeral rituals of the Etruscans, who believed in afterlife similar to terrestrial life.

The Romans believed in the power of ancient Etruscan oaths that had magical powers, if they are addressed to the Etruscan deities of the Earth. The Etruscans built their houses from wood, a short-lived material, but the Etruscans built their tombs for centuries to eternal life, stone tombs were carved into the rocks, hidden in mounds, decorated with wall with images of feasts, dances and games, and filling the tombs with jewels, weapons, vases and other valuable items. "Life is a moment, death is forever"

Roman temples were built of stone and marble, but decorated according to the Etruscan type. wooden temples that existed in ancient Goat, Veii, Tarquinia, Volsinia, capital of the Etruscan confederation.

Found in the Etruscan city of Veii temple (of Apollo), with many life-size terracotta statues of gods, executed with amazing skill, the work of an Etruscan sculptor Vulka.

The Romans introduced almost all the Etruscan gods into their pantheon. Etruscan gods became Hades, (Aritimi) - Artemis, - Earth, (Etruscan Cel) - Geo (earth). in Etruscan Cels clan - Celsclan - "son of the Earth", "tribe of the Earth". (Satre) - Saturn; (Turnu), Turan, Turanshna (Etruscan Turansna) - an epithet of the goddess Turan - Swan, Swan; — Menerva. Etruscan god of vegetation and fertility, death and rebirth (Etruscan. Pupluna or Fufluna) originated in the city of Populonia. Etruscan Fufluns reigns at symposiums and memorial meals - corresponds to the Roman Bacchus, or Bacchus, the Greek Dionysus.

The supreme gods of the Etruscans were a trinity which was worshiped in the triple temples is . The Greek goddess Hecate became the visible embodiment of the triune Etruscan deity. trinity cult, which was worshiped in Etruscan sanctuaries with three walls - each dedicated to one of the three gods - is also present in Crete-Mycenaean civilization.

Just like the Etruscans, the Romans showed great interest in divination, fortunetellers, haruspices. Etruscan tombs often surround egg-shaped Etruscan columns cippi - low stone pillars (like the stone women of the Scythians) with decorations that are a symbol of the divine presence.

In Etruria, games and dances had a ritual origin and character. Etruscan warriors since ancient times studied military dances in gymnasiums, dances were not just a variety military training, but also to conquer location of the gods of war.

On the frescoes of Etruria we see armed men in helmets, dancing and banging spears on shields in time with the rhythm - , dedicated god Pyrrhus

Roman salii - warrior priests - performed a pyrrhic dance in honor of Mars, cruel gladiator fights (lat. munera gladiatoria) the Romans too borrow from Etruscan Tuscany in 264 BC. e.

The Etruscans were great lovers of music - to the sounds of a double flute, they fought, and went hunting, and cooked, and even punished slaves, which the Greek scientist and philosopher Aristotle writes about with some indignation.

Rome called to its celebrations Etruscan dancers and mimes, whom the Romans called "histriones" - "histriones" - this term the Romans too taken from the Etruscans. According to Titus Livius, Etruscan dancers and mimes appeased the evil gods with the rhythm of their movements, who sent a terrible scourge on the city of Rome - the plague in 364 BC. e.

The Etruscans owned specific methods of processing gold and silver. Found in 1836 in the mound of Cerveteri gold jewelry and the finest engraving of silver and bronze mirrors are the pinnacle of craftsmanship in the 7th century BC. - at that time, Roman jewelry did not exist!

Treasures from the tomb of Regolini-Galassi amaze with the perfection and technical ingenuity of amber and bronze jewelry, products chryselephantine, cosmetic boxes, brooches, combs, necklaces, tiaras, rings, bracelets and archaic earrings testify to the high skill of Etruscan jewelers.

D achievements lead the Etruscans to 7th century BC to a leading position among the artists of the Western Mediterranean. In the visual arts, there is a connection with Phoenician, Crete-Mycenaean and , the same fantastic beasts- chimeras, sphinxes and winged horses. Fantastic Etruscan Chimera actually represents animal image of the triune deity - commanding Birth is the image of the Goat-nurse, commanding Life - the image of the Lion, commanding Death - the image of the Snake.

In the middle of the III century BC. e. Rome subjugated Etruria (Tascana), the military and political role of Etruria was eliminated, but Etruria has not lost its originality. Religious traditions and crafts flourished in Etruria until the start of the Christian era, and Romanization was very slow. The Romans sent delegates to universal annual religious meeting twelve tribes Etruscans of 12 Etruscan cities in the main Shrine of Voltumnae - Fanum Voltumnae; it was called "concilium Etruriae".

The cities of southern Etruria near Rome soon fell into decay, and northern Etruria was a mining region- Chiusi, Perugia, Cortona, preserved the famous production workshops that produced items forged steel and bronze, Volterra and Arezzo - a large industrial center, Populonia - a metallurgical center ore mining and metal smelting, even under the rule of Rome, retained its industrial and commercial power.

The Etruscans, the ancient inhabitants of Central Italy, once called Etruria (modern Tuscany), are one of the most mysterious peoples that I knew.

They had a written language, but modern scientists have managed to decipher only a small part of the records that have come down to us. The rich literature of the Etruscans has been lost, apart from isolated passages, and all that we know of their history has come down to us only through the unflattering comments of Greek and Roman authors.

Ancient Etruscans

Etruria, an area that roughly coincided with the territory of the modern Italian province of Tuscany, was rich in iron and copper ores.

Chimera from Arezzo. Bronze statue of the 5th century. BC e.

Its coast abounded with natural harbors. So the Etruscans were good sailors and were well versed in the art of metalworking.

The basis of their wealth was the maritime trade in ingots, bronze and other goods along the entire coast of Italy and the South.

Around 800 BC e., when Rome was still a cluster of miserable huts clinging to the top of a hill, they already lived in cities.

But Etruscan traders faced fierce competition from the Greeks and Phoenicians.

Around 600 BC. e. the Greeks founded the trading colony of Massilia (modern Marseille) in southern France. With this stronghold, they were able to take control of an important trade route that led along the Rhone River to Central Europe.

The source of the wealth of the Etruscans was the development of mineral reserves; in particular, they owned the largest deposits of copper and iron in the entire Mediterranean. Etruscan artisans made wonderful works of art out of metal, such as this bronze statue of the Chimera, a monster with a lion's head and a snake instead of a tail.

To protect their interests, the Etruscans entered into an alliance with Carthage. The Etruscans owned all the advanced technologies of their time; they built roads, bridges and canals.

From the Greeks they borrowed the alphabet, painted pottery and temple architecture.

In the VI century. BC e. the possessions of the Etruscans expanded north and south of their original region of Etruria. According to Roman authors, at that time 12 large Etruscan cities formed a political union - the Etruscan League.

Founding of the Roman Republic

For some time the Etruscan kings ruled in Rome. The last king was overthrown by a group of Roman aristocrats in 510 BC. e. - this date is considered the moment of the emergence of the Roman Republic (the city of Rome itself was founded in 753 BC).

Since that time, the Romans began to gradually take away power from the Etruscans. At the beginning of the III century. BC e. the Etruscans disappeared from the historical scene; they were swallowed up by Rome's steadily expanding sphere of political influence.

The Romans adopted many ideas from the Etruscans in the field of culture and art, construction, metalworking and military affairs.

Etruria was glorified by skillful artists and artisans, especially since militarily the Etruscans could not compete with the Romans.

Etruscan cities of the dead

The Etruscans buried the dead in spacious necropolises that resembled cities in appearance. In the south of Etruria, they carved tombs from soft tuff rocks and decorated them inside as housing.

Often statues were placed in the tombs, depicting the deceased husband and his wife, sitting sprawled on a bench, as if during a feast.

The ancestral home of the Etruscans occupied part of modern Tuscany. They grew rich through the maritime trade in metal ores and, with the help of wealth, expanded their influence in the northern part of Italy.

Other tombs were decorated with frescoes, also depicting feasts, the participants of which were entertained by musicians and dancers.

A significant part of the tombs was looted by thieves, but archaeologists managed to find many untouched tombs.

As a rule, they contained many Greek vases, as well as chariots, items made of gold, ivory and amber, testifying to the wealth of the Etruscan aristocrats buried there.

Main dates

The Etruscans, as one of the most highly developed civilizations of antiquity, plays an important role in history. The following are the main dates of the Etruscan civilization.

Now you know who the Etruscans are, and why historians are so interested in their ancient civilization.

Konstantin Milyaev

As a boy, reading a children's encyclopedia, I drew attention to the history of the mysterious people - the Etruscans. And when I read that the Etruscan language still cannot be translated, despite the numerous examples of writing that have survived, I already thought: “Etruscans ... The root of the word is Russian ... This is very similar to the word“ Russians ”. Why not try to decipher And already as an adult, having become acquainted with the works of the writer Vladimir Shcherbakov and a number of other Etruscan researchers, I returned to this topic again.

Descendants of the sons of the leopard

The Roman historian Titus of Livy wrote about the Etruscans of the first millennium BC as follows: “The Etruscan Empire before the Roman Empire covered significant areas by land and sea ... They dominated the upper and lower seas that wash Italy ... One of them is called Tussky by the Italian peoples , by the name of the people, the other - by the Adriatic, from Adria, the colony of the Etruscans ... ".
Fifty-oared Etruscan ships 25 meters long plowed the Mediterranean expanses both near Etruria and very far from it. The Etruscan warships were equipped with an underwater metal ram, which the Romans called the rostrum (the word is undoubtedly the Etruscan "sprout").
On the coins of Vetulonia and other Etruscan city-states, you can see the image of an improved anchor with two metal paws. It is not difficult to understand the advantages of such an anchor: before its invention, anchor stones, baskets with stones were used.
The most famous of the Etruscan cities - Chatal-Gyuyuk and Chayenu-Telezi - were found by archaeologists in Asia Minor. The inhabitants of Chatal-Gyuyuk built houses from raw bricks in the 7th millennium BC. They knew 14 species of cultivated plants. Scraps of fabrics of that period cause amazement even among modern weavers. The technique of polishing obsidian mirrors was unique. Holes in beads made of semi-precious stones were drilled thinner than the eye of a needle. The craftsmanship and artistic taste of the ancient Etruscans far surpass anything known to other regions of our planet. Judging by some signs, this most ancient of human civilizations could compete with the legendary Atlantis in many ways.
Sanctuaries and temples were found in Chatal-Guyuk, and a whole priestly region of this ancient settlement was found. The mother goddess, who gives life to a child (one of the main deities of Chatal-Gyuyuk), sits on a throne, the handles of which are decorated in the form of two leopards. Eastern Atlantis, as Etruria was called, is millennia older than the pyramids and other ancient monuments, including the Sumerian ones.
One of the oldest Etruscan frescoes depicts a leopard motif. Two lead the horse by the bridle. On a horse is a boy, behind him is a leopard or a cheetah. The beast trustingly put its paw on the boy's shoulder. The fresco was found on the territory of modern Italy, but the homeland of the Etruscans is still Asia Minor. In the language of the Khatgs, who inhabited Asia Minor five or six thousand years ago, one can find the root "ras" in the name of the leopard. The Etruscans called themselves races.
In ancient times, a single proto-language developed in the Eastern Mediterranean. Its bearers are the most ancient tribes who worshiped the leopard - the race: races, russes, rusits. It was they who at one time withstood the blow of the great Atlanteans, who intended to enslave the entire Mediterranean.

The mystery of Etruscan letters

Unfortunately, there are still many difficulties with the decipherment of Etruscan letters. One of the reasons for this is the use of Latin transcription to "sound" Etruscan inscriptions. But the Latin alphabet cannot convey the features of the Etruscan language, and therefore cannot lead to a correct understanding of Etruscan words. This was and is the main obstacle that did not allow Western specialists to approach the goal. Most translations from Etruscan are incorrect, only a small part of them conveys the approximate meaning of individual texts. And even the found parallel texts in the Etruscan and Phoenician languages ​​​​do not help the cause.
If we proceed from the fact that the Russian language retains an organic relationship with the language of the Rasen-Etruscans, we finally get the key to deciphering the ancient inscriptions.
The Etruscans, figuratively speaking, are a large branch of the Hitto-Slavic tree. In this regard, we can recall the Ruthenians who lived in the south of France. And in "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" it is not Venetians, as the translators interpret, but "Veneditsi" - Venedichi, Wends. Evidence of this can also be found in the Book of Veles, which speaks of the Wends who went west. The Etruscan verb "vende" - to lead, to lead away - confirms this. Lamentation for "take away the princes to Rostislav" is also an Etruscan trace. The name of one of the goddesses of Etruria is Una, "young". Then they said "unosha", not "young man". This root has left a deep mark in the modern Russian language. The suffixes "onok", "yonok" owe their origin to him. The little lynx is literally "young lynx".

"Mini muluvanetse avile vipena" - this is how one of the Etruscan inscriptions looks like. The inscriptions on the products of ancient masters often begin with the pronouns "I", "me". In the given example, the translation into Russian should be as follows: "The artist Avil (performed) me." Muluvanets (muluvanets) is an artist, something like the corresponding verb sounds in modern Ukrainian. However, in special works one can find a different translation: "I was initiated by Aulus Vibenna." But this translation contradicts established standards the Etruscan language itself, in which the verb always completes the phrase. So "muluvanetse" can't be a verb.
Here are a few Etruscan words (some of which are known to Etruscologists): una - young; tour - a gift; turutse - gave; turan - giver; spur - collection; tes - tes; avil - year - oval; date, goodbye - date; glory - glory; torna - road; venev - a wreath; tum - thought, thought; lepo - beautiful; rosh - rye, wheat, bread; ade, yade - poison; strength - strength; zhinace - reap, chest; tel - do; zhisi - life; tablecloths - bedspread, tablecloth; zusle - must; rastoropevi - quickness; apex - vigilance; ais, yais - the beginning, god, egg; puya, poya - wife; puin, puinel - intoxicated, violent; karchaz, karchazhe - wild boar (cf. "uproot" from the habit of wild boars to pull out roots from the ground); titmouse - titmouse; arel - eagle; ali - or; ita—this; an, en - he; mi - I; mini me; ti - you; eni - they.
There is a difficult word "lautni" in the Etruscan language. Its translation means a dependent group of people, slaves for example. There are other interpretations of this term: a household member, a freedman, a family member, etc. Let's pay attention to the sound of the word. Lautni - laudni - people - people. Much later, this word, as it were, returned in the expressions "people of the count such and such", "human", etc. Zilak in Etruria is an official. The chain helps to understand its sound: "zilak - strongman - strongman". The meaning of the word itself is: "powerful", "strongest", "leader".

However, another analogy is also possible. "Sun" in Etruscan sounds like "strength". One of the most ancient roots, preserved in the word "shine", must be hidden in it. “Strength”, “asserted”, as it were, bring together strength and radiance.
In the complex term "zilak mehl rasenal" one can catch already familiar consonances. The translation, apparently, should sound like this: "leader of the Rasen force."

Tin - the main god of the Etruscans, the god of day, light. The Etruscan word for "day" sounds the same way.
The sons of the leopard were once a force capable of overturning the Atlanteans.
The catastrophe, which the Earth did not yet know, destroyed all the cities of Eastern Atlantis - the birthplace of the universal proto-language. Only after a millennium did the first settlements begin to rise - mainly on the continent, away from the coast. This is how Chatal-Gyuyuk (modern name), Jericho, arose.
But even four thousand years later, the coastal areas have not reached their former prosperity. ancient tribes only partially recovered from the terrible losses. They preserved the language and the cult of the leopard. Later they were called Pelasgians. In the ancient Phoenician, Cretan, Asia Minor, Aegean settlements, they spoke the same parent language. At the turn of the second or third millennium BC, the Achaean Greeks came from the continental regions, whose tribes in ancient times suffered less from the catastrophe, since their habitats were not connected with the sea and were not devastated by the elements.

Genuine barbarian Greeks seized the territory of present-day Greece, destroyed the cities of the Pelasgians, their fortresses, razed the Pelasgikon fortress to the ground, on the site of which the Parthenon was built only one and a half thousand years later. Many of the Pelasgians crossed over to Crete to escape the invasion. Before that, the cities of the Pelasgians-Minoans flourished in Crete. Their writing has been read, but still not understood. Their language is unknown to linguists, although this is the parent language spoken by the Lydians, Libyans, Canaanites, Cimmerians, Trypillians, Etruscans, the inhabitants of Troy and many, many others.
In the middle of the second millennium BC, the Greeks reached Crete. The full-blooded art of the Minoans-Pelasgians gives way to a dry and lifeless stylization. The motifs traditional for Minoan painting - flowers, starfish, octopuses on palace-style vases - disappear or are reborn into abstract graphic schemes.

And yet the Achaean culture of the Greeks was able to borrow a lot from the Minoans. Including linear syllabics, religious rites along with the gods themselves, plumbing, fresco painting, clothing styles and much more.
Approximately seven hundred years later, the Achaean Mycenaean culture flourished. But a new invasion of the Greek barbarians, known as the Dorians, fell upon the lands of Greece and the surrounding regions. After him, a new period of Greek history began - Homeric, as it is customary to call it. The Dorian conquest set Greece back several centuries. Palaces, citadels and entire cities lay in ruins.

The Philistines were also Pelasgians (from their name comes the very word "Palestine"). The Philistines arrived on the Palestinian coast at about the same time as the first nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes from the East. The Pelasgians and the Philistines are the closest relatives of the Etruscan Rasenians.
Much of their culture became the property of other peoples, including the Greeks, nomads who came to Palestine, etc. Both the Pelasgians, and many tribes of the so-called peoples of the sea, and the Trypillians - the creators of the Trypillian culture on the Dnieper - were ultimately the sons leopard, that is, the Russians, the Russians of Asia Minor.

Etruscan "qi" means "three". "Tsipoli" literally means "three pains". That's what they called the onion. After all, his throat hurts, his nose hurts, his eyes hurt.

The Ukrainian "cibulya" and the Italian "cipollo", "cipollino" testify to the Etruscan roots. And the Russian word for "chicken" is literally "three-fingered".
There is evidence that at the turn of our era, Etruscan was still spoken in the Alpine valleys. Later, the rutens made the transition to the Dnieper, "to their homeland." Perhaps the descendants of the Etruscans from the northern regions participated in this campaign.
What did Etruria give Rome? Here is a short list: musical instruments, anchor, theatre, mining, ceramics and metalworking, herbalism, land reclamation, cities in Italy, the art of divination, the Capitoline she-wolf. The first kings of Rome were the Etruscans. The eternal city of Rome itself was founded by the Etruscans. Almost everything that the Etruscans built in the eternal city, the Romans later identified with the epithet "greatest." The Etruscan canal system is still part of the urban economy of Rome today.

In the city of Nikonia (Dniester region) a figurative vessel was found, on which one can read the Russian inscription in Greek letters: "Keep your wife with agodos." Translation: "Keep yourself a wife with his daughter (dosh - daughter)." The figurine vessel depicts a man and a woman. The woman's face is wrapped in a scarf, under the scarf is a child. It matches the inscription. It turns out that Russian texts are a common phenomenon on the Black Sea coast of the first millennium BC. e. and first centuries AD. e. The inscriptions from Nikonia are more than two thousand years old, Al-Khwarizmi once named the Black Sea cities in his book: Rastiyanis, Arsas, Arusinia. Now we can say with confidence: these are the cities of the Rus, the descendants of the legendary sons of the leopard.