DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0058
lviii
PRACTICAL SCIENCES OF ETRURIA. [introduction.
practical sciences;r above all in astronomy, which was brought
by them to such perfection, that they seem to have arrived at
a very close approximation to the true division of time, and to
have fixed the tropical year at precisely 365 days, 5 hours,
40 minutes.8
If we measure Etruria by the standard of her own day, we
must ascribe to her a high degree of civilization—second only
to that of Greece. It differed indeed, as the civilization of a
country under despotic rule will always differ from that of a
where Tarraco, now Tarragona (in
whose name we recognise that of Tar-
chon), appears to hare been one of
their settlements (Auson. Epist. XXIV.
88) — a tradition confirmed by its
ancient fortifications. Mtiller, Etrusk.
I. 4, 6 ; Abeken, Mittelitalien, p. 129.
Nay, the Etruscans would fain hare
colonised the far "island of the blest," in
the Atlantic Ocean, probably Madeira
or one of the Canaries, had not the
Carthaginians opposed them. Diod.
Sic. V. p. 300. It was this mutual
spirit of maritime enterprise that led to
a treaty between Carthage and Etruria,
which probably denned the limits of
each people's commerce. Aristot. Polit.
III. 9.
The military tactics of the Etrus-
cans were also celebrated. Diodor. V.
p. 316. They fought in phalanx, and
from them the Romans derived this their
earliest military arrangement. Diod. Sic.
XXIII. 1. Excerp. Mai ; Athen. VI.
p. 273; cf. Liv. VIII. 8. Their large
circular shields were also adopted by the
Romans. Diod. Sic. loc. cit. Another
account which Niebuhr (III. p. 99) calls
in question, ascribes the origin of the
Roman armour and weapons to the
Samnites. Sail. CatiL 51. The Romans
probably borrowed the helmet from
the Etruscans, as well as the word for
it—cassis. Isid. Orig. XVIII. 14. An
interesting specimen of an Etruscan
helmet, with a Greek inscription, show-
ing it to be of the spoils taken from the
Etruscans by Hiero of Syracuse, is pre-
served in the British Museum. Dlony-
sius (V. p. 294) says the Etruscans were
inferior to the Romans in military skill.
7 Virgil (Georg. II. 533) tells us that
to agriculture Etruria owed her great-
ness—
sic fortis Etruria crevit.
The skill of the Etruscans as physicians
is celebrated by iEschylus,ap.Theophrast.
Hist. Plant. IX. 15 ; and Mart. Capella,
de Geomet. VI. Their acquaintance with
the vegetable world is recorded by
Diodorus, V. p. 316. Cf. Plin. XXIV.
95. It must have been with the aid
of science that they were enabled to
bring down lightning from heaven;
though the priests made the people
believe it was by religious rites. Thus
Porsena is said to have brought down
thunderbolts by invocation. Plin. II. 54.
And though Numa is said to have
exercised the same power, which proved
fatal to Tullus Hostilius,itwas probably
derived from Etruria. Plut. Numa ;
Ovid. Fast. III. 327 ; Plin. loc. cit;
XXVIII. 4.
8 This is Niebulir'sopinion^Lp. 279).
The ancient Aztecs of Mexico, and the
Muyscas of South America, before their
intercourse with Europe, had arrived at
a still nearer approach to truth in their
computation of time. Prescott's Mexico,
I. p. 98, a seq.; Conquest of Peru, I.
p. 117.
PRACTICAL SCIENCES OF ETRURIA. [introduction.
practical sciences;r above all in astronomy, which was brought
by them to such perfection, that they seem to have arrived at
a very close approximation to the true division of time, and to
have fixed the tropical year at precisely 365 days, 5 hours,
40 minutes.8
If we measure Etruria by the standard of her own day, we
must ascribe to her a high degree of civilization—second only
to that of Greece. It differed indeed, as the civilization of a
country under despotic rule will always differ from that of a
where Tarraco, now Tarragona (in
whose name we recognise that of Tar-
chon), appears to hare been one of
their settlements (Auson. Epist. XXIV.
88) — a tradition confirmed by its
ancient fortifications. Mtiller, Etrusk.
I. 4, 6 ; Abeken, Mittelitalien, p. 129.
Nay, the Etruscans would fain hare
colonised the far "island of the blest," in
the Atlantic Ocean, probably Madeira
or one of the Canaries, had not the
Carthaginians opposed them. Diod.
Sic. V. p. 300. It was this mutual
spirit of maritime enterprise that led to
a treaty between Carthage and Etruria,
which probably denned the limits of
each people's commerce. Aristot. Polit.
III. 9.
The military tactics of the Etrus-
cans were also celebrated. Diodor. V.
p. 316. They fought in phalanx, and
from them the Romans derived this their
earliest military arrangement. Diod. Sic.
XXIII. 1. Excerp. Mai ; Athen. VI.
p. 273; cf. Liv. VIII. 8. Their large
circular shields were also adopted by the
Romans. Diod. Sic. loc. cit. Another
account which Niebuhr (III. p. 99) calls
in question, ascribes the origin of the
Roman armour and weapons to the
Samnites. Sail. CatiL 51. The Romans
probably borrowed the helmet from
the Etruscans, as well as the word for
it—cassis. Isid. Orig. XVIII. 14. An
interesting specimen of an Etruscan
helmet, with a Greek inscription, show-
ing it to be of the spoils taken from the
Etruscans by Hiero of Syracuse, is pre-
served in the British Museum. Dlony-
sius (V. p. 294) says the Etruscans were
inferior to the Romans in military skill.
7 Virgil (Georg. II. 533) tells us that
to agriculture Etruria owed her great-
ness—
sic fortis Etruria crevit.
The skill of the Etruscans as physicians
is celebrated by iEschylus,ap.Theophrast.
Hist. Plant. IX. 15 ; and Mart. Capella,
de Geomet. VI. Their acquaintance with
the vegetable world is recorded by
Diodorus, V. p. 316. Cf. Plin. XXIV.
95. It must have been with the aid
of science that they were enabled to
bring down lightning from heaven;
though the priests made the people
believe it was by religious rites. Thus
Porsena is said to have brought down
thunderbolts by invocation. Plin. II. 54.
And though Numa is said to have
exercised the same power, which proved
fatal to Tullus Hostilius,itwas probably
derived from Etruria. Plut. Numa ;
Ovid. Fast. III. 327 ; Plin. loc. cit;
XXVIII. 4.
8 This is Niebulir'sopinion^Lp. 279).
The ancient Aztecs of Mexico, and the
Muyscas of South America, before their
intercourse with Europe, had arrived at
a still nearer approach to truth in their
computation of time. Prescott's Mexico,
I. p. 98, a seq.; Conquest of Peru, I.
p. 117.