The Etruscans
Lost Civilizations
Lucy ShipleyA new history of the Etruscans, a powerful and influential civilization in ancient Italy.
The Etruscans were a powerful and influential civilization in ancient Italy. But despite their prominence, they are often misrepresented as mysterious – a strange, unknowable people whose language and culture have largely vanished. Lucy Shipley’s history of the Etruscans presents a different picture: of a people who traded with Greece and shaped the development of Rome, who inspired Renaissance artists and Romantic firebrands and whose influence is still felt strongly in the modern world. Covering colonialism and conquest, misogyny and mystique, Etruscan history is woven with the very latest archaeological evidence to provide a unique perspective on this enigmatic culture, revealing how much we now know, and how much remains undiscovered.
A new history of the Etruscans, a powerful and influential civilization in ancient Italy.
The Etruscans were a powerful and influential civilization in ancient Italy. But despite their prominence, they are often misrepresented as mysterious – a strange, unknowable people whose language and culture have largely vanished. Lucy Shipley’s history of the Etruscans presents a different picture: of a people who traded with Greece and shaped the development of Rome, who inspired Renaissance artists and Romantic firebrands and whose influence is still felt strongly in the modern world. Covering colonialism and conquest, misogyny and mystique, Etruscan history is woven with the very latest archaeological evidence to provide a unique perspective on this enigmatic culture, revealing how much we now know, and how much remains undiscovered.
A new history of the Etruscans, a powerful and influential civilization in ancient Italy.
The Etruscans were a powerful and influential civilization in ancient Italy. But despite their prominence, they are often misrepresented as mysterious – a strange, unknowable people whose language and culture have largely vanished. Lucy Shipley’s history of the Etruscans presents a different picture: of a people who traded with Greece and shaped the development of Rome, who inspired Renaissance artists and Romantic firebrands and whose influence is still felt strongly in the modern world. Covering colonialism and conquest, misogyny and mystique, Etruscan history is woven with the very latest archaeological evidence to provide a unique perspective on this enigmatic culture, revealing how much we now know, and how much remains undiscovered.
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This is a splendid little book, which brings the Etruscans up to date and does much to strip away the mystery that surrounds this lost civilization.
'Current World Archaeology
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[The Etruscans] accomplishes its mission with aplomb . . . if there is one book among the recent spate of works on the Etruscans that is likely to win over the popular imagination – one as alive to their distinct character and accomplishments as their lost legacy and muddled afterlives – Lucy Shipley’s book is surely it. For The Etruscans demonstrates that new facts can be more interesting than old fiction.
'The Classical Journal
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Shipley's book is as engaging as her subject. Her work leaves us eager to discover more about this fascinating group of people.
'Minerva
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Shipley's concise and elegant prose serves as an ideal complement to her fascinating subject. The people of this remarkable and enigmatic culture come alive in a brilliant treatment appropriate for any audience.
'Anthony Tuck, Director, Poggio Civitate Excavations, and Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
Chronology
Prologue
1 Why do the Etruscans Matter?
2 Where Is Home?
3 Ostrich Eggs And Oriental Dreams
4 Pots And Prejudice
5 Super Rich, Invisible Poor
6 To Be A Woman
7 Safe As Houses
8 Sex, Lies And Etruscans
9 Wrapped Up Writings
10 Listening To Livers
11 Facing Oblivion
References
Further Reading
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
Lucy Shipley is the author of Experiencing Etruscan Pots: Ceramics, Bodies and Images in Etruria (2015). She lives in Devon, UK.