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This dissertation examines the construction and negotiation of Etruscan ethnic identity in the first century BCE using both archaeological and literary evidence. Earlier scholars maintained that the first century BCE witnessed the final decline of Etruscan civilization, the demise of their language, the end of Etruscan history, and the disappearance of true Etruscan identity. They saw these changes as the result of Romanization, a one-sided and therefore simple process. This dissertation shows that the changes occurring in Etruria during the first century BCE were instead complex and non-linear. Detailed analyses of both literary and archaeological evidence for Etruscans in the first century BCE show that there was a lively, ongoing discourse between and among Etruscans and non-Etruscans about the place of Etruscans in ancient society. My method musters evidence from Late Etruscan family tombs of Perugia, Vergil’s Aeneid, and Books 1-5 of Livy’s history. Chapter 1 introduces the topic of ethnicity in general and as it relates specifically to the study of material remains and literary criticism. Chapter 2 explores the construction of a local Perusine/Etruscan identity within the contexts of Late Etruscan family tomb environments that were in use during the first century BCE. Chapter 3 analyzes how Vergil breaks from literary traditions to elevate his Etruscan characters and create a new place for Etruscans in literature and Roman history. Chapter 4 examines how Livy uses Etruscan characters and places to explore issues related to Roman identity, Roman values, and their development. Taken together, these seemingly disparate, interdisciplinary case studies provide significant insight into the same phenomenon—the construction of Etruscan identity in the first century BCE. This dissertation also shows that in addressing broad questions of social and cultural history, archaeological and literary evidence can not only work well together but also work on par with each other. |
