Whips and Tomb Paintings
Before we move on to the glory that was Rome, we must take a moment to bewail failed chances and missed opportunities at Rome’s parent civilization.
Hundreds of years before Rome, another people ruled the Italic peninsula. They rivaled Greece for control of the Mediterranean. Known throughout the classical world for their engineering skills, they took Rome under their wing, drained their swamps, and helped build the society that eventually destroyed them.
The thing is, most people have never even heard of them.
The Etruscans, as we now call them, were centered in Tuscany, although they had colonies as far away as Carthage. They called themselves the Rasene. And they were one of the most sexually permissive societies in Europe.
Very little is known about their origins, although they probably hailed from an ancient kingdom in modern Turkey. They did bring an Isis/Astarte cult with them to Italy, which might explain a few things about the women.
Since Rome systematically wiped out the Etruscans in the 3rd century BCE, the only things we know about their society come from tombs and Roman descriptions, which were generally not favorable. The Roman perception of women made the Greeks look enlightened, so you can imagine how they viewed a society that allowed their women to hold public office and sit as hosts at banquets.
Etruscan men, apparently, expected their women to be more forthright and forward, leading to some fairly awkward situations with the Romans—there’s a story about an Etruscan nobleman who was not convinced that any wife could be as virtuous as a Roman claimed—and set out to prove she wasn’t, with disastrous consequences.
Etruscan women were generally given equal footing in tombs, often with sarcophagi showing the happy couple in bed together. NOT something the Romans would have found acceptable.
There are descriptions (from the Romans) of massive orgies, in which the women would make love to any man who happened their way.
And there are tomb paintings—which show some pretty erotic scenes. Some of them involving whips.
We know absolutely nothing about Etruscan maternity, medicine or parenting, other than their goddess, whom they called Uni. It’s just fascinating that an ancient culture seems to have treated female sexuality with a bit more respect than anyone else around.
Probably one of the reasons the Romans felt the urgent need to remove them.
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6 Comments
Stephanie B
Friday, 21st August 2009 at 4:14 pm
Bastards! Now I'm intrigued.
[Reply]
Wendy
Monday, 24th August 2009 at 11:30 am
You're making me think of my stepmom's experiences working as a mental health counselor in a jail. She mainly deals with people who have been arrested & are awaiting deportation for visa violations (which is why many of them are seriously depressed – they have been separated from their families, don't know where they are, are afraid to contact them, and are being sent back to a country they haven't lived in sometimes for decades). I digress.
She got tickled and finally had to interrogate a shy little guy from south America. I don't remember which country it was, but she did intake interviews for one man after another who answered the "have you ever been sexually abused?" question with "only by my wife."
After a whole day of this she finally broke down laughing & had to ask her interpreter to ask: "Is this a translation problem, do you know what I'm asking you?"
He blushed and stammered and finally (embarrassed) said, "yes. In my country the women are known for being… aggressive."
I want to move there. So hubby will quit thinking I'm such an abberation.
[Reply]
Wendy
Monday, 24th August 2009 at 11:31 am
Whooops. Wrong double consonant on that last word there. I meant to type aberration.
[Reply]
Lawyer Mom
Tuesday, 25th August 2009 at 7:19 pm
Interesting stuff. I'd never heard of the Estruscans. I could homeschool Mr. M just by reading him your blog posts.
[Reply]
TheMother Replies:
August 25th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Perhaps not this one? At least until he's 18.
[Reply]
Phyl
Tuesday, 25th August 2009 at 11:35 pm
I love all this information! At first I was thinking, "The Minoans, maybe?" But then they didn't rule the Italic peninsula, so I knew you had to mean someone else. And then it was the Etruscans, about whom I know very little (though I now know more than I did 10 minutes ago). Fascinating stuff!
Pretty upsetting, that civilizations like the Minoans and the Etruscans, with their really quite good and healthy attitudes toward so many things, didn't last as long as the mainland Greeks and Romans, isn't it?
[Reply]
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