Military
architecture
For their defence, the first Etruscan towns trusted in the
inaccessibility of their locations, with sites on high ground
on rocky spurs often being chosen, and in the intricate maze
of the alleys of the inhabited areas. During the 6th and 5th
centuries BC, the walls surrounding the major cities were
very simple in design. Large square blocks were put on top
of one another and the wall merely marked the limits of the
city. The weakest points, such as the gates, were reinforced
by the presence of towers. The Etruscans remained faithful
to this antiquated conception and did not follow the developments,
which can be dated to the 4th century BC, of military architecture,
according to which walls were built according to requirements
of defence. The consequence was that their cities became very
vulnerable to attacks from the culturally more advanced populations
living in the centre and south of the Italian peninsula.
The
Etruscan army
To equip their armies, the Etruscans could rely on a great
availability of ferrous materials, extracted from the mines
of central Italy.The individual city-states recruited their
armies from their citizens according to the census and corps
of cavalry, hoplites (foot soldiers) and lightly-armed troops
were formed. The cavalry had mobility as its strongpoint and
consequently its tasks were those of reconnaissance, skirmishes
and pursuit. The hoplites, whose arms could differ greatly,
but which guaranteed a fairly complete protection, fought
in a compact formation, with the best placed in the front
line, and their mission was to attack the enemy. Lastly, the
role of the lightly-armed foot soldiers, with weapons such
as lances, but not protected by armour, was to confuse and
provoke the enemy formations, striking from afar. There were
also corps of engineers whose task it was to erect fortifications
and dismantle those of the enemy during assault operations.
As a last resource, on some occasions, formations of priests
took part in the conflicts, throwing themselves on to the
enemy armed with snakes and lighted torches. In ancient times,
the use of the war chariot was common. It is not known whether
these were used solely as a means of transport for the leaders
to reach the battlefield or actually in the fighting.
The
arms
The weapons used in attack by the Etruscan foot-soldier comprised
a wide choice of arms for hand to hand fighting: lances, short
or long swords, normal and two-headed axes, curved swords
and daggers. Javelins, bows and arrows were also used. The
arms for defence purposes consisted of armour for the chest,
made of fabric reinforced by metallic studs or bronze armour,
made in two or three pieces and with a linen lining. Their
heads were protected by bronze helmets of varying shapes:
they protected the cheeks or the nose and could be simple
or crested. Their legs were protected by bronze greaves. The
armour was completed by a leather, wooden or bronze shield,
which could be round, oval or rectangular.
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