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The Mysterious Etruscans Trivia Quiz

Before the rise of Rome the Etruscans held sway over much of ancient Italy. While their origins are nebulous we do know a lot about them. Do you know more than the average barbarian?

A multiple-choice quiz by hispidus. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
hispidus

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
195,631

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
860

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. To the Greeks they were the Tyrrhenoi. The Romans referred to them as the Tusci. What did the Etruscans call themselves? Hint

Kemet

Rutuli

Pelasgians

Rasenna

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Question 2 of 10

2. According to Herodotus a king named Atys sent his son Tyrrhenus and half his people to found a colony in Italy in order to reduce the effects of a famine. In what land was Atys king? Hint

Ivernia

Marmarica

Lydia

Lugdunensis

3. The Etruscans felt that their destiny was ultimately determined by the number of "saecula" that fate allowed them. Once all their saecula were gone they believed that they would fall from greatness. What was a saeculum? Hint

A prophetic book.

A measure of gold equal to a ton.

A unit of time approximating a century.

A city.

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Question 4 of 10

4. True or false: the Etruscan religion was revealed to the people by a supernatural boy named Tages who sprang out of the ground as a farmer plowed overhead.

True

False

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Question 5 of 10

5. All Etruscan cities were ruled by a "zilath." What is the best English translation of the word? Hint

priest

magistrate

king

god

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Question 6 of 10

6. Archaeologists have identified an even older civilization found in territory that would later be claimed by the Etruscans. By what name have the excavators labeled these people? Hint

Vulturnus

Vetulonia

Villanovan

Vulcan

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Question 7 of 10

7. True or False: Herodotus claims that the Etruscans' ancestors invented gambling.

True

False

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Question 8 of 10

8. The Romans used the same techniques that the Etruscans had used in laying out their cities. In an Etruscan/Roman city what was a Pomerium? Hint

A sewer.

A lagre temple.

A sacred boundary.

A main street.

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Question 9 of 10

9. When Rome evicted its Etruscan overlords in 509BC an Etruscan king from the northern city of Clusium besieged the upstart colony. What was this king's name? Hint

Mars Ultor

Lars Porsenna

Pars Dimidia

Tarquinius Superbus

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Question 10 of 10

10. What did the Greeks consider the most alien aspect of the Etruscans? Hint

Etruscan men dined with their wives.

Etrsucan warriors painted themselves blue before battle.

Etruscan men urinated sitting down while their women urinated standing up.

The Etruscans were isolationists.

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. To the Greeks they were the Tyrrhenoi. The Romans referred to them as the Tusci. What did the Etruscans call themselves?

Answer: Rasenna

The Kemet (the "people of the black soil") were the Egyptians. A Pelasgian was a generic Greek term for a prehistoric person and/or a foreign person. The Rutuli were a tribe of ancient Latium whose king, Turnus, was defeated by Aeneas. Rasenna, according to Dionysius, was the eponym by which the Etruscans described themselves.

2. According to Herodotus a king named Atys sent his son Tyrrhenus and half his people to found a colony in Italy in order to reduce the effects of a famine. In what land was Atys king?

Answer: Lydia

Marmarica was the name of the territory surrounding the Greek colony of Cyrene in north Africa. Lugdunenis was the name of a Roman Province in Gaul on the Atlantic coast. Ivernia was the Roman name for Ireland. Lydia, in modern Turkey, was the land Atys ruled over.

Answer: A unit of time approximating a century.

The Etruscans measured time and the life of a people using the saeculum (100 years) as a base. They thought that their people had been alotted 10 saecula in which they would shine in greatness. Oddly enough, Augustus dated the end of the last saeculum at 44BC on the death of Julius Caesar. A form of the word saeculum is also printed on the U.S. one dollar bill.

4. True or false: the Etruscan religion was revealed to the people by a supernatural boy named Tages who sprang out of the ground as a farmer plowed overhead.

Answer: True

The farmer was Tarchon (the brother of the Tyrrhenus mentioned above). The boy dictated to him the lore that formed the basis of Etruscan religion such as augury and divination.

5. All Etruscan cities were ruled by a "zilath." What is the best English translation of the word?

Answer: magistrate

The zilath was the chief magistrate of a city. He was assisted by a number of "maru" (priests) and several "purthne" (prefects). The Etruscan family origins of some famous Romans can be seen in their names, such as Publius Vergilius Maro.

6. Archaeologists have identified an even older civilization found in territory that would later be claimed by the Etruscans. By what name have the excavators labeled these people?

Answer: Villanovan

Vetulonia was the name of an Etruscan city. Vulcan was the Roman god of fire. The Vulturnus was the name of a river in Italy.

7. True or False: Herodotus claims that the Etruscans' ancestors invented gambling.

Answer: True

Herodotus: book one, verse 94. Shooting dice was supposed to take their minds off the starvation that they were enduring!

8. The Romans used the same techniques that the Etruscans had used in laying out their cities. In an Etruscan/Roman city what was a Pomerium?

Answer: A sacred boundary.

At a city's founding a furrow (Pomerium) would be plowed around the perimeter establishing a sacred boundary upon which nothing could be built.

9. When Rome evicted its Etruscan overlords in 509BC an Etruscan king from the northern city of Clusium besieged the upstart colony. What was this king's name?

Answer: Lars Porsenna

Mars Ultor was the god "Mars the Avenger." Pars Dimidia is a Latin phrase that means "one half." Tarquinius Superbus was "Tarquin the Proud" (the king the Romans had thrown out). Porsenna fought to restore Tarquinius to his throne but failed in the end due to the bravery and tenacity of the Romans.

10. What did the Greeks consider the most alien aspect of the Etruscans?

Answer: Etruscan men dined with their wives.

Herodotus claims that Egyptian men urinate sitting down while the reverse is true for their women. Celtic warriors painted themselves with woad (a blue pigment) before combat. The Etruscans were anything but xenophobic; they allied with the Carthaginians from time to time and imported a lot of Greek pottery.

But the fact that Etruscan women were liberated enough to enjoy a meal in the company of their husbands made the Greeks very uneasy. Indeed, many Etrsucan burial monuments show husbands and wives embracing and holding each other with loving expressions.

Source: Author hispidus

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Beatka before going online.
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