The Culture Ministry of Italy revealed on Tuesday the discovery of hundreds of bronze figures considered to be over 2,000 years old in a historic Tuscan thermal spring. This may necessitate historians revisiting the link between the Etruscans and the Romans.
The find was recognized as one of the most remarkable in the Mediterranean area by Massimo Osanna, the ministry’s head of museums. He stated that the bronze figures, which portray humans, gods, and particular body parts, were discovered in great condition because they had been covered in dirt. Along with the sculptures, archeologists allegedly discovered 5,000 gold, silver, and bronze coins.
This find, according to Jacopo Tabouli, a dig for the University for Foreigners in Siena, provides fresh information about the Etruscans and the rise of the Roman Empire between the first and second century BC.
“While social and civil warfare raged outside the sanctuary, the great aristocratic Etruscan and Roman families worshiped together in an atmosphere of calm among strife,” Tabolli explained, noting that the excavated sculptures bore both Etruscan and Latin inscriptions.
“This chance to redefine the interaction and dialectic between the Etruscans and Romans is extraordinary,” he declared, according to the Associated Press.
The Culture Ministry of Italy has stated that a new museum would be erected in the region to house the newly discovered items and demonstrate the significance of this discovery.
The Etruscan civilization was one of several that existed on the Italian peninsula before the advent of the Roman Empire. It is said to have been invented by the Etruria area as early as 900 BC. The Etruscan nations shared a language and culture and occupied what is now Tuscany, western Umbria, and northern Lazio.
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The Etruscan culture was eventually absorbed into the Roman Empire. Historians think the process began in the late 4th century BC when battles between the Romans and the Etruscans erupted. In 27 BC, the Roman Empire completely absorbed all Etruscan territory.
