The Roman–Etruscan Wars, also known as the Etruscan Wars or the Etruscan–Roman Wars, were a series of wars fought between ancient Rome (in both the regal and the republican periods) and the Etruscans. Information about many of the wars is limited, particularly those in the early parts of Rome's history, and in large part is known from ancient texts alone. The conquest of Etruria was completed in 265–264 BC.
Periodisation
Based on the traditional narrative of the overthrow of the Roman monarchy in 509 BC, in which the Romans ousted the Etruscan Tarquinii dynasty and established the Roman Republic, some historians put the start of the Roman–Etruscan Wars in c. 509 BC. Other historians such as Brice (2014) emphasise that little about the Etruscan Wars survives in the ancient sources: though "the general course of the war" could be discerned, it is impossible to reconstruct a continuous narrative. He argued that the wars occurred so early in Roman history that "extensive elements of the narratives are shrouded in mythology and should be heavily discounted. Livy is our best surviving source for this early period, but he wrote four centuries after the events and drew on sources that were recorded at least two centuries after the events they described." He put the beginning of the Etruscan Wars in 483 BC with the first of three Roman wars with Veii.
Similarly, Amanda Grace Self (2016) stated that "Rome's Etruscan Wars were not a simple process of expansion into barbarian-inhabited lands", but a complex series of disparate conflicts across centuries: "The Romans had no notion of a planned, unified war against the Etruscan people. Rather, the military endeavors against the city-states of Etruria were discrete reactions to an array of individual factors and events. The Etruscans themselves never united in a large-scale war against the growing strength of Rome." Rather than a single event, she wrote that the geographic proximity of the Romans and Etruscans as neighbours inhabiting opposite banks of the river Tiber naturally drove them to conflict over resources (such as the salt beds at the Tiber's mouth) and trade routes in the area, including the river itself for navigation. Usually, conflicts began with small-scale Etruscan raiding of the Roman countryside, and often ended in sieges of cities on either side.
There is also disagreement about when the Etruscan–Roman Wars ended, with Kohn (2013) pointing to the sack of Volsinii in 264 BC. Brice (2014) argued the Roman conquest of Caere in 273 BC was the effective end of the Wars, though adding that the 241 BC revolt of Falerii was "a last gasp". While Margaret Sankey (2002) dated the Roman–Etruscan Wars from c. 509 to 234 BC, she stated that Hasdrubal's defeat at the Metaurus Valley in 209 BC ended the long-standing rivalry between the Etruscans and the Romans.
War with Fidenae and Veii under Romulus
In the 8th century BC, during the reign of Rome's first king, Romulus, the Fidenates (an Etruscan people) decided to suppress Rome as a future threat and began to lay waste to its territory, in opposition to which Romulus marched on Fidenae and camped a mile from it. Setting an ambush in the thickets, he brought the rest of the army to the gates of Fidenae to provoke them into exiting the city. Seeing the appearance of disorder the Fidenates sallied out in pursuit and were caught in the ambush. Romulus' troops wheeled, drove the Fidenates through their gates so closely that they were not able to close them, and took the town.
The Veientes were concerned at the situation with Fidenae both because of its proximity to Veii and their consanguinuity with the Fidenates (who were also Etruscan), and accordingly launched an incursion into Roman territory. After having done so, the Veientes returned to Veii with their booty. Romulus and the Roman army followed and met the Veientes in battle outside the walls of Veii. The Romans were victorious and the Veientes fled into the city. The Romans, not having the strength to take the city by storm, instead laid waste their lands. The Veientes sued for peace, and a one-hundred year treaty was concluded upon the Veientes giving to the Romans a part of their own territory.
In the second war with Fidenae and Veii in the 7th century (see below), Livy describes Fidenae as a Roman colony. It may be that a colony was established there after the defeat by Romulus.
Second War with Fidenae and Veii, under Tullus Hostilius
In the 7th century BC, during the reign of Rome's third king, Tullus Hostilius, the Fidenates and Veientes again went to war with Rome. According to Livy they were incited to war by Mettius Fufetius, the dictator of Alba Longa, who had been defeated by and had become in substance a vassal of Rome.
The Fidenates openly revolted against Rome. Tullus summoned Mettius and his army from Alba Longa and, together with the Roman army, marched on Fidenae. The Roman and Alban army crossed the Anio and camped near the confluence of the Anio and the Tiber. The army of Veii also crossed the Tiber, and, with the Fidenates, formed up battle lines next to the river, the Veientes closest to the river and the Fidenates nearest the mountains. The Roman-Alban army formed up facing them, the Romans towards the Veientes and the Albans towards the Fidenates.
The battle commenced. However, Mettius and the Alban troops headed slowly towards the mountains, intending to desert. Tullus exhorted his troops, telling them the Alban army had moved pursuant to his orders. The Fidenates, who being Roman colonists understood Latin, heard what Tullus said about the Albans and feared the Alban army would charge down upon them from the rear: accordingly they fled the battle. The Romans then routed the Veientes.
War with the Etruscans, under Servius Tullius
In the 6th century BC, according to Livy, Rome's sixth king Servius Tullius went to war with Veii (after the expiry of an earlier truce) and with the rest of the Etruscans. Little is said of the war, except that the king was conspicuous for his valour and good fortune, that he routed a great army of the Etruscans and Veientes, and that the war helped cement his position in Rome, as he had only recently become king. According to the Fasti Triumphales, Servius celebrated three triumphs over the Etruscans, including on 25 November 571 BC and 25 May 567 BC (the date of the third triumph is not legible on the Fasti).
Livy records that during the reign of Servius' successor, Tarquinius Superbus, Rome renewed a treaty with the Etruscans. It is not clear which earlier peace treaty was renewed.
War with Veii and Tarquinii, after the overthrow of the monarchy in 509 BC
In 509 BC the Roman monarchy was overthrown, and the republic commenced with the election of the first consuls. The deposed king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, whose family originated from Tarquinii in Etruria, garnered the support of the cities of Veii and Tarquinii, recalling to the former their regular losses of war and of land to the Roman state, and to the latter his family ties. The armies of the two cities followed Tarquin to battle but were defeated by the Roman army in the Battle of Silva Arsia. The consul Valerius collected the spoils of the routed Etruscans, and returned to Rome to celebrate a triumph on 1 March 509 BC.
Livy writes that later in 509 BC Valerius returned to fight the Veientes. It is unclear whether this was continuing from the Battle of Silva Arsia, or was some fresh dispute. It is also unclear what happened in this dispute.
War with Clusium in 508 BC
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus the last King of Rome, having failed to regain the throne using his allies of Tarquinii and Veii, next sought the aid of Lars Porsena, king of Clusium in 508 BC. Clusium was at that time a powerful Etruscan city.
The Roman Senate heard of the approach of Porsena's army, and were afraid lest the people of Rome should out of fear let the enemy into the city. Accordingly, the senate took a number of measures to strengthen the resolve of the populace, including purchasing grain from the Volsci and from Cumae, nationalising licences for the sale of salt (which was at the time costly), and exempting the lower classes from taxes and port customs duties. The measures were successful, and the mood of the populace turned against the enemy.
Porsena and his forces attacked Rome. As his troops were surging towards the Pons Sublicius, one of the bridges over the Tiber leading into the city, Publius Horatius Cocles leapt across the bridge to hold off the enemy, giving the Romans time to destroy the bridge. He was joined by Titus Herminius Aquilinus and Spurius Larcius. Herminius and Larcius retreated as the bridge was almost destroyed. Horatius waited until the bridge had fallen, then swam back across the river under enemy fire. A statue was erected to Horatius in the comitium, along with land at the public expense, and also private awards.
As the attack had been unsuccessful, Porsena next determined to blockade the city. He established a garrison on the Janiculum, blocked river transport, and sent raiding parties into the surrounding countryside.
During the siege, the consul Valerius baited a group of the Clusian army with a herd of cattle driven out through the Esquiline Gate. Titus Herminius was ordered to lay in wait along the Via Gabina, two miles from Rome. Spurius Larcius was posted with troops inside the Colline Gate; consul Titus Lucretius Tricipitinus waited with troops at the Naevian Gate; while Valerius himself led troops down from the Coelian Hill. The trap was successful, and the band of Clusians were killed.
The siege continued. Next, with the approval of the senate a Roman youth named Gaius Mucius stealthily entered the Etruscan camp with the intent of assassinating Porsena. However, when Mucius came close to the king, he could not tell the king and his secretary apart, and killed the secretary in error. Mucius was captured by the Etruscans, and brought before Porsena. He openly declared his identity and what had been his intent. He threatened that he was but merely the first of three hundred Roman youths who would attempt such a deed. To demonstrate the determination of the Romans, Mucius thrust his right hand into one of the Etruscan camp fires, thereby earning for himself and his descendants the cognomen Scaevola ("Lefty"). Mucius was also granted farming land on the right hand bank of the Tiber, which later became known as the Mucia Prata (Mucian Meadows). Porsena, shocked at the youth's bravery, dismissed him from the Etruscan camp, free to return to Rome.
Most historical sources say the siege ended with a peace treaty.
At this point, according to Livy, Porsena sent ambassadors to Rome to offer peace. Terms were negotiated. Porsena requested the throne be restored to Tarquinius, but the Romans refused. However the Romans did agree to return to the Veientes lands taken from them in previous wars, and Roman hostages were agreed to be given in exchange for the withdrawal from the Janiculum of the Etruscan garrison.
The peace was agreed, and hostages taken by Porsena. One of the hostages, a young woman named Cloelia, fled the Etruscan camp, leading away a group of Roman virgins. Porsena demanded she be returned, and the Romans consented. Upon her return, however, Porsena, being impressed by her bravery, allowed her to choose half the remaining hostages to be freed. She selected from among the hostages the young Roman boys to be freed. The Romans honoured Cloelia with the unusual honour of a statue at the top of the Via Sacra, showing Cloelia mounted on a horse—that is, as an eques.
Livy recounts that during his own time, public auctions of goods at Rome were by tradition referred to as "selling the goods of king Porsena", and that this somehow relates to the war with Clusium. Livy concludes most likely it is because, when Porsena departed Rome, he left behind as a gift for the Romans his stores of provisions.
Livy also records that, after the war, a number of the Etruscan soldiers returned to Rome to seek shelter following the War between Clusium and Aricia, and that a number of the Etruscans remained in Rome, and were granted an area to live which became known as the Vicus Tuscus.