Lars Porsenna

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According to later tradition, Lars Porsenna or Laris Porsenna was a king of the Etruscan clusium . The fact that a ruler with this name actually existed is considered by many researchers to be certain, regardless of the difficult tradition, but it is unclear how reliable the reports of his deeds, written much later, are. At least the part of the name Porsenna is often understood by research as an epithet and associated with the Etruscan word purt -. In some Etruscan cities the office of zila (r) th purthne is occupied, which can perhaps be translated as dictator or aedile . Lars Porsenna could therefore also be a corruption of this title.

Mucius Scaevola in front of Porsenna , painting by Peter Paul Rubens and Anthonis van Dyck , before 1628, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

Other researchers, such as Tim Cornell, see in Porsenna as in the Roman kings in general more of a kind of " warlords ", which were only stylized as "kings" in later tradition.

Life

As with all reports on the early Roman period, it is very difficult for Lars Porsenna to distinguish between myth and historical reality. The ancient historians Titus Livius and Dionysius of Halicarnassus , who lived many centuries after the alleged events and relied primarily on oral tradition, report that after the overthrow of the Roman king Tarquinius Superbus (510 BC), Lars Porsenna, king of Etruscan clusium , advanced on Rome and besieged the city (508 BC) to regain the throne for the displaced. It is not clear in the sources whether Porsenna was able to take the city. On the one hand, Livy and Dionysius describe that Porsenna had to break off the siege due to the readiness of the Roman youth. On the other hand, there are passages in the text of Livius (and other ancient authors) that speak for a successful intake. The Romans are said to have taken hostages to the Etruscan army.

Presumed siege of Rome in 508 BC Chr.

From Rome, Porsenna is said to have tried to extend his rule over Latium , but his son Aruns Porsenna suffered a defeat in front of the Latin city of Aricia by the Latins and Greeks under the tyrant Aristodemos of Kyme and was killed (504/503 BC). Regarding the Battle of Aricia, Livy and Dionysius still pass on voluntary admission and care of Etruscan wounded, some of whom would later have settled in the so-called Tusk Quarter at the Forum.

After the battle, the father had to withdraw from Rome and probably returned to Clusium, where he probably lived sometime at the beginning of the 5th century BC. Chr. Died. An architecturally sophisticated grave, allegedly 90 m in diameter and 180 m high, is said to have received the body. With regard to the existence of this tomb, however, the ancient author Pliny the Elder expressed doubts; But it can be said that the Etruscans had a tendency to architecturally elaborate tombs, which connected burial place and place of worship.

According to the supposed sacredness of an "archaic" kingdom , it is reported about Lars Porsenna that he drove away a monster by the name of Olta, which devastated the area around Volsinii , by causing lightning. The mythical Blitzzauber puts Porsenna in a row with other mythical figures from early Roman history such as Numa Pompilius and Tullus Hostilius . This suggests that the story was about a complex of myths common in central Italy. It should be noted that some researchers assume that neither Rome nor the Etruscans of that time actually had a kingship.

Modifications of the tradition

In Roman legends , it is not reported about the capture of the city by Porsenna, but about the miraculous rescue by a hero or a heroine. Rome is said to have been saved by either Cloelia or Gaius Mucius Scaevola .

Interpretations of Research

Research almost unanimously rejects the reasons given by Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus for the campaign, the recapture of the throne for the Tarquinians. There are diverging opinions in research about Lars Porsenna's actual motives. So on the one hand there is the theory that Porsenna expelled Tarquinius himself, on the other hand that Tarquinius should have called Porsenna and installed his son after the capture.

As a basic consensus, it can be assumed that Lars Porsenna, in his function as king or warlord, won the power struggles in Rome for himself in the period of the 6th and 5th centuries BC, which was characterized by the expansion efforts of the Etruscan cities to northern and southern Italy and the strengthening of the Greek cities wanted to use to enlarge his own sphere of rule. Despite the differing sources, most research assumes that Lars Porsenna has successfully captured Rome and the associated coercive measures, such as the ban on iron processing, "which practically amounted to disarming". The anecdotal tradition of the heroic deeds of Scaevola and Cloelia should - as today's research often assumes - conceal the historical, for Rome less honorable and threatening experiences.

The account of the admission and settlement of Etruscans in Rome in the wake of the Battle of Aricia is regarded by some scholars as an explanatory story due to Rome's non-participation in the battle. In this context, a possible compulsory measure by Porsenna, which imposed on the Romans to temporarily accept the Etruscans, appears only likely.

In painting

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  • Dionysius of Halicarnassus: The Dionysius of Halikarnaß Roman antiquities. Translated from the Greek by Johann Lorenz Benzler. Edited by JL Benzler et al. Meyer, Lemgo 1771.
  • Titus Livius: Roman History. Latin – German. Edited by Hans Jürgen Hillen and Josef Feix. Knowledge Book Society, Darmstadt 1974–2000. (Tusculum Collection)

literature

Web links

Commons : Porsenna  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See for example Prayon: The Etruscans. P. 53. The historicity of Porsenna is denied, for example. B. Werner: The beginning of the Roman Republic , pp. 377–386, and Ehlers, Porsenna . Overall, Etruscology is more likely to assume the existence of Porsenna than many ancient historians .
  2. ↑ Aigner-Foresti: The Etruscans and early Rome. P. 142. The Etruscan th was probably spoken breathily, similar to the English th in Thanks .
  3. ↑ Prayon: The Etruscans. P. 82: “[...] Grave not only place of burial, but at the same time also a monumental altar, insofar as the grave building was accessible and sacrifices [...] could take place on the top. Other places of worship were located in the tomb itself, [...]. "
  4. ↑ Aigner-Foresti: The Etruscans and early Rome. P. 145.
  5. ↑ Cf. Andreas Alföldi : The early Rome and the Latiner . Darmstadt 1977, pp. 44-81. Alföldi assumes that Porsenna overthrew Tarquinius in alliance with Roman aristocrats in order to then rule Rome himself as the "eighth king"; after a while he retired to Clusium and left his son Arruns in the city as his deputy, but a little later he was defeated by the Latins. Only this defeat brought about the end of the monarchy in Rome.
  6. ↑ Prayon: The Etruscans. P. 53.
  7. ↑ Prayon: The Etruscans. P. 53.
  8. ↑ Aigner-Foresti: The Etruscans and early Rome. Pp. 143-144.
  9. ↑ DIRECTORY OF THE v.DERSCHAUISCHE Kunstkabinett zu NÜRNBERG .... Nuremberg, at the obligated auctionator Schmidmer., 1825., 250 p., Directory of the rare art collections., 1825., Google Books, online , p. 73, (57.)
personal data
SURNAME Lars Porsenna
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Etruscan king
DATE OF BIRTH 6th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 5th century BC Chr.
Place of death Clusium