Secular doctrine

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The nymph Vegoia (left) on a gold ring from the 3rd century BC. On the left edge the inscription of her name in Etruscan letters : Lasa Vecuvia . She's probably looking into a fortune-telling mirror .

The secular doctrine was an essential part of the Etruscan religion and worldview . According to the Etruscans, the lifetime of their civilization and culture was limited to a certain number of saecula ( Latin saeculum , age, age, century) due to the providence of higher powers . The predetermined period of time was eight or ten saecula, depending on tradition, with a saeculum spanning about a hundred years.

Censorinus , a Roman grammarian and writer from the 3rd century AD, reports in his work De die natali (dt. About the day of birth) that the Etruscans only wrote down their secular doctrine in the eighth Saeculum. These records showed that the first four saecula lasted 100 years each, the fifth 123 years, the sixth and seventh 119 years each. The eighth was in progress at the time of writing, and a ninth and tenth were still to come. At the end of this age the Etruscan name (Latin noun Etruscum ) came to an end. In terms of time and content, Censorinus refers to a lost work by Marcus Terentius Varro , an important Roman polyhistor from the 1st century BC. BC who likely had access to Etruscan records and their Latin translations.

According to Censorinus, the first saeculum began on the day the Etruscan cities were constituted. Those who lived longest of the people born on this founding day determined the end of the first epoch and the beginning of the second by the day of their death. All subsequent saecula ended in the death of the oldest person who was born on the day the saeculum began. Since the end of a saeculum would have remained hidden from people, divine signs were sent. Accordingly, the saecula encompassed the greatest possible life spans. It is noteworthy that many of the saecula were of the same length.

In the Corpus agrimensorum Romanorum a text fragment with the teaching of the nymph Vegoia (Etruscan Lasa Vecuvia ) has come down to us. It says that the penultimate age begins when people in Etruria, because of their greed , move the boundary stones in order to increase their property. This prophecy was probably made in the 1st century BC. And could refer to Sulla's land reform of the year 88 BC. That was associated with extensive confiscations of lands in Etruria. Accordingly, the ninth saeculum began in 88 BC. Chr.

The fragment of the Vegoia prophecy probably came from a larger complex that did not stand the test of time and was already known as libri vegoici in ancient times . The content of these books were probably cosmic prophecies and myths of the creation of the world. Whether the secular doctrine was also part of these books and therefore belongs to the revelations of the nymph Vegoia can only be guessed. The libri vegoici were part of the Etrusca disciplina , a set of rules on the religious teachings and practices of the Etruscans.

According to Plutarch, there are eight ages in total, which differ from one another in the life and customs of people. These ages form the cycle of a "great year". Whenever one cycle expires and another begins, a special sign is sent from earth or heaven. In 88 BC Etruscan fortune tellers have heralded the dawn of a new age based on the signs of gods, including loud trumpets from a cloudless and clear air. Insofar as Plutarch refers here to the secular doctrine, according to Etruscan doctrine there could also have been only eight saecula. Then in the year 88 BC The eighth and last saeculum of the Etruscans ended.

Servius , a Roman grammarian and writer from the late 4th and early 5th centuries AD, wrote in his commentary on Virgil's Eclogae that after Caesar's assassination in 44 BC. BC and the ominous appearance of a comet, the Etruscan seer Vulcanius proclaimed the beginning of a new saeculum. After revealing this secret of the gods, he is said to have dropped dead as a punishment, as he himself had predicted. Assuming ten saecula, then accordingly ended in the year 44 BC. The ninth saeculum and the tenth and final saeculum began. There are no historical sources for the end of the last Etruscan era.

From the data mentioned, a hypothetical chronology can be developed based on ten saecula. For the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that the eighth Saeculum also comprised 119 years.

Saeculum Duration Period
1 100 968-868 BC Chr.
2 100 868-768 BC Chr.
3 100 768-668 BC Chr.
4th 100 668-568 BC Chr.
5 123 568-445 BC Chr.
6th 119 445-326 BC Chr.
7th 119 326-207 BC Chr.
8th 119 207-88 BC Chr.
9 44 88-44 BC Chr.
10 ? 44–? v. Chr.

Overall, the period is about 1000 BC. Until the turn of the ages. These key data roughly correspond to the historical findings. Around 1000 BC The Etruscan civilization made its first appearance. Around the turn of the ages, the last elements of the Etruscan culture disappeared due to the advancing Romanization . The Etruscan language was at the end of the 1st century BC. Extinct.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nancy Thomson de Grummond, Erika Simon (ed.): The Religion of the Etruscans. P. 31.
  2. ^ Censorinus, De die natali XVII 6.
  3. ^ Censorinus, De die natali XVII 5.
  4. ^ Nancy Thomson de Grummond: Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend. P. 42.
  5. ^ Karl Lachmann: The Agrimensores. P. 350.
  6. ^ Massimo Pallottino: Etruscology: History and culture of the Etruscans. P. 330.
  7. ↑ Nancy Thomson de Grummond, Erika Simon (ed.): The Religion of the Etruscans. P. 30.
  8. ↑ Plutarch, Sulla 7.4.
  9. ↑ Plutarch, Sulla 7.3.
  10. ^ Servius: Vergilii carmina comentarii 9.46.
  11. ^ Nancy Thomson de Grummond: Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend. P. 42.
  12. ^ Nancy Thomson de Grummond: Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend. P. 43.
  13. ^ Massimo Pallottino: Etruscology: History and culture of the Etruscans. P. 100.
  14. ^ Massimo Pallottino: Etruscology: History and culture of the Etruscans. P. 241.