Episode 18 Etruscan Sports and Spectables

The Mysterious Etruscans

Dr Steven L Tuck (2016)

Film Review

All Etruscan sporting events were part of religious rituals. As games were common at funerals, archeologists commonly find decaying viewing stands in front of Etruscan tombs. Occasionally athletic events were used to celebrate military victories.

The “blood sacrifice” common to Etruscan funeral games* was a precursor to Roman gladitorial contests.

The Etruscans also engaged in equestrian sports, especially chariot races as part of funeral games. Only men participated and they rode bareback. There were no judges because the winners were clear.

Funeral games could also include running races (some in armor), wrestling, boxing long jump (with hand weights to extend the length of the jump), shotput, javelin, discus. Unlike the Greeks, the Etruscans rarely competed in the nude. Like modern WWE (Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment), in Etruscan wrestling it was common to pick up your opponent and through him to the ground.

Boxing, to the accompaniment of a flute, was the more popular sport (especially at funeral games) because it produced blood.*

Etruscan games, which were more a spectator sport than Greek games, allowed non-elites to participate. In fact, Etruscans often purchased slaves to perform in athletic events.

*The Leuukonians, who migrated from the Anatolian peninsula and invaded Greece’s southern Italian colonies in the 5th century BC, were the first to introduce gladiatorial contests to funeral games. Over time, they became an important feature in Roman funerals and expanded to become mass public spectacles.

**The blood had to seep into the tomb to neutralize demons that might block the deceased entrance to the afterlife.

Film can be viewed free with a library card at Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/239710/239643