What tradition or practice in politics did the romans learn from the etruscans?

Answer 1

The political traditions and practices of the Romans were entirely Roman. They were created right during the foundation of the city-state and were further developed as the Roman city-state grew. Romulus (the founder and first king) created the senate as an advisory body and a popular assembly (the comitia curiata), which after his death became a voting body. The sixth king of Rome, Servius Tullius, introduced two new popular assemblies, the Assembly of the Soldiers and the Assembly of the Tribes as voting bodies for the whole of the Roman state, which by then had had annexed other territories in Latium (land of the Latins). The comitia Curiata covered only the city of Rome. The Republic retained these institutions and replaced the king with two annually elected consuls.

The fashionable theory that the Etruscans conquered or dominated Rome, or that the urban development of Rome in the 5th century BC was due to the Etruscans is just that, a theory. It has been challenged. The evidence base of this theory is flimsy and it is based on unproven assumptions. Recent archaeological evidence suggests a different picture

According to the Roman tradition, the fifth king of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus, who was half Greek and half Etruscan, introduced some Etruscan formal customs:

• The celebration of triumphs in Etruscan style

• The golden chariot of the king

• The fasces, a bundle of wooden sticks with an axe sticking out in the middle. This was used by the lictors, the guards of the king and, later, the consuls and of the praetor. They were also a symbol of the power and authority.

• The clothes worn by people in positions of authority. The trabea, the robe worn by the king and then the consuls and priests during public ceremonies. The toga praetexta, the robe worn by higher officers of state and the curule chair they sat on as a symbol of their authority. The paludamnetum, a cloak worn by generals and their higher officers when commanding an army (but not during peace).

• The falera, round ornamental metal disks for helmets, armour and harness of horses.