The literary sources of the Etruscans, sometimes misleadingly described as the ancient sources, were very limited. Some authors, such as Livy and Theopompus, remark on Etruscan women. There is some discussion of Etruscan architecture in the writings of Vitruvius. There is much comment on political, mainly military, relations, along the Roman frontier in Livy’s writings. Pliny, Livy, Cicero, and Seneca commented on the facets of the religiosity of the Etruscans and occasionally provided some limited detail on the existence of prescribed practices in the disciplina etrusca, including divination, and the observation of natural phenomena such as birds and lightning. However, most reconstructions of Etruscan practice have to be developed from archaeological evidence.
See also LITERATURE; RELIGION.
Historical Dictionary of the Etruscans. Simon K. F. Stoddart.