Суспільно-політичний лад і економічний розвиток Етрурії у 8–3 ст. до н. е.

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to highlight key issues of the socio-political system and economy of Etruscan civilization as factors influencing both its rise and decline. The research methodology is based on the use of general scientific principles: historicism, objectivity, and a systemic approach in analyzing historical processes considered in this article. Special historical methods such as descriptive, problem-chronological, historical-systemic, and comparative-historical have proven to be effective. The scientific novelty of the research is determined by the authors' attempt to comprehensively reveal the topic of the socio-political system and economy of the Etruscans in the 8th–3rd centuries BC by utilizing the achievements of foreign and domestic researchers. Conclusions. The key factors determining the might of the Etruscans were the fertility of the land and the richness of the region's natural resources. However, their socio-political structure undermined this potential as Etruscan cities existed independently from each other and did not strive to unite into a centralized state, further weakening themselves with constant internal conflicts and internecine wars. The lack of unity and the Roman military superiority ultimately led to the loss of independence for the cities, and eventually, to the complete disappearance of the Etruscan ethnic group. The rapid growth of the Etruscan economy through international trade did not contribute to the unification of Etruria into a single centralized state due to the incomplete process of dissolution of tribal relations and the Etruscans' orientation towards the Greeks, including adopting their model of state organization. The formal unification of twelve city-states into the Etruscan League was a religious confederation but did not promote their cohesion. For a long time in Etruscan society, there were only two main classes – the aristocracy, in whose interests the state apparatus operated, and the class which was to varying degrees dependent on the aristocracy. At the same time, the indistinctness of the middle class may be associated with the fact that the ancestors of the Etruscans, who according to one version of their origin came from the east, subjugated the indigenous population, turning them into dependents, which was a typical practice in the ancient world.