of official Thefarie was, and this debate stems partly from the fact that the same term
zilath will be used to describe the highest-ranking republican magistrates that follow the
monarchy.16 His precise status draws attention because his title was given a descriptive
adjective, so that he is a zilac seleitala, a title that may not describe a king any longer but
instead could be something comparable to the Roman praetor maximus who would have
been one magistrate among colleagues. Thefarie Velianas, if this is correct, could be at the
precipice of a new oligarchic system, which is republican in its nature.
Towards the end of the Archaic period cities began the transition from kings to elected
magistrates, and Thefarie Velianas could be a part of this revolution. Indeed, during the
Archaic and Classical periods there is a great deal of experimentation and transition in the
political sphere, so that some cities might have monarchies while others had republics; in
this respect we see how the different city-states behaved independently from one another
and were autonomous (Fig. 18.1). This situation is best represented in the city of Veii as
urban settlement
territorial boundary (approximate)Figure 18 .1 The Etruscan city-states with suggested territorial boundaries. Map by H. Becker and
T. Elliott, Ancient World Mapping Center, http://www.unc.edu/awmc. Territorial boundaries after L. Bonfante,
ed. 1986 with modifications. Reconstruction of ancient coastline following W. V. Harris (Maps 41 and
42) and N. Purcell (Map 44) in Talbert, R. J. A. ed. 2000 Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman world.
Princeton, N .J: Princeton University Press.
0 406080KilometersCHAPTER l8: Political systems and law20