Ethnicity and the Etruscans 415Figure 27.2 Bronze Etruscan mirror with scene of Adornment of the Bride Malavisch. Drawing.
London, British Museum, ca. 350–325BCE(after E. Gerhard, Etruskische Spiegel, 1845, vol. 2,
pl. 213).
easy for someone to discern the ethnicity of an Etruscan woman as compared to a Greek
on the basis of her adornment. For Roman women, the evidence is mixed. They will-
ingly gave up their jewelry under the Lex Oppia (215BCE) as part of the Hannibalic
war effort, but aggressively supported the repeal of the law 25 years later. Adornment
was a matter of prestige and status for Roman women, even regarded as the counter-
part of men’s offices and titles. As the tribune Lucius Valerius noted, “Elegance and
adornment and apparel—these are the insignia of women” (Livy 34.7. 8; cf. de Grum-
mond 1982: 180). Possibly, Etruscan women may have justified their appearance in a
similar way.
Also, distinctions of dress and adornment were not confined to upper-class Etruscan
women. In Etruria, even female servants dressed well, for example, as shown in the Golini
Tomb I at Orvieto, where a “kitchen” scene features servants preparing tables laden with