The Etruscan World (Routledge Worlds)

• chapter 2 : Massimo P a 11 0 11 i n 0 ’ s “Origins” in perspective -

Nevertheless, according to the sequence of the above-mentioned stances, it might be
possible that Massimo Pallottino developed his new perspective on Etruscan origins without
disregarding the approach that he shared in some way with the world of “poetic insights.”
Akin to this could be considered his frequent use of figures of thought for conveying his
theories. For example, in the case of the beginnings of Etruscan history he repeatedly used
the example of the French nation, among other modern populations in Europe, which are
actually difficult to confine within the stiff limits of a straightforward and linear evolution.
He considered the French population as a peculiar blend of successive and persistent inputs
of foreign contacts, Ligurians, Gauls, Romans or Franks (Pallottino 1947: 5).
As a consequence, Massimo Pallottino’s new perspective focused on at least two core
concepts, which he had already figured out as early as his first studies on the Etruscans.
At the end of the 1930s he had already pointed out the idea of different levels of “cultural
growth” according to the evidence he grasped in the territories of Etruria (1939). Shortly
after he focused on the idea of “formation” in the chapter entitled “The problem of
Etruscan origins” of the first edition of his famous book Etruscologia (Hoepli 1942). The
whole question is studied in his major book, which is also outstanding for its peculiar
outline, quite rare in human sciences immediately after the Second World War (Bagnasco
Gianni 2012). For this reason his book deserves great consideration (Figure 2.1) (Pallottino
1947). To support his theory, he discussed and took advantage of the clashing opinions of
Greek and Latin authors on the Etruscan origins that he also summed up in a table (Figure
2.2) pointing out the difference between Herodotus’ and Dionysius of Halicarnassus’
positions, respectively from the Near East and autochthonous. (See Chapter 3.) The book
also deals with other evidence, exploring ancient Italian cultures that are also listed in
a table from the Eneolithic (before the second millennium bce) onwards (Figure 2.3),
discussing linguistic issues and questioning the possibility to identify references to the
Etruscans in Egyptian epigraphic sources of the second millennium bce.

MASSIMO PALLOTTINO

L’ORIGINE

DEGLI

ETRUSCHI

SOCIETA ANONIMA TUMMINELL1 EDITRICE“ STUDIUM URBIS’

CITTA UXIVERSITARIA - ROMA

Figure 2.1 Cover page of Pallottino’s book on the origins of the Etruscans (Pallottino 1947).