t this time every mariner on
occasion was a pirate, and the Etruscans were especially interested to
exclude the Greeks so that they might keep for themselves the trade of
the west coast of Italy.

The famous Etruscan vases, which have been taken from the tombs by
the thousand to enrich our museums, were imitations of Greek vases,
but manufactured by the Etruscans. They represent scenes from Greek
mythology, especially the combats about Troy; the human figures are in
red on a black ground.

=Religion.=--The Etruscans were a sombre people. Their gods were
stern, often malevolent. The two most exalted gods were "the veiled
deities," of whom we know nothing. Below these were the gods who
hurled the lightning and these form a council of twelve gods. Under
the earth, in the abode of the dead, were gods of evil omen. These are
represented on the Etruscan vases. The king of the lower world,
Mantus, a winged genius, sits with crown on his head and torch in his
hand. Other demons armed with sword or club with serpents in their
hands receive the souls of the dead; the principal of these under the
name Charun (the Charon of the Greeks), an old man of hideous form,
bears a heavy mallet to strike his victims. The souls of the dead (the
Manes) issue from the lower world three days in the year, wandering
about the earth, terrifying the living and doing them evil. Human
victims are offered to appease their lust for blood. The famous
gladiatorial combats which the Romans adopted had their origin in
bloody sacrifices in honor of the dead.

=The Augurs.=--The Etruscans used to say that a little evil spirit
named Tages issued one day from a furrow and revealed to the people
assembled the secrets of divination. The Etruscan priests who called
themselves haruspices or augurs had rules for predicting the future.
They observed the entrails of victims, the thunderbolt, but
especially the flight of birds (whence their name "augurs"). The augur
at first with face turned to the north, holding a crooked staff in his
hand, describes a line which cuts the heavens in two sections; the
part to the right is favorable, to the left unfavorable. A second line
cutting the first at right angles, and others parallel to these form
in the heavens a square which was called the Temple. The augur
regarded the birds that flew in this square: some like the eagle have
a lucky significance; others like the owl presage evil.

The Etruscans predicted the future dest