Tarchuna (Rise of the Republic) Port Level 1

Small Port

The Etruscans conducted trade not only with their fellow cities on the Apennine Peninsula, but also with contemporary Mediterranean civilisations such as the Greeks, Phoenicians and other eastern cultures. The Etruscans were noted for their iron exports, which they exchanged for ivory from Egypt, amber from the Baltic, and pottery from Greece and Ionia; fine Greek pottery in particular was very highly valued. The Etruscans’ strong maritime presence brought them a longstanding reputation for piracy, especially among Greeks. From the records of the time, there is little evidence to suggest that the Etruscans pirated more than any other people, but their control over a significant part of the Mediterranean is indisputable. Naturally, such actions brought Etruria into conflict with the major naval power of the age, Carthage, necessitating a treaty regarding exclusive areas of operation, signed around 509BC. This treaty made both powers stronger and led them to co-operate to defend their mutual interests against the Greek fleet. Later on, once Syracuse emerged as a dominant trading power, the Sicilian-based Greeks inflicted a major defeat on the Etruscans at the Battle of Cumae, in 474BC. Around a century later, Dionysius I of Syracuse destroyed many of the Etruscan ports, leading to a decline in wealth for the previously extremely-rich Etruscan city-states.