ETRUSCAN ATHLETICS

   These activities, associated with men and undertaken when naked, are depicted on mirrors and in wall paintings of tombs from about the sixth century BC onward (although it is important to understand that this does not represent the beginning of the representation of athletics). The range of activities includes running, jumping, wrestling, and boxing. A proxy for this activity, found both as material culture in tombs and depicted in paintings (e.g., Tombs of the Baron, Triclinium, and Inscriptions at Tarquina) and on mirrors, is the strigil, an instrument employed to remove oils and fluids from the hot human body after exercise. There is also a mythological linkage to Castor and Pultuce, the divine twins. Another important theme is the horse race. In contrast to the Greek world, there do not appear to have been clearly defined facilities for athletics. Games were often associated with ritual occasions, particularly of a funerary nature.