History

• Post Eagle
• May 10, 2018
• Word Etymology
• 0 Comments

The word HISTORY – which means A NARRATIVE OF EVENTS comes from the Greek – HISTOREIN – TO ENQUIRE and then, HISTOR – A LEARNED MAN.

The word HISTRIONICS – which means – RELATING TO ACTORS, PERFORMERS, comes from the Latin (ultimately from ETRUSCAN) – HISTRIO – ACTOR or PERFORMER.

THE Etruscans inhabited that section of Italy before the Romans. Many of the Roman ceremonies and customs are derived from the Etruscans. The first actors came to Rome from Etruria.

According to Livy, the historian, it was Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome, who built the first Circus Maximus and imported race horses and pugilists from Etruria for Roman games. The Etruscans gave Rome brutal gladiatorial contests and Etruscan engineers built the walls and sewers of Rome and turned it from a swamp into a protected and civilized capital. Tarquinius Priscus reigned circa 620 B.C.