The Detroit times., 1908-12-28
ETRUsCANs WERE
SAME As ROMANS,
He DECLARES
STANFORD TEACHER SAYS
THEY SPRUNG FROM TRoJANS
KEY TO COMMON LANGUAGE
PROVES 1T IS CORRECT.

SAN FRANCISCO, Cal, Dec. Is
The manners and customs OF the an
Client Etruscans, their history and
their relations to the Romans. so long
a mystery to historians. have been
solved by DIR. George Hempl, who
holds the chair OF Germanic philology
at Stanford. For centuries scientists
have worked to read Etruscan inscrip-
tions and failed. and because they
have failed little lis known today OF
the people who lived In upper Italy
ages ago. In single night DR..
Hempl has succeeded In finding a key
TO the mysterious symbols. and TO a
small gathering OF members OF the
Stanford Phioogica association this
scholar outlined his discovery and told
what effect II would have upon the
scientific world.
The educators who attended the
meeting and heard the lecture believe
DR.. Hemprs discovery is OF great I'M
portance and far reaching In It's re-
suits. IL will make necessary COM
plete change In the present historical
view of ancient Italy and will elucl-
dato many disputed facts OF Latin
grammar and etymology. Probably It's
greatest effect will be in oyerturning
the generally accepted idea that Etrus-
cans and Romans were different peo-
pies.
DIR. Hempl. by means OF charts,
proved concusively that the Roman
and Etruscan languages were similar
in all their important features, draw
ing the conclusion that the people
sprang from the same race. that CT
the Troians Thus the historical truth
of Virgils "Aeneid" is demonstrated.
People In Groups.
In explaining his find to the Phiio-
logical association Prof Hempl said:
Ancient Italy was occupied by vari-
Gus peoples, speaking various Ian
gu6ges. There were Greeks In the
south. Celts In the north, and the
Italic tribes In all parts OF the PENN
sula. The latter fell into two groups
Latin. Faliscan was spoken In and
near Latium. and Oscan-Umbrian was
spoken In the large part Of Italy.
aside from these were the Etrus-
cans. living just north OF the Romans:
the veneti in the neighborhood OF
Venice: the people in eastern Italy,
who spoke what Is called old Sabellic,
and some minor tribes. But the In
scriptiors left by all these last named
peoples always have baffled the In
ger uity Of scholars
Prof. Hempls proper field OF work
Is Germanic philology. For many
years he has been engaged in decipher-
ing ancient Germanic inscriptions
written in letters called runes. But
- -. ohIn m thar
one group OF these inscriptions was
Burgundian, and thus TO furnish IN
formation as TO the great Germahic
language OF which we hitherto knew
nothing.
Prof. Hempl observed that the old
est runes were similar to the letters
used In the Venetic and Satellite In
scriptions found in Italy. This LED
him last fall to examine those inscrip-
lions more carefully. The result was
that he succeeded In reading them.
and thus brought to light two hitherto
unknown Italic languages similar to
UmbrIan and Oscar.
When he reported this matter at
meeting OF the Pathological associa'
ton of the Pacific coast at It's meet
ing In San Francisco at Thanksgiving
time he was urged to try his hand in
solving the Etruscan question. This
he did Dec. 4 and found the language
closely akin to Latin.
once Powerful Race.
This discovery. though In its nature
not different from the solving OF
yenetic and Satellite Inscriptions. is
3 matter OF far greater Importance.
The Etruscans were from 700 10 500
p. C. the most powerful and civilized
people in Italy
They introduced the arts and
sciences as well as the religion OF