This postcard, produced by Vittorio Boeri around 1932, celebrates the ‘Etruscan legion’ of the Voluntary Militia for National Security (Milizia Volontaria Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN), commonly known as the Black-shirts.

The card’s iconography features Etruscan motifs which tie the legion closer to its name. Placed between two large fasces, a coin displays a profile portrait of a two-headed male figure identified as Janus in the Latin legend. The inscription FELAODI (in Etruscan letters, written in retrograde) refers to ‘Velathri’ (Volterra), one of Etruria’s central cities. This legend is often found with depictions of Culsans, an Etruscan two-faced god, sometimes identified with Janus (as here). The depictions of dolphins and club surrounding the coin are commonly found on the reverse of many of the coins depicting the deity.

Text (1) refers to Janus’ role as a god of transitions and gateways. In the Roman Forum, a gate dedicated to Janus and decorated with a bronze statue of the god, was used to symbolise the state of war. The gate was kept open during times of war, but in peace, the gate was closed.

Text (2) is a rephrasing of a quote in Livy’s Ab Urbe condita 1, 23: Multum illi terra, plurimum mari pollent (‘They shine great on land, but even greater on sea’). In Livy too, this phrasing is used to describe the Etruscans. On the postcard, it is the ‘Etruscan’ MVSN legion that is implicitly identified with the Etruscans.

The postcard plays with reproduction and medium. The artwork on the postcard is made to look like an inscription on a building or monument, possibly in reference to the Gates of Janus. In addition, the reproduction of an ancient coin as part of an inscription contrasts the depiction with the material of which it is made.

Erlend Myklebust