Tarchon

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For the moth genus, see Tarchon (moth).

In Etruscan mythology, Tarchon and his brother, Tyrrhenus, were culture heroes who founded the Etruscan Federation of twelve cities, the Dodecapoli:

Ancient/Modern

1. Arretium/Arezzo
2. Caere/Cerveteri
3. Clusium/Chiusi
4. Corito/Cortona
5. Perusia/Perugia
6. Populonia
7. Tarquinii/Tarquinia-Corneto (named after Tarchon)
8. Vetulonia
9. Volaterrae/Volterra
10. Volsinii/Bolsenae
11. Vulci/Volci
12. Veii (destroyed 396BC, hence no modern name)

Rusellae/Roselle is incorrectly considered to have been part of the Etruscan twelve city league by some modern authors. Likewise, since Faesulae/Fiesole was probably founded in the 9th-8th century BC and the Dodecapoli was founded by the Lydian brothers Tyrsenos and Tarchon, who are both assumed to have lived in the 11th century BC, it is impossible that Faesulae was part of the league.

In Virgil's Aeneid, Tarchon, king of the Tyrrhenians, leads the Etruscans in their alliance with Aeneas against Turnus and the other Latian tribes (Book VIII.506, 603; X.153, 290; XI.727, 746).