Blank> Does anybody know the etymology and meaning of Metius Fufetius?
>Met(t)ius is probably derived from the Oscan term meddiss
('magistrate'?), the title of the office this king of Alba Longa is
presumed to have held.
>Francesco
The name may have been a dialectal variant of the god Menthu - if of course
the god was recognised in the Oscan culture at that time. The name Menthu
is usually associated with Egypt, but it is compatible with Greek Metis
(though the divine functions aren't) and the pre-Hebrew Methu-selah. As
part of a royal title, a god's name is perhaps more plausible than mere
"magistrate", though 'Mettius" may itself have been a variant of the
original form (which we have no way of knowing for sure).
Gordon Barlow