Many years before continental Europe was united by the enveloping grasp of the conquering Romans, in a fertile region just north of Rome, Central Italy, a fascinating population existed. Known to modern archaeologists as the Etruscans, their origin, like much of their history, is disputed. Due to a dearth of archaeological evidence and lack of surviving literature, much of what we can conclude regarding their existence is little more than supposition. Luckily, however, subsequent civilizations literature has survived, literature that speaks explicitly of the Etruscan empire, and it is from this that we are able to draw conclusions. Using these...
Century BCE ?â?»?é???é?¢ beginning when Rome was still no more than a cluster of huts ?â?»?é???é?¢ this area was the heartland of the people who built Italy?â?»?é???é?¢s first great civilization. ?â?»?é???é?¢Etruria filled the whole length of Italy with the noise of her name,?â?»?é???é?¢ recalled the Roman historian Livy, writing around the time of Christ Hamblin, 1975. The Etruscans appear to have influenced the Celts but how exactly remains unclear. They did however have a colossal part in shaping Rome into the all-conquering empire that it was to become and more particularly one of the greatest influences of western culture.