Who was in Italy before the Romans?

A few years ago, I gave a presentation to an Italian-American club about the Etruscan people who controlled much of Italy before the Romans came along. I thought that I'd share some of what I talked about with you. The Romans were deeply influenced by the Etruscans and, if you look closely while you're in Rome, you'll be able to see that influence.

When we talk about Etruria, this is the region that we are talking about. West of the Apennine mountain range, north of Rome, and south of Livorno. In general, Tuscany and Lazio. The Etruscans had solid control of central Italy until the Romans anhiliated their towns one by one.

There is much debate as to the origins of the Etruscans. Were they originally Italian? Did they migrate to Italy from some other place? As early as the 9th century BC, there is archeological evidence of Etruscan settlements. They may well have been in the region before this, but, so far, no archeological evidence supports this. Archeology is the primary source of our evidence about the Etruscans, they did not write their own history. The archeology shows that the Etruscans had a highly sophisticated culture. They lived in fortified towns, the earliest examples of which were built high up on hills.

Civita di Bagnoregio is a great example of a fortified town. It sits high above a plain. So it was well protected from surprise attacks. By the 6th century, these fortified towns had developed into a loose confederation that had elected officials. You’re perhaps wondering where Rome fits into all of this. The traditional date for the foundation is 756 BC. Rome was a small village for a really long time. The village coexisted quite happily with the neighboring Etruscan towns. As Rome grew, aggressive encounters with the towns increased in frequency. In 396 BC, Rome defeated the Etruscan town Veii, and gradually the neighboring towns fell one by one. Rome established itself as the dominant force in the region.

Now we come to my favorite aspect of the Etruscan civilization, their art. I mentioned before that most of what we know about the Etruscans comes from archeological evidence. This is an aerial shot of a town called Cerveteri. NOTE: I have not been here yet, but would love to visit in person. It’s just a few miles outside Rome. The mounds that you see are called tumuli, a type of burial chamber. Luckily for us, the Etruscans decorated their tombs lavishly, included pieces of artwork, and daily objects. They carefully sealed the tombs and many of them remained unopened until relatively recently. The Etruscans were famous for their metal work, here are my two favorite great examples:

Capitoline She-Wolf:

If you had to pick a work of art to represent Rome, this would likely be the choice of many individuals. However, it’s really an Etruscan piece. More specifically, the wolf is Etruscan; it pre-dates the founding of Rome. The representations of Romulus and Remus were added much later.

Monteleone Chariot:

Part of the collection of the Met. in New York. In 1902, a landowner working on his property accidentally discovered a subterranean built tomb covered by a tumulus (mound). His investigations revealed the remains of a parade chariot as well as bronze, ceramic, and iron utensils together with other grave goods. Following the discovery, the finds passed through the hands of several Italian owners and dealers, who were responsible for the appearance of the chariot and related material on the Paris art market. There they were purchased in 1903 by General Luigi Palma di Cesnola, the first director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The chariot is bronze with ivory inlays and boars tusk. The scenes depicted are from the Trojan War. The craftsmanship of this asside, the fact that it shows scenes from the Trojan War indicates how sophisticated the Etruscans were.

While the artistic influence the Etruscans had over the Romans in most interesting to me, it's not the only area where the Romans learned from these fascinating people. Here's a couple more things to remember:

• The Etruscans taught the Romans how to drain the marshy area surrounding the village "Roma" which enabled it to become the vast metropolis that you'll see soon
• The Etruscans taught the Romans how to determine the will of the gods through a careful analysis of the flight pattern of birds or a thorough examination of the liver of a sacrifical animal