Rome

Before the rise of the civilization we know as Rome, the Etruscans were the most powerful nation on the Italian peninsula. The origin of the Etruscan people is still unknown, but by the 6th Century B.C. Etruria controlled almost all of the peninsula. Renowned for both their maritime power (the Etruscans were fierce pirates) and their agricultural prowess, the Etruscans developed a rich civilization that would greatly influence Rome and, through Rome, all Western civilization since.

Etruria’s fate was the same as that of all civilizations. It eventually collapsed. The Etruscans were driven out of Rome. Then, in 474 B.C. the Etruscan fleet was defeated and destroyed by the Syracusans. As Roman power grew the Romans pushed north, taking control of more and more of ancient Etruria. Meanwhile Celtic invaders pushed in from the north, obliterating Etruscan civilization as they came, so thoroughly destroying northern Italy as to return it to nearly prehistoric standards of living. Finally, in 90 B.C., the last remaining vestiges of Etruscan autonomy were eliminated when Rome granted citizenship to all Italian peoples and absorbed them into the Roman state. The Etruscan language was replaced with Latin and the once-powerful Etruscan civilization essentially disappeared. By then Etruscan art, architecture, language, religion, and technology were so thoroughly incorporated into Roman culture that Etruscan culture itself was no longer separately recognizable.

But just as all great civilizations eventually fall, so do they also all live in on in the legacies they bequeath to the civilizations which follow them. Just as the world we know today would look much different had there been no great Roman civilization, Rome would have looked much different with the contribution of Etruria. So, just as Rome lives on, so does Etruria.