The Etruscans, who settled in Italy in 800 BC, had a significant influence on the early Romans and the development of Rome. The Etruscans drained the swamp near the Palatine Hill where Rome was founded, creating the Forum which became the center of Roman government and law courts. They also introduced arches, gladiatorial games, triumphal parades, and other cultural aspects to Rome. The first Etruscan ruler of Rome in 616 BC advanced Roman culture and many Etruscan customs, like their alphabet based on Greek, were adopted by the Romans. The Etruscans played an important role in the rise of Rome as a civilization.
2. Map of Ancient Rome (Italy)
– We will learn how the Etruscans contributed to the rise of
Rome and culture
3. Founding of Rome
• 1000 B.C. Latins settle on Palatine Hill in Italy
• Romans belonged to this group
– Twin Brothers Romulus & Remus founded Rome in 753 B.C.
• Land featured pleasant climate, hills, fertile soil, dense
forests
• 800 B.C. a people called the Etruscans settled Etruia in
Italy
– Etruscans wrote an alphabet borrowed from the Greeks
– Italy’s first highly civilized people
4. Etruscans
• Drained the swamp at the foot
of Palatine Hill.
• This place became the Forum.
• Forum housed a palace,
government buildings, and law
courts.
• Etruscans laid the
foundations for the first
sewer system.
5. The Etruscans
• Excellent pirates, traders, farmers, metalworkers and miners
• Strong army – learned from the Greeks, formed a phalanx
• By 600 B.C. Etruscans dominated northern Italy
• Loved sports, gambling, music, & dance
• Dance performed to connect to religion, gods
– Etruscan women enjoyed freedoms like dancing, owning property,
public celebrations
– Strong sense of social order – or the way groups of people are
classed
6. Religious Beliefs
• Etruscan Gods modeled after the Greek Gods
• Believed the Universe was divided into provinces
• Each province ruled different gods
• Humans lived in center of universe (of nature, Earth)
• West ruled by gods of Death/Underworld
• East by gods of the Heavens
• Soothsayers – people who can predict events & read
omens or signs of what is to happen
7. Tombs of Gold
• When Etruscan noble died, two of noble’s slaves fought one another
to death. The spirit of the slave who was killed went w the noble’s
spirit to the Underworld.
• Dead were buried in tombs beneath the ground called
catacombs
• Necropolis – outside each city a cemetary made up of
acres of catacombs
9. Etruscans & Romans
• Lucius Tarquinius - first
Etruscan ruler of Rome in
616 B.C.
• Etruscans advanced Roman
culture
• Etruscan Customs the
Romans Borrowed:
• The arch for building
bridges
• The Romans borrowed the
Etruscan alphabet (a
modified Greek alphabet)
• Roman gladiatorial games
modeled after fights of
enslaved people held at
Etruscan funerals
• Triumph – parade-like
welcome given a Roman
hero returning from battle
• Etruscan symbols of
authority
10. Etruscans & Romans
• Built first temple on the
Capitoline – one of the
seven hills of Rome
• Today – it’s the center of
Rome’s municipal or city
government
• Roman founded their cities
according to Etruscan ritual.
• Soothsayers read omens
that told where the
boundaries should be.
• Bronze bladed plow marked
the boundaries.
• Etruscans played an
important role in the
development of Roman
civilization
