The Etruscans
Rome is now the capital city of Italy. 2,000 years ago it was the centre of the Roman Empire. The Romans had a story to explain how Rome began. Twin boys, Romulus and Remus, were the sons of Mars (the Roman god or war). An evil uncle took them as babies from their mother and threw them into the River Tiber to drown. The babies floated to land, and a mother wolf fed and cared for them. Later a herdsman looked after the twins until they grew up. Years later, Mars told his twin sons to build a city where they had been found. The city was Rome. One day, Remus made fun of the wall Romulus had built around the city. The twins argued, fought and Romulus killed Remus.
The geography of Italy Italy is a boot-shaped peninsula that is 600 miles long and 100 miles wide. It is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea It is a little smaller than Newfoundland but three larger than ancient Greece.
The Apennine mountains run down the middle of Italy and made communication very difficult throughout history.
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Resources Italy had great forests for timber for shipbuilding. Volcanoes gave them rich soil for crops such as wheat, barley, apples, pears, peas, beans, olives. grapes. The meadows also provided pastures for sheep, goats and cattle.
The oldest artifacts found in Italy date to 1600 BCE and show that the people of that time were mostly farmers, hunters and fishermen. Complex civilization in Italy began with the ETRUSCANS. They called their land ETRURIA
The Etruscans The Etruscans came into Italy between 1000 and 800 BCE. They developed independent city states. Etruscans were warriors, pirates, traders, farmers, artists and most of all engineers.
They built walled cities, deep mines, aqueducts to carry water long distances and irrigation systems for the farms.
The role of women Compared to Greek and later Roman women, the Etruscan women had a great deal of freedom and influence. Etruscan women sat with their husbands at banquets, had their own personal possessions and were actively involved in day to day politics.
Women had the option of keeping their maiden names when they were married, and could own property. Although they were not heavily involved in government or warfare, women participated with men in some political elections and may have been trained in some military defense tactics. Both men and women exercised regularly, attended spectator sports, and shared the tasks of fishing and preparing food.
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Government The Etruscans were ruled by a king/rex who was elected from the members of the royal family. The rex was the leader of the army, religion and courts There was also a SENATE made up of rich nobles who advised and approved whatever the king wanted.
Like the Greeks the Etruscans lived in city states that were allied together under the rex. The last Etruscan ruler was Tarquin the Proud who murdered the previous king and then was overthrown by the Romans
Early Italy was also greatly influenced by GREEK culture and adopted many of their cultural influences such as Religion Sculpture Philosophy
Religion The Etruscans believed the Gods gave them signs embedded in nature and that they needed to appease the Gods to prevent calamity. There were three major areas of divination: interpreting lightning and the flight of birds, assessing the stars to lay out a new town, and reading the entrails/guts of sacrificed animals.
Lightning was believed to be the most revealing of the Sky Gods' communications. The frequency of lightning flashes, the area of the sky from which it originated, and the length of its crooked streaks could foretell victory or defeat in battle.
Likewise, seasonal migrations of bird flocks could indicate a poor harvest or a diminished water supply. At night, the position of the stars could indicate an advantageous layout of towns. Before practicing burial rituals and other major religious events, the Etruscans carefully studied the internal organs of sacrificed animals, such as goats and sheep.
You wouldn't want to be a gladiator