Western Civilization

their power. But by 480B.C.E., their power had begun

to decline, and by 400B.C.E., they were confined to

Etruria itself. Later they were invaded by Celts from

Gaul and then conquered by the Romans. But by then

the Etruscans had made an impact. By transforming

villages into towns and cities, they brought urbaniza-

tion to northern and central Italy (as the Greeks had

done in southern Italy). Rome was the Etruscans’ most

enduring product.

Early Rome

According to Roman legend,

Rome was founded by twin

brothers, Romulus and Remus,

in 753 B.C.E. Of course, the

Romans invented this story to

provide a noble ancestry for

the city. Archaeologists have

found, however, that by the

eighth century there was a set-

tlement consisting of huts on

the tops of several of Rome’s

hills. The early Romans, basi-

cally a pastoral people, spoke

Latin, which, like Greek,

belongs to the Indo-European

family of languages (see Table

2.1 in Chapter 2). The Roman

historical tradition also maintained that early Rome

(753–509B.C.E.) had been under the control of seven

kings and that two of the last three had been Etrus-

cans. Some historians believe that the king list may

have some historical accuracy. What is certain is that

Rome did fall under the influence of the Etruscans for

about one hundred years during the period of the

kings.

By the beginning of the sixth century, under Etrus-

can influence, Rome began to change from a pastoral

community to an actual city.

The Etruscans were responsible

for an outstanding building

program. They constructed the

first roadbed of the chief street

through Rome—the Sacred

Way—before 575 B.C.E. and

oversaw the development of

temples, markets, shops,

streets, and houses. By 509

B.C.E., the date when the mon-

archy was supposedly over-

thrown and a republican form

of government was established,

a new Rome had emerged,

essentially as a result of the

fusion of Etruscan and native

Roman elements. After Rome

had expanded over its seven

Tiber R.

VIA APPIA

VIA SACRA

(Sacred Way)

Capitoline

Hill Esquiline

Hill

Palatine

Hill

Caelian

Hill

Aventine

Hill

Quirinal Hill

Viminal Hill

FORUM

SERVIAN

WALL

The City of Rome

Etruscan Tomb Mural.Like the

Egyptians, the Etruscans filled their

tombs with furniture, bowls, and

other objects of daily life, as well as

murals showing diversions

experienced in life and awaiting the

dead in the afterlife. Shown in this

mural found in an Etruscan tomb at

Tarquinia are servants and

musicians at a banquet. This mural

was painted in the first half of the

fifth centuryB.C.E.

Tomb of the Leopards, Tarquinia, Italy//Scala/Art Resource, NY

The Emergence of Rome 97

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