Page 134 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

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MAP 5.1 Ancient Italy. Ancient Italy was home to several peoples. Both the Etruscans in the north and the Greeks in the south had a major influence on the development of Rome.
Q Once Rome had conquered the Etruscans, Sabines, Samnites, and other local groups, what aspects of the Italian peninsula helped make it defensible against outside enemies?
Corsica
Sardinia
Mediterranean
Rubicon R.
ETRURIA
Tiber R.
Veii
Rome
LATIUM
Adriatic Sea
MAGNA Thurii
Sea
Carthage
200 300 Kilometers
100 200 Miles
Sicily
Syracuse
Ionian Sea
The Etruscans
peoples had also settled in Italy, the two most nota- ble being the Greeks and the Etruscans (i-TRUSS- kunz). The Greeks arrived on the Italian peninsula in large numbers during the age of Greek colonization (750–550 B.C.E.; see Chapter 3). Initially, the Greeks settled in southern Italy and gradually migrated around the coast and up the peninsula as far as Brin- disi. They also occupied the eastern two-thirds of Sicily. Ultimately, the Greeks had considerable influ- ence on Rome, at first indirectly through the Etrus- cans, and then, after the Romans conquered southern Italy and Sicily, through direct contact with the Romans. They cultivated olives and grapes, passed on their alphabetic system of writing, and provided artistic and cultural models through their sculpture, architecture, and literature. Indeed, many historians view Roman culture as a continuation of Greek culture.
96 Chapter 5 The Roman Republic
The initial development of Rome was influenced most by the Etruscans, who had settled north of Rome in Etruria. The origins of the Etruscans are not clear, but many historians believe that recent DNA analysis has confirmed the theory of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (see Chapter 3) that the Etruscans emi- grated from the region of Lydia (now western Turkey). After 650 B.C.E., the Etruscans expanded in Italy and became the dominant cultural and economic force in a number of areas. To the north, they moved into north- central Italy, including the Po Valley. To the south, according to Roman tradition and archaeological evi- dence, they controlled Rome and possibly all of Latium. From Latium they moved south and came into direct conflict with Greek colonists in southern Italy. In the sixth century B.C.E., the Etruscans were at the height of
Tyrrhenian Sea
Capua Cumae
Naples
Tarentum
Brindisi
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GRAECIA (GREATER GREECE)
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