Page 135 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

their power. But by 480 B.C.E., their power had begun to decline, and by 400 B.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.
historical tradition also maintained that early Rome (753–509 B.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
The Emergence of Rome 97
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
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 century B.C.E.
Capitoline Hill
SERVIAN WALL
FORUM
Palatine Hill
Esquiline Hill
Caelian Hill
Aventine Hill
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Tomb of the Leopards, Tarquinia, Italy//Scala/Art Resource, NY
Quirinal Hill Viminal Hill
VIA SACRA (Sacred Way)
Tiber R.
VIA APPIA