Who were the Italians before Rome?

When we think about Italy, we automatically think of Rome. However, Rome wasn’t the only ancient civilization in Italy. There were actually quite a few. However, none influenced Rome like Etruscan. Hopefully, this post will spread some light on a civilization often living in the shadows of rome.

The Etruscans dominated Italy before the rise of rome. In fact, rome was once under the rule of the Etruscans as shown in the picture above. Not much is known of their history because they spoke a language that was not indo-European. The Etruscans were from what is now known as turkey. Which is why thier language was different than their neighbours.

Italy was divided by many civilizations before rome eventually unified them all. However, the Etruscans were one of the first pre-rome Italians to unify mulitple Italian states. Plus, they are probably the one few in history that can say they conquered Rome’s capital.

As mentioned before, most of the Etruscans’ language and culture died out when Rome conquered. Since, most just adopted Latin and Roman customs. Eventually, the Etruscan simulated into Roman society and were forgotten. Within generations, you couldn’t tell the difference from an Etruscan and a Roman.

What we know about the Etruscans’ culture is through tombs, art and what they left behind. A lot of their pottery was heavy influenced by Greece. They even had gods similar to the greek. The Etruscan religion had some influence to the Roman gods as well. Romans learned how to build arches from the Etruscans. The Etruscans even laid a foundation for the roman sewers. The city of Roman and the Roman architecture are imprints left behind by the Etruscans.

Thank you so much for reading!!! Much love and safe travels!!