Among the many peoples who inhabited Italy before the establishment of Roman hegemony, the most dominant were the Etruscans, the Greeks, and gradually, the Romans themselves. In all probability the Etruscans were natives of the Italian peninsula, certainly they were not members of the Indo-European language group. Whatever the origins, by the sixth century B.C.E. they had established a confederation of cities that stretched over most of northern and central Italy. Although their writing has never been completely deciphered, enough materials survive to indicate the nature of their culture. They had an alphabet based upon Greek, much skill in metalwork, great artistic talents, a flourishing trade with the East, and a religion based upon the worship of the gods in human form.
CB69.W67 1997
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