Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to the culture and way of life of a people of ancient
Italy and
Corsica, residing between the
Apennines and the
River Tiber, whom the ancient Romans called
Etrusci or
Tusci.
[1] The
Attic Greek word for them was
????????? (Tyrrhenioi) from which Latin also drew the names Tyrrheni (Etruscans), Tyrrhenia (
Etruria) and Mare Tyrrhenum (
Tyrrhenian Sea).
[2] The Etruscans themselves used the term
Rasenna, which was
syncopated to
Rasna or
Rasna.
[3]As distinguished by its own language, the civilization endured from an unknown prehistoric time prior to the founding of Rome until its complete assimilation to Italic Rome in the Roman Republic. At its maximum extent during the foundation period of Rome and the Roman kingdom, it flourished in three confederacies of cities of Etruria, of the Po valley with the eastern Alps, and of Latium and Campania.[4] Rome was sited in Etruscan territory. There is considerable evidence that early Rome was dominated by Etruscans until the Romans sacked Veii in 396&_160;BC.
Culture that is identifiably and certainly Etruscan developed in Italy after about 800 BC approximately over the range of the preceding Iron Age Villanovan culture. The latter gave way in the seventh century to a culture that was influenced by Greek traders and Greek neighbours in Magna Graecia, the Hellenic civilization of southern Italy. After 500 BC the political destiny of Italy passed out of Etruscan hands.[5]
The origins of the Etruscans are lost in prehistory. The main hypotheses are that they are indigenous, probably stemming from the Villanovan culture, or that they are the result of invasion from the north or the Near East.
