Ancient History/Rome/Etruscans

Origins

The Etruscans' origins have always been a highly debated topic. Many theories include that they migrated to the Italian peninsula from the East, or that they were the descendants of the ancient inhabitants there. Findings about their origins have been inconclusive. Notably, however, there was a group referred to by the Greeks as the Tyrsenoi (an Ancient Greek name for the Etruscans) as far back as the 8th century C.E.

It is agreed, however, that Etruscan cities predated Roman and Greek cities on the Italian peninsula by a fairly significant margin. One way this is shown is by the general trend of Etruscan cities to be drawn a few miles away from the shorelines they were built over, usually on an elevated, defensible position, in contrast to the later Greek colonies which were built right on top of their respective shorelines. This is reflective of a general trend of piracy in the Mediterranean centuries before the founding of the city of Rome, which had waned by the time of the establishment of the colonies of Magna Graecia. The Etruscan cities of Tarquinii and Cerveteri are among the most influential cities, and likely among the first to be founded.