Ancient Rome's Outside Influences

Ancient Roman culture grew through the almost 1200 years of Rome's civilization. The Romans had conquered many different places and brought back from their wars many things from each land. Though they couldn’t have done it without many outside influences, especially the Etruscans and the Greeks. Architecture, painting, sculpture, laws, and literature grew quickly on a high level in Rome with the help of these two countries, especially Greece since they also influenced the Etruscans and the whole of the Mediterranean world.

Ancient Etruria was located in the region occupied by present-day Tuscany, at the top of Italy. The Arno River in the north, and the Tiber River in the south bound it. The volcanic landscape of Etruria rendered the geography dramatically, with steep gorges and rough cliff faces overlooking rushing streams. Etruscans, the forebears of the Romans, made their home there for over 900 years, from 1200 B.C.E. to the beginning of the roman conquest in 300 B.C.E.

Although there is evidence in Roman myth and archaeology of various shepherd villages on Rome's seven hills, the city's history really started with the Etruscans.  The origins of this mysterious people are strange.  Some ancient sources liked to trace them back to Asia Minor because of their religious practices such as augury (reading flights of birds to tell the future), style of dress (in particular their pointed shoes which resembled those of the Hittites), their use of the arch in architecture, and their obscure language.  However, even to this day, the origins of the Etruscans remain a mystery.

What is known of the Etruscans, however, is how they influenced early Rome.

The Etruscans were organized into a loose confederation of city-states to the north of Rome.  Around 650 B.C.E., they took control of the site of Rome, with its defensible hills and location on a ford of the Tiber River.  They did a number of things to transform this basic collection of shepherds' huts into a true...