Synopsis
Rome is known to us today as a mighty empire, but it emerged slowly, and in the face of a greater regional namely, the combined city-states of Etruria, in what are now the Italian provinces of Tuscany and Umbria. H.H. Scullard, the late University of London classicist, offers a comprehensive view of Etruscan culture and history in this survey, originally published in 1967 and regarded as a standard work. Scullard examines the controversial question of Etruscan origins, weighing the evidence for whether the Etruscans entered Italy as a distinct ethnic group or, instead--and more likely--they evolved from elements of local and foreign cultures. He describes the rise of commercial and political centers such as Perusia, Caere, Vulci, and Veii, pointing to impressive examples of Etruscan engineering and architecture that the Romans would later emulate. Along the way he considers aspects of Etruscan ritual and material culture, including the weapons and elaborate tombs for which the Etruscans were justly famous in ancient times. Scullard closes with a discussion of Etruria's relations with Rome, marked by a period of Etruscan rule over the city during the reign of the Tarquins in the 6th century, a reign that ended with the collapse of Etruscan power in Latium and the rise of republican government within Rome itself. --Gregory McNamee
Review
Rome is known to us today as a mighty empire, but it emerged slowly, and in the face of a greater regional power: namely, the combined city-states of Etruria, in what are now the Italian provinces of Tuscany and Umbria. H.H. Scullard, the late University of London classicist, offers a comprehensive view of Etruscan culture and history in this survey, originally published in 1967 and regarded as a standard work. Scullard examines the controversial question of Etruscan origins, weighing the evidence for whether the Etruscans entered Italy as a distinct ethnic group or, instead--and more likely--they evolved from elements of local and foreign cultures. He describes the rise of commercial and political centers such as Perusia, Caere, Vulci, and Veii, pointing to impressive examples of Etruscan engineering and architecture that the Romans would later emulate. Along the way he considers aspects of Etruscan ritual and material culture, including the weapons and elaborate tombs for which the Etruscans were justly famous in ancient times. Scullard closes with a discussion of Etruria's relations with Rome, marked by a period of Etruscan rule over the city during the reign of the Tarquins in the 6th century, a reign that ended with the collapse of Etruscan power in Latium and the rise of republican government within Rome itself. --Gregory McNamee
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