Etruscan, Phoenician, and Greek Influences

It is quite possible that a new Indo-European invasion occurred around 1000 BC, and we know for sure that there were definite movements and various changes within the Italic peninsula during the tenth century BC. For the Romans the three main cultural influences were:

The Etruscans

The Etruscans, invaders from the Aegean Sea area, settled on the Italian west coast to the north of the Tiber River during the early part of the tenth century BC. They brought their own customs, traditions, and in many ways a very superior culture, and it was this culture that left a permanent mark on the soon emerging Roman civilization. Etruscan influence gave a particular character to Roman art, architecture, and sports. The arch is an Etruscan invention, and the gladiatorial combats of later Rome had their origin in the Etruscan culture.

The Phoenicians

The Phoenicians, who had impressed the Greeks with their early commercial activities and influenced changes in Greece culturally, also were significant in the west. Carthage in northern Africa was founded as a Phoenician colony, in the ninth century BC, and from here these famous traders rapidly established colonies and trading posts at almost every strategic point on the Mediterranean Sea, including the islands of Sicily and Sardinia which were closest to the Italian mainland. Because the Phoenicians traded much with the Etruscans they also became important for the early culture of Italy, yet because of all their colonies set up for trade on the western Mediterranean they became potentially dangerous politically.

The Greeks

The Greeks began to make their influence felt in Italy by the seventh century BC. One of the first Greek cities on the Italian peninsula was Cumae, and from here the Greek influences spread northward. But with the Etruscans and the Phoenicians competing so heavily it became difficult for them to settle in too many areas in the peninsula, especially in the north.

While the Etruscans made their mark on the developing Romans politically, the Greeks exerted an even stronger influence. Traders brought their culture with them, and, though they learned the Etruscan alphabet, the Greek alphabet was adapted by the Romans to their Latin tongue.

Even though the Romans remained essentially an agrarian people until the third century BC, eventually the Greek system of coinage was accepted, and Rome began to issue copper and bronze coins in the fourth century BC.

Greek religion also influenced the Roman people as did the Etruscan religion, and the Greeks also put a strong emphasis on ritual. Literature, science, and philosophy all came west with the Greeks. Yet this was not all developed before the sixth century. The process continued almost as long as the Roman state existed. Romans never possessed the Greek appreciation of the harmonious and the beautiful, nor had they the imagination ot the Greeks. As far as science, the Romans could make no contribution. Their genius was devoted to the fields of war and government.