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NAME:________________
DATE:____________________
THE FOUNDING: The Romans have two _legends__ to explain the founding of their city and
its people. The older story tells about ____Romulus________________ and
____Remus__________, twins who were raised by a ___she-wolf____. The twins were
supposedly the son of __Mars_________, the Roman god of war. When the twins got older they
established a city on the ___Tiber_________ River, but fought over who should rule. Romulus
__killed___ Remus and named the city __Rome_________. The other legend is about
___Aeneas______, a ____Trojan______ prince and son of ____Venus_, the goddess of love.
This legend is created to explain the ___origins_____ of the Romans. It was written by the poet
__Virgil_____ at the orders of Emperor Augustus. According to legend, Aeneas will move the
Trojans to Italy. On the way he makes enemies with ___Dido__ the Queen of Carthage. He
settles in Latium, the land of the _Latins___ and his descendants will be __Romulus____ and
_Remus____.
GEOGRAPHY: Rome is found in the middle of the Italian __peninsula__. The city was built
on _7_ hills so it was difficult for enemies to _attack__ the city. The __Tiber__ River flows
through Rome so the people could have fresh water and trade __goods__ could be brought to
Rome on the river. The city was also miles away from the __Tyrrhenian_ Sea so enemy ships
could not attack, but still close enough for _trade__. Because of its location the Latins were
not the only people to settle near Italy, the Greeks, ___Carthaginians__ from Africa, and the
__Etruscans____ from Etruria also had settled near Italy.
THE ETRUSCANS: Italy’s first civilized people often called the “people of the _sea_.” They
lived just north of Rome in the land of _Etruria__ and probably came from __Lydia___ in Asia
Minor. The Etruscans definitely had contact with the __Greeks_, we know this because the
fought in a formation like a _phalanx_. The Etruscans had knowledge and many skills that the
Romans would take. The Etruscans lived in small city-states that each had its own __kings___
and were protected by _walls_. The Etruscans eventually conquered __Rome_ and the Romans
and even the island of __Corsica___. In fact Rome originally was a _monarchy__ ruled by
Etruscan kings. Rome had _7_ kings in total until the people revolted in _510_ B.C.E. and
established the ___REPUBLIC____.
ETRUSCAN INTRODUCTIONS: The Romans got their __alphabet_ from the Etruscans,
which has many letters similar to __Greeks___. The Romans also took their ___religion__
from the Etruscans as each had a __polytheistic___ religion with many gods who took the form
of __humans__. The Etruscans and later the Romans would believe heavily on the information
from a ___soothsayer____ and their ability to read __omens__. Romans even got
__shoes__from the Etruscans, which made them have better footing in battle.
CATACOMBS: Although we can not translate Etruscan we know much about them because of
catacombs, which were burial tombs beneath the __ground__.
cemetery outside the city walls called a __necropolis___.
Each Etruscan city had a
From these tombs we have found
numerous pieces of Etruscan art including their __bronze_________ and gold jewelry. The
Etruscans also drew ___frescoes___ that give us insight into their daily lives.
ENGINEERING: The Etruscans greatly improved Rome changing it from a small village with
houses with straw covered roofs into a __walled__ city with paved streets. The Etruscans had
the technology to drain a swamp below the Palatine hill and built the __forum__, the city’s
public square. Because of their ability to use the __arch_ the Etruscans were able to make major
construction improvements including a ___sewage___ system known as the
__Cloaca____ __Maxima__ (“Great Sewer”).
ETRUSCAN TRADITIONS: Many Etruscan social practices and customs were continued by
the Romans. For example the Romans would give victorious ___generals__ a ___triumph____
when they returned from war. The Romans got their ___gladiator___ games from the
Etruscans who had _slaves_ fight to the death at funerals. Etruscan women like Roman women
were allowed to own __property___ (very different from the __Greeks__). And the Romans
would borrow their __social__ order, or how people were broken into different classes based on
the Etruscan classes. Roman rulers even kept the Etruscan symbol of power, the __fasces___,
which were a bundle of rods around an _ax___. Roman rulers were protected by bodyguards
who carried fasces around.