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Etruscan Age in Tuscany Italy

Invaders, warriors or industrious traders, coming from the west or the far east, the Etruscans formed the first consistent basis of civilization in that area.

The Etruscans at first occupied the land near river Arno and the Tiber but later spread into an area, wider than the present Tuscany, extending to Umbria and a part of Lazio, reaching the north as far as Liguria.

The first contribution of Tuscany to European Civilization was marked by the extraordinary creativity and advanced sense of enterprise of the people. The exploitation of the fertile valleys and of the mines, together with the expansion of trade, strongly marked the life of this people, rich in creativity, devoutness and artistic fancy. Thanks to the Etruscans the whole area was able to reach a political organization and a civilized social development.

The Etruscans transformed the prehistoric scattered hamlets into the towns that are present in our time.

Chiusi, Volterra, Cortona, Arezzo, Fiesole are there thousand years old and, apart from Greece, no other country in Europe can boast such a long history. The Etruscans did not create a real united nation; their system (as the Greek one) saw a coexistence of self-governing towns that could sometime even fight one against the other. Still this people showed a strong sense of religious and national unity; in the 7th century the Etruscan leadership spread on a large part of central and northern Italy (almost reaching the Po Valley) even extending on central Corsica.

The main features of this civilization dissolved quickly. By the Vth century some signs of decadence were made visible by the weak resistance demonstrated against the assaults coming from the sea (by the Greek and the Carthaginians) and from land (by the Gaul’s and the Romans).

Then the Etruscans withdrew and later had to submit to Roman power.

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