Rome's legacy included more than just military might and political structure. The Romans inherited and altered the Greeks' intellectual and cultural achievements, combining them with their own perspective and historical experience.

The ensuing Graeco-Roman heritage in literature, philosophy, and art served as the foundation of learning during the Middle Ages and paved the way to the new pathways explored during the Renaissance. It is still at the center of Western culture today.

It took a long time for Italian culture to emerge. Only approximately 2500 B.C.E. did Paleolithic villages give way to the Neolithic manner of life. Around 1500 B.C.E., the Bronze Age began. Near 1000 B.C.E., bands of newcomers—warlike peoples speaking a group of roughly similar languages known as Italic—began to penetrate Italy from across the Adriatic Sea and around its northern end.

These invading forces burned their dead and buried their ashes in tombs packed with weapons and equipment. Their bronzework was superior to that of the people they replaced, and they were soon producing weapons, armor, and iron tools.

They had invaded the Apennine highland meadows by 800 B.C.E., and within a short time, they began to challenge the older inhabitants for authority.

The Etruscans had the greatest foreign effect on the Romans. Their civilisation emerged around 800 B.C.E. in Etruria (now Tuscany), west of the Apennines between the Arno and Tiber Rivers. (See Map 4–1.)

Their origin has been contested since antiquity, with some claiming they were indigenous and others claiming they came from the east. The data does not allow for assurance, and contemporary studies concentrates on the formation of a people rather than its beginnings.

Etruscan women played a more important role in family and society than Greek women in the polis. Together with their spouses, Etruscan wives appeared in public, at religious festivals, and at public feasts. Many of them were read, and women competed in sports events as well as watched them as spectators alongside males.

Inscriptions on tombs and paintings on coffins name both the deceased's father and mother and frequently depict husbands and spouses together in respectful and loving poses.

Rome fell under Etruscan domination in the sixth century B.C.E. The Roman army, led by Etruscan kings and equipped and structured like the Greek phalanx, took control of much of Latium. This triumph was made possible by a successful political and social system that granted exceptional authority to the leading characters in both public and private life.

The Romans bestowed upon their rulers the enormous power of imperium—the authority to make directives and execute them by fines, arrests, and physical, or even lethal, punishment. Although it appears to have remained in the same family, kingship was an elected position. The candidate for the post had to be approved by the Roman Senate, and the imperium was formally given by a vote of the people gathering in an assembly.

The Etruscan nobles remained combative and skilled in the use of war chariots and horses. They strengthened their authority in Italy and over the sea to Corsica and Elba in the seventh and sixth century B.C.E. They invaded Latium (which comprised the little town of Rome) and Campania, where they lived with the Greeks of Naples. They traveled as far north as the Po Valley. These conquests were conducted out by small bands commanded by Etruscan chieftains who did not act in unison and would not necessarily help one another in difficulty. As a result, the victories outside of Etruria were shaky and short-lived.

Etruscan dominance peaked about 500 B.C.E. and subsequently collapsed precipitously.

Males controlled early Roman society, which was hierarchical. A lady was under the supervision of an adult guy her whole life. Prior to her marriage, it was her father, then her husband, or, if neither was available, a guardian selected from among their male relations.

One of them had to authorize her ability to purchase, sell, or enter into transactions. The right of manus in Roman law transferred control of a woman from father to husband (hand). This was bestowed via one of two official marriage rites that were common in early Rome. However, a third type of marriage developed prevalent throughout time, which left the power of manus in the hands of the woman's father even after her marriage.