Western Mediterranean received civilization through ships of Greeks and Phoenicians

The west was rich in metals

An indigenous Bronze Age culture developed between 1500 and 1000 B.C.E.

Phoenicians arrived in the west

Initially as traders and then as colonists

Greek colonists ventured out in all directions due to commerce, overpopulation, and civic tension near the end of the Dark Age

Commercial rivalry and open warfare were key characteristics in the relationship between the Greeks and the Phoenicians

The first great civilization to emerge in Italy was that of the Etruscans

Etruscans have been regarded as a people whose origins, customs, and language are shrouded in mystery

The earliest materials from Etruscan sites showed signs of no break with civilization of pre-Italic Villanovan Italy

Etruscans worshiped a variety of gods personifying the sun, the moon, dawn, Venus, and Mars

Etruscans developed sophisticated means of divination

Established maritime power while consolidating hegemony in western Italy

The center of Latin population was in the Alban hills south of the Tiber

40 Latin villages formed a loose confederation, Alban League for religious and military purposes

Early Roman society was made up of households and village councils

Villages themselves grouped together for military and voting purposes into ethnic tribes

Kings served as religious leaders and were the primary means of communication between gods and men

Primitive Rome was made up of seven villages, all which developed independently of their Etruscan and Greek neighbors until the middle of the 7th century B.C.E.

Etruscans overwhelmed Latium and absorbed it into their civilization

Etruscans introduced to Latium and Rome their political, religious, and economic traditions

Rome’s size and importance grew

An upper stratum of wealthy nobles was formed during the monarchy

The establishment of the Roman republic roughly coincided with the start of the Etruscan decline

Allowed the city of Rome to assert itself and develop its Etruscan and Latin traditions in its own unique way

Characteristics of republican institutions included that at every level, power was shared by two or more equals that had been elected for fixed term

During the early republic, wealthy patricians monopolized the Senate and the magistracies

Plebs started to organize in response to patrician control

Roman preeminence in Latium came to an end with the expulsion of the last king

Rome suffered a setback (temporary) due to the Gaul's (or Celts) of northern Italy

Patricians and plebeians alike were benefited by Roman conquest

Roman’s success was contributed to by the manner in which they treated the populations they conquered (they were generous in victory_

Romans extended citizenship to conquered neighbors and offered the same possibilities to their their allies

Rome had allied itself with Carthage against the Greek cities of Italy since its earliest days

The First Punic war lasted from 265 to 241 B.C.E.

Roman armies destroyed Corinth in the same year that Carthage was destroyed with Corinth being a great center of Mediterranean commerce

This victory marked the culmination of Roman imperialist expansion east into the Greek and Hellenistic world

Ideal Roman farmer was a dirt farmer of central Italy with the typical farm being as few as 10 acres, worked by the owner and his family

Such farms produced grain and beans and raised hogs for family consumption

Roman farmers cultivated vineyards and olive groves as these wee cash crops

Earlier Roman civilization was overwhelmed due to territorial conquest, the influx of unprecedented riches, and exposure to the sophisticated Hellenistic civilization

Paternal authority over children was absolute

Roman women theoretically were never able to exercise independent power in the male-dominated world

Before marriage, a Roman girl was subject to her father’s authority

The family house was the center of everyday life for the Roman family

Some women, in wake of imperial conquests, started to take a more active role in public life, with some married women even escaping the authority of their husbands

Romans worshipped many gods

The divine Roman world expanded alongside the Roman mortal world

Rome absorbed foreign gods alongside foreign letters

Alphabet, etc.

Greek authors began to pay attention to the expanding Roman Empire in the early 3rd century B.C.E.

Romans became interested in the Greeks around the same time Greeks gained interest in the Romans

Every aspect of republican life was affected by Rome’s rise to world power within less than a century