Before Rome there was Etruria: a civilization of engineers, priests and artists whose language we still cannot fully read — and whose legacy built an empire.
The Etruscans were the dominant civilization of pre-Roman Italy, flourishing in Etruria — modern Tuscany and western Umbria — from about 900 BCE until their absorption by Rome around 100 BCE. Rome’s kings, its engineering, its gladiatorial games and much of its religion were Etruscan inheritances — yet their language remains only partly understood.
