Tuscany: Home To The Etruscans

Florence is arguably the starting place of the renaissance. With many different artists there, the Medici Family in control and a very strong trading system, it was a very powerful city-state during the renaissance. During this time, the feudal system was no more. The people in

This is where the smells of cooked tomatoes, garlic, cheese, fresh focaccia bread, and pasta can be found in infinite bounds. Despite not having personally traveled to Italy, my connecting link to Italian cuisine can be found through this restaurant and their pasta. As Brombert (2013) explains in Italian Identity in the Kitchen, or Food and the Nation, Italians abroad are referred to as “macaroni-eaters,” for dried pasta, or maccheroni, particularly those from the southern regions. The experience that one encounters in Pagliacci’s is very much how I would imagine restaurants in Italy to be, packed with tables close together to encourage the social environment that is so crucial to Italian culture. An essential component upon entering is of course bread, an endless supply of freshly made focaccia bread to be exact. This is in line with the Italian custom to always eat bread with a meal, for it is very much an essential component. Similar to the history of bread, in which it was used as the last stand against hunger, when eaten to excess this mouth-watering bread can come close to being a meal in it of itself. The dish that I fall back on most frequently here provides me with an intimate knowledge of the flavors of the Italian world for it involves many classic ingredients. Fresh tomatoes soaked in red wine, mushrooms, basil, and olive combined with the linguine noodle and topped with

During this time period, there were alterations in many civilizations. Some had multiple major fluctuations, while others did not change much but were long lasting. The Mongols, for instance, did similar (if not the same things) over and over again throughout their reign. What they did was successful and because of that, their empire was long lasting. Unlike the Mongols, Italy had much change during this period of time. Both of these things caused the two different societies to flourish and last. The Mongols had the greatest continuity over time, but Italy had the greatest change over time, ending in good results for both of the civilizations.

By the end of the 14th century there was hardly a well to do household in Tuscany (a province in northern Italy) without

Now each city-state had a product that made them prosper. For Florence it was cloth, Milan arms, but Venice and Genoa became extremely rich of off trade. That would be why the wealthiest city-state was Venice. That is because they were excellent shipbuilders, sailors, and merchants. They figured out how to trade with the biggest economic power in the region, the Ottomans. They created most their profit from trading paper to the Ottomans. Another way they turned a profit was with the highly sought after Florentine textiles due to the textiles vibrant color that was dyed with alum. Now they could only get this chemical for the Ottomans until 1460. That was when the Pope's godson found alum in Italy and they started to mine the alum. The family in charge of the alum mining rights were the Medici.

Although an individual could not entirely own land by themselves the most desirable land for a citizen was land that someone could a furrow could trace in one day. The small farmers that obtained land were required to fight for the Roman army a luxury the larger farmers did not have to barren. When Rome conquered Italy in 265 B.C. new lands became available to the roman citizens. The Rome capital system started forming Ager Publicus from these newly conquered Italy lands. The Ager Publicus were to be public land for farming.

After the Punic wars with Carthage, Rome acquired many new lands that it did not have before. During peace times it was easy to govern these areas but during war times it proved difficult.

Florence was way different it had no military when been ruled by the Medici family. However, they had strong walls protecting the city-state. The republic of Florence brought other cities allies when been attacked. When It come to controlling other territories, do you think a city-state that has no own military when relying on other cities allies would control any other territories? But surprisingly they did control territories. Everyone knows that Florence was rich in wealth. Later on, it became so wealthy that it started to control its surrounding cities, which were the Lucca, Arezzo, and Livorno. This nation is filled with different and weird twists of ending in history.

The Etruscans were skilled people who dominated the Italian peninsula in the sixth century BCE. The last Etruscan king was expelled from Rome around 510 BCE and Rome was left with the Etruscan legacy that they shaped their society around. Because of the Etruscans, the citizens of Rome didn't want a monarchy. Therefore, Rome established a Republic to protect themselves from abuse by a monarchy. Julius Caesar was an important person during this era. Because of his success in Gaul, he had himself named dictator for life. However, senators assassinated him two years after he became the dictator of the Roman republic because they were fearful he would form a monarchy. Caesar Augustus, (also known as Octavian) was the nephew of Julius Caesar. Caesar

"The dominant early settlers on the Italian peninsula were a non-Indo-European-speaking people known as the Etruscans" (Coffin & Stacey 168). The Etruscans were among three groups of people from the East that entered Italy as colonists and later as rulers of various segments of the peninsula. The Etruscans came into Italy about 800 B.C.E. following the Adriatic Sea. Although our knowledge of the Etruscans is severely limited by the fact that their language, although written in a Greek alphabet, has not been fully deciphered, traces remain that they left significant evidence of their effect and influence on Rome. The Etruscans left evidence throughout nearly every aspect of Rome including their

After the Punic Wars, Rome controlled all of Italy, Sicily, much of Spain and part of Africa, as well as Greece and the eastern Mediterranean world. As you can see, at that time Rome and Carthage had very

The political history of Italy is quite extensive. The Greeks were the first to settle in Italy and established colonies in the southern part of the country and in Sicily. There was not a sense of political reality as much as there was a civilization (Windows on Italy- History). While the Greeks controlled the south the Gauls, or Celtic people, ruled the north and the Po Valley. But the most important group to settle in Italy was the Etruscans. Because of their advanced civilization, the Etruscans were the only ones to establish political and cultural ideas before the Roman Empire (Windows on Italy- History). At the end of the Etruscans rule, Rome began a unification of Italy and established Latin to be the general language (Defusco).

Main-Points: Italy is definitely a must-see, due to their mouthwatering cuisines, outstanding architecture, festive holidays and social gift giving etiquettes.

Italy holds a long and rich history, starting from how it became one country during ancient times. For thousands of years, people have lived in Italy, relying on its vast amount of assets and resources. There was no established group of settlers to arrive first, because the chief pioneers entailed many different types of people who spoke different languages. Italy was at first preceded by several non-Italian cultures, including Greeks. The Greeks occupied southern Italy, including areas around Sicily. This remained a wealthy extent of land because of the tremendously fertile soil, which then caused the sprout of new cities and civilization. These Greek cities ultimately stood taken over by Roman control. As far as northern city-states, the Etruscans lived in areas influenced by Greek culture. The Etruscans stayed well-known engineers, builders, and traders. Italy was always back and forth in the control of foreign authorities, but finally landed in the power of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire took over at about 450 B.C., but eventually collapsed. The land that now stands as Italy was ruled by Julius Caesar. There were many civil wars before and after Julius Caesar’s death. The land was then restored by Octavian, Caesar’s son, who later passed his throne to his son Tiberius. Although ancient Italy had been taken over by diverse commands, it still held on to its vast culture and