ABSTRACT
The history of a people is determined in the long run by their moral and intellectual qualities, by their character and initiative, but geographical environment has a profound influence upon racial characteristics. The development of any nation is conditioned by one or both of two factors: its land and its access to the sea. It was Rome's achievement to build up a mighty empire which rested on both land and sea power, but it was from Mother Earth that she received her early nourishment and training. The great northern plain between the Alps and Apennines was long regarded as part of Gaul and was not incorporated into the administrative system of Italy until the end of the Roman Republic. The people that we call Etruscans were named Tyrsenoi or Etrusci or Tusci by the Romans and Rasenna by themselves. Villanovan culture was being transformed: villages were growing into wealthy cities and men were beginning to use the Etruscan language.
