496 THE PEE-HISTORIC RACES OF ITALY. 



one isiu vived to the iron age, which probably comiiieuced in Italy in the 

 ninth or tenth century b. c. On other grounds it is believed that the 

 Etruscan invasion was not later than the eleventh century B. c. We 

 learn from Varro that the Etruscan era began 291 years before the 

 Roman. The Roman era began in 753 b. c, and therefore the Etruscan 

 era dates from 1044 b. c. But i t is not likely that the Etruscan era began 

 before the conquerors had settled down into an organized state — duo- 

 decim 2)02)uli Etriirifc, or aonfederation of the twelve Etruscan tribes. 

 We may therefore, with some probability, place the Etruscan invasion 

 of Italy in the twelfth century B. c. It may not improbably be con- 

 nected with the great movement of races about this period, which began 

 with the conquest of Syria by the Hittites, and of Egypt by tiie Hyksos, 

 and ended with the Thessalian and Dorian invasions of Greece, and 

 that consequent emigration of the older Greek tribes to Asia Minor which 

 lies at the base of the Homeric Epos. It is possible that the Etruscans 

 may themselves have been an Asiatic people, akin to the Khetaand the 

 Hyksos. This supposition derives support from the similarity in the 

 appearance of the Hittites and the Etruscans as portrayed on their 

 respective monuments, from the old tradition which connects the Etrus- 

 cans with Asia Minor, and also from the recent discovery in Lemuos of 

 inscriptions believed to be in a language of the Etruscan type. 



After overivhelming the Umbrian settlements in the valley of the Po, 

 the Etruscans extended their dominion across the Apennines to the 

 Arno and the Tiber. It seems probable that the foundation of Rome 

 was due to the Umbro-Latin fugitives, who placed the Tiber as a barrier 

 between themselves and the invaders, establishing themselves on the 

 Palatine, as their Etruscan foes did at Veii, 11 miles north of Rome. 

 Just as the foundation ot Venice is attributed to the fugitives from the 

 invasion of Attila and the Huns, so the foundation of Rome may be due 

 to fugitives from the invasion of the Etruscans. This is supported by 

 the fact that the terra mare and the palajitte, which are believed to 

 constitute the primitive settlements of the Umbro-Latin Aryan race, are 

 not found south of the Apennines beyond the pjmilia and the valley of 

 the Po. The Etruscan dominion and civilization endured for some 700 

 years. At length it fell before the invasion of the Gauls in 400 b. c, 

 just as the Umbrian civilization had fallen before the inroad of the 

 Etruscan hordes. And thus Etruria Circumpadana, the former Umbrian 

 land, became cisalpine Gaul, its possession reverting to a people who 

 in race and language were nearly akin to its former inhabitants. 



The settlements of the Gauls are recognized by the torques and the 

 long iron swords which are found in their graves. At Bologna, in the 

 cemeteries of the Certosa and Marzabotto, we have the tombs of the 

 three successive races, Umbrians, Etruscans, and Gauls, all different in 

 character, and easily to be distinguished. 



Thus it appears that the fertile I'lain of the Po was occupied by many 

 successive races, whose descendants may, with greater or less certainty, 



