Others say the Etruscans founded Rome, turning it from a village into a city state, while bringing their engineering knowledge to construct landmark urban development projects such as the city's first drainage system, aqueducts, city walls and temples. Some historians argue they created the first republic in Italy. The Etruscans were heavily influenced by the Greeks. The name 'Tuscany' originates from the ancient Roman appellation for this central Italian empire of city-states. We've selected a shortlist of four ancient Italian civilizations that predate the Romans to give you an overview of off-the-beaten track ancient Italy.ġ) The Etruscans (Lazio, Umbria, Tuscany)

While a trip to Rome is undoubtedly one of the greatest rewards Italy has to offer, a tour of the remains of the Nuragic era in Sardinia, ancient Greek civilization in Sicily or the Etruscan ruins in central Italy will take visitors further back in time than the Roman Empire. READ ALSO: Ten must-see places within reach of Rome A more careful analysis, however, reveals a plethora of complex civilizations that already inhabited the territory today known as Italy. The advances made by the Rome in engineering, urbanization, law and warfare to some extent justify the centrality of the Romans within Italian history. Most tourists and visitors to Italy flock to Rome to see the remains of the epic civilization that followed the feud between the two brothers, yet often overlook their predecessors. Or the mystical detail that the siblings were supposedly rescued from a riverbank and nurtured by a she-wolf. Perhaps it is the enticing detail of the augury contest the two brothers competed in for who should be the righteous founder of the city, which led to Romulus becoming the ancient empire's first king and Remus' death, that hogs all the attention. The myth of the abandoned brothers Romulus and Remus, that lies behind the foundation of ancient Rome, is often mistaken as 'year zero' in Italian history.

Tuscany magna graecia