entury, the region to the
north of the Tiber, west and south of the Apennines, was occupied by the
people whom the Greeks called Tyrseni or Tyrreni, the Romans Etrusci or
Tusci, but who styled themselves Rasenna. Their name still clings to this
section of Italy (_la Toscana_), which to the Romans was known as Etruria.

*The origin of the Etruscans.* Racially and linguistically the Etruscans
differed from both Italians and Hellenes, and their presence in Italy was
long a problem to historians. Now, however, it is generally agreed that
their own ancient tradition, according to which they were immigrants from
the shores of the Aegean Sea, is correct. They were probably one of the
pre-Hellenic races of the Aegean basin, where a people called Tyrreni were
found as late as the fifth century B. C., and it has been suggested that
they are to be identified with the _Tursha_, who appear among the Aegean
invaders of Egypt in the thirteenth century. Leaving their former abode
during the disturbances caused by the Hellenic occupation of the Aegean
islands and the west coast of Asia Minor, they eventually found a new home
on the western shore of Italy. Here they imposed their rule and their
civilization upon the previous inhabitants. The subsequent presence of the
two elements in the population of Etruria is well attested by
archaeological evidence.

*Walled towns.* The Etruscans regularly built their towns on hill-tops
which admitted of easy defence, but, in addition, they fortified these
towns with strong walls of stone, sometimes constructed of rude polygonal
blocks and at other times of dressed stone laid in regular courses.

*Tombs.* However, the most striking memorials of the presence of the
Etruscans are their elaborate tombs. Their cemeteries contain sepulchres
of two types--trench tombs (_tombe a fossa_) and chamber tombs (_tombe a
camera_). The latter, a development of the former type, are hewn in the
rocky hillsides. The Etruscans practised inhumation, depositing the dead
in a stone sarcophagus. However, under the influence of the Italian
peoples with whom they came into contact, they also employed cremation to
a considerable extent. Their larger chamber tombs were evidently family
burial vaults, and were decorated with reliefs cut on their rocky walls or
with painted friezes, from which we derive most of our information
regarding the Etruscan appearance, dress, and customs. Objects of
Phoenician and Greek manufacture fou