Ancient Etruscan civilization is more intriguingly mysterious than that of Rome—which succeeded it. The Etruscans originated outside the Italian peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean. Their technical advances were profound (they invented the arch and rectilinear city planning).

Their scribes wrote from right to left, and sometimes alternately from left to right again. Etrurian women were apparently considered as independent co-equals of men. Their cities stretched from as far south as where Naples sprawls today to north of where Modena is located. Studies of clay amphorae indicate they were also lovers of wine. Etruscan civilization may have been quashed under the heel of Rome, but the people did not vanish; their descendants are today’s Tuscans—still independent, technically curious and avid lovers of excellent wine.