The Greeks

From as early as the eighth century BC Greek colonies began to be established in the shores of southern Italy and Sicily. The colonists brought with them the contemporary Greek culture and systems of government, but each colony was an independent city-state owing no political allegiance to its mother city in mainland Greece. The presence of the Greek element in Italy stimulated the cultural and political development of other Italian communities and it was largely through the Greek cities that the Etruscans and, later, the Romans came into contact with the more advanced civilisations of the eastern Mediterranean.