Prehistoric Italy
The territory of Italy began to be settled about 50,000 years ago, that is, at the end of the Lower Paleolithic. It was originally inhabited by Neanderthals, who for some time coexisted with our hominid species.
The shape of the Apennine Peninsula in prehistoric times was very different from the modern. The alternation of temperate climate and glaciation has led to significant changes, climatic and geographical. During the coldest periods, for example, the islands of Elba and Sicily were connected to the Italian peninsula. The Adriatic Sea washed the Italian coast at the latitude of Gargano, and the rest of the territory, now submerged under the water, was a fertile valley with a humid climate.
The presence of the Neanderthal man is proved by archaeological finds, which are approximately 50,000 years old. In Italy, however, this evidence was found, compared with continental Europe, not much, and they all belong to the late Pleistocene. A total of about twenty and the most significant were found in the grottoes of Guattari near the city of San Felice Circeo (the territory of the Park Circeo). Other important finds were made in the grotto of Breuil (in the same Circeo), in the grotto of Fumane (in the province of Verona) and in the grotto of San Bernardino (in the province of Vicenza).
Modern man came to the Italian territory in the period of the Upper Paleolithic: samples of a culture aged 34,000 years were found in the grotto of Fumane.
At the end of the Paleolithic sea level rises, and the great plains are flooded. Climate, flora and fauna change.
The primitive peoples of Italy
The name “Italy” was originally worn only by a small region of Italians, which occupied the southern extremity of Bruttium (now Reggio and Catanzaro provinces) to the bays of Skilaki and Trin, but the word digamma written and pronounced indicates its deep antiquity). Soon the name Italy was extended to all Bruttius to the river Laya and to the area of the city of Metanon.
Already in the contract 241 B.C. e. with Carthage, Italy refers to the entire peninsula to the Rubicon, and in the next century this name is strengthened by the entire country to the Alps. The Alps became part of Italy only under Diocletian, when another 11 were attached to the 11 regions into which Italy divided Augustus.
Among the Greeks, and after them among the Romans, the country bore other names, like Έσπερία, σονία, Όπική, Οινώτρία. The northern part of Italy – the valley of the Po River was inhabited in antiquity by four peoples: Ligurians, Gauls, Rets and Venets.
The Ligurian region under Augusta occupied a mountain range that stretches along the Gulf of Genoa and the province of Alpes Mari timae. These people already in ancient times were known to Greek writers. Ligura previously considered the original inhabitants of all of Italy. Their area, under the pressure of more powerful neighbors, gradually decreased: on the one hand, the Celts oppressed them, on the other – the Etruscans. The Romans began to strengthen in these lands, starting from the III century B.C. Then, for two centuries, there was a continuous struggle of the Romans against the Ligurians, in which the Romans were content to defend their possessions from the predatory raids of the Ligurians. Even in the reign of Augustus, the Ligurians were divided into two categories, civilized and wild. The latter were finally conquered. Only in 64 they received Latin law, even later – Roman. Of the cities, the most important were Genoa, an important point on the road from Rome to Massilia (now Marseille), Derton (now Tortona ), Gast (now Asti ), Nitsey ( Nice ).
Later, other peoples settled in Italy, the Gauls, who managed to press the Ligurians and Etruscans. According to legend, since the VI century B.C. some of their tribes crossed the Alps and inhabited the valley of the Po and its tributaries (the Alps were also inhabited mainly by the Celts). There are seven Gallic tribes in Italy: the Libiki, Insubres, price- men, Anamaris, Boi , Lingons and Senons. At one time, the Gauls almost captured the whole of Italy, but their fragmentation and constant attacks from their neighbors, gave the Romans the opportunity to deal with them.
The defeated Gauls were subjected to a different fate: some of them (like, for example, the Senons) were almost completely wiped off the face of the earth, others (for example, insubras) were left untouched. Intensive Romanization began only from the time of Caesar, when the right of Roman citizenship was extended to all the inhabitants of Gaul. Earlier in the III and II centuries B.C. The Romans founded a number of colonies in Gaul: Cremona, Placencia (now Piacenza ), Bononia (now Bologna), Mutina (now Modena), Parma. Many cities sprang up and developed along the Roman roads: the most important of them are Ravenna (which originated during the time of the Greek Etruscan rule on the coast of Adria) and Regium (Reggio). In the imperial era, Mediolan (Milan) reached particular prosperity.
Initially, even before the appearance of Gauls in Italy, the Etruscans occupied the entire valley of the Po. Later, they ousted Umber from the Tuscan hills, extended their dominion to the Latins, and in Campania they founded a union of 12 cities. The Etruscans came to Italy, probably from the north, before the Gauls and the Venets, but later the Ligurians and the Italian tribes. The first blow was dealt to them by the Veneti and the Gauls, then followed by the attacks of the Samnites and the Romans.
Romanization of the valleys went quickly, the mountaineers received the rights of Latin citizenship a century later than the inhabitants of the valleys. Later Etruscans, but before the Gauls, Veneti appeared in Italy. Under this name, the ancient writers knew several peoples, which made it possible to derive the origin of the Venets from Paphlagonia, then from Brittany. Researchers of the 20th century consider Veneti as a kindred people between Illyrian and Italic. In Italy, Veneta occupied an area in the south to the Po River, in the east to the lower reaches of the Tillavento River ( Tagliamento ), in the north – to the sources of Plavis. In the V century B.C. In their land, well known for its fertility, the Greeks founded the colony of Atria. In 225 B.C. Veneta fought against the Gauls on the side of the Romans. With the receipt of Latin law, in 89 B.C. they start to romanize quickly. At the time of Strabo, the richest city in this region was Patavium ( Padua ), the great trading port was Aquileia, the important harbors of Paul ( Pula ) and Tergest were Roman colonies.
Most of these tribes belonged to the same Italian family. Only the north-west occupied a mysterious tribe of the Etruscans, and the south was inhabited partly by immigrants from Greece. Among the Italic tribes, it is possible to establish (mainly on the basis of the difference in language) three large groups: the umbras — the Latins -related tribes of the middle part of the peninsula — and the great Samnite or Osk family.