THE ETRUSCANS
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The Etruscans lived in Etruria, roughly today's Tuscany, Italy.

The language of the Etruscans was Etruscan, which became in Rome's days sort of what Latin is for us today: Nobody spoke it but scholars and academics were studying it.

The Etruscan culture flourished from around 700 BC - 200 BC. The culture of the people who inhabited Tuscany before the Etruscans is called the Villanovan culture. After 200 BC the Etruscan culture was absorbed by the Romans.

Lovers of archaeology are having a field day with the Etruscans because no Etruscan literature survived. Thus, all information about these people have to be patched together from archaeological digs and references made by later Greek and Roman writers, such as Herodotus and Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

What we do know is that the Etruscans dominated the entire peninsula and influenced the Roman culture. For instance, the Roman toga was actually Etruscan. And what we know as the Roman numerals were in fact, you guessed it, Etruscan.

Similar to the Greeks and the Romans, the Etruscans had many gods, Tinia or Tin being the main god.

Animal sacrifice was practiced and Etruscan professionals were able to read the future from the animal's dead liver.