Etruscan civilization

The Etruscans were an indigenous people of pre-Roman Italy. They lived in central Italy, in the area bordered by the Tyrrhenian Sea and the courses of the Arno and Tiber Rivers, for a long time before they became liberate, for the mutual linguistic influence between Etruscan and neighboring Indo-European languages points to a length period of proximity.

The Early Iron Age civilization of the villages from which the later Etruscan communities developed in an unbroken sequence is known as the Villanovan, a name derived from that of a site east of Bologna. Written Etruscan is attested from the beginning of the seventh century BC by ca. 13000 inscriptions, mostly of the fifth-second centuries BC and concentrated in Etruria proper, between the Tiber and the Arno.

The Etruscan emerged in sometimes before 800 BC and who developed an advanced civilization that reach its height in the seventh and sixth century.

By the 700 BC they controlled a domain extending south to Campania, on the Bay of Naples. When the first Greek traders began arriving at the Campanian coast after 775 BC, it was probably the Etruscans, as overloads of the region, who invited the newcomers to make a permanent colony at Cumae.

Etruscan tomb painting

They were a great trading people and competed with the Greeks and Carthaginians for the wealthy trade of the western Mediterranean. The Etruscans also were master builder and they were skilled at reading omens; subsequent Roman society was to take many of these Etruscan developed and make them their own.

The Etruscan received important influences from the Greeks as soon as large scale trade with them began. They adopted the Greek alphabet in about 700 BC; writing seems to have been used as a sign of elite status.

After 450 BC the Greek and Etruscan trading networks were increasing stress from the growing power of expansionist Rome until, by the end of the fifth century BC, they had been completely disrupted by continual warfare in the western Mediterranean.
Etruscan civilization

Kingdom of Bosporus

The Kingdom of Bosporus, otherwise known as the Bosporan kingdom, was situated on the northern Black Sea littoral in the area known in ancient times as the Cimmerian Bosporus.

It was first settled by Milesians (6th century) at Panticapaeum, which later became the capital. Gradually the kingdom grew to include all of the Crimea. Other cities of the kingdom include, in the west, Theodosia, Nymphaeum, Myrmecium, Tiritace, Porthmium, Iluratum, Cimmericum, Cytae; in the east, Hermonassa, Gorgippia, Cepi, Patraeus, Tyrambe, Toricus.

A union of city-sates known the Kingdom of Bosporus was divided into two parts, European and Asian, by the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea.

The generally accepted date for the establishment of the Greek Bosporan kingdom is c. 480 BC, the event interpreted as Greek cities coming together under Panticapaeum to withstand Scythian pressure.

The kingdom maintained close ties with Athens on the 5th - 3rd century BC, reaching the peak of its peak in the 4th century BC.

During its peak, they were crucial suppliers of grain and other consumer goods for many cities of Greece and Asia Minor.

They maintained a close contact with local tribes, had economic and cultural impact on them, helped erode the patrimonial system, development of ownership-related differentiation, and establishment of class relations.

After the death of the last Spartocid (190 BC), the Bosporan kingdom became part of the Pontic Empire of Mithradates VI Eupator. With Roman expansion into the Black Sea, the kingdom fell into the Roman in 63 BC orbit ruled by Roman client kings.
Kingdom of Bosporus

History of Maurya Empire

In 323 BC Alexander the Great dies, providing the opportunity for an independent state to arise in north-west India. As a result Chandragupta Maurya founds the Mauryan dynasty, the first native Indian empire.

Chandragupta founded the Maurya dynasty, or ruling family in 321 BC. He defeated the Nanda dynasty and came to occupy the capital of the kingdom. Chandragupta reigned for 24 years.

He was reportedly advised by a brilliant Brahmin minister, variously called Kautilya or Chanakya, who is considered the author of the Arthashastra.

Chandragupta is credited with having an enormous army and driving out the last Greek garrisons. In 305 BC he defeated Seleucus Nicator.

To expand his territory, Chandragupta conquered many surrounding lands. His son Bindusara, who took the throne in 297 BC conquered more lands to the south.

Grandson of Chandragupta, Asoka rules during 273-232 BC was the most prominent king of the Mauryan dynasty. His empire extends from Afghanistan (northwest) to Assam (northeast) and from the Himalayas in the north to Mysore in the south.

Around 200 BC, the Mauryan Empire went into decline. A military commander assassinated the last Maurya emperor, Brhadratha, in 185 BC. The commander founded his own dynasty and the Mauryan Empire ended.
History of Maurya Empire

The empire of Bactria

Ancient Bactria emerged in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Lying between the Hindu Kush and the Amu Dar’ya River in northern Afghanistan, Bactria became an important province of the Persian Empire in the 500s to mid 300s BC. It was home to a Persian-speaking people and is thought to be the birthplace of Zoroaster, the prophet of ancient Persia.

Zoroaster was born in late 7th century BC, and he has spent at least the early part of his life here. Zoroastrianism may have been one of the prominent religious of Bactria.

Bactria capital city is Bactra, located in northern Afghanistan.

Persian king Cyrus the Great (585-529 BC) incorporated Bactria and the nomadic Bactrians into the vast Persian Empire.

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) defeated Bactria in 328 BC and installed a Greek governor, to rule the country as a satrapy in his name, In 312 BC this satrapy was over thrown by Seleucus Nicator, who ruled the country for two years, and then was forced to retire from it, leaving it independent.

In 254 BC, Greco-Bactria Kingdom was formed into a state by Diodotus, the Grecian governor, who threw off his allegiance to the Syrian king, Antiochus II. Diodotus declared independence from Seleucid rule, Greco-Bactria Kingdom came under the rule of the Bactrian Greeks.

Greco-Bactria Kingdom made extensive conquests in India, and on 181 BC their dominions extended to the banks of the Ganges and the frontiers of China. Although Greeks remained very much in minority in Bactria, they had a major influence in the culture of this region.

Greco-Bactria Kingdom however, swallowed too much territory over too wide an area for the maintenance of central control. They lost their grip north of the Hindu Kush during the 2th century. Greco-Bactria Kingdom lasted until it was conquered by the Romans in 190 BC.
The empire of Bactria