Board Thread:Timeline Discussions/@comment-6912688-20130416211138/@comment-6912688-20130616185945

Actually, my point of view is that Rome was Latin (with some Etruscan influence), then threw off the kings, got conquered completely by the Etruscans for a short period of time, then proceeded to integrate the Latins and defeat/absorb the Etruscans. That's pretty much what you said, but the Etruscans never really went "extinct", they were assimilated from the already-not-too-different Roman/Latin culture. There is no dramatic supression of "Etruscan" culture and slaughter of the Etruscans (except in extreme cases). Most of the conquest of Etruria was absorbation of the natives, not extinction.