<P> The Etruscans (Etrusci or Tusci in Latin) were settled north of Rome in Etruria (modern northern Lazio, Tuscany and part of Umbria). They founded cities such as Tarquinia, Veii, and Volterra and deeply influenced Roman culture, as clearly shown by the Etruscan origin of some of the mythical Roman kings . The origins of the Etruscans are lost in prehistory . Historians have no literature, no texts of religion or philosophy; therefore, much of what is known about this civilisation is derived from grave goods and tomb findings . The behaviour of the Etruscans has led to some confusion . Like Latin, Etruscan is inflected and Hellenised . Like the Indo - Europeans, the Etruscans were patrilineal and patriarchal . Like the Italics, they were war - like . The gladiatorial displays actually developed out of Etruscan funerary customs . Future studies of Etruscan and more excavations in the region will no doubt shed more light on the origin of Rome and the Romans . </P> <P> The Greeks had founded many colonies in Southern Italy between 750 and 550 BC (which the Romans later called Magna Graecia), such as Cumae, Naples, Reggio Calabria, Crotone, Sybaris, and Taranto, as well as in the eastern two - thirds of Sicily . </P> <P> After 650 BC, the Etruscans became dominant in Italy and expanded into north - central Italy . Roman tradition claimed that Rome had been under the control of seven kings from 753 to 509 BC beginning with the mythical Romulus who was said to have founded the city of Rome along with his brother Remus . The last three kings were said to be Etruscan (at least partially)--namely Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius and Tarquinius Superbus . (Priscus is said by the ancient literary sources to be the son of a Greek refugee and an Etruscan mother .) Their names refer to the Etruscan town of Tarquinia . </P> <P> This traditional account of Roman history has come down to us through Livy, Plutarch, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and others . It claims that Rome was ruled during its first centuries by a succession of seven kings . The traditional chronology, as codified by Varro, allots 243 years for their reigns, an average of almost 35 years, which has been generally discounted by modern scholarship since the work of Barthold Georg Niebuhr . The Gauls destroyed much of Rome's historical records when they sacked the city after the Battle of the Allia in 390 BC (according to Polybius, the battle occurred in 387 / 6) and what was left was eventually lost to time or theft . With no contemporary records of the kingdom existing, all accounts of the kings must be carefully questioned . The list of kings is also of dubious historical value, though the last - named kings may be historical figures . It is believed by some historians (again, this is disputed) that Rome was under the influence of the Etruscans for about a century . During this period, a bridge was built called the Pons Sublicius to replace the Tiber ford, and the Cloaca Maxima was also built; the Etruscans are said to have been great engineers of this type of structure . From a cultural and technical point of view, Etruscans had arguably the second - greatest impact on Roman development, only surpassed by the Greeks . </P>

Who ruled over the romans for their first three centuries