What physical characteristics made the italian peninsula an ideal location to establish settlements? how did these early settlements interact whith each other?

Answer 1

It should be understood that the Italian Peninsula contains a diversity of landscapes: Broad, open plains in the north (in the shadow of the Alps), a long mountainous 'Spine', the Apennines, that stretches the length of the peninsula, river valleys running down from the heights of the Apennines to the long coast on either side of the peninsula, etc...

The northern plains, provided with water from the River Po, the coastal regions on either side of the Apennines, provided with water from rivers such as the Arno and the Tiber, made for excellent farming. Moreover, the mild Mediterranean climate also contributed to the ease with which crops could be grown and domesticated animals raised. The long, relatively thin peninsula meant that most of Italy was in short distance from the sea and, therefore, the rich food resources contained within the sea. The various peoples who developed settlements in Ancient Italy happily exploited these bountiful resources.

Early Ancient Italy contained a patchwork of different civilizations. In the north, in the plains around the River Po, Celtic tribes established themselves. In the northwest coast, in what is today Tuscany, a powerful, sophisticated civilization was created by a people known as the Etruscans. The southern portion of the peninsula was colonized by immigrants from neighboring Greece who established a number of city-states modeled after those in their homeland. The Latin tribes that inhabited the rest of the peninsula were influenced by the cultures of the Etruscans and Greeks. The tribes that inhabited the river valley of the Tiber, for instance. were ruled by the Etruscans to their north.

The early Ancient civilizations that developed in Italy interacted with one another in both peaceful and violent ways. They engaged in trade, they adopted aspects of one another's cultures, but they also frequently waged war on one another. It was through a centuries long process of both diplomacy and war that the city-state on the Tiber, Rome, ultimately unified all of the peoples living in Italy.