The Peoples and Cultures of the Italian Peninsula before Rome

Corey Brennan, Ph.D., Associate professor and Chair, Classics Rutgers the State University of New Jersey gave a lecture and presentation: “The Peoples and Cultures of the Italian Peninsula before Rome.

The presentation elaborated on the cultural and civilizing aspects of the inhabitants of antiquity in regions of Italy including Apulia, Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, and Molise, Sardinia and Sicily and other Pre-Roman peoples such as Greeks and Etruscans.

Much of what is popularly considered Roman civilization and culture had beginnings and in some cases was directly adopted into the Roman republic and empire from the highly civilized peoples and cultures were native inhabitants for hundreds and in some cases thousands of years before Rome.

Professor Brennan is the director of the Italian studies interdisciplinary program at Rutgers and a fellow of the American Academy in Rome. He is the author of a two-volume work, The Praetorship in the Roman Republic, and the coauthor of Wisdom from the Ancients: Enduring Business Lessons from Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and the Illustrious Leaders of Ancient Greece and Rome. He has appeared in documentaries and television programs on the Discovery Channel and The History Channel. Professor Brennan was also a guitarist and songwriter in several bands, most notably the alternative rock band, the Lemonheads.

A DVD of the lecture will be available for use in schools and classroom.

This program of the Coccia Institute is accomplished in collaboration with History Department of Montclair State University.