A neolithic herdsman dies high in the Alps - and is perfectly preserved in ice

This year is later selected by Roman scholars as the date of the founding of Rome, becoming the first year (AUC 1) in Roman chronology

The Etruscans establish Italy's first civilization, in the region between the Arno and the Tiber

The island of Sicily is colonized from the eastern Mediterranean by both Phoenicians and Greeks

The murals of Etruscan tombs, such as the Tomb of the Lionesses in Tarquinia, give a lively glimpse of an earlier tradition in Greek art

An Etruscan dynasty rules in Rome and Etruscan influence is now dominant throughout central Italy

The Greek colonists of Paestum, in southern Italy, build the first of their three superb temples

The Greek mathematician Pythagoras establishes himself, along with his followers, in southern Italy

According to legend, the Etruscans are driven from Rome by popular outrage after the rape of Lucretia by Sextus Tarquinius

The Roman senate becomes an executive body with two of its members elected annually as consuls, or joint heads of state

The followers of Pythagoras discover the mathematical basis of the octave

The followers of Pythagoras maintain that the earth revolves on its own axis and moves in an orbit

A Carthaginian army lands near Marsala to begin the long involvement of Carthage in Sicily

The Romans capture the nearby Etruscan town of Veii, beginning a long process of territorial expansion

Celtic tribes , pushing south through the Alps, reach Rome and sack the city

The first Roman road, the Via Appia, links Rome with Capua

The flexibility of the Roman legion transforms the Greek phalanx into an even more effective fighting machine

Vesta, goddess of the hearth, is served in Rome by virgin priestesses who tend the sacred flame in her shrine

The Roman siege technique is improved by the 'tortoise' which protects the attacking force

Pyrrhus lands in Italy, with 25,000 men and 20 elephants, to fight for the Greek colony of Tarentum against the Romans

A clash in Sicily, between Rome and Carthage, leads to the First Punic War

The first gladiatorial contests in Rome are part of the entertainment at a funeral, and soon become popular

A Carthaginian quinquereme, captured by the Romans, is used as the model for the first Roman fleet - constructed in two months

The new Roman fleet wins a decisive victory over the Carthaginians at Mylae, thanks largely to the 'raven' (corvus in Latin)

The Romans evolve a system of numerals which, until the end of the Middle Ages, is a handicap to western arithmetic