acropolis

The Athenian Acropolis. (Compare acropolis.)

A promontory (usually fortified with a citadel) forming the hub of many Grecian cities, and around which many were built for defensive purposes before and during the classical period; compare Acropolis.

The Etruscans, then, appear in general as an industrious people ( φιλότεχνον ἔθνος), of a bold and lofty spirit of enterprise, which was greatly favoured by their priestly aristocratic constitution. Massive walls, mostly of irregular blocks, surround their cities (not merely their acropoleis); the art of protecting the country from inundations by the construction of canals, and outlets from lakes, was very zealously practised by them.