More Museums in Rome
The National Etruscan Museum of Villa Guilia (Web site, in Italian):  If you want to learn about the Etruscans, a pre-Roman  civilization from about 800 BC, this is the place.  Etruscans settled in the western and northwestern parts of Italy, had an as yet not completely understood language and a culture distinct from the Roman into which they eventually assimilated.  Studies have found that Etruscan DNA is not very similar to Italian DNA, and even that the DNA of their cattle is dissimilar to that of Italian cattle. This museum is devoted to understanding and Etruscan civilization and displaying Etruscan artifacts found in many archeological digs. 
 
The Museum of Roman Civilization in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (Web site):  If you want to learn about the Giovanni's come lately, i.e., the ancient Romans, you want to visit this museum.  Here is illustrated the history of Roman civilization to the 4th century, so it encompasses the Imperial and the Christian era.  It has a collection of art from both periods, and also utilizes scale models in displays.  Two of these show how ancient Rome looked.
 
The National Museum of Rome (Web Site) This museum also is devoted to understanding ancient Rome, but it is much larger and contains more ancient Roman artifacts from excavations--architectural, sculpture, coins--you name it spread over four historic buildings throughout the city.  The collections in each of these come partly from excavation of the building site.
 
The National Pasta Museum (Web Site)  For a change from archeology and art of one kind, you can turn to the art of another.  This museum is devoted to exploring 8 centuries of the national first course.
 
And there are museums for other specialized tastes.  If you are a fan of the British romantic poets, there is the Keats-Shelley Museum in the house where John Keats died. A visit to this museum has the added benefit of being situated on the beautiful Spanish Steps in the Piazza Spagna, so you can take those in, as well. There also are museums, in addition to those listed above, that specialize in art from different eras, ethnic groups, and countries.
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