Etruria

Etruria is the name given by the ancient Romans to the central Italian region inhabited by the Etruscans, a civilization that flourished in what is now Tuscany, with parts of western Umbria and northern Lazio along the Tyrrhenian coast. The Etrurians, also called the Etruscans or Tyrrhenians, arose from the Villanovan culture in the early Iron Age and built a network of city-states that dominated central Italy from the 8th to the 3rd centuries BCE. Prominent cities included Veii, Tarquinia, Cerveteri, Vulci, and Volsinii (modern Orvieto). These urban centers often formed a loose religious and political federation, and they maintained extensive trade networks with Greece, the Carthaginians, and other Mediterranean peoples.

Etruscan culture produced distinctive art and craft, including bucchero pottery, bronze sculpture, and elaborate tomb architecture with wall paintings. Religion played a central role in public life, with omens, augury, and haruspicy shaping political decisions; many religious practices and ritual instruments were later assimilated into Roman religion. The Etruscan language, written in a native script, remains only partly understood; it is not Indo-European, and most inscriptions come from funerary contexts. The language influenced Latin vocabulary and some cultural motifs but remained distinct.

Roman expansion by the late 4th and early 3rd centuries BCE gradually subdued Etruria, and the cities were incorporated into Roman territory and culture. By the late Republic, Etruria was Romanized, though the historical and archaeological record preserves the memory of an influential civilization. UNESCO recognizes the Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia as World Heritage Sites, underscoring the region’s lasting legacy. The term Etruria also survives as a geographic and historical reference to this heartland of ancient Italy.