The Origins
In ancient history the Italian peninsula, underwent the arrival of various  populations which overlapped as they replaced the existing ones. Among these populations, around the first millennium BC, there was a group who settled in the territory in the upper and central valley of the river Tiber as far as the Adriatic sea. These were the Umbrians, called "gens antiquissìma italiae" by ancient scholars, as they were recognised as one of the oldest peoples that inhabited the peninsula.

The Umbrians 
The region we know as Umbria was named after the Umbrians, and only recent studies have provided an identity of this population, of which until recently only the name was known, passed down to us by ancient authors. As far as we know at present, from about 700 BC the Umbrians developed an economy strictly based on, agriculture and cattle farming while in the area surrounding Terni there is also evidence of extraction and manufacture of metal,  witnessing the ancient vocation of the city itself. In around 500 BC, the Umbrians did 'not lead a city life style, in fact they lived in small raised fortified villages and not in large towns like in nearby Etruria. Meeting places were above all the great sanctuaries, conneeted to the divinities of the agriristorantil-pastoral world: where various communities gathered together not only to celebrate the festivities and anniversaries but also to take political decisions. From about 450 BC the Umbrians became more and more influenced by the Greeks and Etruscans . The first consequence of this great influence was the foundation of towns on the Greek-Etruscan model such as Todi, Amelia, Spoleto and Terni. Howelver, the territory controlled by the Umbrians gradually shrunk under pressure from the neighbouring populations: Piceni, Romans and Etruscans.

The Etruscans 
The Etruscans graduaIly settled in the territory which had belonged to the Umbrians, occupying the whole of the westem part of the region, their main aim was to control the course of the river Tiber, which was then an important commercial river. The Etruscan influence manifested itself in the civil, political, social, artistic and relilious fields. Proof of this is found in the numerous findings on show in local muscums and in the "tavole.eguvine" (found in Gubbio, they are, seven bronze tablets, inscribed between the 3rd and the 1st centuries BC - the oldest in Etruscan - while the others are in Umbrian, and are the only existing documentation of this ancient language).  Evidence of the presence of the Etruscans is still one of the main attractions of the region. The city of Orvieto perhaps called Volsinii by the Etruscans, and Urbs Vetus (Old City) by the Romans, was built in the 6th century BC on an enormous tufa spur at the confluence of the Paglia and Tiber rivers, to guard the Tiber valley and created a great centre at the juncture between northem and southern Etruria. Citis such as Perugia and Todi were also first Umbrian and then Etruscan and all the surrounding territory provides evidence of the Etruscan presence  by way of the numerous tombs, which remain.

The Romans
Urban develoment of Umbria marked the beginning of rivalry between towns, taking advantage of this situation Rome enacted a.subtle policy of alliances and occupations, aimed at gaining control over the Umbrian territory. Important events in this policy were the alliance in 310 BC, with Camerino and Otricoli and the foundation of the colony of Narnia (Narni) in 299 BC. The power of Rome pushed its way further into Umbria thanks to the construction, in the 3rd century BC, of the Flaminia Way which went through the main towns of Umbria. In around 250  BC, almost all of the towns in Umbria were dependent on Rome, usually in an alliance to which they maintained faithful even during the descent of Hannibal into Italy, who inflicted a great defeat on the Romans, at Lake Trasimeno in 217 BC. The loyalty of the Umbrians to Rome became proverbial, so much so that the best legionnaires came from this region. Such royalty was repaid in 90 BC, when Umbrian citizens were given tbc same st,atus as Roman citizens, which meant that the Umbrians could enjoy to the full the civil and amministrative rights of Roman law. During the first decade of the Christian era Augustus divided Italy into 14 regions and Umbria, under this name, constituted the VI regio which enjoyed a certain degree of tranquillity and prosperity until the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 AD).

Umbria Vacation