The capital of the Republic and afterward of the empire, traditionally seen as founded by Romulus. There is a tradition of Etruscan domination of the Latin city in the seventh and sixth centuries BC, ending according to literary sources with the expulsion of Tarquin the Proud in 509 BC. One Etruscanizing find is the famous Capitoline Wolf, dating probably to the fifth century BC. The subsequent military and political activity of Rome led to the demise of the Etruscan cities, initiated with the fall of Veii in 396 BC, registering many triumphs against the Etruscans, as for instance in 311, 309, 298, 295, 281, and 280 BC, with the definitive surrender of Orvieto in 265 BC, consolidated by the foundation of many colonies in Etruscan territory (e.g., Cosa, Castrum Novum, Pyrgi, Alsium, and Fregenae) and culminating in the sack of Perugia in 41 to 40 BC.
See also LATINS; ROMANIZATION.
Historical Dictionary of the Etruscans. Simon K. F. Stoddart.