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Going back more than 3,000 years… before ancient Rome, there was Etruria, which was populated by the Etruscan civilization. In fact, in the early centuries of the Roman Empire, most Romans were actually Etrurians. Later, the Romans conquered them and nearly erased them from history.
For quite some time, the Romans populated Rome, and the Etrurians populated an area that is now the extreme northern part of the Lazio region, southern Tuscany, and southern Umbria. We now reference this area in its ancient context as ‘Etruria’, but the Romans didn’t. Their name for it changed over time from ‘Tuscia’, to ‘Tuscania’, and finally to ‘Toscana’ (Tuscany).
Because of this, as political boundaries developed in the modern world, some places in this area used words from their ancient past.
Our area is known as Tuscia. It is the part of the Etrurian land that is at the extreme northern part of Lazio, and is considered the richest area in Etruscan history. Immediately to the North-west is Tuscany,which was named for the same reason. There is even an ancient town near us called ‘Tuscania’.
So when you come to Italy, get things clear. You may take a trip:
Under the Tuscan Sun… or
Under the Tuscian Sun… or
Under the Tuscanian Sun…
They are all different, technically, but you are in the same general area :-)
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