The ancient Perusia, now

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

, first appears in history as one of the 12 confederate cities of

Etruria Etruria ( ) was a region of Central Italy delimited by the rivers Arno and Tiber, an area that covered what is now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and north-western Umbria. It was inhabited by the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that f ...

. It is first mentioned in the account of the war of 310 or 309 BC between the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization ( ) was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in List of ancient peoples of Italy, ancient Italy, with a common language and culture, and formed a federation of city-states. Af ...

and the Romans. It took, however, an important part in the rebellion of 295 BC and was reduced, with Vulsinii and Arretium (

Arezzo Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...

), to seek for peace in the following year. In 216 BC and 205 BC it assisted Rome in the Hannibalic war, but afterward it is not mentioned until 41–40 BC, when Lucius Antonius took refuge there and was reduced by Octavian after a long siege, known as the Perusine War. A number of lead bullets used by slingers have been found in and around the city. The city was burnt, we are told, with the exception of the temples of Vulcan and Juno — the massive Etruscan terrace-walls, naturally, can hardly have suffered at all — and the town, with the territory for a mile round, was allowed to be occupied by whoever chose. It must have been rebuilt almost at once, for several bases exist, inscribed ''Augusta sacr(um) Perusia restituta''; but, as we have seen, it did not become a colony until AD 251–253.

References

Etruscan cities Etruscan sites Perugia Roman sites of Umbria {{Etruria-stub