Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany.

The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci.

Their Roman name is the origin of the terms Tuscany, which refers to their heartland, and Etruria, which can refer to their wider region.In Attic Greek, the Etruscans are known as Tyrrhēnioi, earlier Tyrsenoi, from which the Romans derive the names Tyrrhēni (Etruscans), Tyrrhēnia (Etruria), and Mare Tyrrhēnum (Tyrrhenian Sea) The Etruscans call themselves Rasenna, which is syncopated to Rasna or Raśna.

As distinguished by its unique language, this civilization endures from the time of the earliest Etruscan inscriptions (ca.

700 BCE) until its assimilation into the Roman Republic in the 1st century BCE.

At its maximum extent, during the foundational period of Rome and the Roman kingdom, it flourishes in three confederacies of cities: of Etruria, of the Po valley with the eastern Alps, and of Latium and Campania.

Rome is founded within or adjacent to Etruscan territory, and there is considerable evidence that early Rome was dominated by Etruscans until the Romans sacked Veii in 396 BCE.Culture that is identifiably Etruscan develops in Italy after about 800 BCE approximately over the range of the preceding Iron Age Villanovan culture.

The latter gives way in the 7th century to a culture that is influenced by Greek traders and Greek neighbors in Magna Graecia, the Hellenic civilization of southern Italy.

After 500 BCE, the political destiny of Italy passes out of Etruscan hands.