\f1 \fs22 On the Tyrrhenian shore, at a distance of about 100 km from Rome, stood the important Etruscan city
of Tarquinia. Of very ancient origins, legend attributes its foundation to Tarcon, the brother of the Tyrrhenus who was supposed to have led the Etruscans from Lydia to Italy. The ancient city was set on the Civita Hill, where the remains of the walls a
nd a large temple called <<The Altar of the Queen>> have been discovered. Around it lay the vast \b \cf1 \ATXht14 necropolis\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 in which over fifty painted tombs have been found, covering a period from the sixth to the second-first century
BC: Tarquinia, which was one of the most important centers of the Etruscan dodecapolis, reached its zenith between the seventh and sixth centuries BC: it was then, in fact, that one of its citizens, \b \cf4 \ATXht54 Tarquinius Priscus\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , b
ecame the fifth king of Rome. In the fourth century BC the city became subject to Rome, but still managed to retain a degree of autonomy for some time after that.\par
