.]] Etruria — usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia — was a region of Central Italy, [LINK: http://member.melbpc.org.au/~tmajlath/etruria.jpg] located in an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D.H. Lawrence's Sketches of Etruscan Places and other Italian essays. The ancient people of Etruria are labelled Etruscan and their complex culture was centered on numerous city-states that rose during the Villanovan period in the ninth century BC and were very powerful during the Orientalizing and Archaic periods. The Etruscans were a dominant culture in Italy by 650 BC, surpassing other ancient Italic peoples such as the Ligurians, and their influence may be seen beyond Etruria's confines in the Po River Valley and Latium, as well as in Campania and through their co