city state · Italy
Volaterrae
Origins
Volaterrae, Etruscan Velathri, modern Volterra, occupies a high ridge between the Cecina and Era valleys. Settled from the Villanovan period, it became one of the largest Etruscan cities by the 4th century BCE, when walls more than 7 km long enclosed the town and its fields. Its territory reached the sea and included mines and salt springs.
Rule and society
Volaterrae prospered from farming, salt, copper and timber. In the Hellenistic period its workshops produced hundreds of carved alabaster and tufa cinerary urns showing mythological scenes and portraits of the dead, now in the Guarnacci Museum. The Porta all'Arco, an arched city gate with sculpted heads, survives. Local families such as the Caecinae remained prominent well into Roman times.
Decline and legacy
Volaterrae became a Roman ally in the 3rd century BCE and supplied grain and timber for Scipio's fleet in 205 BCE. Having backed Marius, it held out against Sulla's siege from 82 to 79 BCE, and later became a municipium. The satirist Persius was born there, and Volterra keeps its alabaster craft.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Volaterrae was part of Etruscan League600 BCE – 260 BCE
- Volaterrae was conquered by Roman Republic260 BCE
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Volaterrae. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/volaterrae
- MLA
- “Volaterrae.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/volaterrae. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Volaterrae.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/volaterrae.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Volaterrae’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/volaterrae (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻