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The Romans

The magnificent colosseum

In 205 BC the Romans began establishing control over Tuscany. However, rather than destroying what the Etruscans had established, the Romans took over where the Etruscans had left off and established colonies, building long roads connecting the region with Rome (Aurelia, Clodia, Cassia, Flaminia).

By 100 BC Rome controlled Etruria, had completed a network of roads and had founded settlements on the sites of modern Florence, Lucca, Arezzo, Pisa, Pistoia, and elsewhere. In fact, the Roman effect on these towns was so established that even today you can see the Roman designs on the city centres.

Other evidence of Rome in the countryside can be seen with the pattern of fields, drainage and road network in the Arno valley, west of Florence. Particularly around Prato and Pistoia and in the Val di Chiana, in southern Tuscany.

Tuscany and central Italy flourished under Rome until the conquering Barbarian hordes came in the 5th Century AD.

Post Rome
In AD 552 Totila the Goth lead a Barbarian army against Florence and this was the start of a series of Barbarian invasions that saw a very tumultuous period in the areas history.

The Barbarian invasions were followed by being governed by the Lombards and then the Franks. The Lombards conquered the region with much of northern Italy in AD 570 and established a base in Lucca. After this was the start of a long and violent occupation lasting 200 years until 774 AD.

In 774 AD Charlemagne (son of Pepin the Short) defeated the Lombards and Tuscany fell under Carolingian rule. Later in AD 800 Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. At this time Tuscany was then ruled from Lucca by imperial princes known as Margraves. So from the 8th to the 12th century BC the Franks ruled over this area until Matilda (died 1115), the last Frankish ruler, bequeathed her lands to the Papacy.