Great Etruscan city in Tuscany, Italy, famous for tombs with a series of grave painting from the 6th-1st centuries BC and the remains of a wall and base of the great central temple of the 4th-3rd century BC. Traditionally the earliest of the cities of Etruria, there was an earlier Villanovan settlement (10th-7th century BC). It is also important for its contribution to early Rome of that city's early kings, the Tarquins, as well as a cultural and technological heritage. It did not come under Roman control until 353 BC. The Villanovan burials are especially rich in bronze artifacts, particularly horse and chariot items, shields, and helmets. The Etruscan painted tombs are usually approached by steeply descending dromoi and they show scenes of funeral banqueting and games, and later the demons of the underworld. Sarcophagi mostly have relief decoration. The city shows traces of a grid plan, tufa city walls, and the remains of the 4th-3rd century BC temple (Ara della Regina).