Etruscology is the study of the ancient Italian civilization of the Etruscans, which was incorporated into an expanding Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 during the period of Rome's Middle Republic. Since the Etruscans were politically and culturally influential in pre-Republican Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, many Etruscologists are also scholars of the history, archaeology, and culture of Rome.

The premier scholarly journal of Etruscan Studies is Studi Etruschi. A recent edition to the scholarly literature is the American journal, Etruscan Studies: Journal of the Etruscan Foundation, which began publication in 1994. A more informal organ is Etruscan News and the accompanying cyber-publication Etruscan News Online.

Thomas Dempster

Thomas Dempster

Thomas Dempster was a Scottish scholar and historian. Born into the aristocracy in Aberdeenshire, which comprises regions of both the Scottish highlands and the Scottish lowlands, he was sent abroad as a youth for his education. The Dempsters were Catholic in an increasingly Protestant country and...

 (b. 1570, d. 1625), Scottish scholar and historian, is perhaps the godfather of Etruscology. Under the patronage of Grand Duke Cosimo II of Etruria

Etruria

Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, 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...

, Dempster researched and wrote De Etruria Regali Libri Septem in Latin.

Prominent Etruscologists, past and present, include Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli

Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli

Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli was an Italian archaeologist and art historian.-Biography:A Marxist, Bianchi Bandinelli was descended from ancient aristocracy in Siena. His early research focused on the Etruscan centers close to his family lands, Clusium and Suana...

, Massimo Pallottino

Massimo Pallottino

Massimo Pallottino was an Italian archaeologist specializing in Etruscan civilization and art....

, Mauro Cristofani

Mauro Cristofani

Mauro Cristofani was a linguist and researcher in Etruscan studies.Cristofani was a student of Massimo Pallottino and would himself teach at the University of Pisa, University of Siena and, his final post, at the University of Naples Federico II...

, Giovanni Colonna

Giovanni Colonna

Giovanni Colonna is a contemporary Italian scholar of ancient Italy and, in particular, the Etruscan civilization.Colonna is a professor at the Sapienza University of Rome where he has taught since 1980. He took his first degree at Rome in 1957, studying under Massimo Pallottino...

, Giulio Giglioli

Giulio Giglioli

Giulio Quirino Giglioli was an art historian of classical Roman and Etruscan art and was associated with Fascism in Italy.Giglioli was a student of and assistant to both Emanuel Löwy and Rodolfo Lanciani. He fought in World War I, during which time he published the newly discovered statue of...

, Giovannangelo Camporeale, L. Bouke van der Meer

L. Bouke van der Meer

Dr. Lammert Bouke van der Meer is a Dutch classicist and classical archaeologist specialized in etruscology. He studied classics and archaeology at Groningen State University. Van der Meer is retired associate professor of Classical Archaeology at Leiden University, The Netherlands.Van der Meer is...

, George Dennis

George Dennis

George Dennis may refer to:*George R. Dennis, American Senator from Maryland*George Dennis , British explorer-See also:*George Denys...

, Nancy T. DeGrummond, and Larissa Bonfante

Larissa Bonfante

Larissa Bonfante is an American classicist, Professor of Classics at New York University and an authority on Etruscan language and culture.Born in Naples, 1929, daughter of professor Giuliano Bonfante , Bonfante studied fine arts and classics at Barnard College, gaining her BA in 1954; she gained...

. Other scholars who focus more on the Etruscan influence on Rome include, R. E. A. Palmer

R. E. A. Palmer

Robert E.A. Palmer II was an ancient historian and a leading figure in the study of archaic Rome. At the time of his death was professor emeritus of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania....

, John F. Hall

John F. Hall

John F. Hall is a Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Brigham Young University. He was a student of R. E. A. Palmer. Hall specializes in Rome during the reign of Augustus. He has also made contributions in the subdiscipline of Etruscology...

, and H. H. Scullard.

Various organizations promote Etruscology. The Etruscan Foundation supports Etruscan scholarship in the United States and abroad. The foundation provides internships and fellowships, and publishes the journal Etruscan Studies. It also sponsors an annual lecture.