The Oxford Handbook of Pre-Roman Italy gives a comprehensive account of the peoples who lived on the Italian peninsula during the last millennium BCE. Most people have heard of the Etruscans, but there were many other fascinating civilizations, including the Celts and the Samnites, who inhabited the region at this time. This was an age that began with the rise of urbanism, was marked by the flourishing of diverse and politically sophisticated communities, and ended with the political and cultural unification of the peninsula under Roman rule. The region did not have a single overarching identity, but rather was characterized by a constantly changing pattern of intercultural exchange and communication.

Written by more than fifty authors, this book describes the diversity of these indigenous cultures, their languages, interactions, and reciprocal influences. It gives special emphasis to Greek colonization, the rise of aristocracies, technological innovations, and the spread of literacy, which provided the urban texture that shaped the history of the peninsula in this period. In addition to offering in-depth treatments of the peoples and cultures, it also focuses on the events and factors that played a mediating role in Italy's history.