The Umbrians in addition to the city (tote) had a larger terri torial division in the tribes (trifu, acc.) as we gather from Livy (XXXl. 2, "per Umbriam quam tribum Sapiniam vocant"; cf. xxxiii. 37) and from the Eugubine Tables ("trifor Tarsinates," vi. B. 54). Ancient authors describe the Umbrians as leading effeminate lives, and as closely resembling their Etruscan enemies in their habits. There is conclusive proof of strong Etruscan influences in Umbria, and their alphabet is undoubtedly of Chalcid-Etruscan origin, while the language, which we know from one or two inscriptions from Fulginium and Tuder, and from the so-called Eugubine Tables, the earliest parts of which may go back to the 5th cent. B.C. (see GuBBio) is a dialect which sprang from the Oscan, but is marked by some phonetic changes. Etruria also taught the towns near it, e.g., Tuder and Iguvium, the art of minting, for they alone had a coinage. The Umbrians counted their day from noon to noon. But whether they bor rowed this likewise from the Etruscans we do not know. In their measuring of land they employed the vorsus, a measure common to them and the Oscans, 31 of which went to the Roman jugerum.
and there are numerous fertile valleys. Many treasures of art and architecture are preserved, and Umbria is in this respect one of the most interesting regions of Italy. (See PERUGIA.) Modern Umbria formed down to 186o a part of the States of the Church.
Two main lines of railway run through the territory. That from Florence to Rome skirts the borders of the province on the west, running north and south, while the Rome-Ancona runs across the province from north-east to south-west. The cross communi cation is given by three branch lines. In the north a narrow gauge line from Arezzo to Fossato passes through Gubbio. Perugia, the capital of the province, stands on the line from Terontola to Foligno, while on the extreme south a line passing through Rieti and Aquila, and ultimately reaching Sulmona, starts from Terni on the Rome-Ancona line. There is also an electric railway from Terni via Perugia to Umbertide, on the line between Arezzo and Fossato.
The great steelworks of Terni (q.v.), the chloride factory at Nera Montoro near Narni, the chemical manure works at Narni, Foligno and Assisi, the wool and jute works of Terni and Foligno, the cotton spinnery of Spoleto may all be mentioned; while the hydro-electric plants of Umbria, which are concentrated at Terni, are of great importance, and are able to help out those of Lazio and Tuscany. In 1926, tons of lignite were mined in the province of Perugia. (T. A.)