According to ancient literary sources, the territory occupied by the Umbrians - Ombrikoì in Greek – was far wider than the present one and stretched along the eastern side of the Tiber River until reaching the Po Valley. The human presence in Umbria (witnessed by lithic constructions) dates back to the Palaeolithic period. The city of Amelia, with its strong Megalithic Walls (6th-4th century b.C.), witnesses a remote urban organisation. Its origins, dating back to the 12th century b.C., and the only evidence of which was the narration of literary sources (Plinius quoting Catone), were recently confirmed by archaeological finds.

The first contacts between Umbrians and Romans, at the beginning merely commercial, then political and military ones, were formalised during the 4th century b.C.. Subsequently, Rome, taking advantage of the crisis of Etruria, successfully tried to replace the Etruscans in order to control the Tiber Valley and expand towards the regions of the middle and high Adriatic Sea. With the defeat of the Gallic-Etruscan-Italic (295 b.C.) league by the Romans, the Umbrians were conquered and the process of romanisation of this territory was carried out with the foundation of colonies and the construction of the Via Flaminia that connects Rome to Rimini..