When we think of where all roads lead, we might think of Rome. There are, of course, any number of other outstanding città in Italy and one of those is Bologna, a city whose origins began, in part, as an Etruscan city. This would be why, on May 25, the San Francisco Istituto Italiano di Cultura hosted, in conjunction with the Municipality of Bologna and Cultura Italiana, a conference entitled “The Founding and Development of Etruscan, Roman and Medieval Cities-The Example of Bologna.”

Massimo Maracci, Director of Cultura Italiana, Italian Language School of Bologna, Italy, led a conversation with Mary Tolaro-Noyes, author of the book Bologna Reflections: An Uncommon Guide, and Lisa Pieraccini, Professor of Classics at UC Berkeley, about the developmental elements of the Etruscan city.