 For centuries, Umbrian and Etruscan fought hard for the rule of the Tiber valley, until, in 299 BC when Roman legions began the invasion of Umbria.The provincial territory was part of the Roman Republic and then the Roman Empire until the latter's western part fell in the 5th century AD.In 571 the Lombards, after invading the Po Plain, went down the Apennines and, in 575, founded the Duchy of Spoleto in what is now Umbria and the neighbouring areas; this state remained formally independent until 1250.