My name is Alfia. I am a young woman of Etruscan origin. I turn 17 this year.

I live in

the city of Cerveteri, which is near the seaside. It is next to the Tyrrehianan Sea. I work as a

seamstress, stitching clothing from the cloth I buy from other merchants. I work with my mother

and aunt. We have no trouble selling all the clothing we stitch because business is thriving these

days. All our business takes place in Cerveteri. There are many other cities nearby, but I have

never been to any of them. Traders from other cities near us and from foreign lands, sometimes

bring many commodities to Cerveteri, a lot of trade that goes on within this town is for products

made locally, as well.

My family is well off. We live in a mud-brick house with timber foundations. There are

some 2 story and 3 story houses nearby but ours is one story. My father works in the palace as a

guard. We are middle class but earn a lot of money. Most of our family’s money comes from

trade but my father’s name beings us a lot of prestige. As a woman, I can own property and will

likely inherit land because my father no sons. I still do not have as many rights as men do. Male

traders earn more money and are more respected than female traders and allowed to hold

positions in court while women are not. Of course, this does not matter to me, because while my

family is well-off, we are not high ranked enough to have any position in court anyways.

In my lifetime I have never seen a war, but according to my parents it is a real threat. Our

city is surrounded by fortified walls to protect us from invaders but since we live near the we still

need to worry about possible invasions from Greece and the Romans. The Romans see us as

weaklings that they can easily conquer and dominate. I do not believe they care about our

feelings. If they take over, we will lose our livelihood because I am sure they will take over the

trading.