Latera is a small town and comune in the Province of Viterbo, Lazio, central Italy.

Stephen Owen considers it to be an "archetypal" Italian hill town.

It began its long-lasting link with the Farnese family in 1408, when Pope Gregory XII conceded vicardom of the city to Ranuccio Farnese (1390-1450), creating with the namesake city of Farnese a Duchy independent from that of the nearby Castro, which later became capital of the Duchy of Castro.

The House of Farnese reigned over the Duchy of Latera until 1650, when it was subsumed back into the Papal States.

The last ruler was Pietro Francesco Farnese, Duke of Latera, General of the Spanish Army (1592-1662).