This list of ancient peoples living in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
summarises groupings existing before and during the
Roman expansion and conquest of Italy. Many of the names are either scholarly inventions or
exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group ...
s assigned by the ancient writers of works in
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
and
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
. In regard to the specific names of particular ancient Italian tribes and peoples, the time-window in which historians know the historical ascribed names of ancient Italian peoples mostly falls into the range of about 750 BC (at the legendary
foundation of Rome) to about 200 BC (in the middle
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...
), the time range in which most of the written documentation first exists of such names and prior to the
nearly complete assimilation of Italian peoples into
Roman culture. Nearly all of these peoples and tribes spoke
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, D ...
:
Italics
In typography, italic type is a cursive font based on a stylised form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, italics normally slant slightly to the right. Italics are a way to emphasise key points in a printed t ...
,
Celts
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...
,
Ancient Greeks
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
, and tribes likely occupying various intermediate positions between these language groups. On the other hand, some Italian peoples (such as the
Rhaetians,
Camuni
The Camuni or Camunni were an ancient population located in Val Camonica during the Iron Age (1st millennium BC); the Latin name ''Camunni'' was attributed to them by the authors of the 1st century. They are also called ancient Camuni, to distingu ...
,
Etruscans
The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, roug ...
) likely spoke
non-Indo-European languages. In addition, peoples speaking languages of the
Afro-Asiatic
The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic s ...
family, specifically the
Semitic Phoenicians
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...
and
Carthaginians
The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...
, are known to have settled and colonized some coastal parts of Italy (particularly in
insular Italy in western and southern
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, aft ...
and western
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
).
Before the widespread introduction of writing, and before ancient sources existed that describe ancient Italian tribes,
archaeological culture
An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of types of artifacts, buildings and monuments from a specific period and region that may constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between thes ...
s might be hypothesized to have been associated with historical identities, especially in relatively isolated and continuous regions. However, due to the lack of written documentation, any further assumptions as to the historical names or cultural identities of these proposed ancient archeological cultures and of those Italian peoples existing prior to known ancient written sources would be presumptuous by current archeological and historical standards.
The specifically named ancient peoples of Italy listed here are therefore confined mostly to the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...
of Italy, when the first known written evidence, generally from Ancient Roman or Greek sources, ascribed names to these tribes or peoples before such peoples became assimilated into Roman culture through the Roman conquest. In contrast to those tribes or peoples documented by ancient sources, pre-Roman and pre-Iron Age archeological cultures are also listed, following the lists of specifically named ancient Italian peoples and tribes; however, the names of these pre-Roman archeological cultures are modern inventions, and most of the actual names of the peoples or tribes that belonged to these proposed cultures, if such names existed, currently remain unknown.
Speakers of non-Indo-European languages
Scholars believe - though sometimes on the basis of scanty evidence - that the following peoples spoke non-Indo-European languages. Some of them were
Pre-Indo-Europeans Pre-Indo-European means "preceding Indo-European languages".
Pre-Indo-European may refer to:
* Pre-Indo-European languages, several (not necessarily related) ancient languages in prehistoric Europe and South Asia before the arrival of Indo-European ...
or
Paleo-Europeans while, with regard to some others, Giacomo Devoto proposed the definition of
Peri-Indo-European (i.e. everything that has hybrid characters between Indo-European and non-Indo-European).
Sardinians
The
Sardinians were possibly
Sherden.
*
Balares The Balares were one of the three major groups among which the Nuragic Sardinians considered themselves divided (along with the Corsi and the Ilienses).
History
Pausanias in his work ''Periegesis'' speculated that the Balares were the descendan ...
(Balari)
*
Ilienses The Ilienses (or ''Iolaes'', later known as ''Diagesbes''Strabo, Geographica V, 2,7.) were an ancient Nuragic people who lived during the Bronze and Iron Ages in central-southern Sardinia, as well as one of the three major groups among which the anc ...
/
Iolaes/
Diagesbes (Iliensi/Iolei)
*
Corsi (Possibly related to
Ligures and therefore possibly Indo-European speakers)
Tyrrhenians
The
Tyrrhenians were the Etruscans and their linguistic relatives.
*
Etruscans
The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, roug ...
- Centered in
Etruria with later influences stretching from the
Po Valley
The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...
to
Campania
(man), it, Campana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demog ...
.
*
Raeti
*
Camunni
Others (classification uncertain)
*
North Picenes - Centered on the
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...
Coast with settlements around the region of
Ancona
Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...
.
*
Rutuli
The Rutuli or Rutulians were an ancient people in Italy. The Rutuli were located in a territory whose capital was the ancient town of Ardea, located about 35 km southeast of Rome.
Thought to have been descended from the Umbri and the Pelas ...
*
Sicani
*
Ligures
Speakers of Indo-European languages
*
Proto-Indo-Europeans
The Proto-Indo-Europeans are a hypothetical prehistoric population of Eurasia who spoke Proto-Indo-European (PIE), the ancestor of the Indo-European languages according to linguistic reconstruction.
Knowledge of them comes chiefly from ...
Italo-Celtic
Italic and
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages (usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward ...
are commonly grouped together on the basis of features shared by these two branches and no others. This could imply that they are descended from a common ancestor and/or
Proto-Celtic
Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celt ...
and
Proto-Italic developed in close proximity over a long period of time.
Italic
*
Venetics[Storia, vita, costumi, religiosità dei Veneti antichi](_blank)
at www.venetoimage.com (in Italian). Accessed on 2009-08-18.
*
Latino-Faliscans[Villar, cit., pp. 447-482.]
**
Latins
The Latins were originally an Italic tribe in ancient central Italy from Latium. As Roman power and colonization spread Latin culture during the Roman Republic.
Latins culturally "Romanized" or "Latinized" the rest of Italy, and the word Latin ...
/
Romans - Centered around the central plain of Italy between the
Tiber
The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by th ...
and the
Alban Hills
The Alban Hills ( it, Colli Albani) are the caldera remains of a quiescent volcanic complex in Italy, located southeast of Rome and about north of Anzio. The high Monte Cavo forms a highly visible peak the centre of the caldera, but the hi ...
.
**
Falisci
Speakers of
Italic languages
The Italic languages form a branch of the Indo-European language family, whose earliest known members were spoken on the Italian Peninsula in the first millennium BC. The most important of the ancient languages was Latin, the official languag ...
are thought to have included,
*
Sicels
The Sicels (; la, Siculi; grc, Σικελοί ''Sikeloi'') were an Italic tribe who inhabited eastern Sicily during the Iron Age. Their neighbours to the west were the Sicani. The Sicels gave Sicily the name it has held since antiquity, b ...
*
Adriatic Veneti - centered in the
Po delta.
**
Carni
The Carni ( Greek: Καρνίοι) were a tribe of the Eastern Alps in classical antiquity of Celtic language and culture, settling in the mountains separating Noricum and Venetia (roughly corresponding to the more modern Slovenia and Carinthia) ...
**
Catali Catali was the name of a tribe belonging to the Venetic peoples that are sometimes confusedStructure and Scale in the Roman Economy by Richard Duncan-Jones,2002,page 164,"... This allowed the city to draw on the Carni and Catali (tribes `attributed ...
**
Catari Catari was the name of a tribe belonging to the Venetic peoples that are sometimes confused with Illyrians.Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992, , page 81, "... In Roman Pannonia the Latobici and Varciani who dwelt east of the Venetic Catari in the up ...
**
Histri
**
Liburnians
The Liburnians or Liburni ( grc, Λιβυρνοὶ) were an ancient tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers ''Arsia'' ( Raša) and ''Titius'' ( Krka) in what is now Croati ...
***
Lopsi Lopsi is the name of a Liburnian tribe inhabiting the mountains along the eastern coast of the Adriatic before and during the Roman Empire, specifically present-day Velebit.
The tribe was mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his ''Naturalis Historia'', ...
**
Secusses
Secusses was the name of a tribe belonging to the Venetic peoples that are sometimes confusedWilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,,page 183,"... We may begin with the Venetic peoples, Veneti, Carni, Histri and Liburni, whose language set them apart fr ...
**
Venetulani
*
Umbri
The Umbri were an Italic people of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is now occupied by Italian speakers. It is somewhat smaller than the ancient Umbria.
Most ancient Umbrian cities were settled in the 9th-4th centuries BC on ...
- Centered in central Italy stretching from the
Adriatic coast
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...
to the upper
Tiber
The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by th ...
.
**
Sabines
The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome.
The Sabines di ...
- Centered north of
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and by the river
Tiber
The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by th ...
.
**
Marsi
The Marsi were an Italic people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus (which was drained for agricultural land in the late 19th century). The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. D ...
- Centered around
Lake Fucinus
The Fucine Lake ( it, Lago Fucino or ) was a large endorheic lake in western Abruzzo, central Italy, stretching from Avezzano in the northwest to Ortucchio in the southeast, and touching Trasacco in the southwest. Once the third largest lake in I ...
**
Volsci - Centered on the
Pontine plain
**
South Picenes
**
Marrucini
The Marrucini were an Italic tribe that occupied a small strip of territory around the ancient ''Teate'' (modern Chieti), on the east coast of Abruzzo, Italy, limited by the Aterno and Foro Rivers. Other Marrucinian centers included ''Ceio'' ( Sa ...
*
Oscans - Centered in central Italy by
Cumae and
Capua.
**
Opici The Opici were an ancient italic people of the Latino-Faliscan group who lived in the region of Campania. They settled in the area in the late Bronze Age but their territory was later conquered during the Iron Age by the Osci, another Italic people ...
***
Aurunci/Ausones
***
Campanians - Centered in the region of
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
***
Mamertines
***
Paeligni
**
Samnites
The Samnites () were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy.
An Oscan-speaking people, who may have originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they f ...
- Centered in central Italy, south-east of
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
north of
Capua.
***
Pentri
***
Caraceni
***
Caudini The Caudini were a Samnite tribe that lived among the mountains ringing Campania and in the valleys of the Isclero and Volturnus rivers. Their capital was at Caudium, but it seems certain that the appellation was not confined to the citizens of Ca ...
***
Frentani - Centered on the southern
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...
coast.
***
Hirpini
The Hirpini ( Latin: ') were an ancient Samnite tribe of Southern Italy. While generally regarded as having been Samnites, sometimes they are treated as a distinct and independent nation. They inhabited the southern portion of Samnium, in the mo ...
**
Lucani - Centered on the south-western coast of Italy.
***
Bruttii The Bruttians (alternative spelling, Brettii) ( la, Bruttii) were an ancient Italic people. They inhabited the southern extremity of Italy, from the frontiers of Lucania to the Sicilian Straits and the promontory of Leucopetra. This roughly corr ...
***
Itali
***
Oenotri
***
Chones
***
Tauriani
***
Morgetes
The Morgetes ( grc, Μόργητες, la, Morgetes) were an ancient Lucanian tribe, of Pelasgian descent, who occupied the region of southern Italy from Calabria to Sicily. Girolamo Marafioti, ''Croniche et antichità di Calabria. Conforme all'or ...
*Others
**
Aequi
**
Fidenates
**
Hernici
**
Vestini
**
Aborigines
**
Euganei
Celts
The
Celts
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...
of the Italian peninsula included,
*
Cisalpine Gauls - Centered in the
Po Valley
The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...
with influences stretching to
Etruscan Felsina
**
Boii
The Boii ( Latin plural, singular ''Boius''; grc, Βόιοι) were a Celtic tribe of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul ( Northern Italy), Pannonia ( Hungary), parts of Bavaria, in and around Bohemia (after whom ...
**
Carni
The Carni ( Greek: Καρνίοι) were a tribe of the Eastern Alps in classical antiquity of Celtic language and culture, settling in the mountains separating Noricum and Venetia (roughly corresponding to the more modern Slovenia and Carinthia) ...
**
Cenomani
**
Lingones
**
Senones
**
Vertamocorii
The Vertamocorii (Gaulish: *''Wertamocorī'') were a Celtic people that lived in Cisalpine Gaul around Novara, in Eastern Piedmont ( Italy).
The Vertamocorii are reported by Pliny in the third book of Naturalis Historia, where they are said to b ...
**
Gaesatae
The Gaesatae or Gaesati ( Greek Γαισάται) were a group of Gallic mercenary warriors who lived in the Alps near the river Rhône and fought against the Roman Republic at the Battle of Telamon in 225 BC., s.v. ''Gaesatae''.
According to s ...
?
**
Insubres
The Insubres or Insubri were an ancient Celtic population settled in Insubria, in what is now the Italian region of Lombardy. They were the founders of Mediolanum ( Milan). Though completely Gaulish at the time of Roman conquest, they were the r ...
**
Arverni
The Arverni (Gaulish: *''Aruernoi'') were a Gallic people dwelling in the modern Auvergne region during the Iron Age and the Roman period. They were one of the most powerful tribes of ancient Gaul, contesting primacy over the region with the n ...
**
Aedui
**
Ambarri
**
Aulerci
**
Bituriges
**
Carnutes
The Carnutes or Carnuti (Gaulish: 'the horned ones'), were a Gallic tribe dwelling in an extensive territory between the Sequana ( Seine) and the Liger (Loire) rivers during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Car ...
*
Lepontics
**
Graioceli
**
Lepontii
**
Salassi
**
Medulli
**
Ceutrones
**
Allobroges
**
Veragri
**
Helvetii
The Helvetii ( , Gaulish: *''Heluētī''), anglicized as Helvetians, were a Celtic tribe or tribal confederation occupying most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. According to Juliu ...
**
Seduni
Ligures
The
Ligures, who may have spoken Indo-european language of Celtic type or a non-Indo-european language, were:
*
Ligures
**
Apuani
**
Bagienni
**
Briniates
The Briniates were an ancient Ligurian tribe mentioned by Livy as being subjugated by Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary)
, image_map ...
**
Friniates
The Friniates were an ancient Eastern Ligurian people who lived in Cisalpine Gaul (Northern Italy), in the Apennines area between the current provinces of Reggio Emilia and Modena. With the Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the ...
**
Garuli The Garuli were an ancient Ligurian tribe mentioned by Livy as being subjugated by Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comu ...
**
Hercates The Hercates or Hergates were an ancient Ligurian tribe mentioned by Livy as being subjugated by Rome in 175 BCE. (Liv. xli. 19.)
References
*Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' is the ...
**
Ilvates The Ilvates were a Ligurian tribe, whose name is found only in the writings of Livy. He mentions them first as taking up arms in 200 BCE, in concert with the Gaulish tribes of the Insubres and Cenomani, to destroy the Roman colonies of Placentia ( ...
**
Orobii
The Orobii (also Orobi, Oromobi or Orumbovii) were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling around present-day Como and Bergamo during the Iron Age.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Orobii'' by Cato the Elder (early 2nd century BC).
The ethnic name ''Orobii ...
**
Laevi
**
Lapicini The Lapicini were an ancient Ligurian tribe mentioned by Livy as being subjugated by Rome under consuls Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Quintus Mucius Scaevola in 175 BCE. (Liv. xli. 19.) They inhabited the extreme northern regions of Liguria, as it ...
**
Marici
**
Segusini
The Segusini (Gaulish: *''Segusinoi'', 'those of Segusio') were a Gallic tribe dwelling around present-day Susa, in the Alpes Cottiae, during the Iron Age.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Segosianō̃n'' (Σεγοσιανῶν) Strabo (early 1st c. ...
**
Statielli
**
Taurini
Greeks
Sometimes referred in ancient sources as
Pelasgi
The name Pelasgians ( grc, Πελασγοί, ''Pelasgoí'', singular: Πελασγός, ''Pelasgós'') was used by classical Greek writers to refer either to the predecessors of the Greeks, or to all the inhabitants of Greece before the emergen ...
, the
Ancient Greeks
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
of the Italian peninsula included,
*
Achaeans
*
Dorians
The Dorians (; el, Δωριεῖς, ''Dōrieîs'', singular , ''Dōrieús'') were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Hellenes (or Greeks) of Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the Aeolians, Achaeans, and Ioni ...
*
Ionians
*
Italiotes
*
Siceliotes
Others (classification uncertain)
*
Iapygians or Apulians (possibly related to
Illyrians
The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, a ...
) - Centered on the southern
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...
coast with settlements around
Tarentum Tarentum may refer to:
* Taranto, Apulia, Italy, on the site of the ancient Roman city of Tarentum (formerly the Greek colony of Taras)
**See also History of Taranto
* Tarentum (Campus Martius), also Terentum, an area in or on the edge of the Camp ...
.
**
Messapians
**
Peucetians
**
Daunians
*
Elymians (possibly related to
Ligures)
Pre-Roman conquest
archeological culture
An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of types of artifacts, buildings and monuments from a specific period and region that may constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between thes ...
s
The specific identities or names of the tribes or groups of peoples that practiced these pre-Roman archeological cultures are mostly unknown. The posited existence of these archeological cultures is based on archeological
assemblages of
artifacts that share common traits and are found within a certain region and originate within a certain prehistoric period. Therefore, many of these archeological cultures may not necessarily correspond to a specific group of ancient people and, in fact, may have been shared among various groups of ancient peoples. The extent to which an archeological culture is representative of a particular cohesive ancient group of people is open for debate; many of these cultures may be the product of a single ancient Italian tribe or civilization (e.g.
Latial culture), while others may have been spread among different groups of ancient Italian peoples and even outside of Italy. For example, Latial culture is believed to be the product specifically of the Ancient
Latin tribe; the
Canegrate culture and
Golasecca culture have been associated with various ancient proto-Celtic, Celtic and Ligure tribes including the
Lepontii,
Orobii
The Orobii (also Orobi, Oromobi or Orumbovii) were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling around present-day Como and Bergamo during the Iron Age.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Orobii'' by Cato the Elder (early 2nd century BC).
The ethnic name ''Orobii ...
, and
Insubres
The Insubres or Insubri were an ancient Celtic population settled in Insubria, in what is now the Italian region of Lombardy. They were the founders of Mediolanum ( Milan). Though completely Gaulish at the time of Roman conquest, they were the r ...
, while other archeological cultures may have been present among multiple groups throughout and beyond the Italian peninsula.
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...
*
Pre-Nuragic Sardinia
**
Cardial Culture
**
Grotta Verde culture Grotta may refer to:
* Grotto (Italian: ''Grotta''), a small natural or artificial cave
* Grótta, a tied island in Seltjarnarnes, Iceland
* Grótta Sports Club in Iceland
* , an archaeological site in Naxos after which the Grotta-Pelos cultu ...
**
Filiestru culture
**
Bonu Ighinu culture
The Bonuighinu culture or Bonu Ighinu culture, sometimes also called Bonu Ighinu Phase, is a middle neolithic, pre-Nuragic culture from Sardinia and roughly dates to the first half of the 5th millennium BC (5100-4500 BC). It takes its name from a ...
**
San Ciriaco culture
**
Arzachena culture
The Arzachena culture was a pre-Nuragic culture of the Late Neolithic Age occupying Gallura (the northeastern part of Sardinia) and part of southern Corsica from approximately the 4th to the 3rd millennium BC. It takes its name from the Sardin ...
**
Ozieri culture
The Ozieri culture (or San Michele culture) was a prehistoric pre-Nuragic culture that occupied Sardinia from c. 3200 to 2800 BCE. The Ozieri was the culmination of the island's Neolithic culture and takes its name from the locality where earl ...
*
Gaudo culture
Copper Age
*Pre-Nuragic Sardinia
**
Abealzu-Filigosa culture
The Abealzu-Filigosa culture was a Copper Age culture of Sardinia (2700-2400 BC). It takes its name from the locality of Abealzu, near Osilo, and Filigosa, near Macomer.
The populations of this culture lived mainly in the Sassarese area and other ...
**
Monte Claro culture
The Monte Claro culture was a Chalcolithic culture that spread throughout the island of Sardinia around the second half of the 3rd millennium BC (2400-2100 BC). It takes its name from a hill located in the city of Cagliari, where important discove ...
**
Sardinian Beaker culture
*
Beaker culture
*
Remedello culture
The Remedello culture (Italian ''Cultura di Remedello'') developed during the Copper Age (4th and 3rd millennium BC) in Northern Italy, particularly in the area of the Po valley. The name comes from the town of Remedello (Brescia) where several ...
*
Rinaldone culture
The Rinaldone culture was an Eneolithic culture that spread between the 4th and the 3rd millennium BC in northern and central Lazio, in southern Tuscany and, to a lesser extent, also in Marche and Umbria. It takes its name from the town of Rina ...
*
Laterza culture
The Laterza culture or Laterza-Cellino San Marco culture is an Eneolithic culture in Southern Italy. It takes its name from the tombs discovered in the locality of Laterza, near Taranto, and Cellino San Marco, near Brindisi, in Apulia.
It de ...
*
Gaudo culture
*
Conelle-Ortucchio culture
*
Serraferlicchio culture
*
Spilamberto group
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
*
Apennine culture
*
Bonnanaro culture
*
Nuragic civilization
*
Torrean civilization
The Torrean civilization was a Bronze Age megalithic civilization that developed in Southern Corsica, mostly concentrated south of Ajaccio, during the second half of the second millennium BC.
History
The characteristic buildings of this cultur ...
*
Canegrate culture
*
Proto-Villanovan culture
*
Polada culture
The Fouladi (alternatively Polada, Poladha, Puladi); ( prs, پولادی) is a tribe of Hazara found in Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlo ...
*
Castelluccio Culture
Castelluccio culture is an archaeological feature dating to Ancient Bronze Age (2000 B.C. approximately) of the prehistoric civilization of Sicily, originally identified by Paolo Orsi on the basis of a particular ceramic style, in the homonymous vi ...
*
Thapsos Culture
*
Terramare culture
Terramare, terramara, or terremare is a technology complex mainly of the central Po valley, in Emilia, Northern Italy, dating to the Middle and Late Bronze Age c. 1700–1150 BC. It takes its name from the "black earth" residue of settleme ...
*
Castellieri culture
The Castellieri culture developed in Istria during the Mid-Bronze Age, and later expanded into Friuli, Dalmatia and the neighbouring areas. It lasted for more than a millennium, from the 15th century BC until the Roman conquest in the 3rd centur ...
*
Luco-Meluno culture
The Laugen-Melaun culture (from German ''Laugen-Melaun-Kultur'') or Luco culture (in Italian) developed between the late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age in the Alps, between Trentino, South Tyrol, East Tyrol, and in the Engadin.
The term, coi ...
*
Scamozzina culture
The Scamozzina culture (Italian ''Cultura della Scamozzina''), which takes its name from the necropolis found in Cascina Scamozzina of Albairate, was a prehistoric civilization of Italy that developed between the end of the middle Bronze Age and ...
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...
*
Hallstatt culture
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European culture of Late Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to 6th centuries ...
*
La Tène culture
The La Tène culture (; ) was a European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture without any defi ...
*
Villanova culture
*
Latial culture
*
Este culture
*
Golasecca culture
*
Camunni culture
*
Fritzens-Sanzeno culture
The Fritzens-Sanzeno culture is an archaeological culture attested in the late Iron Age, from ca. 500 BC until the end of the first century BC, in the Alpine region of Trentino and South Tyrol; in the period of maximum expansion it also reached ...
Genetics
A genetic study published in ''
Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...
'' in November 2019 examined the remains of six
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
males buried near
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
between 900 BC and 200 BC. They carried the paternal haplogroups
R-M269
Haplogroup R-M269 is the sub-clade of human Y-chromosome haplogroup R1b that is defined by the SNP marker M269. According to ISOGG 2020 it is phylogenetically classified as R1b1a1b. It underwent intensive research and was previously classified a ...
,
T-L208,
R-311, R-PF7589 and
R-P312 (two samples), and the maternal haplogroups
H1aj1a,
T2c1f,
H2a,
U4a1a,
H11a and
H10. A female from the preceding
Proto-Villanovan culture carried the maternal haplogroups
U5a2b. These examined individuals were distinguished from preceding populations of Italy by the presence of ca. 25-35%
steppe ancestry. Overall, the genetic differentiation between the Latins,
Etruscans
The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, roug ...
and the preceding proto-villanovan population of Italy was found to be insignificant.
See also
*
Prehistoric Italy
*
Genetic history of Italy
*
List of ancient Italic peoples
*
List of Nuragic tribes
This is a list of ancient Corsican and Sardinian tribes, listed in order of ethnic kinship or the general area in which they lived. Some closely fit the concept of a tribe. Others are confederations or even unions of tribes.
Overview
Before the ...
*
History of Italy
*
History of the Mediterranean region
The history of the Mediterranean region and of the cultures and people of the Mediterranean Basin is important for understanding the origin and development of the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Canaanite, Phoenician, Hebrew, Carthaginian, Minoan, G ...
*
Etruscan civilization
The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, roug ...
*
Pre-Nuragic Sardinia
*
Nuragic civilization
*
Latins (Italic tribe)
The Latins (Latin: ''Latini''), sometimes known as the Latians, were an Italic tribe which included the early inhabitants of the city of Rome (see Roman people). From about 1000 BC, the Latins inhabited the small region known to the Romans a ...
*
Prehistory of Corsica
The prehistory of Corsica is analogous to the prehistories of the other islands in the Mediterranean Sea, such as Sicily, Sardinia, Malta and Cyprus, which could only be accessed by boat and featured cultures that were to some degree insular; t ...
*
Prehistory of Malta
*
History of Sardinia
*
History of Sicily
*
List of Celtic tribes
This is a list of Celtic tribes, organized in order of the likely ethnolinguistic kinship of the peoples and tribes.
In Classical antiquity, Celts were a large number and a significant part of the population in many regions of Western Europe, ...
*
List of ancient Germanic peoples
*
List of ancient Greek tribes
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of ancient Iranian peoples
*
Italo-Celtic
*
Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; the ...
*
Rock Drawings in Valcamonica
The rock drawings in Valcamonica (Camonica Valley) are located in the Province of Brescia, Italy, and constitute the largest collections of prehistoric petroglyphs in the world. The collection was recognized by UNESCO in 1979 and was Italy's ...
*
Osco-Umbrian languages
*
Roman Kingdom
The Roman Kingdom (also referred to as the Roman monarchy, or the regal period of ancient Rome) was the earliest period of Roman history when the city and its territory were ruled by kings. According to oral accounts, the Roman Kingdom began wi ...
*
Founding of Rome
* ''
Aeneid
The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of ...
''
*
Old Latium
Old Latium ( la, Latium vetus or ') is a region of the Italian peninsula bounded to the north by the river Tiber, to the east by the central Apennine mountains, to the west by the Mediterranean Sea and to the south by Monte Circeo. It was the t ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
Languages and Cultures of Ancient Italy. Historical Linguistics and Digital Models, Project fund by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (P.R.I.N. 2017)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ancient Peoples Of Italy
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
Italy history-related lists
Ancient languages