The Caraceni or Caricini or Carricini (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: or ) were a tribe of the Italic Samnites. According to Salmon, their name comes from the Celtic carreg- and car- .E.T.Salmon, ''Il Sannio ed i Sanniti'', Einaudi, Torino 1995 According to

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

, they inhabited the most northern part of Samnium, bordering on the

Peligni The Paeligni or Peligni were an Italic tribe who lived in the Valle Peligna, in what is now Abruzzo, central Italy. History The Paeligni are first mentioned as a member of a confederacy that included the Marsi, Marrucini, and Vestini, with wh ...

and the

Frentani The Frentani were an Italic tribe occupying the tract on the southeast coast of the Italian peninsula from the Apennines to the Adriatic, and from the frontiers of Apulia to those of the Marrucini. They were bounded on the west by the Samnites, wi ...

; but more especially the upper valley of the Sagrus (modern Sangro). The only city that he assigns to them is Aufidena. Zonaras describes them as possessing a town or stronghold, which was taken by the Roman consuls Q. Gallus and C. Fabius with difficulty. Aufidena has been identified with the modern

Castel di Sangro Castel di Sangro (locally ''Caštiéllë'') is a city and '' comune'' of 6,461 people (as of 2013) in the Province of L'Aquila, in Abruzzo, Central Italy. It is the main city of the Alto Sangro e Altopiano delle Cinque Miglia area. Geography Ca ...

, which seems, from the inscriptions and other remains discovered there, to have been an ancient town. Their territory was delimited to the north and east from that of the Frentani, to the south from that of the

Pentri The Pentri (Greek: ) were a tribe of the Samnites, and apparently one of the most important of the subdivisions of that nation. According to Salmon, their name comes from the Celtic pen- .E.T.Salmon, ''Il Sannio ed i Sanniti'', Einaudi, Torino 1995 ...

, and to the west from that of the Peligni. The tribe divided itself in two groups: the "Caricini supernates" (Carricini supernates), which occupied the northern part of their eastern region centered on the city of

Juvanum Juvanum or Jovanum was one of the chief cities of the Caraceni, a tribe of Samnites, the ruins of which are located in the communes of Montenerodomo and Torricella Peligna,_in_the_province_of_Chieti.html" ;"title="taly. History The foundatio ...

(whose remains are visible in the territory between the communes of

Torricella Peligna Torricella Peligna is a ''comune'' and town in the Province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region of taly. History The foundation of Torricella dates back according to local tradition to an exodus from the exiles of Juvanum, during the Byzantine ...

and Montenerodomo) and the "Caricini infernates" (Carricini infernates), in the southern part, whose main center was Cluviae (whose ruins have been identified with those at Piano Laroma, a frazione of the commune of Casoli). This small community comprised part of the Samnite Confederation, the great antagonist of the

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 ...

, against which it participated in the

Samnite Wars The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe. ...

and the Social War. The territory of the Caraceni probably came to be occupied by the Romans in the course of the Second Samnite War (c. 310 BC), and the people were gradually assimilated into the Roman state.

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

(iii. 12. s. 17), describes a tribe called Carentini which that author seems to place among the Frentani, with the Caraceni, but distinct from them.

References

*{{SmithDGRG Samnite tribes