Monte Soratte visto da Civita Castellana

Falisci ( grc, Φαλίσκοι, ''Phaliskoi'') is the ancient Roman exonym for an

Italic tribe The Italic peoples were an ethnolinguistic group identified by their use of Italic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family. The Italic peoples are descended from the Indo-European speaking peoples who inhabited Italy from at le ...

who lived in what is now northern Lazio, on the Etruscan side of the Tiber River. They spoke an Italic language, Faliscan, closely akin to

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power ...

. Originally a sovereign state, politically and socially they supported the

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 ...

, joining the Etruscan League. This conviction and affiliation led to their ultimate near destruction and total subjugation by

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 ...

. Only one instance of their own endonym has been found to date: an inscription from Falerii Novi from the late 2nd century AD refers to the ''falesce quei in Sardinia sunt'', "the Faliscans who are in

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, af ...

", where ''falesce'' is the nominative plural case. An Etruscan inscription calls them the ''feluskeś''. The Latin cannot be far different from the original name. The -sc- suffix is "distinctive of the Italic ethnonyms".

Geography

The Falisci resided in a region called by the Romans the ''Ager Faliscus'', "Faliscan Country", located on the right bank of the Tiber River between and including Grotta Porciosa in the north and Capena in the south. To the west, the corners of the roughly square area were on the slopes of the Monti Sabatini in the south and the Monti Cimini in the north. Pollen samples from Lake Bracciano, Lake Monterosi and Lake Vico reveal that the montane forests, formed by oaks, were very dense until the 2nd century BC. The arable land was contained within an enclosure of volcanic highlands and the Tiber River. The northern border of the enclosure went along the ridge of the Monti Cimini, the southern along the ridge connecting the Monti Sabatini and Monte Soratte, the western along the highlands connecting the two large volcanic lakes. The inner slopes are drained by streams pointing at the Tiber, which collect into converging canyons and finally into the canyon of the Treja River, which empties into the Tiber. These streams required an extensive network of bridges. Most of the through traffic went along the Via Tiburtina on the west bank of the river, which could only be crossed south of Capena or at Grotta Porciosa in the north. There the Via Flaminia, earlier the Via Amerina, led inland into the country of the

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 ...

via the valley of the Nar River. On the western side, the Via Cassia or its predecessor led to the coast over Sutri gap. The Falisci therefore prospered by being on a protected crossroad. Their most important centre was Falerii, which became known as ''Falerii Veteres'' after the Romans moved them to a less defensible position, ''Falerii'' ''Novi''. Both locations are near the modern Civita Castellana. They also had Fescennium. Archaeologists have discovered other major municipalities, unmentioned by the ancient sources, at Corchiano, Vignanello, Gallese and Grotta Porciosa.

Culture

In spite of the Etruscan domination, the Faliscans preserved many traces of their Italic origin, such as the worship of the deities

Juno Quiritis Quiritis was a Sabine (pre-Roman) goddess of motherhood. She was often associated with protection. In later years, Quiritis was identified with the goddess Juno, who was sometimes worshipped under the name Juno Quiritis (or Juno Curitis). Some sch ...

, Feronia, the cult of the god Soranus by the Hirpi or fire-leaping priests on Mount Soracte, Servius, ''ad Aen.'' xi. 785, 787 above all their language.

History

The Falisci, often allied with the Etruscans, resisted

for a long time. They were allied with Veii when it was defeated in 396 BC. In the aftermath, Falerii was occupied by the victorious Romans. When, in 358,

Tarquinia Tarquinia (), formerly Corneto, is an old city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Central Italy, known chiefly for its ancient Etruscans, Etruscan tombs in the widespread necropolis, necropoleis, or cemeteries, for which it was awarded World ...

rebelled, the Falisci again took arms against Rome, but were again crushed c. 351 BC. This time an alliance was signed between the contenders, and a Roman garrison was settled in Falerii. The Falisci took advantage of the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and gr ...

to declare their independence, but their revolt ended in 241 BC with the death of 15,000 Falisci and the destruction of Falerii; the survivors were moved to a less defensible city, ''Falerii Novi''.

Language

The Faliscan language, the Italic language of the ancient Falisci, attested by the 7th century B.C. is an

Indo-European 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, ...

language. Together with

, it forms the

Latino-Faliscan languages The Latino-Faliscan or Latinian languages form a group of the Italic languages within the Indo-European family. They were spoken by the Latino-Faliscan people of Italy who lived there from the early 1st millennium BCE. Latin and Faliscan belon ...

group of the Italic languages. It seems probable that the language persisted, being gradually permeated with Latin, until at least 150 BC.

Notes

Sources

* *{{EB1911 , wstitle=Falisci , volume=10 , page=148 , first=Robert Seymour , last=Conway , author-link=Robert Seymour Conway Ancient Italic peoples