The Umbri were an

Italic people 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 leas ...

of ancient Italy. A region called

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

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 easily defensible hilltops.

was bordered by the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest List of rivers of Italy, 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 ...

and Nar rivers and included the Apennine slopes on the Adriatic. The ancient

Umbrian language Umbrian is an extinct Italic language formerly spoken by the Umbri in the ancient Italian region of Umbria. Within the Italic languages it is closely related to the Oscan group and is therefore associated with it in the group of Osco-Umbrian lan ...

is a branch of a group called Oscan-Umbrian, which is related to the Latino-Faliscan languages.

Origins

They are also called ''Ombrii'' in some

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

sources. Ancient Roman writers thought the Umbri to be of

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium ...

origin; wrote that they were descended from an ancient Gaulish tribe.

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

wrote that the name might be a different way of writing the name of the Celto-Germanic , which loosely means "King of the .

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

suggested that the , another Gaulish tribe, might be connected; their Celtic name ''Isombres'' could possibly mean "Lower Umbrians," or inhabitants of the country below Umbria. Similarly Roman

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

Cato the Elder Marcus Porcius Cato (; 234–149 BC), also known as Cato the Censor ( la, Censorius), the Elder and the Wise, was a Roman soldier, senator, and historian known for his conservatism and opposition to Hellenization. He was the first to write his ...

, in his masterpiece

Origines (, "Origins") is the title of a lost work on Roman and Italian history by Cato the Elder, composed in the early-2nd centuryBC. Contents According to Cato's biographer Cornelius Nepos, the ''Origins'' consisted of seven books. Book I was the hi ...

, defines the Gauls as "the progenitors of the Umbri". The Ambrones are also mentioned, with the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

and the Suebi, among the tribes of Northern Europe in the poem

Widsith "Widsith" ( ang, Wīdsīþ, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the ''Exeter Book'', a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th c ...

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

wrote concerning the folk-etymology of the name: Ancient Greek historians considered the Umbri as the ancestors of the Sabellian people, namely 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 divid ...

and the Samnites, and the tribes which sprung from them, as the

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. ...

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 ...

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 ...

Picentes The name Picentes or Picentini refers to the population of Picenum, on the northern Adriatic coastal plain of ancient Italy. Their endonym, if any, is not known for certain. There is linguistic evidence that the Picentini comprised two different ...

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 more ...

, and others. Their expansion was in a southward direction, according to the rite of Ver Sacrum.

Culture

Lepontic Lepontic is an ancient Alpine Celtic languageJohn T. Koch (ed.) ''Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia'' ABC-CLIO (2005) that was spoken in parts of Rhaetia and Cisalpine Gaul (now Northern Italy) between 550 and 100 BC. Lepontic is atte ...

inscriptions have also been found in

, in the area which saw the emergence of the Terni culture, which had strong similarities with the Celtic-speaking cultures of

Hallstatt Hallstatt ( , , ) is a small town in the district of Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Salzkammergut ...

and La Tène. The Umbrian necropolis of

Terni Terni ( , ; lat, Interamna (Nahars)) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria in central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera river. It is ...

, which dates back to the 10th century BC, was virtually identical in every aspect to the Celtic necropolis of the

Golasecca culture The Golasecca culture (9th - 4th century BC) was a Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age culture in northern Italy, whose type-site was excavated at Golasecca in the province of Varese, Lombardy, where, in the area of Monsorino at the beginning of the ...

Religion

During the 6th–4th centuries BC, Umbrian communities constructed rural sanctuaries in which they sacrificed to the gods. Bronze

votives A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

shaped as animals or deities were also offered. Umbrian deities include

Feronia Feronia may mean: * Feronia (mythology), a goddess of fertility in Roman and Etruscan mythology * ''Feronia'' (plant), a genus of plants * Feronia Inc., a plantations company operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo * Feronia (Sardinia) ...

, Valentia, Minerva Matusia and

Clitumnus In Roman mythology, Clitumnus (; ) was a son of Oceanus and Tethys. He was the god of the Clitunno River in Umbria. Reference to Clitumnus is best attested in Pliny the Younger "Letters" 8.8: "Hard by is an ancient and sacred temple, where ...

. The

Iguvine Tablets The Iguvine Tablets, also known as the Eugubian Tablets or Eugubine Tables, are a series of seven bronze tablets from ancient Iguvium (modern Gubbio), Italy, written in the ancient Italic language Umbrian. The earliest tablets, written in the na ...

were discovered in 1444 at Scheggia, near

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennines. History The city's origins are very ancient. ...

, Italy. Composed during the 2nd or 3rd centuries BC, they describe religious rituals involving animal sacrifice. The modern Festival of Ceri, celebrated every year in Gubbio on May 15 in honor of Bishop

Ubald Ubald of Gubbio ( it, Ubaldo; la, Ubaldus; french: Ubalde; ca. 1084–1160) was a medieval bishop of Gubbio, in Umbria, today venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. Saint Ubaldo Day is still celebrated at the Basilica of Sant'Ubaldo in ...

or Ubaldo of Gubbio (1084-1160), shares certain features with the rites described in the 3rd c. BC Iguvine tables mentioned above, and so may be a survival of that ancient pre-Christian custom. It is also celebrated in Jessup, PA, a town with a large number of immigrants from the Gubbio area, as

Saint Ubaldo Day Saint Ubaldo Day or ''Festa dei Ceri'' is an event celebrated on 15 May in the Italian town of Gubbio. It honors the life of Bishop Ubaldo Baldassini who was canonized as protector of Gubbio. It is also celebrated in the American town of Jess ...

.Poultney, J.W. "Bronze Tables of Iguvium" 1959 p. 1 https://archive.org/details/bronzetablesofig00poul/page/n19/mode/2up

Political structure

While we have little direct information about ancient Umbrian political structure, it is fairly clear that two men held the supreme magistracy of ''uhtur'' and were responsible for supervising rituals. Other civic offices included the ''marone'', which had a lower status than ''uhtur'' (closely related to Latin ''auctor'' whence English "author"), and a religious position named ''kvestur'' (cognate to or a borrowing of Latin Quaestor). The Umbrian social structure was divided into distinct groups probably based upon military rank. During the reign of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

, four Umbrian aristocrats became senators. Emperor Nerva’s family was from Umbria. According to Guy Jolyon Bradley, " The religious sites of the region have been thought to reveal a society dominated by agricultural and pastoral concerns, to which town life came late in comparison to Etruria."

Roman influence

Throughout the 9th-4th centuries BC, imported goods from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and

Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscan civiliza ...

were common, as well as the production of local pottery. The Romans first made contact with Umbria in 310 BC and settled Latin colonies there in 299 BC, 268 BC and 241 BC. They had completed their conquest of Umbria by approximately 260 BC. Incorporation into the Roman state occurred during the 3rd century BC when some Umbri were given full citizenship or citizenship without the right to vote. Also during the 3rd century BC about 40,000 Romans settled in the region. The Via Flaminia linking areas of Umbria was complete by 220 BC. Cities in Umbria also contributed troops to Rome for its many wars. Umbrians fought under Scipio Africanus in 205 BC during the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

. The

Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort fo ...

recruited from Etruria and Umbria. The Umbri played a minor role in the Social War and as a result were granted citizenship in 90 BC. Roman veterans were settled in Umbria during the reign of Augustus.

Archaeological sites

The Umbrians descend from the

culture of Terni Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylor ...

, protohistoric facies of southern Umbria. The towns of Chianciano and

Clusium Clusium ( grc-gre, Κλύσιον, ''Klýsion'', or , ''Kloúsion''; Umbrian:''Camars'') was an ancient city in Italy, one of several found at the site. The current municipality of Chiusi (Tuscany) partly overlaps this Roman walled city. The Ro ...

(Umbrian: ''Camars'') near modern Arezzo contain traces of Umbrian habitation dating to the 7th or 8th centuries BC.

(in Latin: ''Interamna Nahars'') was the first important Umbrian center. Its population was called with the name of ''Umbri Naharti''. They were the largest, organized and belligerent tribe of the Umbrians and populated compactly across the basin of Nera River. This people are quoted for 8 times in the Iguvine Tablets. Their importance is confirmed not only by the Iguvine Tablets and Latin historians, and by the important and privileged role played by this city in Roman times, but also by the discovery, at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, of one of the larger mixed burial necropoleis (Urnfield culture and burial fields) in Europe, about 3000 tombs (Necropoli delle Acciaierie di Terni). Assisi, called ''Asisium'' by the Romans, was an ancient Umbrian site on a spur of Mount Subasio. Myth relates that the city was founded by Dardanus in 847 BC.

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

and Orvieto are not considered of Umbrian but Etruscan origin. According to the geographical distribution of the Umbrian territory, they are located on the left side of the Tiber River, which is part of the ancient Etruria. Umbri were on the opposite side of the river. According to the map of '' Regio Umbria and Ager Galliucus'' by Emperor

, the major Umbrian city-states were:

Todi Todi () is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) of the province of Perugia (region of Umbria) in central Italy. It is perched on a tall two-crested hill overlooking the east bank of the river Tiber, commanding distant views in every direction. I ...

, Amelia and

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Spolet ...

(the current part of southern Umbria).

Prominent Umbri

Gentes of Umbrian origin

* Accia gens *

Annaea gens Annaea or Annaia ( grc, Ἄνναια) or Anaea or Anaia (Ἀναία), was a town of ancient Ionia. Stephanus of Byzantium placed it in Caria, opposite Samos. Pausanias also puts it on the mainland across from Samos and says it was fortified by ...

* Belliena gens *

Cocceia gens The gens Cocceia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The gens is first mentioned towards the latter end of the Republic, and is best known as the family to which the emperor Nerva belonged.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology ...

* Fuficia gens *

Luciena gens The gens Luciena was a minor family at Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the final century of the Republic. Origin The nomen ''Lucienus'' appears to belong to a class of names derived from other names, including those of other ...

Peducaea gens The gens Peducaea, occasionally written Paeducaea or Peducea, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens occur in history from the end of the second century BC, and from then to the time of Antoninus Pius, they steadily increase ...

* Propertia gens * Rustia gens * Scoedia gens * Sibidiena gens * Titulena gens *

Ulpia gens The gens Ulpia was a Roman family that rose to prominence during the first century AD. The gens is best known from the emperor Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, who reigned from AD 98 to 117. The Thirtieth Legion took its name, ''Ulpia'', in his honor. ...

Umbrena gens The gens Umbrena was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Hardly any members of this gens appear in history, of whom the best known may have been Publius Umbrenus, one of the Catilinian conspirators in 63 BC.''Dictionary of Greek and Rom ...

Umbria gens The gens Umbria, occasionally written Umbreia, was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Only a few members of this gens are mentioned by Roman writers, but a number are known from inscriptions. Marcus Umbrius Primus was the first to attain ...

* Umbricia gens

Romans of Umbrian ancestry

* Nerva, Roman emperor *

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

, Roman emperor * Seneca the Elder, rhetorician and writer *

Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born in ...

, Stoic philosopher, statesman and dramatist

Genetics

A 2020 analysis of maternal haplogroups from ancient and modern samples indicated a substantial genetic similarity among the modern inhabitants of

and the area's ancient pre-Roman inhabitants, and evidence of substantial genetic continuity in the region from pre-Roman times to the present with regard to

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

. Both modern and ancient Umbrians were found to have high rates of mtDNA haplogroups U4 and U5a, and an overrepresentation of J (at roughly 30%). The study also found that, "local genetic continuities are further attested to by six terminal branches (H1e1, J1c3, J2b1, U2e2a, U8b1b1 and K1a4a)" also shared by ancient and modern Umbrians.

References

Sources

* {{cite book, vauthors = Domenico RP , title=Regions of Italy: A Reference Guide to History and Culture, year=2001, url=https://archive.org/details/regionsitalyrefe00dome, url-access=limited, publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, page
367
��371, isbn=9780313307331 Socii History of le Marche History of Umbria Umbri