DauniansThe Daunians (Latin: Daunii) were a Iapygian tribe that inhabited northern Apulia in classical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, the Peucetians and the Messapians, inhabited central and southern Apulia, respectively. Although all three tribes spoke the Messapic language, they had developed separate archaeological cultures by the seventh century BC.
Italic languagesThe 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 Italic languages was Latin, the official language of ancient Rome, which conquered the other Italic peoples before the common era.
IapygiansThe Iapygians or Apulians (Latin: Iapyges, Iapygii) were an Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited Iapygia in southeastern Italy (modern Apulia), from the early first millennium BC until the first century BC. They were traditionally divided into three tribal groups: the Daunians, Peucetians and Messapians.Paleo-Balkan languagesThe Paleo-Balkan languages are a geographical grouping of various Indo-European languages that were spoken in the Balkans and surrounding areas in ancient times. In antiquity, Dacian, Greek, Illyrian, Messapic, Paeonian, Phrygian and Thracian were the Paleo-Balkan languages which were attested in literature. They may have included other unattested languages.
Indo-European languagesLanguage family native to EurasiaThe Indo-European languages are a language family native to the north of the Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and Greater Iran, with additional native branches found in regions such as Armenia, parts of the southern Indian subcontinent (Sri Lanka and the Maldives), and even stretching as far as to mainland Southeast Asia (Rohingya language in Myanmar).
MessapiansThe Messapians were an Iapygian tribe who inhabited Salento, a region in what is now southern Italy, in classical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, the Peucetians and the Daunians, inhabited central and northern Apulia respectively. All three tribes spoke the Messapian language, but had developed separate archaeological cultures by the seventh century BC.
ApuliaApulia ( ), also known by its Italian name Puglia (Italian:), is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Otranto and Ionian Sea to the southeast and the Gulf of Taranto to the south. The region comprises 19,540.90 square kilometers (7,544.78 sq mi), and has 3,865,277 inhabitants as of 2026.
Albanoid languagesAlbanoid or Albanic is a branch or subfamily of the Indo-European (IE) languages, of which Albanian language varieties are the only surviving representatives. In current classifications of the IE language family, Albanian is grouped in the same IE branch with Messapic, an ancient extinct language of Balkan provenance that is preserved in about six hundred inscriptions from Iron Age Apulia.
PeucetiansThe Peucetians were an Iapygian tribe which inhabited western and central Apulia in classical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, the Daunians and the Messapians, inhabited northern and southern Apulia respectively.
Archaic Greek alphabetsHistoryArchaic local variants Diacritics and other symbolsDiacriticsάὰᾶἀἁᾱᾰϊᾳσ̌LigaturesϗϛNumerals (Attic)ϛ (6)ϟ (90)ϡ (900) Related topicsUse as scientific symbolsOrthographyRomanizationCyrillizationMany local variants of the Greek alphabet were employed in ancient Greece during the archaic and early classical periods, until around 400 BC, when they were replaced by the classical 24-letter alphabet that is the standard today.
Italian PeninsulaThe Italian Peninsula (Italian: penisola italiana) is located within the Italian geographical region; it extends from the southern Alps in the north to the central in the south which comprises much of the country of Italy and the enclaved microstates of San Marino and Vatican City. The peninsula is also known as the Italic Peninsula (Italian: penisola italica), Apennine Peninsula, Italian Boot, or Mainland Italy.
Roman RepublicPeriod of Roman history (c. 509 – 27 BC)*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.