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List of ancient peoples of Italy

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File:Iron Age Italy.svg, before the Roman expansion and conquest of Italy]]

This list of ancient peoples living in Italy summarises the many different Italian populations that existed in antiquity. Among them, the Romans succeeded in Romanizing the entire Italian peninsula following the Roman expansion in Italy, which provides the time-window in which most of the names of the remaining ancient Italian peoples first appear in existing written documentation. Many names are exonyms assigned by the ancient writers of works in ancient Greek and Latin, while others are scholarly inventions.

Nearly all of these peoples and tribes spoke Indo-European languages: Italics, Celts, Ancient Greeks, and tribes likely occupying various intermediate positions between these language groups. On the other hand, some Italian peoples (such as the Rhaetians, Camuni, Etruscans) likely spoke non- or pre-Indo-European languages. In addition, peoples speaking languages of the Afro-Asiatic family, specifically the largely Semitic Phoenicians and Carthaginians, settled and colonized parts of western and southern Sardinia and western Sicily.{{Cite web|title=Sicilian Peoples: The Carthaginians - Best of Sicily Magazine - Carthaginians, Phoenicians, Hanibal, Hamilcar, Punic Wars, Punic Language, Carthage, Palermo, Zis, Sis, Panormos, Solus, Motya, Motia, Mozia.|url=http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art156.htm|access-date=2022-02-09|website=www.bestofsicily.com}}

Speakers of non-Indo-European languages

{{also|Prehistoric Italy}}

File:Etnie Nuragiche.jpgn and Corsican tribes described by the Romans.]]

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 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).Giacomo Devoto, Gli antichi Italici, Firenze, Vallecchi, 1931.

=Sardinians=

{{See|History of Sardinia| Pre-Nuragic Sardinia| List of ancient Corsican and Sardinian tribes| Nuragic civilization|Sherden|Sea Peoples| Prehistory of Corsica}}

  • The Sardinians were possibly Sherden.{{Cite web|url= http://www.treccani.it//enciclopedia/sardi_(Dizionario-di-Storia)|title= sardi in "Dizionario di Storia"|website= www.treccani.it}}{{Cite web|url= http://www.treccani.it//enciclopedia/sardi_res-c8fc02e8-8bb6-11dc-8e9d-0016357eee51_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)|title= SARDI in "Enciclopedia Italiana"|website= www.treccani.it}}{{Cite web|url= https://www.sardiniapost.it/culture/nuovo-studio-dellarcheologo-ugas-e-certo-i-nuragici-erano-gli-shardana/|title= ARCHIVIO. Nuovo studio dell'archeologo Ugas: "È certo, i nuragici erano gli Shardana"|date= February 3, 2017|website= Sardiniapost.it}}{{Cite web|url= http://www.sardiniapoint.it/5085.html|title= SP INTERVISTA>GIOVANNI UGAS: SHARDANA|website= www.sardiniapoint.it}}
  • Balares (Balari){{Cite web|url = https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/3/3*.html#ImageMapLocation|title= LacusCurtius • Ptolemy's Geography — Book III, Chapter 3|website= penelope.uchicago.edu}}
  • Ilienses/Iolaes/Diagesbes (Iliensi/Iolei)
  • Corsi (Possibly related to Ligures){{cite book|last= Ugas|first= Giovanni|title= L'alba dei nuraghi|year= 2006|publisher= Fabula Editore|isbn= 978-88-89661-00-0|language=it|page=34}}

=Tyrrhenians=

{{See|Etruscan civilization|Etruscan society|Etruscan cities}}

The Tyrrhenians were the Etruscans and their linguistic relatives.

  • Etruscans - Centered in Etruria with later influences stretching from the Po Valley to Campania.{{cite book |last1=Goring |first1= Elizabeth|year=2004 |title=Treasures from Tuscany: the Etruscan legacy |language=en |location=Edinburgh |publisher=National Museums Scotland Enterprises Limited |page=13 |isbn=978-1901663907 }}{{cite book |last1= Leighton |first1=Robert|year=2004 |title=Tarquinia. An Etruscan City |series=Duckworth Archaeological Histories Series |language=en |location= London|publisher= Duckworth Press|page=32 |isbn=0-7156-3162-4 }}{{cite book |translator-last1=Hartmann |translator-first1=Thomas Michael |year=2001 |editor1-last=Camporeale |editor1-first=Giovannangelo |editor1-link=Giovannangelo Camporeale |title=The Etruscans Outside Etruria |language=en |location= Los Angeles|publisher=Getty Trust Publications |publication-date=2004 }}[http://spazioinwind.libero.it/popoli_antichi/Etruschi/Etruria%20Campana.html Etruria campana]Strabo. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+5.4&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239 Geography]. Book V, Chapter IV. Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220902170235/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+5.4&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239 Archived] from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.{{cite book|title=Storia di Nocera. Monumenti, personaggi, leggende|last=Francesco Belsito|publisher=Angri, Gaia|year=2013}}
  • Raeti{{Cite book|title= A Companion to Ethnicity in the Ancient Mediterranean |author=Harald Haarmann|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc |year =2014|chapter = Ethnicity and Language in the Ancient Mediterranean|pages=17–33 |isbn =9781444337341}}
  • Camunni{{cite book|last1= Markey|first1= Thomas|title= Shared Symbolics, Genre Diffusion, Token Perception and Late Literacy in North-Western Europe|date= 2008|publisher= NOWELE}}

File:Femme étrusque (Terracotta).jpg

File:Etruscan terra cotta head of either Catha or Leucothea.jpg

File:Monterozzi necropolis — Tomb of the Leopards.jpg

=Others (classification uncertain)=

  • North Picenes - Centered on the Adriatic Coast with settlements around the region of Ancona.Piceni popolo d'Europa, Vv.Aa., Edizioni De Luca, Roma, 1999, p. 139
  • RutuliHazlitt, William. The Classical Gazetteer (1851), p. 297.
  • Sicani{{cite journal|author=Pietrina Anello|title=I Sicani nel IV secolo a.C.|journal=Atti del convegno di studi su Diodoro Siculo e la Sicilia indigena|number=2005|page=150|language=it}}
  • Ligures{{cite news |url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/liguri |title=Liguri |year=2011 |department=Enciclopedie on line |website=Treccani.it |publisher=Treccani -Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana |location=Rome |language= it|quote=Le documentazioni sulla lingua dei Liguri non ne permettono una classificazione linguistica certa (preindoeuropeo di tipo mediterraneo? Indoeuropeo di tipo celtico?).}}{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/340884/Ligurian-language |title=Ligurian language |publisher=Britannica.com |date=2014-12-16 |accessdate=2015-08-29}}

Speakers of Indo-European languages

=Italo-Celtic=

{{Main|Italo-Celtic}}

Italic and Celtic languages 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 and Proto-Italic developed in close proximity over a long period of time.

== Italic ==

{{Further|Italic peoples|List of ancient Italic peoples}}

Speakers of Italic languages included:

File:Sicily prehellenic topographic map.svg, Sicani and Sicels.]]

  • Sicels{{Cite book |last=Hartmann |first=Markus |title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics |year=2017 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-11-054243-1 |editor-last=Klein |editor-first=Jared |volume=3 |chapter=Siculian|editor-last2=Joseph |editor-first2=Brian |editor-last3=Fritz |editor-first3=Matthias |doi=10.1515/9783110542431-026|s2cid=242076323|page=1854}}
  • Adriatic Veneti - centered in an area corresponding to the modern-day region of Veneto.[http://www.venetoimage.com/svc.htm Storia, vita, costumi, religiosità dei Veneti antichi] at www.venetoimage.com (in Italian). Accessed on 2009-08-18.
  • Carni
  • Catali
  • Catari
  • Histri
  • Liburnians
  • Lopsi
  • Secusses
  • Venetulani
  • Umbri{{cite web|url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/olditalic.htm#umbrian|title=L'alfabeto umbro su Omniglot.com|date=16 January 2009}} - Centered in central Italy stretching from the Adriatic coast to the upper Tiber.
  • Sabines - Centered north of Rome and by the river Tiber.
  • Marsi - Centered around Lake Fucinus
  • Volsci - Centered on the Pontine plain
  • South Picenes
  • Marrucini

File:Samnite soldiers from a tomb frieze in Nola 4th century BCE.jpg

File:Guerriero di capestrano, da capestrano, 600-550 ac ca. 02.jpg, a South Picene statue]]

== Celts ==

{{Further|Lepontii|Cisalpine Gaul}}

The Celts of the Italian peninsula included,

File:Gallia Cisalpina-en.svg showing in blue the approximate distributions of Celtic populations in the area during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC.]]

  • Lepontics{{Cite web |url=http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=xlp |title=LinguistList: Lepontic |access-date=2010-06-06 |archive-date=2011-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111222225335/http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=xlp |url-status=dead }}John T. Koch (ed.) Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia ABC-CLIO (2005) {{ISBN|978-1-85109-440-0}}
  • Graioceli
  • Lepontii
  • Salassi
  • Medulli
  • Ceutrones
  • Allobroges
  • Veragri
  • Helvetii
  • Seduni

== Ligures ==

File:Elmo guerriero pulica.jpg

The Ligures, who may have spoken Pre-Indo-European{{cite news |url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/liguri |title=Liguri |year=2011 |department=Enciclopedie on line |website=Treccani.it |publisher=Treccani -Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana |location=Rome |language= it|quote=Le documentazioni sulla lingua dei Liguri non ne permettono una classificazione linguistica certa (preindoeuropeo di tipo mediterraneo? Indoeuropeo di tipo celtico?).}} or an Indo-European language,{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/340884/Ligurian-language |title=Ligurian language |publisher=Britannica.com |date=2014-12-16 |accessdate=2015-08-29}} were:

= Greeks =

{{Further|Magna Graecia}}

File:Magna Graecia ancient colonies and dialects-eu.svg groupings in Southern Italy (the so-called "Magna Graecia")]]

Sometimes referred in ancient sources as Pelasgi,Herodotus, Histories, ΚΛΕΙΩ 1.56.2: μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐφρόντιζε ἱστορέων τοὺς ἂν Ἑλλήνων δυνατωτάτους ἐόντας προσκτήσαιτο φίλους. ἱστορέων δὲ εὕρισκε Λακεδαιμονίους τε καὶ Ἀθηναίους προέχοντας, τοὺς μὲν τοῦ Δωρικοῦ γένεος, τοὺς δὲ τοῦ Ἰωνικοῦ. ταῦτα γὰρ ἦν τὰ προκεκριμένα, ἐόντα τὸ ἀρχαῖον τὸ μὲν Πελασγικόν
Translation: Then he set out to examine who among the "Greeks" were the strongest, whom he could make friends with. And searching, he found that the Lacedaemonians and the Athenians were distinguished, the former among the Dorians, the latter among the Ionians. Because these nations were the best known, being in the old days the last Pelasgian [http://www.greek-language.gr/digitalResources/ancient_greek/library/browse.html?text_id=30&page=8] the Ancient Greeks of the Italian peninsula included,

File:Femmes peucètes dansant, fresque.jpg women in the Tomb of the Dancers in Ruvo di Puglia, 4th-5th century BC]]

=Others (classification uncertain)=

  • Iapygians or Apulians (possibly related to Illyrians) - Centered in an area corresponding to the modern-day region of Apulia.{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/iapigi_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)/|title=IAPIGI|access-date=3 July 2023|language=it}}
  • Messapians
  • Peucetians
  • Daunians
  • Elymians, who inhabited the western part of Sicily during the Bronze Age and Classical antiquity.{{Cite web|title=Gli Elimi: storia e archeologia di Segesta, Erice, Entella|url=http://www.arkeomania.com/origineelimi.html|access-date=2021-12-26|website=www.arkeomania.com}}{{Cite book|last1=Aloni|first1=Antonio|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4E1gh8J_iiEC|title=Tra panellenismo e tradizioni locali: nuovi contributi|last2=Ornaghi|first2=Massimiliano|date=2011|publisher=Claudio Meliadò|isbn=978-88-8268-029-9|language=it}}

Prehistoric [[archeological culture]]s

{{Main article|Prehistoric Italy}}

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, and Insubres, while other archeological cultures may have been present among multiple groups throughout and beyond the Italian peninsula.

File:Italy Iron Age incineration inhumation.svg

=[[Neolithic]]=

=[[Copper Age]]=

=[[Bronze Age]]=

File:Nuraghe Santu Antine 02.jpg in Torralba]]

File:Ritrovamenti Cultura di Canegrate.JPG]]

=[[Iron Age]]=

Genetics

{{See also|Bell Beaker culture#Genetics|Urnfield culture#Genetics|Hallstatt culture#Genetics|Celts#Genetics|Etruscan civilization#Genetic research|Latins (Italic tribe)#Genetics}}

File:Return of the warrior. Detail of Lucanian tomb.jpgn tomb, 4th century BC]]

A genetic study published in Science in November 2019 examined the remains of six Latin males buried near Rome between 900 BC and 200 BC. They carried the paternal haplogroups R-M269, 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.{{sfn|Antonio et al.|2019|loc=Table 2 Sample Information, Rows 29-32, 36-37}} These examined individuals were distinguished from preceding populations of Italy by the presence of ca. 25-35% steppe ancestry.{{sfn|Antonio et al.|2019|p=2}} Overall, the genetic differentiation between the Latins, Etruscans and the preceding proto-villanovan population of Italy was found to be insignificant.{{sfn|Antonio et al.|2019|p=3}}

See also

{{Ancient history}}

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References

{{reflist}}

Bibliography

  • {{cite journal |last1=Antonio |first1=Margaret L. |last2=Gao |first2=Ziyue |display-authors=1 |date=November 8, 2019 |title=Ancient Rome: A genetic crossroads of Europe and the Mediterranean |journal=Science |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |volume=366 |issue=6466 |pages=708–714 |doi=10.1126/science.aay6826 |pmid=31699931 |pmc=7093155 |bibcode=2019Sci...366..708A |ref={{harvid|Antonio et al.|2019}}}}

External links

  • "[https://www.prin-italia-antica.unifi.it/index.html?newlang=eng 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)

{{Italy topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ancient Peoples Of Italy}}

Italy

Ancient

Category:Ancient languages