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THE EARLY
ITALIC TRIBES
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History of Italy)
Introduction
With the
Iron Age Italy and her population practically enter the historical
period, even if some while after the more advanced Eastern Mediterranean
and Near East civilizations from where arrived particular influences.
At the beginning of the first millennium BC the following native
tribes could be distinguished on Italian territory: the Ligures,
on the coast that bears their name, in the northern Apennine
valleys, part of the pre-alpine valleys and the western Po Valley;
the Sicani, in the interior of Sicily; and the Itali,
in present-day Calabria (from whom comes the name `Italy', which
was to be extended to all the territory of the peninsula). Besides
the already mentioned Terramare tribe, on the southern edge
of the Po Valley, and the Villanovans, probably from Eastern
Europe and settled throughout Central Italy, there were also
the Umbrians to the east of the upper basin of the Tiber. The
Veneti, who occupied the territory that still bears their name,
originally came from Illyria as did the Messapii and Iapyges,
who settled in present-day Puglia (Apulia).
Many other
populations of Central-Southern Italy were created by the mixing
of local and foreing elements dating back to the previous millennium.
As in the case of the Sabines and Latini who settled in Lazio
together with Falisci, Aequi, Volsci, Hernici and Ausones. The
interior of Abruzzo was dominated by the Vestini, Paeligni and
Marsi, while the central Adriatic coast was populated by Picentes,
Marrucini and Frentani. The Apennine area of Molise and Basilicata
was peopled by the Samnites and Lucanians. In Calabria and Sicily
there were also the Bruttii and Siculi.
The Phoenician
colonisation of the coasts of the Western Mediterranean
were limited in Italy to Sardinia and western Sicily and preceded
that of the Greeks. It was followed by Punic settlements (Trapani,
Palermo, Cagliari) linked to the ancient Phoenician colony of
Carthage.
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