The Marrucini were an
Italic tribe that occupied a small strip of territory around the ancient ''Teate'' (modern
Chieti
Chieti (, ; , nap, label= Abruzzese, Chjïétë, ; gr, Θεάτη, Theátē; lat, Theate, ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Central Italy, east by northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region. ...
), on the east coast of
Abruzzo,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, limited by the
Aterno
The Aterno-Pescara (ancient ''Aternus'' from the Greek ''Aternos'', ''Άτερνος'') is a river system in Abruzzo, eastern central Italy. The river is known as the Aterno near its source in the mountains, but takes the name Pescara, actually a ...
and
Foro Rivers. Other Marrucinian centers included ''Ceio'' (
San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore is a mountain hill town in the province of Pescara, part of the Abruzzo region in central Italy.
Nestled in the Apennines, less than from the Adriatic coast, the medieval town lies on the northern edge of the Na ...
), ''Iterpromium'' (whose ruins are under the
Abbey of San Clemente at Casauria), ''Civitas Danzica'' (
Rapino), and the port of ''Aternum'' (
Pescara
Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...
), shared with the
Vestini
() were an Italic tribe who occupied the area of the modern Abruzzo (central Italy), included between the Gran Sasso and the northern bank of the Aterno river. Their main centres were ''Pitinum ''(near modern L'Aquila), ''Aufinum ''(Ofena), ''Pe ...
.
History
The tribe is first mentioned in history as a member of a confederacy with which the Romans came into conflict in the
second Samnite War
The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe.
...
, 325 BC, and it entered the Roman Alliance as a separate unit at the end of that war (see further
Paeligni
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 which ...
).
Language
A few inscriptions in the Marrucinian language survive. They indicate that the language was a member of the
Sabellian group, probably closely related to
Paelignian. Most of the inscriptions are very short, but there is one longer inscription, a bronze tablet inscribed with a text of 35 words. This was found at
Rapino, and known as the "Aes Rapinum" ("Bronze of Rapino"). It is dated to about the middle of the 3rd century BC. It was formerly in the Museum of Antiquities in Berlin, but appears to have been lost during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
.
[Encyclopedia of the Languages of Europe, Edited by: Glanville Price; (Wiley-Blackwell, 2000)] The opening of the Aes Rapinum reads '.
The name of the city or tribe that it gives is ''touta marouca'', and it mentions also a citadel with the epithet ''tarin cris''. Several of its linguistic features, both in vocabulary and in syntax, are of considerable interest to the student of Latin or Italic grammar (e.g. the use of the subjunctive, without any conjunction, to express purpose, a clause prescribing a sacrifice to
Ceres
Ceres most commonly refers to:
* Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid
* Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture
Ceres may also refer to:
Places
Brazil
* Ceres, Goiás, Brazil
* Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás ...
being followed immediately by ''pacrsi eituam amatens'').
The form of the name is of interest, as it shows the suffix ''-NO-'' superimposed on the suffix ''-CO-'', a change that probably indicates some conquest of an earlier tribe by the invading ''Safins'' (or
Sabini
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 divide ...
).
Gentes of Marrucini origin
*
Asinia gens
References
* This work in turn cites:
**
{{Italic languages
Ancient Italic peoples
Socii
Ancient Abruzzo
Osco-Umbrian languages