The Praetutii (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ,

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

; Eth. ,

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

), were an ancient Italic tribe of central

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 ...

. They are thought to have lived around Interamnia (or Interamna), which became modern

Teramo Teramo (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Tèreme ) is a city and '' comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo. The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines ( Gran Sasso d'Ital ...

, and to have given their name to

Abruzzo , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1 ...

. The ancient accounts, however, are substantially confused, when it comes to more precise location and details.

Sources

We have no account of the origin of the Praetutii, or how they differed from the

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 ...

. The chief city of the Praetutii was Interamna, called for distinction's sake Interamna Praetutiana. They occupied a district of

Picenum Picenum was a region of ancient Italy. The name is an exonym assigned by the Romans, who conquered and incorporated it into the Roman Republic. Picenum was ''Regio V'' in the Augustan territorial organization of Roman Italy. Picenum was also ...

, bounded by the river Vomanus (modern

Vomano The Vomano ( la, Vomanus) is a 76 km river, which is in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its source is near Monte San Franco in Gran Sasso d'Italia and Lago di Campotosto in the province of L'Aquila. The river crosses the border into the provinc ...

) on the south and apparently by the stream called by

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

the Albula on the north; but the Albula cannot be identified with certainty, and the text of Pliny may be corrupt as well as confused. He appears to place the Albula north of the Truentus (modern

Tronto The Tronto ( la, Truentus) is a long Italian river that arises at Monti della Laga and ends in the Adriatic Sea at Porto d'Ascoli, San Benedetto del Tronto. It traverses the Lazio, Marche, and Abruzzo regions of Italy. The source of the Tron ...

); but it is certain that the Praetutii did not extend as far to the north as the latter river, and it is probable that the stream now called the

Salinello The Salinello ( la, Zerninus) is a river in Italy. It is located in the province of Teramo in the Abruzzo region of southern Italy. The source of the river is in the Monti della Laga range southwest of Montagna dei Fiori. The river flows eastwar ...

was their northern limit. The editors of the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the '' Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. S ...

'', citing Pliny iii. 110, place the tribe's northern limit at the Tessinnus (another unidentified

hydronym A hydronym (from el, ὕδρω, , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As ...

). The ''Ager Praetutianus'' is mentioned by

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 ...

and Polybius, as well as by Pliny, as a well-known district, and Ptolemy even distinguishes it altogether from Picenum, in which, however, it was certainly generally comprised. But the name seems to have continued in general use, and became corrupted in the Middle Ages into Prutium and Aprutium, from whence the modern name of Abruzzo is generally thought to be derived. Ptolemy also assigns to them the town of

Beregra Civitella del Tronto () is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Teramo, within the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. History The origins of Civitella are unknown, though in the area ha ...

. And the editors of the ''1911 Encyclopædia Britannica'', based on their interpretation of Pliny's text assign the towns of

Castrum Novum In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular a ...

and

Truentus The Tronto ( la, Truentus) is a long Italian river that arises at Monti della Laga and ends in the Adriatic Sea at Porto d'Ascoli, San Benedetto del Tronto. It traverses the Lazio, Marche, and Abruzzo regions of Italy. The source of the Tron ...

to the tribe. Pliny mentions the ''Ager Palmensis'' in close connection with the Praetutii; but this appears to have been only a small district, which was celebrated, as was the Praetutian region generally, for the excellence of its wines.Plin. xiv. 6. s. 8; Dioscor. v. 19;

Silius Italicus Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus (, c. 26 – c. 101 AD) was a Roman senator, orator and epic poet of the Silver Age of Latin literature. His only surviving work is the 17-book '' Punica'', an epic poem about the Second Punic War and th ...

xv. 568.

References

* *{{1911, wstitle=Praetuttii, volume=22, page=246 Picenum Ancient Italic peoples Ancient Abruzzo