The Marrucini were an Italic tribe that occupied a small strip of territory around the ancient ''Teate'' (modern

Chieti Chieti (, ; , , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Southern Italy, east of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti, in the Abruzzo, Abruzzo region. In Italian, the adjectival form is ''teatino'' and inhabitants of Chieti ar ...

), on the east coast of

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, limited by the Aterno and Foro Rivers. Other Marrucinian centers included ''Ceio'' ( San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore), ''Iterpromium'' (whose ruins are under the Abbey of San Clemente at Casauria), ''Civitas Danzica'' ( Rapino), and the port of ''Aternum'' (

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

), shared with the Vestini.

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 Lucanians, Lucania ...

, 325 BC, and it entered the Roman Alliance as a separate unit at the end of that war (see further Paeligni).

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.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 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).

Gentes of Marrucini origin

* Asinia gens

Things named after Marrucini

; Corso Marrucino and Teatro Marrucino They are respectively the main historical

promenade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortification, fortress or city walls ...

and theater in

, with its

old town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

lying on the hill of the ancient Teate Marrucinorum. ; San Martino sulla Marrucina Town in the Province of Chieti, in the

region ; 7515 Marrucino Main-belt

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

discovered in 1986 by Giovanni de Sanctis at the European Southern Observatory

References

* This work in turn cites: ** {{Authority control Italic peoples Socii Ancient Abruzzo Osco-Umbrian languages