The Marsi were an

Italic people The concept of Italic peoples is widely used in linguistics and historiography of ancient Italy. In a strict sense, commonly used in linguistics, it refers to the Osco-Umbrians and Latino-Faliscans, speakers of the Italic languages, a subgroup of ...

ancient 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 ...

, whose chief centre was

Marruvium San Benedetto dei Marsi (, ; ) is a ''comune ''and town in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is on the eastern shore of the dried Lake Fucino, from the remains of another ancient site, Alba Fucens. Near the town ...

, on the eastern shore of

Lake Fucinus The Fucine Lake ( or ) was a large endorheic karst lake between above sea level and surrounded by the Monte Sirente- Monte Velino mountain ranges to the north-northeast, Mount Salviano to the west, Vallelonga to the south, and the Valle del G ...

(which was drained in the time of

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

). The area in which they lived is now called

Marsica Marsica is a geographical and historical region in Abruzzo, central Italy, including 37 ''comuni'' in the province of L'Aquila. It is located between the plain of the former Fucine Lake, the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise, National Par ...

. They originally spoke a language now termed Marsian which is attested by several inscriptions.

History

The Marsi were first mentioned as members of a confederacy with the

Vestini Vestini () were an Italic peoples, Italic tribe who occupied the area of the modern Abruzzo (central Italy), included between the Gran Sasso and the northern bank of the Aterno-Pescara, Aterno river. Their main centres were ''Pitinum ''(near mo ...

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 wh ...

and

Marrucini The Marrucini were an Italic tribe that occupied a small strip of territory around the ancient ''Teate'' (modern Chieti), on the east coast of Abruzzo, Italy, limited by the Aterno and Foro Rivers. Other Marrucinian centers included ''Ceio'' ( S ...

. They joined the

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic peoples, Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan language, Oscan-speaking Osci, people, who originated as an offsh ...

in 308 BC, and, on their submission, became allies of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 304 BC. After a short-lived revolt two years later, for which they were punished by the loss of territory, they were readmitted to the Roman alliance and remained faithful down to the Social War, their contingent being always regarded as the flower of the Italian forces. The Latin colony of

Alba Fucens Alba Fucens was an ancient Italic people, Italic town located at elevation at the base of Monte Velino, approximately north of Avezzano, Abruzzo, central Italy. Its ruins can be found in the ''comune'' of Massa d'Albe. The city is largely vis ...

near the northwest corner of the lake was founded in the adjoining

Aequi 300px, Location of the Aequi (Equi) in central Italy, 5th century BC. The Aequi were an Italic tribe on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the east of Latium in central Italy who appear in the early history of ancient Rome. After a long stru ...

an territory in 303 BC so that, from the beginning of the 3rd century, the Marsians were in touch with a Latin-speaking community, to say nothing of the Latin colony of

Carsioli Carsoli ( Marsicano: ') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo (central Italy). The ancient Roman city lies southwest of the modern town. History The ancient city, known as ''Carsioli'' (or ''Carseoli''), was founded in the ...

farther west. The earliest pure Latin inscriptions of the district seem to be C.I.L. IX 3827 and 3848 from the neighbourhood of Supinum; its character generally is of the Gracchan period, though it might be somewhat earlier. In the

Social War (91–87 BC) The Social War (from Latin , "war of the allies"), also called the Italian War or the Marsic War, was fought largely from 91 to 88 BC between the Roman Republic and several of its autonomous allies () in Roman Italy, Italy. Some of the ...

which, owing to the prominence of the Marsian rebels, is often known as the Marsic War, they fought bravely against odds under their leader Q. Pompaedius Silo and, though they were frequently defeated, the result of the war was the enfranchisement of the allies. All the coins of Pompaedius Silo have the Latin legend "Italia", while the other leaders in all but one case used

Oscan Oscan is an extinct Indo-European language of southern Italy. The language is in the Osco-Umbrian or Sabellic branch of the Italic languages. Oscan is therefore a close relative of Umbrian and South Picene. Oscan was spoken by a number of t ...

Religion

The sanctuary of

Lucus Angitiae Lucus Angitiae was an Italic and Roman town and sanctuary with temple of the goddess Angitia, the ruins of which are located in the comune of Luco dei Marsi in the Abruzzo region of Italy. The original name of the site was linked to the wo ...

, the chief temple and grove of the goddess

Angitia Angitia was a List of Roman deities, goddess among the Marsi, the Paeligni and other Osco-Umbrian languages, Oscan-Umbrian peoples of central Italy. She was associated in antiquity with snake-charmers who claimed her as their ancestor. Roman myth ...

stood at the southwest corner of Lake Fucinus, near the inlet to the tunnel of

and the village of

Luco dei Marsi Luco dei Marsi is a ''comune'' and town in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of central-eastern Italy. It is part of the Marsica. The town was probably founded by the Roman Emperor Claudius to house workers in the drying of the ''Lacu ...

. Angitia was widely worshipped in the central highlands as a goddess of healing, especially skilled to cure serpent bites by charms and the herbs of the Marsian woods, which was carried out by local inhabitants until modern times. Their country was considered by Rome to be the home of witchcraft.see Hor. ''Sat.'' i, 9, 29, Epod. 17, 28, &c.

References

Bibliography

* ;Attribution * Endnote: ** (from which some portions of this article are taken; on the Fucino-Bronze, ''ib.'' p. 294) {{Authority control Socii Ancient Abruzzo Marsica

History

Religion

See also

References

Bibliography