Vestini () were an Italic tribe who occupied the area of the modern

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 ...

(central Italy), included between the Gran Sasso and the northern bank of the Aterno river. Their main centres were ''Pitinum ''(near modern

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of the Province of L'Aquila and the Abruzzo region in Italy. , it has a population of 69,902. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valley of the A ...

), ''Aufinum ''(

Ofena Ofena ( Abruzzese: ') is a ''comune'' and town in the Province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is located in the natural park known as the "Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park". The comune/village is home to a vast and rich h ...

), ''Peltuinum'' ( Prata d'Ansidonia), ''Pinna ''( Penne) and '' 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

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 ...

Historical geography

Writing at about 100 years after the end of the Social War, a failed last attempt of the italic tribes to form a union, Italy, that would compete with Rome in power and influence, the Roman geographer,

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

, placed the location of the Vestini as he knew it to be as follows. The southern border was the Aternus River (modern Aterno-Pescara). Aternum (modern

), then on the southern bank of the mouth of the river, was on the

an side. Both the

Peligni 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 whic ...

upstream on the southern bank and the Marrucini downstream shared the port with the Vestini. Strabo has little else to say about the country of the Vestini, except that it was mountainous.

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

has only to add that the towns of the Vestini were Pinna, Avia, Amiternum (a mistake, probably

Aufina Aufīna was an ancient city of the Vestini, mentioned by Pliny (iii. 12. s. 17), who enumerates the ''Aufinates Cismontani'' among the communities of the Vestini; and states that they were united with the Peltuinates, but whether municipally or lo ...

) and Angulus.

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

mentions also Peltuina. He lists the Vestini in Augustus' Regio IV.

History

The period of Vestinian sovereignty

A Vestini sculpture, the Warrior of Capestrano, dating from the 6th century BC, was found in Capestrano,

province of L'Aquila The province of L'Aquila () is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated Provinces of Italy, province of the Abruzzo region of Italy. It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part of the region. It ...

; it represents the King of Vestini tribe, Naevius Pompuledius, and was made by the sculptor Aninis. The tribe entered into the Roman alliance, retaining its own independence, in 302 BC, and issuing coins of its own in the following century. A northerly section round Amiternum near the passes into Sabine country probably received the Caerite franchise soon after. In spite of this, and of the influence of Hadria, modern

Atri Atri or Attri is a Vedic sage, who is credited with composing numerous shlokas to Agni, Indra, and other Vedic deities of Hinduism. Atri is one of the Saptarishi (seven great Vedic sages) in the Hindu tradition, and the one most mentioned in ...

, a Latin colony founded about 290 BC, cites:

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 i ...

, ''Epit.'' xi. the local dialect, which belongs to the north

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 ...

group, survived certainly to the middle of the 2nd century BC (see the inscriptions cited below) and probably until the Social War.

Romanization

The oldest Latin inscriptions of the district are C.I.L. ix. 3521, from Furfo with

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...

n alphabet, and 3574, "," but with couraverunt, a form which, as intermediate between or and , cannot be earlier than 100 BC. The latter inscription contains also the forms (nom. p1.) and (gen. sing.), which show that the Latin first spoken by the Vestini was not that 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, ...

, but that of their neighbours the

Marsi The Marsi were an Italic people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus (which was drained in the time of Claudius). The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. They originally spoke a l ...

and

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 ...

. The inscription of Scoppito shows that at the time at which it was written the upper ''Aternus'' valley must be counted Vestine, not Sabine in point of dialect.

Notes

References

Attribution: * Endnotes: **See further Paeligni and

Sabini The Sabines (, , , ; ) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains (see Sabina) of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divided into ...

, and for the inscriptions and further details, R. S. Conway, ''The Italic Dialects'', pp. 258 ff., on which this article is based.