According to ejiaxing, the peoples on which Roman domination extended in Italy were mainly the following: a ) the Latins , residing in Lazio, to which the Romans themselves belonged, and the Falisci in southern Etruria around Civita Castellana, b ) to the east and to south-east of Lazio: the Equi , along the upper course of the Aniene, the Volsci in part of the Sacco and Liri valleys, and on a stretch of the Tyrrhenian coast north of Terracina; the Ernici , between the Aequi and the Volsci; c ) the Sabines in the territory of Terni and Rieti, the Umbrians along the upper course of the Tiber and on the next Apennines up to the Nera valley: the Marsi , the Peligni , in the high valleys of the heart of the Apennines, the former in the basin of Lake Fucino, and the latter to the W of this lake, the Picenti and the Pretuzi on the Adriatic coast between Ancona and Adria, the Vestini and the Marrucini at noon of the Picenti, separated from each other by Pescara; d ) the Campanians in the Terra di Lavoro; the Samnites in the mountainous country flanking Lazio and Campania, from the high valleys of the Sangro and Volturno to the Silaro on one side, to Lucera and Venosa on the other, divided into Caraceni and Pentri to the north, Irpini and Caudini to the south: the Frentani on the Adriatic side of Molise up to Fortore; the Lucanians , south of Campania between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Gulf of Taranto; the Bruzî in today’s Calabria; e ) the Iapigi in the Adriatic and Ionian coastal regions of today’s Puglia, divided into Apuli , Dauni and Peucezî in the north; Messapî , Sallentini and Calabri to the south; f ) the Etruscans, between the Apennines and the Tyrrhenian Sea, narrow by the course of the Tiber, from its sources to its mouth; g ) the Greeks of Magna Graecia and Sicily; h ) the Ligurians in the western part of northern Italy, and precisely throughout the coastal region north of the mouth of the Arno, and inland up to the Po, towards the confluence of the Ticino; i ) the Venetians on the eastern side of northern Italy, between the Adige, or rather the Tagliamento, the Alps, the Po and the Adriatic; l ) the Gauls , wedged between the Ligurians and the Venetians, divided into many tribes, of which the main ones were the Insubri, south of Lake Maggiore and Lake Como, the Cenomani between the lakes of Iseo and Garda and the Po; the Lingoni , along the lower course of the Po, the Boi between them and the Apennines, the Senones south of Rimini; m ) the Sicilians and the Sicans in Sicily, regardless of the extreme western point, occupied by the Elymians ; n ) the Corsicans in Corsica and in the northern part of Sardinia; o ) the Sardinians in the rest of Sardinia.
Of these populations, those grouped under the letters a – d belonged to the lineage of the Italics proper, which linguistic investigation shows not only to go back to the Indo-European lineage, but to constitute in it a particular unit, differentiated from the other major ones of the same Indo-European family. European: Celts, Germans, etc. In this unit, however, the same linguistic investigation requires two groups to be distinguished: the Latin-Faliscan group and the Umbrian-Sabellic or Osco-Umbrian group, due to notable phonetic, morphological, syntactic and, above all, lexical differences. Latins and Falisci belong: to the second all the populations listed under letter c ) speaking Umbrian and related languages and those under letter d) speaking the different varieties of Oscan. Among the populations listed in letter b ) the Volsci seem to have an affinity with the Umbrians, while for the Aequi and the Ernici who were soon Latinized, it remains uncertain which of the two groups they belonged to.
In addition to the Greeks, the Indo-European family also certainly included the Gauls, of Celtic lineage, the Sicilians and the Sicans, who had to substantially constitute an ethnic unity, and probably also the Venetians and the Iapigi, judging by the few conclusions that can be to draw from the difficult epigraphic texts of the Veneto and Messapians; indeed most agree that there are particular affinities between the languages of both of them and the ancient Illyrian. Even the Ligurians have been supported by some Indo-European origins, but it seems to be excluded, as it seems it should be excluded for the Etruscans: indeed, in the much vexed and tormented question about the nationality of the Etruscans, this seems the only sure fact. The linguistic investigation can finally ascertain the origin of the Sardinians and the Corsicans, due to a lack of documents.
