Falisci 1

Falisci

Map of early Italic languages.

View from the general vicinity of Falerii to Monte Sorrate on the southern border.

Falisci (Ancient Greek: Φαλίσκοι) is theancient Roman exonym for an Italic peoplewho lived in what was then Etruria, on theEtruscan side of the Tiber River. The regionis now entirely Lazio. They spoke an Italiclanguage, Faliscan, closely akin to Latin.Originally a sovereign state, politically andsocially they supported the Etruscans,joining the Etruscan League. Thisconviction and affiliation led to theirultimate near destruction and totalsubjugation by Rome.

Only one instance of their own endonym hasbeen found to date: an inscription fromFalerii Novi from the late 2nd century ADrefers to the falesce quei in Sardinia sunt,"the Faliscans who are in Sardinia," wherefalesce is the nominative plural case. AnEtruscan inscription calls them the feluskeś.The Latin cannot be far different from theoriginal name. The -sc- suffix is "distinctiveof the Italic ethnonyms."

Geography

The Falisci resided in a region called by theRomans the Ager Faliscus, "FaliscanCountry," located on the right bank of theTiber River between and including GrottaPorciosa in the north and Capena in thesouth. To the west the corners of the roughlysquare area were on the slopes of the MontiSabatini in the south and the Monti Ciminiin the north. Pollen samples from Lago diBracciano, Lago di Monterosi and Lago diVico reveal that the montane forests wereoak and were very dense until the 2ndcentury BC.

The arable land was contained within anenclosure of volcanic highlands and theTiber River. The northern border of the enclosure went along the ridge of the Monti Cimini, the southern along the

ridge connecting the Monti Sabatini and Monte Soratte, the westen along the highlands connecting the two large volcanic lakes. The inner slopes are drained by streams pointing at the Tiber, which collect into converging canyons

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and finally into the canyon of the Treia River, which empties into the Tiber. These streams required an extensivenetwork of bridges.The Falisci lived in a natural stronghold surrounded by Etruscan cities, notably Veii to the south. This circumstancesuggests east Etruria was originally held by Latins, who were displaced by or incorporated into Etruscan civilization,but the Falisci were able to remain lodged in their highlands. Most of the through traffic went along the ViaTiburtina on the west bank of the river, which could only be crossed south of Capena or at Grotta Porciosa in thenorth. There the Via Flaminia, earlier the Via Amerina, led inland into the country of the Sabines via the valley ofthe Nar River. On the western side, the Via Cassia or its predecessor led to the coast over Sutri gap. The Faliscitherefore prospered by being on a protected crossroad.Their most important centre was Falerii, which became known as Falerii Veteres, after the Romans moved them to aless defensible position, Falerii Novi. Both locations are near the modern Civita Castellana. They also hadFescennium. Archaeologists have discovered other major municipalities unmentioned by the ancient sources atCorchiano, Vignanello, Gallese and Grotta Porciosa.

CultureIn spite of the Etruscan domination, the Faliscans preserved many traces of their Italic origin, such as the worship ofthe deities Juno Quiritis.[1] and Feronia,[2] the cult of the god Soranus by the Hirpi or fire-leaping priests on MountSoracte,[3][4] above all their language.

HistoryThe Falisci, often allied with the Etruscans, resisted Rome for long time. They were allied with Veii when it wasdefeated in 396 BC. In the aftermath Falerii was occupied by the victorious Romans. When in 358 Tarquiniarebelled, the Falisci again took arms against Rome, but were again crushed c. 351 BC. This time an alliance wassigned between the contenders, and a Roman garrison was settled in Falerii.The Falisci took advantage of the First Punic War to declare their independence, but their revolt ended in 241 BCwith the death of 15,000 Falisci and the destruction of Falerii; the survivors were moved to a less defendable city,Falerii Novi.

Notes[1] Ovid, Fasti, VI.49.[2] Livy, History of Rome, xxvi.11.[3] Pliny, Natural History, vii.2.19.[4] Servius, ad Aen. xi. 785, 787

Bibliography• Bakkum, Gabriël CLM (2009). The Latin Dialect of the Ager Faliscus: 150 Years of Scholarship. Thesis,

University of Amsterdam. Part I. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911).

Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Article Sources and Contributors 3

Article Sources and ContributorsFalisci  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=592061835  Contributors: ACW, Ajd, Alex earlier account, Arthur Laisis, Attilios, Barticus88, BerndGehrmann, CanisRufus,CatherineMunro, Charles Matthews, ChrisO, Crowborough, Cynwolfe, Dcoetzee, Dpr, Error, Evertype, Fsojic, GreatWhiteNortherner, Ihcoyc, Kaal, Karl-Henner, Kbdank71, Krakkos, LilHelpa,Lzur, Man vyi, Margacst, Neddyseagoon, Panairjdde, Pasquale, Renato de carvalho ferreira, ShelfSkewed, Shooke, Summerbell, SuzanneIAM, Theelf29, Thistheman, 11 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Iron Age Italy.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Iron_Age_Italy.png  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: User:DbachmannFile:Monte Soratte visto da Civita Castellana.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Monte_Soratte_visto_da_Civita_Castellana.JPG  License: Creative CommonsAttribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: Croberto68File:PD-icon.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:PD-icon.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Alex.muller, Anomie, Anonymous Dissident, CBM, MBisanz, PBS,Quadell, Rocket000, Strangerer, Timotheus Canens, 1 anonymous edits

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