The so-called West
Indo-European
tribes arrived at the eastern edge of central
Europe around
2500 BC. Their northern group became the
proto-Celts of the
Urnfield culture while the southern group seemingly migrated
westwards and southwards, reaching Illyria and northern
Italy.
Already divided further into semi-isolated tribes, they became more
civilised in habits and technologies due to contact with southern
Greeks and
Etruscans.
In the eleventh to eighth centuries BC, some of those groups in
Illyria crossed by sea into the Italian peninsula and settled along
the south-eastern coast. Those in the north Italian piedmont gradually
migrated southwards to occupy much of the rest of eastern and central
Italy. These tribes all formed part of a general group called
Italics.
The Marsi (or Marruvii, or Marrubii as used by Virgil) were a group
of Italics who, during the Iron Age, were located in central Italy,
around Lake Fucino (a region known today as Marsica). They were
neighboured to the west by the
Latins and Romans,
to the north by the
Etruscans and
Sabini, to the east by the
Vestini and
Paeligni, and to the south
by the Volsci and the
Carracini clan of the
Samnites. Not be confused
with the later Germanic
tribe of the Marsi, this
Marsi people were part of the Oscan-Umbrian group, largely accepted as
being Indo-Europeans (perhaps proto-Celts) who migrated into the peninsula
from the north. They were a warlike Italic people who settled in the region
of Lake Fucino (modern Marsica), in territory that was centred on Marruvium
(now called San Benedetto dei Marsi). The ancient stream called the
Pitonius was nearby (now known as Giovenco).
The Marsi were a tough, enduring mountain folk whose chief divinity was
Angitia, an ancient snake goddess, with snakes forming a symbol of wisdom
throughout their culture. Strabo and Pliny, along with other ancient writers,
state that the Marrucini,
Marsi, Picentes, Sabini,
Samnites, and Vestini were originally a tribe of the Sabellians, a
collective of central Italian tribes during the early Iron Age.
Their language came from the Oscan-Umbrian group of Indo-European languages
(P-Italic), which were widely spoken in Iron Age central and southern Italy
before the rise to dominance of Latin (Latin itself was a slightly more
distantly related language, coming from the Indo-European Latino-Faliscan
group, or Q-Italic). Their inscriptions are dated by the style of writing
used to the period 300-150 BC, before they were subsumed by Roman culture.
(Additional information by Edward Dawson, from Researches into the
Physical History of Mankind, Vol 3, Issue 1, James Cowles Prichard,
from The Roman History: From Romulus and the Foundation of Rome to
the Reign of the Emperor Tiberius, Velleius Paterculus, J C Yardley,
& Anthony A Barrett, from An Historical Geography of Europe,
Norman J G Pounds (Abridged Version), and from External Link:
Geography, Strabo (H C Hamilton & W Falconer, London, 1903,
Perseus Online Edition).)
Marrus
Eponymous founder of Marruvium.
c.800 BC
Although it is hard to be sure that the Marsi even exist as a separately
identifiable people at this stage, they are accounted as subjects of the
Etruscans
and remain so for a little over two hundred years. Their chief settlement
emerges at Marruvium (modern San Benedetto dei Marsi). The town is located
on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus (Lake Fucino, which is drained in the
nineteenth century AD). Other key settlements include Lecce (modern Lecce
nei Marsi), Ortona (modern Ortona dei Marsi), and Trasacco. The Lucus
Angitiae, a wood known as the 'sacred grove of Angitia', is a site held
sacred by the Marsi for their goddess of that name, close to the later
Roman town of Luco
(modern Luco dei Marsi).
This oil depicts Lake Fucino, near San Benedetto dei
Marsi, before it was drained, while above is a map showing
the tribe's location in Iron Age Italy (click on map to view
full sized)
c.580 BC
The
Marsi still cannot be identified with certainty as a separate people, so
they are possibly still part of the Sabellian collective. Around this time they
become subjects of the Samnites,
fellow Sabellians who dominate a large region of central southern
Italy.
325 - 309 BC
The
Marsi ally themselves with the
Romans as a means of removing
Samnite mastery over them, while
the Dauni,
Iapyges,
Lucani,
Messapii, and
Peucetii side with the Samnites
at the start of the Second Samnite War. It is in this period that the
Marsi are first documented historically, when they are recorded as being
confederates of the Marrucini,
Paeligni and
Vestini tribes. Towards the
end of the war, relations with Rome become strained, so the Marsi revolt
and realign themselves to the Samnites.
304 BC
Following the Roman
destruction of the Aequi and the
final defeat of the Samnites at
the end of the Second Samnite War, the
Frentani,
Marrucini, Marsi, and
Paeligni voluntarily accept
their reintegration into Roman administrative rule.
303 - 298 BC
Rome consolidates its
hold over the central Apennines by founding colonies at Sora and Alba Fucens
(on the Aequi frontier with the
Marsi) in 303 BC, and at Carseoli in 298 BC (modern Carsoli). A short-lived
revolt by the Marsi in 302 BC results in the loss of some of their territory
to Rome.
218 - 202 BC
The Second Punic War starts at Saguntum (near modern Valencia) in Hispania.
Hannibal Barca attacks Roman
territory, leading his armies over the Alps into
Italy. While encouraging
the reluctant Romans to commit to battle, he marches through the country
devastating the territory of Rome's
Italic allies, including
that of the Marrucini, Marsi,
and Paeligni. Despite winning
the anticipated battle at Cannae, Hannibal is eventually defeated by Scipio
Africanus at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC, ending the war.
91 - 89 BC
Along
with the Etruscans,
Iapyges,
Lucani,
Marrucini,
Paeligni,
Picentes,
Samnites, and
Vestini, the Marsi fight the
Social War (Italian War, or Marsic War) against
Rome during which the
Marsi warriors are regarded as some of the best of Rome's opponents. The war
is the result of increasing inequality in Roman land ownership, and the
spark for conflict is delivered by the assassination of the reforming Marcus
Livius Drusus, whose efforts would have led to citizenship for all of Rome's
allies.
A silver denarius issued by the Marsic Confederation to support
its cause against Rome
91 - 89 BC
Quintius Poppaedius Silo
Marsi leader
during the Social War. Killed in battle.
91 - 90 BC
Titus Lafrenius
Marsi commander
under Poppaedius. Killed.
90 - 89 BC
Fraucus
Marsi commander
under Poppaedius.
89 BC
The
Romans take direct control
of the Marsi region. Its people are granted Roman citizenship soon afterwards
(the withholding of this being one of their main causes of complaint before
the war). They retain their identity well into the Roman empire period, during
which their chief town, Marruvium, flourishes under the name Civitas Marsorum.
Following the
Lombard invasion of
Italy in the sixth
century AD, the Marsi territory becomes a county that is subject to the
authority of the duchy of Spoleto
in the south. It eventually becomes a duchy in its own right.
Duchy of Marsi (Colonna) AD 1459 - 1528
Marsi, located in central
Italy, and former home to
the Marsi tribal people, became a duchy
for a branch of the Italian noble family of Colonna in the fifteenth century,
although it was short-lived. It also served as the seat of an episcopal see. The
main town in the region was known as Civitas Marsicana by the Middle Ages, which
had originally been founded as the chief settlement of the Marsi. This was destroyed
in 1340 when the Angevin Normans were
fighting for control of Naples,
and had to be rebuilt.
Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna
Lord of Cave and count of Alba.
1459
Lorenzo's domains are divided between his six
children, with Odoardo gaining Marsi.
Scurcola Marsicana is today in the province of L'Aquila,
neighbouring the Marsi lands
1459 - 1485
Odoardo / Edward
Son. Former count of Alba and Celano.
1485 - ?
Giordano
Son.
? - 1528
Prospero /
Prosperetto
Son. Imprisoned. No male heir.
1528
Prospero is imprisoned in Civita Lavinia. Both his offspring
are daughters so ownership of the duchy passes away from the Colonnas, and in
1540 the episcopal see moves to nearby Pescina. In the seventeenth century, the
archbishop of Amasia (from 1643) and patriarch of Jerusalem (from 1638), Don
Carlo, is termed the duke of Marsi. He is able to trace his origins back to
Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna, albeit via a different branch of the family.
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