European Kingdoms

Oenotri / Wenotri (Italics)

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What are generally known as West Indo-European tribes arrived at the eastern edge of Central Europe around 2500 BC. Their northern group later became the proto-Celts of the Urnfield culture while the southern group seemingly migrated westwards and southwards, reaching Iberia, Illyria, and northern Italy.

Already further divided into semi-isolated tribes, they became more civilised in their habits and available forms of technology due to contact with southern Greeks and Etruscans. In the period between 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 who had entered peninsular Italy via 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 which are known as Italics, seemingly part of the main population of West Indo-Europeans prior to the emergence of Celtic culture.

The Oenotri (alternatively shown as Oenotrii, Oenotrians, or even Enotrians) were a group of Italics which, during the Italian Iron Age, were located on the 'arch' of the Italian boot, in the modern region of Basilicata. They were neighboured to the north-east by the Iapyges, to the east by the Greek colony of Metapontum, to the south by the Chones, to the west by the Brutii, and to the north by the Lucani and perhaps the Hirpini clan of Samnites.

The Oscan-Umbrian group of which the Oenotri were possibly part are largely accepted as being Indo-Europeans (and perhaps with links to proto-Celts) who migrated into the peninsula from the north. The Oenotri are also linked to the Illyrian Iapyges suggesting, perhaps, a degree of intermixing.

Ancient belief was that they had migrated into Italy under the command of a legendary son of Lycaon. This migration legend is also given to the Apulian tribes to the east, raising the possibility that the Oenotri were actually a division of the Iapyges.

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(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Edward Dawson, from Researches into the Physical History of Mankind, Vol 3, Issue 1, James Cowles Prichard, from An Historical Geography of Europe, Norman J G Pounds (Abridged Version), 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 A Genetic Signal of Central European Celtic Ancestry, David K Faux, from The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World, David W Anthony, from The History of Rome, Volume 1, Titus Livius (translated by Rev Canon Roberts), from The Histories, Herodotus (Penguin, 1996), from Encyclopaedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition, Cambridge (England), 1910), from Encyclopaedia of the Roman Empire, Matthew Bunson (1994), and from External Links: The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe (Nature), and Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe (Nature.com), and Indo-European Chronology - Countries and Peoples, and Indo-European Etymological Dictionary, J Pokorny, and Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, William Smith (1854, Perseus Digital Library), and The Natural History, Pliny the Elder (John Bostock, Ed), and L'Arbre Celtique (The Celtic Tree, in French), and Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz or Dictionnaire Historique de la Suisse or Dizionario Storico dell Svizzera (in German, French, and Italian respectively), and Le Alpi (Università di Trento), and Pleiades (Ancient World Mapping Center and Institute for the Study of the Ancient World).)

Son of Lycaon. Eponymous legendary founder.

According to Greek legend, Oenotrus is a son of an Illyrian (Arcadian) king named Lycaon, who is himself the son of Pelasgos, eponymous ancestor of the Pelasgoi. He, along with three other sons, Iapyx, Daunius, and Peucetius, lead their people across the Adriatic Sea and into south-eastern Italy, where they settle, mixing in with the native pre-Italic population.

This map pinpoints the general location of the Italic tribes in peninsular Italy during the Iron Age (click or tap on map to view full sized)

The Iapyges fragment into at least three sub-groups: the Dauni, Messapii, and Peucetii (along with the Oenotri, who are not always mentioned in conjunction with the Illyrian tribes). The Oenotri themselves travel farther west, settling around the border of the modern regions of Basilicata and Calabria.

In his work, Politics, Aristotle names a king of Oenetria called Italus. Oenetria at this time is taken to refer to the 'toe' of the Italian 'boot', an area which is known today as Calabria. Aristotle claims that the Oenotri of this region had changed their name to the Itali. It is this name that is used by later Greek settlers to refer to the entire land, but this origin story is probably sheer invention.

Thucydides claims that Italus is a king of the Siculi, while after diligent research Dionysius concludes that the Itali and Siculi are one people.

Perhaps the heartland of Oenotri territory even at the point of their greatest expansion during the ninth century BC, Monte Arioso is verdant, productive land

Italus is claimed as the successor to Oenotrus, King Morges of the Morgetes succeeds Italus, and Siculus of the Siculi is the successor to Morges, which seems to illustrate the belief that the Itali, Morgetes, Oenotri, and Siculi have a shared heritage.

10th century BC

According to Thucydides, the arrival of the more warlike Oenotri and Opici in northern Calabria triggers the migration of the Elymi, Itali, and Siculi into the 'toe' of Italy and onto Sicily. Antiochus of Syracuse confirms this when writing around 420 BC.

9th century BC

With the beginning of the Italian Iron Age, signs of territorial variation begin to emerge, although the gradual differentiation between a western area, an eastern area, and an Alpine area will only acquire more consistency in the seventh century BC. This is the Golasecca I A period.

Objects which have been found in tombs in the Como region of Italy testify to the progressive opening up by the Golasecca people to exchanges with the transalpine world to the north and the central-Italic Etruscan area to the south

The Etruscans flourish, taking over a large number of Umbrian settlements along their eastern border. In the south the Oenotri appear to do the same, according to Dionysius, probably during the course of the tenth and ninth centuries, pushing the Umbri out of their southernmost settlements.

This suggests that the early Oenotri inhabit a much larger territory than during the main part of the Iron Age, perhaps with the Samnites still minimised to the north-west and only just beginning their own expansion.

c.700 BC

Shortly after the start of the Golasecca I B period the Oenotri are pushed out of their settlement at Metabon on the Gulf of Taranto by Greek settlers who found the colony of Metapontum on the site.

The Oenotri are forced to move inland, probably infringing on the territory of the Lucani, and Oenetri and Greeks subsequently carry out tit-for-tat raids. Located in very fertile territory, the colony grows steadily and is closely allied with the other nearby colonies of Croton and Sybaris.

The territory in which the Lucani were settled in the fourth to first centuries BC - the Campania in south-western Italy - lay immediately to the south of Mount Vesuvius

The identity of its founders is open to much speculation, but it is clear that they are Achaeans rather than Ionians (mainland Greeks as opposed to those of the islands).

5th century BC

The Oenotri come under pressure from the Samnites to their north, and from this point forwards they are gradually squeezed out of existence or subjugated. This would support the theory that the Samnites are still a small group in the ninth century BC, when the Oenotri abut the Umbri, but that they have since expanded and are now squeezing the Oenotri into the south.

c.420 BC

Antiochus of Syracuse completes his History of Sicily and Colonising of Italy around this time. The works exist today only in fragments but they are highly regarded by the ancient world thanks to the accuracy of their information. Antiochus writes that the entirety of later Calabria had originally been known as Oenotria after this tribe which had settled there early in its history.

The beautiful countryside of Calabria, and all of its native peoples, were subjugated by Rome at the end of the Second Samnite War, despite often heroic resistance against the steamrolling conquerors

325 - 304 BC

Rome fights the Second Samnite War in 325 BC, by which time the Oenotri and Chones would appear to be subjects of the Samnites (showing a complete decline of early Oenotri dominance in southern Italy).

During this period the Marsi ally themselves to the Romans, while the Iapyges, Dauni, Messapii, and Peucetii side with the Samnites. When the Samnites are defeated so are their allies, and all of them are subjugated by Rome. This period proves to be the end for the Golasecca culture within the Italian Iron Age.

218 - 202 BC

The Second Punic War is fought against Carthage. Rome is aided by its Etruscan, Picene, and Umbrian forces, but Italy is invaded by Hannibal Barca and a Roman army is massacred at the Battle of Cannae, killing 60,000.

Rome's resurgence at the successful conclusion of this war seals the fate of the Calabrian tribes which include the Brutii, Chones, Itali, Morgetes, and Oenotri. All of them fall permanently under Roman domination.

Roman military tactics may have owed something to the Samnites, with this efficient and seasoned warrior force matching the Romans and bettering them in the fourth century BC

91 - 89 BC

The Marsi fight the Social War against Rome in which Rome's allies strive for, and are eventually granted, citizenship. The Frentani, Latins and Umbri are also granted citizenship, although they play a smaller role in the war, with the Umbri joining the rebels late and agreeing terms with Rome early on.

The Chones and Oenotri are seemingly not mentioned during this war, suggesting that they have already been submerged within Roman Italy by this time or no longer exist in any identifiable form.