The Umbrians, an Italic-speaking people, inhabited the area of present-day north-central Italy from the Apennines to the Adriatic coast, an area bordered on the southwest by the Tiber River, to the northwest by the Po River, and to the south by the Piceno River. They are thought to have been closely related to other ITALICS in the region—the Aequi, Hernici, Sabines, and Volsci—early enemies of the Romans.
ORIGINS
Little is known about the Umbrians until the first Roman interactions with them, which occurred in the fourth century b. c.e. Before that time archaeological evidence indicates they arose sometime in the second millennium B. c.E. as nomadic herders. They possibly emigrated from central Europe but more likely were descended from indigenous populations, possibly living in the Apennines, and were influenced by overland and Adriatic trade from the north. The Etruscans living to their west became the Umbrians’ principal influence along with the Greeks during the fifth century b. c.e.; at that time the Umbrians began to develop city-states and adopt their luxurious lifestyle.
Origin Myth
Ancient tradition has it that the Umbrians and related groups began to spread from the central Apennines sometime before 1000 b. c.e. and that they spread because of a tradition called Ver Sacrum, or Sacred Spring. Each living thing was identified by the spring where it was born. In times of overpopulation, everything born at a certain spring was dedicated to a god and sacrificed, except children. When these children reached the age of 20 they were required to go out on their own to settle a new area. The children often followed a sacred animal, from which the name of the new people was derived. This story shares common features with origin stories for many Italics and other peoples.
LANGUAGE
The Umbrians spoke an Italic language, known as Umbrian, part of the Osco-Umbrian branch and related to Latin. They adopted an alphabet based on the Etruscan alphabet. They eventually used Latin as the official language in their homeland.
HISTORY
Around 700 b. c.e. the Umbrians, who had lived as nomadic herders, settled down to farm and raise cattle in the fertile, well-watered valleys of Umbria. By 500 b. c.e. the Umbrians were living in small fortified and independent villages on hilltops. The rise of Etruscan power to the west, Greek settlements in southern Italy, and increased Mediterranean trade began to influence Umbrian culture. The Umbrians adopted many Greek and Etruscan characteristics around the mid-fifth century b. c.e. This influence occurred even as the power of the Etruscans forced the Umbrians into conflict. The Umbrian villages became city-states in the Greek and Etruscan style at Todi, Amelia, and Terni, among other places.
The first interaction between the Romans and Umbrians is recorded in the history of Rome written by Livy in the first centuries b. c.e. and c. e. In 311 b. c.e. while advancing into the territory of the Samnites General and Consul Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus sent his brother to scout into the Ciminian Forest in Umbria. The consul’s brother made the first reports of Umbrian civilization. In 308 b. c.e. the Umbrians entered into an alliance against the Romans alongside the Etruscans and Celts, but the establishment of a Roman fortress at Narnia in Umbrian territory in 298 b. c.e. ended effective communication with the samnites. The threat of the Etruscans to the Umbrians also probably contributed to the Umbrians’ nonaggressive stance toward the Romans. In 295 b. c.e. Rullianus defeated the samnites and their allies at Sentium, a major milestone in the Romans’ efforts to conquer Italy. The Umbrians are reported not to have helped the Samnites in the battle.
In 220 b. c.e. the Romans constructed a road through Umbria called the Via Flamina, to continue their advance. The Umbrians, who built high polygonal walls around their cities, managed to remain independent, however. In 200 b. c.e. the Romans, who had conquered territory north of Umbria, granted the Umbrians Ager Gallicus, part of Cisalpine Gaul that bordered Umbria’s northern side. By that time all of central Italy was under Roman control, and the Umbrians, Etruscans, Samnites, and others were Roman allies, or socii. The allies were forced to provide troops for Roman military endeavors but were excluded from the decision-making process.
During the second century b. c.e. Roman demands for troops put a great strain on the allies. Finally in 91 b. c.e. many revolted, sparking what is called the Social War of 90-88 b. c.e. The Umbrians were the last of the socii to join the revolt and were the first to capitulate when the Romans offered them full citizenship. After the war in 87 b. c.e. the Romans granted full citizenship to all peoples south of the Po River. The incorporation of the Umbrians into Rome led quickly to a decline in the Umbrians’ independent identity, and although the Umbrian language had a dialectal effect on Latin, Latin was quickly adopted as the language of the Umbrians.
CULTURE (see also Italics)
Economy
The Umbrians began as nomadic herders but settled down to an agricultural lifestyle that was prosperous because of the abundant fertility of Umbria. The Umbrians raised cattle and grew olives, vines, and spelt. They hunted boar, which were numerous in the northern uplands. They were relatively prosperous because of the fertility of Umbria. Part of their wealth was derived from their location on overland trade routes between Italy and central Europe, as well as on the Adriatic.
The early Umbrians, before heightened Greek and Etruscan influence, lived in small isolated settlements on the tops of hills. They were independent, but groups of communities gathered together to mark occasions and festivals and to make collective political decisions. The later Umbrians organized themselves into city-states on the Etruscan and Greek models.
The first Roman encounter in 311 b. c.e., as recorded by the Roman historian Livy, tells us that the Umbrians were divided into tribes, or trifus in Umbrian, and that some communities were led by two officials called marones. The Iguvium Tables tell us more about the organization of the Umbrians in the second and first centuries b. c.e. These tables are seven inscribed bronze tablets that were discovered during the Renaissance. They detail the activities of a group of priests called the Fratres Atiedii and explain that the citizens of Iguvium were divided into 10 different groups, much as the Romans were. In historical times the Umbrians typically settled legal disputes by a physical contest between the claimants. Whoever survived the bout was deemed to have justice on his side.
Evidence mainly from funerary sources shows that the early Umbrians used a variety of pottery of the region around Italy, including that of the Picenes and Villanovans. The early Umbrians also mined and manufactured some metal near Terni, but to a much lesser extent than the Etruscans. They wielded a short iron sword, characteristic of the Iron Age, and a socketed spearhead.
The Umbrians practiced both inhumation and cremation of their dead.
World History
