The Paeligni are classified as an Italic tribe. The Paelignian language was one of the Sabellian subgroup of the Oscan branch of Italic languages, related to Aequian, Marrucinian, Marsian, Sabine, Vestinian, and Volscian. The Paelignian homeland, situated in the Apennines in present-day central Italy, was south of the Aterno River, beyond which the Vestini lived, and west of the Sangro River, beyond which the Frentani and Marrucini lived. To the west and south, separated by high mountains, were the Marsi.
With their central location to these various peoples the Paeligni played a key role in trade among them. Paelignian wines, cereals, olives, honey, and linen were valued.
In 309 B. C.E. the Paeligni participated in a confederacy of the Marrucini, Marsi, and Vestini in support of the Samnites against the Romans during the Second Samnite War (326-304 B. C.E.), until a major loss to the Romans in 305 B. C.E. (The Paeligni are sometimes discussed as Samnites, fellow Italics; they also may have had ancestors from among the Illyrians, who migrated to the Italian Peninsula from across the Adriatic.)
The Paeligni were also central to the alliance of tribes during the Social War against Rome of 90-88 B. C.E. Their capital Corfinium, south of another Paelignian Sulmo (modern Sulmona), became the rebel capital and its name was changed to Vitallio, as indicated by inscriptions on the coins struck there in 90 B. C.E., to honor the hoped-for Italia Republic, with rights equal to those of Roman citizens (the name Vitallio is the Oscan version of Italia). The third powerful Paelignian town was Superequum, the location of which is not known. After the revolt failed, the Paeligni were soon Romanized.
World History
