Víteliú was the Oscan term for the Italian peninsula. This name is probably connected with the word for "calf" (seen in Latin vitulus and Umbrian vitlu ), and was originally applied to the Greek colonies in Italy. Gradually, the word came to refer to the entire peninsula, and was adopted by allied Sabellian tribes to foster a sense of nationalism during the Italic revolt against Rome. A form of the ancient word survives in the modern name Italia .

Classification of the Languages

The Alphabets of Ancient Italy

Etruscan Vocabulary

Net Links

Etruscan Resources at the University of North Carolina

Samnium: Ancient Molise (in Italian)

TITUS: Bibliography of the Italic Languages (in German)

Linguistique - Langues italiques et étrusque (in French)

The Languages of Italy Before the Roman Expansion

Museo Archeologico Nazionale Napoli: Collezione Epigrafica (in Italian)

Rome Research Area - Institute for Etruscan and Italic Archaelogy

Gaulish-English dictionary
 

Last Modified: 2/16/98