Piceni

The Piceni, also known as Picentes, were an ancient Italic people who inhabited Picenum, a coastal region along the Adriatic Sea in central Italy. Their territory stretched roughly from the Esino–Metauro area in the north to the Tronto valley in the south, covering parts of what are today Marche and northern Abruzzo. They occupied both coastal towns and inland hill settlements that controlled routes between the Po plain and the Adriatic.

The Piceni spoke Picene, an Italic language related to Umbrian and Oscan. A distinctive Picene script is known from inscriptions dating from the 5th to the 2nd centuries BCE, found on stones, metal objects, and ceramics. The language is understood primarily through these inscriptions and related linguistic comparisons.

Culturally, the Piceni lived in fortified towns and hill forts and engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry, and local trade, including contact with neighboring peoples such as the Etruscans, Umbrones, and Greeks. Burial practices varied across centers, with necropolises containing pottery and grave goods; some sites feature elaborate tombs that reflect regional practices.

Historically, the Piceni formed a loose federation of tribes rather than a centralized monarchy. They maintained ongoing contact with neighboring Italic communities and gradually came under Roman influence as Rome expanded along the Adriatic coast in the late Republican period. By the time of later Roman expansion, Picene lands were incorporated into the Roman state and organized as part of the ager Picinus.

The name survives in modern toponymy, most notably in Ascoli Piceno, and the historical region of Picenum is commonly used in ancient geography to refer to their homeland.