Raetian

Raetian is an umbrella term used for things related to Raetia, an historic Alpine region, and its inhabitants, the Raeti. The term covers both the ancient people and their languages. Geographically, Raetia spanned parts of what are now eastern Switzerland, western Austria, and northern Italy. In the late Bronze Age and Iron Age, Raetia was inhabited by a number of tribes and communities that came under increasing Roman influence in the early imperial era. After the Roman conquest, around 15 BCE, the area was organized as the province of Raetia et Vindelicia within the Roman Empire and continued to serve as a strategic Alpine frontier.

Raetic languages form the linguistic component of Raetian. These are extinct languages attested in inscriptions from roughly the 6th century BCE to the 1st century CE. The Raetic script, derived from the Etruscan alphabet, appears on stone inscriptions, metal objects, and other artifacts across the Alpine region. The precise classification of Raetic is debated: some linguists have linked it to the Tyrsenian language family that also includes Etruscan and Lemnian, while others treat Raetic as a distinct Alpine language with no certain close relatives.

In modern scholarship, Raetian typically denotes both the historical Raetian peoples and the Raetic languages. There is no living Raetic language today. The term remains primarily of interest to archaeologists, epigraphists, and historians studying the Roman Alps and the cultural exchanges within the Raetian sphere.