Peucetians

Fresco of dancing Peucetian women in the Tomb of the Dancers in Rubi (now Ruvo di Puglia), fifth or fourth century BC

The Peucetians were an Iapygian tribe which inhabited western and central Apulia in classical antiquity.[1]

Two other Iapygian tribes, the Daunians and the Messapians, inhabited northern and southern Apulia respectively. All three tribes spoke the Messapian language, but had developed separate archaeological cultures by the seventh century BC; however, in Peucetian territory ancient Greek and Oscan language were spoken as well, as the legends of the currencies from Rubi and Azetium were trilingual.[2] Peucetians lived in the eponymous region Peucetia, which was bordered by the Ofanto river and the Murge in the north, the Bradano river in the west and the territories of the Greek colony of Taras and the Messapians in the south.[3] This region is mostly coincident with the Metropolitan City of Bari and parts of the provinces of Taranto and Barletta-Andria-Trani today.

  1. ^ "Peucezi nell'Enciclopedia Treccani". www.treccani.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  2. ^ Salvemini Biagio, Massafra Angelo (May 2014). Storia della Puglia. Dalle origini al Seicento (in Italian). Laterza. ISBN 9788858113882.
  3. ^ Carpenter, Lynch & Robinson 2014, p. 2, 18, 34 and 38–39.