Italici an Itali?

Abstract

During the Social War, certain linguistic choices must have had particular importance for the rebel Italian allies who fought against Rome. This article aims to demonstrate why the insurgents were likely to have rejected the term Italici and adopted the name Itali as their self-designation. A thorough analysis of the meanings and connotations of Greek and Latin terms used for the inhabitants of Italy clearly indicates that during the war the ethnonym Itali allowed the rebel Italians to radically dissociate themselves from the Romans and strengthen their own common identity.