Ancient area, west-central Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The Latins (or Latini) came from Indo-European tribes that settled in the Italian peninsula during the 2nd millennium BC. By 500 BC the cities of Latium had formed the Latin League. War erupted between Rome and the Latins in 340 BC and ended in 338 BC with the defeat of the Latins and the dissolution of the league.