PAELIGNI

ancient people of central Italy, whose territory lay inland on the eastward slopes of the Apennines. Though akin to the Samnites, they formed a separate league with their neighbours the Marsi, Marrucini, and Vestini. This league appears to have broken up after the Second Samnite War (304 BC), when each tribe came into an alliance with the Romans that lasted until the Social War (9088 BC). This war ended when the Paeligni and the other allies were finally granted Roman citizenship. The Paeligni's oldest Latin inscriptions probably date from shortly after the Social War, although the Paelignian dialect doubtlessly lasted to about 50 BC. Similar dialects were spoken by the Marrucini and Vestini; together they formed a group known as Northern Oscan.