Friniates

The Friniates were an ancient people, likely Eastern Ligurians, who lived in Cisalpine Gaul (Northern Italy), in the Apennines area between the current provinces of Reggio Emilia and Modena. With the Roman conquest of Cisalpine Gaul, they were reduced to subjection by Gaius Flaminius in 187 BCE. ^[1] A portion of the land of the Friniates makes up the current historical ethno-cultural region known as Frignân in the local Gallo-Italic language (Italian : Frignano).

According to the scholar A. Zavaroni, the Friniates, who called themselves Umbri, would'nt have been Ligurians, but an Umbrian population, speaking an Indo-European dialect recognizable as Italic, which the scholar called 'North-Umbrian'. ^[2]

References

1. Livy. Ab urbe condita Libri [History of Rome]. Vol. XXXIX. 2.
2. A. Zavaroni, Il suffisso di compagnia -pi,-pe ed il suffisso agentivo/pertinentivo -si/-osio in etrusco e falisco, 2012. (In Italian)

Sources

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Friniates". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography . London: John Murray.