Marsi
Sign in to saveThe Marsi were an Italic people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus (which was drained in the time of Claudius). The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. They originally spoke a language now termed Marsian which is attested by several inscriptions.
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- Mythological history
- History
- Religion
- See also
- References
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The Marsi were an Italic people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus (which was drained in the time of Claudius). The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. They originally spoke a language now termed Marsian which is attested by several inscriptions.
==Mythological history== In his Natural History, Pliny the Elder regards the Marsi as descending from Telegonus, son of Odysseus and Circe, and suggests the Marsi (along with the Psylli of Ancient Libya) inherited from Circe's deep knowledge of poisons an immunity to viper venom, the secretion of a natural poison deadly to snakes, and the ability to send snakes to sleep.