Tyrrhenians

This article is about the Greek exonym for certain non-Greek peoples. For other uses, see Tyrrhenian (disambiguation).

Tyrrhenians (Attic Greek: Τυῤῥηνοί Turrhēnoi) or Tyrsenians (Ionic: Τυρσηνοί Tursēnoi; Doric: Τυρσανοί Tursānoi) was the name used by the ancient Greeks to refer, in a generic sense, to non-Greek people, in particular pirates. While ancient sources have been interpreted in a variety of ways, the Greeks always called the Etruscans Tyrsenoi, although not all Tyrsenians were Etruscans. The term "Tyrrhenians" was sometimes used by ancient writers to refer to other ethnic groups in central-western Italy, such as the Latins. Dionysius of Halicarnassus stated that the Greeks once called Latins, Umbrians, Ausonians, and others "Tyrrhenians," and that Rome was called a Tyrrhenian city.

Furthermore the languages of Etruscan, Rhaetian and Lemnian cultures have been grouped together as the Tyrsenian languages, based on their strong similarities.

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