Editing Italy (section)

== Name ==
{{Anchor|Etymology}}
{{Main|Name of Italy}}
[[File:Hadrian, denarius, 134-138 AD, RIC II 307.jpg|thumb|''[[Denarius]]'' of Roman emperor [[Hadrian]] displaying the inscription ''ITALIA'' on the verge of a [[Italia turrita|personification of Italy]] holding [[scepter]] and [[cornucopia]]]]

Hypotheses for the etymology of ''Italia'' are numerous.<ref>Alberto Manco, ''Italia. Disegno storico-linguistico''. 2009, [[Napoli]], L'Orientale. {{ISBN|978-8-8950-4462-0}}.</ref> One theory suggests it originated from an [[Ancient Greek]] term for the land of the ''Italói'', a tribe that resided in the region now known as [[Calabria]]. Originally thought to be named ''Vituli'', some scholars suggest their [[totem]]ic animal to be the calf ([[Latin]]: ''vitulus''; [[Umbrian language|Umbrian]]: ''vitlo''; [[Oscan]]: ''Víteliú'')<!-- and named for the god of cattle, [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] -->.<ref>J.P. Mallory and D.Q. Adams, ''Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture'' (London: Fitzroy and Dearborn, 1997), 24.</ref> Several ancient authors said it was named after a local ruler [[Italus]].<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities'', [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dionysius_of_Halicarnassus/1B*.html 1.35] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215151343/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dionysius_of_Halicarnassus/1B%2A.html|date=15 December 2022}}, on LacusCurtius; Aristotle, ''Politics'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0058%3Abook%3D7%3Asection%3D1329b#note-link2 7.1329b] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910185719/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0058%3Abook%3D7%3Asection%3D1329b|date=10 September 2015}}, on Perseus; Thucydides, ''The Peloponnesian War'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Thuc.+6.2.4&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0200 6.2.4] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924213434/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Thuc.+6.2.4&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0200|date=24 September 2015}}, on Perseus</ref>

The ancient Greek term for Italy initially referred only to the south of the [[calabria|Bruttium]] peninsula and parts of [[Catanzaro]] and [[Vibo Valentia]]. The larger concept of [[Oenotria]] and "Italy" became synonymous, and the name applied to most of [[Lucania]] as well. Before the Roman Republic's expansion, the name was used by Greeks for the land between the [[strait of Messina]] and the line connecting the [[gulf of Salerno|gulfs of Salerno]] and [[gulf of Taranto|Taranto]], corresponding to Calabria. The Greeks came to apply "Italia" to a larger region.<ref>Pallottino, M., ''History of Earliest Italy'', trans. Ryle, M & Soper, K. in Jerome Lectures, Seventeenth Series, p. 50</ref> In addition to the "[[Magna Graecia|Greek Italy]]" in the south, historians have suggested the existence of an "Etruscan Italy", which consisted of areas of central Italy.<ref>Giovanni Brizzi, Roma. Potere e identità: dalle origini alla nascita dell'impero cristiano, Bologna, Patron, 2012 p. 94</ref>

The borders of [[Roman Italy]], ''Italia'', are better established. Cato's ''[[Origines]]'' describes Italy as the entire peninsula south of the Alps.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Carlà-Uhink|first=Filippo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dSY-DwAAQBAJ&q=cato+italy+south+of+the+Alps&pg=PT49|title=The "Birth" of Italy: The Institutionalization of Italy as a Region, 3rd–1st Century BCE|date=25 September 2017|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG|isbn=978-3-1105-4478-7}}; {{Cite book|last=Levene|first=D. S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aLsRDAAAQBAJ&q=cato+walls+of+Italy&pg=PA108|title=Livy on the Hannibalic War|date=17 June 2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-1981-5295-8|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328152752/https://books.google.com/books?id=aLsRDAAAQBAJ&q=cato+walls+of+Italy&pg=PA108#v=snippet&q=cato%20walls%20of%20Italy&f=false|archive-date=28 March 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> In 264 BC, Roman Italy extended from the [[Arno]] and [[Rubicon]] rivers of the centre-north to the entire south. The northern area, [[Cisalpine Gaul]], considered geographically part of Italy, was occupied by Rome in the 220s BC,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Carlà-Uhink|first=Filippo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dSY-DwAAQBAJ&q=Tota+Italia+essays&pg=PT454|title=The "Birth" of Italy: The Institutionalization of Italy as a Region, 3rd–1st Century BCE|date=25 September 2017|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG|isbn=978-3-1105-4478-7|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240211000755/https://books.google.com/books?id=dSY-DwAAQBAJ&q=Tota+Italia+essays&pg=PT454#v=snippet&q=Tota%20Italia%20essays&f=false|archive-date=11 February 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> but remained politically separated. It was legally merged into the administrative unit of Italy in 42 BC.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Williams|first=J. H. C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RPj_FkEeVO4C&q=beyond+the+Rubicon|title=Beyond the Rubicon: Romans and Gauls in Republican Italy – J. H. C. Williams – Google Books|date=22 May 2020|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-1981-5300-9|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522000630/https://books.google.it/books?id=RPj_FkEeVO4C&dq=beyond+the+Rubicon&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiI5YrC6rbkAhUvDmMBHXZOCMAQ6AEIKTAA|archive-date=22 May 2020}}; {{Cite book|last=Long|first=George|title=Decline of the Roman republic: Volume 2|year=1866}}; {{Cite web|last=Aurigemma|first=Salvatore|title=Gallia Cisalpina|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/gallia-cisalpina_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404054511/https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/gallia-cisalpina_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)|archive-date=4 April 2023|access-date=14 October 2014|website=treccani.it|publisher=Enciclopedia Italiana|language=it}}</ref> Sardinia, [[Corsica]], Sicily, and [[Malta]] were added to Italy by [[Diocletian]] in 292 AD,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Italy (ancient Roman territory)|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297743/Italy|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110232259/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297743/Italy|archive-date=10 November 2013|access-date=10 November 2013|website=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> which made late-ancient Italy coterminous with the modern [[Italian geographical region]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=La riorganizzazione amministrativa dell'Italia. Costantino, Roma, il Senato e gli equilibri dell'Italia romana|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/la-riorganizzazione-amministrativa-dell-italia-costantino-roma-il-senato-e-gli-equilibri-dell-italia-romana_%28Enciclopedia-Costantiniana%29|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119225335/https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/la-riorganizzazione-amministrativa-dell-italia-costantino-roma-il-senato-e-gli-equilibri-dell-italia-romana_(Enciclopedia-Costantiniana)|archive-date=19 November 2021|access-date=19 November 2021|language=it}}</ref>

The Latin ''Italicus'' was used to describe "a man of Italy" as opposed to a ''provincial'', or one from the [[Roman province]].<ref>''Letters'' 9.23</ref> The adjective ''italianus'', from which ''Italian'' was derived, is from [[medieval Latin]] and was used alternatively with ''Italicus'' during the [[early modern period]].<ref>''ytaliiens'' (1265) [http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/italien TLFi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029191636/http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/italien|date=29 October 2018}}</ref> After the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]], the [[Ostrogothic Kingdom]] of Italy was created. After the [[Lombards|Lombard]] invasions, ''Italia'' was retained as the name for their kingdom, and its [[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|successor kingdom]] within the [[Holy Roman Empire]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=IL COMUNE MEDIEVALE|url=https://www.homolaicus.com/storia/medioevo/comune_medievale.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318214257/http://www.homolaicus.com/storia/medioevo/comune_medievale.htm|archive-date=18 March 2012|website=homolaicus.com}}</ref>