List of Latin place names in Italy and Malta
This list includes countries and regions in the Italian Peninsula that were part of the Roman Empire, or that were given Latin place names in historical reference.
| Latin Place Names |
|---|
| By country |
| by type |
Background
Until the Modern Era, Latin was the common language for scholarship and mapmaking. During the 19th and 20th centuries, German scholars in particular made significant contributions to the study of historical place names, or Ortsnamenkunde. These studies have, in turn, contributed to the study of genealogy. For genealogists and historians of pre-Modern Europe, knowing alternate names of places is vital to extracting information from both public and private records. Even specialists in this field point out, however, that the information can be easily taken out of context, since there is a great deal of repetition of place names throughout Europe; reliance purely on apparent connections should therefore be tempered with valid historical methodology.
Caveats and notes
Latin place names are not always exclusive to one place – for example, there were several Roman cities whose names began with Colonia and then a more descriptive term. During the Middle Ages, these were often shortened to just Colonia. One of these, Colonia Agrippinensis, retains the name today in the form of Cologne.
Early sources for Roman names show numerous variants and spellings of the Latin names.
The modern canonical name is listed first. Sources are listed chronologically. In general, only the earliest source is shown for each name, although many of the names are recorded in more than one of the sources. Where the source differs in spelling, or has other alternatives, these are listed following the source. As an aid to searching, variants are spelled completely, and listed in most likely chronology.
Superscripts indicate:
- Latinized form of the Greek-derived name.
- Latinized form of the Asian-derived name via Greek.
- Altered Latinized form of the Greek-derived name.
Cities and towns in Italy
| Canonical Latin Name (source(s): variant(s)) | English Name (native language(s)) - older name(s), (other language(s)), location (s) |
|---|---|
| Abellinum | Avellino (east of Naples) |
| Acelum | Asolo |
| ad Aesim | Falconara Marittima, Marche |
| Aesis | Jesi, Marche |
| ad Martis | S. Maria in Pantano (near Massa Martana, Umbria) |
| Aenaria | Ischia |
| Agrigentum | Agrigento |
| Alba Pompeia | Alba, Piedmont |
| Albingaunum | Albenga |
| Albintemelium, Albintimilium | Ventimiglia |
| Altinum | Altino |
| Ameria | Amelia, Umbria |
| Ammurianum | Murano |
| Apua | Pontremoli |
| Aquae Statiellae | Acqui Terme |
| Aquilia in Vestinis, Aquilia | L'Aquila |
| Arconisium | Racconigi |
| Ardea | Ardea |
| Ariminum | Rimini |
| Arretium | Arezzo |
| Asculum Picenum | Ascoli Piceno |
| Assisium | Assisi, Umbria |
| Ateste | Este |
| Aternum | Pescara |
| Augusta | Augusta, Sicily |
| Augusta Bagiennorum | Bene Vagienna |
| Augusta Praetoria Salassorum | Aosta |
| Augusta Taurinorum, Taurasia | Turin |
| Baretium | Varese |
| Barium | Bari |
| Baruli | Barletta |
| Bauzanum, Pons Drusi | Bolzano |
| Bellunum | Belluno |
| Beneventum | Benevento |
| Bergomum | Bergamo |
| Bobium, Ebovium | Bobbio |
| Bononia | Bologna |
| Boreana | Burano |
| Brindisium, Brundusium | Brindisi |
| Brixellum | Brescello |
| Brixia | Brescia |
| Brixino | Brixen (Bressanone) |
| Caesena | Cesena |
| Caieta | Gaeta |
| Capreae | Capri |
| Capua | Santa Maria Capua Vetere |
| Caralis | Cagliari, Sardinia |
| Carreum Potentia | Chieri |
| Castra Nicia | Caltanisetta |
| Catana or Catina | Catania |
| Centum Cellae | Civitavecchia |
| Civitas Sancti Romuli | Sanremo |
| Claterna | Claterna |
| Comum | Como |
| Cremona | Cremona |
| Dertona | Tortona |
| Drepanum | Trapani (west of Palermo) |
| Eporedia | Ivrea |
| Fabiranum, Fabrianum | Fabriano |
| Faesulae | Fiesole |
| Faventia | Faenza |
| Feltria | Feltre |
| Fidentia | Fidenza |
| Firmum (Picenum) | Fermo |
| Florentia | Florence (Firenze) |
| Forum Cornelii | Imola |
| Forum Fulvii | Villa del Foro, near Alessandria |
| Forum Iulii | Cividale del Friuli |
| Forum Livii | Forlì, Italy |
| Forum Popilii | Forlimpopoli |
| Forum Vibii Caburrum | Cavour |
| Fossa Clodia | Chioggia |
| Frusina | Frosinone |
| Fulginiae, Fulginium | Foligno |
| Genua | Genoa (Genova) |
| Hasta | Asti |
| Henna or Haenna | Enna |
| Herculaneum | Herculaneum (Ercolano) |
| Hispellum, Colonia Julia Hispellum | Spello, Umbria |
| Hostilia | Ostiglia |
| Iguvium, Eugubium | Gubbio, Umbria |
| Industria | Monteu da Po |
| Iria | Voghera |
| Iulia Concordia | Concordia Sagittaria |
| Interamna Nahars, Interamna Nahartium | Terni, Umbria |
| Interamnia Praetutiana, Interamnia, Interamnium, Interamna | Teramo |
| Labellum | Lavello |
| Laus Pompeia | Lodi, Lombardy |
| Libarna | near Serravalle Scrivia |
| Lilybaeum | Marsala |
| Luca | Lucca |
| Luna | Luni |
| Lupiae | Lecce |
| Mantua | Mantua (Mantova) |
| Mateola | Matera |
| Mediolanum | Milan (Milano) |
| Messana | Messina |
| Mevania | Bevagna, Umbria |
| Modicia | Monza |
| Mutina | Modena |
| Neapolis | Naples (Napoli) |
| Nola | Nola, near Naples |
| Novaria | Novara |
| Nursia | Norcia, Umbria |
| Olmedum | Olmedo |
| Opitergium | Oderzo |
| Panormus | Palermo |
| Parma | Parma |
| Patavium | Padua (Padova) |
| Perusia | Perugia |
| Pisae | Pisa |
| Pisaurum | Pesaro |
| Pistoria, Pistorium or Pistoriae | Pistoia |
| Placentia | Piacenza |
| Pollentia | Pollenzo |
| Pompeii | Pompei |
| Portus Naonis | Pordenone |
| Potentia | Potenza |
| Praeneste | Palestrina |
| Puteoli | Pozzuoli |
| Ravenna | Ravenna |
| Reate | Rieti |
| Rhegium, or Regium Lepidi | Reggio Calabria |
| Rodigium or Rhodigium | Rovigo |
| Roma | Rome |
| Scylacium, Scylletium, Scolatium, Scolacium, Scyllaceum, Scalacium, Minervium or Colonia Minervia | Squillace |
| Saena, Sena | Siena |
| Savo | Savona |
| Segusium | Susa |
| Sipontum | Manfredonia |
| Spoletium | Spoleto, Umbria |
| Stabiae | Castellammare di Stabia |
| Suasa | Castelleone di Suasa, Marche |
| Surrentum | Sorrento |
| Syracusae¹ | Syracuse (Siracusa) |
| Tarentum | Taranto |
| Tarvisium | Treviso |
| Tauromenium | Taormina |
| Teate | Chieti |
| Tergeste | Trieste |
| Terracina | Terracina |
| Thermae Himerenses | Termini Imerese |
| Tibur | Tivoli |
| Ticinum | Pavia |
| Tifernum Tiberinum | Città di Castello |
| Torino | Turin |
| Trecalae | Caltabellotta |
| Tridentum | Trent (Trento) |
| Tuder | Todi, Umbria |
| Tusculum | near Frascati (south-east of Rome) |
| Urbinum Hortense, Urvinum Hortense | near Collemancio, Umbria (?) |
| Urbinum Mataurense, Urvinum Mataurense | Urbino, Marche |
| Vada Sabatia | Vado Ligure |
| Vardacate, Vardagate | Casale Monferrato |
| Vedinum, Utinum | Udine |
| Veleia, Velleia | Velleia, frazione of Lugagnano Val d'Arda |
| Velitrae | Velletri |
| Venusia | Venosa |
| Vercellæ | Vercelli |
| Vicetia, Vincentia | Vicenza |
| Victimula | |
| Vigiliae | Bisceglie |
| Viglebanum, Vigebanum | Vigevano |
| Vigueria, Viguerium | Voghera |
| Vipitenum | Vipiteno |
| Volaterrae | Volterra |
| Volsinii Novi, Volsinium | Bolsena |
Cities and towns on Malta
| Canonical Latin Name (source(s): variant(s)) | English Name (native language(s)) - older name(s), (other language(s)), location (s) |
|---|---|
| Civitas Victoriosa | Birgu (Vittoriosa) |
| Melita, Notabilis | Mdina |
| Civitas Invicta | Isla (Senglea) |
| Civitas Humilissima | Valletta |
See also
- Chemical elements named after places (several element names employ Latin place names)
- List of Latin place names used as specific names
References
In order of likely publication:
- PNH: Pliny (Gaius Plinius Secundus), Naturalis Historia; book "PNH" chapter (that is, "37PNH81" instead of the usual "N.H.xxxvii.81").
- PG: Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus), Geographia; book "PG" chapter (that is, "2PG3" instead of the usual "II.3"). Ptolemy wrote in Greek, so names are transliterated back into Latin to reveal the original form.
- HLU: Johann Jacob Hofmann (1635–1706): Lexicon Universale
- GOL: The standard reference to Latin placenames, with their modern equivalents, is Dr. J. G. Th. Grässe, Orbis Latinus: Lexikon lateinischer geographischer Namen des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit (1861), an exhaustive work of meticulous German scholarship that is available on-line in the second edition of 1909. To use it, one must understand German names of countries, as they were in 1909. The original was re-edited and expanded in a multi-volume edition in 1972.