There were many, including the original tribes of the Italian peninsula. The first thing that must be taken into account is that the Romans were simply a single tribe that exerted its influence over others. On the peninsula were other Italic-speaking peoples such as the Sabini (Sabines)(who were Latins but had adopted Greek as their lingua franca, due to their dealings with the Greek speaking colonies on the peninsula),the Oscii (with subtribes the Samnite, Marrucine, Paelignan, Vestinian, Sabine, and Marsian peoples).
, the Umbri and the Latii, from which the word Latin comes. The Lombards were also in the north. They were Germanic.
Also on the peninsula were the Etruscans, who were probably not even Indo-European.
All these tribes were assimilated by the time of the Empire, when the Romans expanded into other areas, but their languages are still represented in the dialects of Italy.
The tribal groups of Gaul (modern France) are known from Roman documents. There were many of them, and their ultimate defeat was due to the fact that it was difficult for them to federate because of rivalries.
These are their names, with their capitals beside them:
Aedui Bibracte
Allobroges Vienne
Ambiani Amiens
Andecavi Angers
Aquitani Bordeaux
Atrebates Arras
Arverni Gergovia
Baiocasses Bayeux
Boi Bologna
Bellovaci Beauvais
Bituriges Bourges
Carnutes Chartres
Catalauni Châlons-en-Champagne
Cenomani Brescia
Coriosilitae Corseul
Helvetii La Tene
Insubres Milan
Lemovices Limoges
Lexovii Lisieux
Mediomatrici Metz
Medulli Medoc
Medulli Vienne
Menapii Cassel
Morini Boulogne sur Mer
Namnetes Nantes
Nervii Bavay
Orobii Bergamo
Osismii Vorgium
Parisii Paris
Petrocorii Perigueux
Pictones Poitiers
Raurici Kaiseraugst (Augusta-Raurica)
Redones Rennes
Remi Reims
Santones Saintes
Senones Sens
Sequani Besançon
Suessiones Soissons
Tigurini Yverdon
Tolosates Toulouse
Treveri Trier
Tungri Tongeren
Turones Tours
Unelli Coutances
Vangiones Worms
Veliocassi Rouen
Vellavi Ruessium
Veneti Vannes
Viducasses Vieux
Vocontii Vaison-la-Romaine
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The tribes of Britain were also many. Wikipedia lists them as:
Central Britain
Catuvellauni - modern Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Greater London north of the Thames
Cornovii - modern Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire
Corieltauvi - modern Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire
Dobunni - modern Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Oxfordshire and West Midlands
Iceni - modern Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire
Parisi - modern East Yorkshire
Trinovantes - modern Essex and Suffolk
[edit] Northern Britain
Brigantes - modern Yorkshire, Cumbria, Lancashire and County Durham
Caereni - modern west Sutherland
Caledonii - Scottish Highlands
Carnonacae - modern west Ross and Cromarty
Carvetii - modern northern Cumbria, around Carlisle and the upper valley of the River Eden*
Cornavii - modern east Sutherland and Caithness
Corionotatae - modern Scottish borders, probably a sept of the Selgovae
Creones - modern Argyll
Damnonii - modern Strathclyde
Decantae - modern east Ross and Cromarty
Epidii - modern Mull of Kintyre
Gabrantovices - modern North Yorkshire*
Lopocares (name uncertain) - south side of Hadrian's Wall around Corbridge*
Lugi - modern south east Sutherland
Novantae - modern Dumfries and Galloway
Selgovae - modern Scottish Borders and eastern Dumfries and Galloway
Setantii - part of modern Lancashire around the Fylde*
Smertae - Ross and Cromarty
Taexali - modern Aberdeenshire
Textoverdi - south side of Hadrian's Wall in the upper valley of the River Tyne*
Vacomagi - modern north Grampian region
Venicones - modern Fife and southern Tayside
Votadini - coasts of modern Northumberland, Scottish Borders and East Lothian
Asterisked (*) tribes were septs or pagi within Brigantine territory.
[edit] Southern Britain
Atrebates - modern Hampshire and the Thames Valley
Belgae - (in this context) modern Hampshire and Gloucestershire
Cantiaci - modern Kent
Durotriges - modern Somerset and Dorset
Dumnonii - modern Devon, Cornwall and Somerset
Regnenses - modern Surrey and Sussex
[edit] Western Britain
Deceangli - modern Flintshire and Denbighshire
Demetae modern Pembrokeshire and west Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire
Gangani - modern Lleyn peninsula, likely a sept of the Ordovices
Ordovices - modern Anglesey, Snowdonia and Powys
Silures - modern South Wales
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Waiting on the outskirts of the Empire and poised to strike at any time were the Frankish tribes, Germanic speaking peoples, who would eventually overrun the Roman empire in the 5th century.
Wikipedia lists these:
The Franks or the Frankish peoples were an ever-changing confederation of west Germanic tribes, such as the Salians, Sicambri, Chamavi, Tencteri, Chattuarii, Bructeri, Usipetes, Ampsivarii. The Salians, later preeminent among the tribes, were a "proto-Dutch" (Old Low Franconian) speaking people. The Franks first appeared in history around 260. Sometimes the Franks allied with non-Old Frankish speaking tribes as the Frisians and Chatti and occasionally with Saxons. They were not originally grouped into one tribe, but "as with the other barbarians, they belonged to much smaller groups that would join constantly changing confederations."[1]
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ON the eastern borders of the Empire, and even within it at some points were Slavic tribes, such as the Serbii and the Hrvati (modern Croats).
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The Greeks had long been under Roman rule, but differences in language and culture still existed between the Macedonians and the "true" Greeks.
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In North Africa, there were tribal groups such as the Berber, the Nubians and the Copts (the Arabs had not yet entered Egypt), and in the middle east there were the Jews, the Arabs. In the area known as Asia Minor and the islands of the Mediterranean, there were still many regional languages represented, as is attested by ACts 2 which speaks of the miracle of Pentecost:
5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"
The tribal nature of this part of the Empire is clear from contemporary documents like this, despite the propaganda from Rome that this was a united Empire (in reality until the 2nd century, Latin was not widely used throughout the Empire: Koine Greek was used)
Hope this gives you some ideas of what peoples were represented throughout the Roman Empire, showing that it was still strongly tribal, despite the best efforts of Rome to unite it.
Comments
You covered it pretty well.
by jwmbiz on August 4th, 2005
Left out the Christians. i.e the ones blamed for burning Rome.
by Ma Warns Ya Bout Me on June 24th, 2007