The etymology of the term that gives its name to our nation has been the subject of numerous linguistic and historical studies. The result was a corpus of hypotheses and solutions that seek to clarify the meaning and origin of the name. Which language it derives from still remains an unsolved mystery.
What all scholars agree on is that initially this name designated the southern part of our peninsula: the Calabria. Precisely the southern part of the region: from the Strait of Messina to the Gulf of Sant'Eufemia. Gradually, then, the name extended more and more until it touched the peaks of the Alps.
We tell you a little about the various solutions proposed.
The land of Italo
Some scholars add the term 'Italy' to the myth of Italo. Italo was the king of the Enotri, a people originally nomadic but who, having arrived in the south of the Bel Paese, fell in love with it. He decided to settle in that area between the Gulf of Squillace and that of Sant'Eufemia. He established the capital of his kingdom at Pandosia Bruzia, present-day Acre. To that area he initially gave the name of his people 'Enotria' and, subsequently, his own. With the conquest of the Romans, the term Italy extended throughout the peninsula.
Land of the Vituli, land of the Bulls
One of the most accredited hypotheses is that the name derives from the word Italoi. The Greek term, but of Osco-Umbrian origin, was used by the Achaeans to indicate the Vituli o Screw them, a population residing south of today's Catanzaro, also in Calabria. In turn, the name of this population was related to their sacred animal: the bull, italoi in Greek, uitellus in Latin. From there, the Greeks began to call this land Ouitoulia, that is, 'land of the Italians', or' land of the bulls'.
To support this hypothesis there are the different toponyms of Greek origin widespread in southern Calabria, all referring to cattle, tori and calves: Taurianova, Gioia Tauro, Bovalino, Bova.
The origin of the name of Greek derivation
A second hypothesis on the origin of the name also dates back to the Greeks. It would derive from Aiθαλία (Aithalìa). Code number Aith-, with which we refer to fire, is the same present in the name of Etna, Aitna in ancient Greek. Gabriele Rosa put forward the hypothesis according to which the Achaeans, having arrived in this land, would have called it 'volcanic', 'flaming' with reference to one of the geographical characteristics.
The Romagnosi hypothesis
According to the Romagnosi scholar, the term derives from 'Tala' an African city. And he explains it thus. The inhabitants of this city, i Talians, in fact, for some reason, they were forced to leave their land and emigrate. They crossed the Mediterranean and they first came to Sicily and then went up the peninsula to Tuscany. Once settled, they extended their domain and attributed their name to the conquered land.
The Samnite derivation on the origin of the name
Also according to this hypothesis, the term 'Italy' is a linguistic loan that the Greek language has taken from Oscan. The Oscan term Viteliù he passed to the Greek which he in turn transmitted to the Latin after the initial fricative had dropped.
Also in this case, linguistic considerations aside, the reality of the term is motivated by the presence of many cattle in the center-south.
The first epigraphic testimony
The first epigraphic testimony of the use of the term 'Italy' dates back to 90 BC. On a coin of that time, in fact, found in Abruzzo, a goddess was depicted as the personification of the nation. There was also a reproduction of the name Italy in Latin and the equivalent term in the Oscan alphabet, Viteliù.
