Lepontians

Lepontians , lat. Lepontii - the ancient people who inhabited part of the territory of Rethia (now the alpine regions of Switzerland and Italy) at the time of the conquest of these lands by the Romans. Various authors ranked the Lepontians among the Celts , Ligurs , Retas, and even Germans . The inscriptions found in the 19th century in the Leonton language of the 7th-5th centuries, made from the Etruscan alphabet, as well as archaeological excavations indicating a connection with the archaeological culture of Holasekka in northern Italy, are the final evidence of the Celtic affiliation of the Leontians, although an impurity cannot be excluded the retrian population (related to the Etruscans ).

The main cities of the Lepontians were Oscela, now Domodossola in Italy, and Bilizio, now Bellinzona in Switzerland. Their territory included the southern slopes of the St. Gotthard and Semplon passes , which roughly corresponds to the territory of the modern Ossola region in Italy and the Ticino canton in Switzerland.

This map of Recy shows the location of the Lepontians southwest of the riets. The region in the south, including the location of the future capital of the insubra city ​​of Mediolanum (now Milan ), is about 600-500. belonged to the Etruscans . It was at this time that the Lepontians borrowed from the Etruscans the alphabet with which they carried out their inscriptions.