When we read stories of ancient pre-Roman Italy, often the point of view we absorb is that of the Greek city-states of southern Italy, or of their later Roman neighbours. Virtually no written material except the Greek or Roman has survived the ancient period. This is despite writing having spread to their neighbours. To the extent that other peoples of ancient Italy appear in the written record, they do so as “decoration” in Roman and Greek centred stories. The peoples of Ancient Apulia are a case in point. The Greek and Romans often described the people around them as “tribal” and led by kings or chiefs. From the seventeenth to…