Samnium is a
Latin exonym for a region of
Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the
Samnites. Their own
endonyms were
Safinim for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and
Safineis for the The language of these endonyms and of the population was the
Oscan language. However, not all the Samnites spoke Oscan, and not all the Oscan-speakers lived in Samnium.