Rhaetians

The Raeti were a confederation of Alpine tribes, whose language and culture may have been related to those of Etruscans. From not later than ca. 500 BC, they inhabited the central parts of present-day Switzerland, Tyrol in Austria, the Alpine regions of northeastern Italy and Germany south of the Danube. The etymology of the name Raeti is uncertain. The Roman province of Raetia was named after these people. Ancient sources characterise the Raeti as Etruscan people who were displaced from the Po valley by the Gauls and took refuge in the valleys of the Alps. But it is likely that they were predominantly indigenous Alpine people. Their language, the so-called Raetian language, was probably related to Etruscan, but may not have derived from it. At least some of the Raeti tribes probably continued to speak the Raetian language as late as the 3rd century AD. Others were probably Celtic-speaking by the era of the Roman emperor Augustus.