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The Peucetians were an Iapygians tribe which inhabited western and central Apulia in classical antiquity.
Two other Iapygian tribes, the Daunians and the Messapians, inhabited northern and southern Apulia respectively. All three tribes spoke the Messapian language, but had developed separate archaeological cultures by the seventh century BC; however, in Peucetian territory ancient Greek and Oscan language were spoken as well, as the legends of the currencies from Rubi and Rutigliano were trilingual. Peucetians lived in the eponymous region Peucetia, which was bordered by the Ofanto river and the Murge in the north, the Bradano river in the west and the territories of the Greeks colony of Taranto and the Messapians in the south. This region is mostly coincident with the Metropolitan City of Bari and parts of the provinces of Taranto and Barletta-Andria-Trani today.
Modern ethnography regard the term 'Poedicli' as a synonym of 'Peucetii'.i.e., Ray Laurence, in Cultural Identity in the Roman Empire, 1998, ch. 7 "Territory, ethnonyms and geography: The construction of identity in Roman Italy" "...in Apulia, where the Peucetii were also known as Poedicli..." In Ancient Greek they were known as Πευκέτιοι.
With increasing Hellenization their ancestor, given the name Peucetis, was said by Dionysius of HalicarnassusDionysius, Roman Antiquites, I.xi.3. to have been the son of the Arcadian Lycaon and brother of Oenotrus. Lycaon having divided Arcadia among his twenty-two sons, Peucetios was inspired to seek better fortune abroad. This etiology myth is considered by modern writers to suggest strongly that, as far as the Greeks were concerned, the Peucetii were culturally part, though an unimportant part, of Magna Graecia.
Strabo places them to the north of the Messapians."...on the north of, are the Peucetii and also those people who in the Greek language are called Dauni, but the natives give the name Apulia to the whole country that comes after that of the Calabri, though some of them, particularly the Peucetii, are called Poedicli also." ( Geography VI.3). Strabo adds (VI.8) "...the terms Peucetii and Daunii are not at all used by the native inhabitants except in the early times." In the time of Strabo the territory occupied by the former Peuceti lay on the mule-track that was the only connection between Brindisi and Benevento."There are two roads from Brindisi: one, a mule-road through the countries of the Peucetii (who are called Poedicli) the Dauni, and the Samnites as far as Benevento..." ( Geography VI.7. Pre-Roman ceramic evidence justifies Strabo's classification of Daunii, Peucetii and Messapii, who were all speakers of the Messapian language. There were twelve tribal proto-statelets among the Peucetii, one of which is represented by modern Altamura.
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