Editing Ligurian language (ancient) (section)

=== Territory ===
[[File:Hecataeus_world_map-en.svg|thumb|World map of [[Hecataeus of Miletus]] (6th century BC).{{Sfn|Keyser|2011|p=42}}]]
Early Greek geographers, such as [[Hecataeus of Miletus]] (6th century BC) and [[Pseudo-Scylax]] (4th century BC), used the term ''Ligues'' as a broad label for the so-called [[Barbarian|barbarians]] of the distant West. They placed these peoples in a semi-mythical setting at the outer edges of the known world, comparable to other legendary groups like the [[Hyperborea|Hyperboreans]] or [[Aethiopia|Ethiopians]], who were believed to inhabit the world's extreme boundaries.{{Sfn|Arnaud|2001|pp=321–323}}{{Sfn|Keyser|2011|p=42–45}} In these sources, ''Ligustica,'' the land of the ''Ligues'', often aligned with [[Massalia]]'s sphere of influence, stretching from [[Empúries|Emporion]] in Catalonia to Antipolis ([[Antibes]]) in southeastern France.{{Sfn|Arnaud|2001|pp=323–325}} Classical Greek authors of this period do not mention any Ligures in Italy.{{Sfn|Arnaud|2001|pp=327–328}}{{Sfn|Keyser|2011|p=42–45}} Instead, they describe Ligurian territory as ending east around Antipolis or Monoikos ([[Monaco]]), beyond which began the domains of the [[Tyrrhenians]] ([[Etruscans]]) or [[Pelasgians]].{{Sfn|Arnaud|2001|pp=327–328}}

Over time, as geographic knowledge improved and distinct groups like the [[Iberians]] and [[Gauls]] came into clearer focus, references to the Ligures became more concrete. Later Latin authors continued to echo elements of the older, semi-mythical tradition, yet the idea of Ligures as a general label for the distant West gradually gave way to a more localised concept, placing them in a specific region around Massalia ([[Marseille]]).{{Sfn|Arnaud|2001|pp=321–323}}
{{Blockquote|text=... though the early writers of the Greeks call the Sallyes 'Ligues', and the country which the Massiliotes hold, 'Ligustica', later writers name them 'Celtoligues', and attach to their territory all the level country as far as Luerio and the Rhodanus, the country from which the inhabitants, divided into ten parts, used to send forth an army, not only of infantry, but of cavalry as well.|source={{harvnb|Strabo|1923}}, ''Geōgraphiká'', [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/strabo-geography/1917/pb_LCL050.269.xml 4:6:3].}}

[[File:ItaliaAlTempoDiAugusto (expo -25 contrasto 25).jpg|thumb|328x328px|The Roman ''regio Liguria'' at the time of [[Augustus]] (7 AD), at the top left of the map.]]
By the 3rd century BCE, Roman records (the ''Acta triumphalia Populi Romani'' of [[Publius Cornelius Lentulus Caudinus|P. Lentulus Caudinus]]) began mentioning Ligures in Italy, north of the [[Magra]] River. This suggests that the Romans recognised a distinct people called 'Ligures' in the Italian Peninsula, separate from the older Greek tradition of 'Ligues' in southern Gaul. In the subsequent centuries, Roman military campaigns in the region (including one against the [[Ingauni]] in 185–180 BCE) gradually brought to light the existence of Ligures in northwestern Italy, culminating in the formal establishment of the ''[[Regio IX Liguria|Region IX]]'' ''[[Regio IX Liguria|Liguria]]'' under [[Augustus]] (27 BC – 14 AD).{{Sfn|Arnaud|2001|pp=327–328}} At that point, the Ligures occupied the westernmost part of the Italian peninsula and a portion of the nearby French coastline, extending from Album Intimilium (modern [[Ventimiglia]]) to [[Ameglia]].{{Sfn|Giannattasio|2024|pp=414–416}}