The Latins belonged to the Indo-Germanic Italics. Their closest relatives are the Falisci. From the history of the settlement it can be seen that these two peoples were pushed westwards to the coasts of the Tyrrhenian Sea by the other Italic peoples. Rome is an Etruscan foundation and was under Etruscan rule until around 470 BC, but the majority of the city's inhabitants were Latins during the time of the Republic. Their language, Latin, became the language of education of the Romans and the official language of the Roman Empire.
As a result of a war (340-338 B.C.) Rome disempowered the Latin cities and from now on determined the political fate of Lazio and its Latin inhabitants. Initially, the Latins were only granted limited Roman civil rights, but only in 89 BC were they granted full Roman citizenship.