AURUNCI, the name given by the Romans to a tribe which in historical times occupied only a strip of coast on either side of the Mons Massicus between the Volturnus and the Liris, although it must, at an earlier period, have extended over a considerably wider area. Their own name for themselves in the 4th century B.c. was Ausones. Greek writers applied the name Ausonia to Latium and Campania, while the Augustan poets used it as one of many synonyms for Italy. In history the tribe appears only for a brief space, from 34o to 295 B.C., and their struggle with the Romans ended in complete extermination. No record of their speech survives; but their geographical situation, and the fre quency of the co-suffix in that strip of coast (besides Aurunci itself we have the names Vescia, Mons Massicus, Marica, Glanica, and Caedicii) (see R. S. Conway, Italic Dialects, p. 283 et seq.) rank them beyond doubt with their neighbours the Volsci (q.v.).