central Marche, and central Lazio. This *Area Mediana* is also used in a narrower sense to describe the southern part, in which case the northern one may be referred to as the *Area Perimediana*, a distinction that will be made throughout this article. The two areas are divided along a line running approximately from Rome in the southwest to Ancona in the northeast.

In the Early Middle Ages, Central Italian extended north into Romagna and covered