Osci

, a people between Camp an i a and the country of the Volsci, who a isted Turnus against Æneas. Some suppose that they are the same as the Opici , the word Osci being a diminutive or abbreviation of the other. The language, the plays, and ludicrous expre ions of this nation, are often mentioned by the ancients, and from their indecent tendency some suppose the word obscænum ( quasi oscenum ) is derived. Tacitus , Annals , bk. 4 , ch. 14 .— Cicero , Letters to his Friends , bk. 7 , ltr. 1 .— Livy , bk. 10 , ch. 20 .— Strabo , bk. 5 .— Pliny , bk. 3 , ch. 5 .— Virgil , Æneid , bk. 7 , li. 730 .