The paper try to summarise the process of Romanization of Lucanians and Bruttians, the native populations of ancient Calabria. Using written sources and archaeological data, the paper intends to analyze the most significant moments in the assimilation into Roman culture, from the first contacts with Rome, before the Second Samnitic War, to the start of the Principate (IVth-Ist centuryes B.C.). It is interesting to note that at the end of the process the Greek cities, such as Naples, Tarentum and Rhegium, remained centres of Greek language and culture, while the Italic populations had assumed the same aspect as the rest of Romanized Italy and had lost their specific Italic identity.