I have a reasonable idea of what a Roman soldier might have looked like (Hastati, Principes & Triarii pre-Marius and legionary with gladius, scutum and lorica after), but how did the Etruscans, Samnites, Umbrians etc. equip themselves?
By the time of the Social Wars in 91 BC were they essentially fighting in Roman style maniples (my lecturer noted that maniples were partly designed to deal with the hilly terrain of the Italian highlands) or something entirely different?
I'm also curious to what extent/in what way their equipment/tactics may have changed since the earlier Italian revolts in the 4th century BC.
I don't mean to discourage anyone else from posting, so please if you can provide a more complete answer then do so! Right now I'm just about to go to bed, so I'll provide a more detailed response tomorrow, if one is still called for.
Early on, the Etruscans would've been armed in a very Greek fashion, much like the early Roman Army. Likewise, there were many Greek cities throughout the South of Italy who would have fought in traditional Greek styles before being absorbed and Italianized.
It may surprise you too learn that the Maniple is actually a Samnite invention, which the Romans quickly adopted by the Romans after their early conflicts with the Samnites. The Romans soon found that their original, Phalanx style of warfare (inherited from the Etruscans) was too inflexible for fighting the wily Samnites in the Italian uplands. The Samnites themselves were actually a remarkable people, and provided a much greater challenge to Rome than any of her other Italian contemporaries, and in terms of their influence on Roman warfare had a much greater impact than their meager lands and little known name would suggest.
Here is an excellent illustration of what Samnite warriors would have looked like http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag107/Monchegorsk/samnites_zpsb42d5b32.jpg Notice their colorful outfits, their distinctive body armor, their smaller shields that don't look quite like the Roman Scutum...and the swastika symbol that always brings a comment or two when people first see depictions of the Samnites. Feathers in the helmets were also very common as well.
Generally the Italic peoples had similar armaments - thrusting and throwing spears (again, I believe the Samnites are credited with the original Roman throwing spear - the Verutum ), and some sort of cuirass which could range from the distinctive three-disk Samnite armor ( http://www.thefakebusters.com/greek%20bronze%20helmets/pics%20Greek%20bronze%20helmets/chalcidian/72701.jpg ) to adopted Greek Linthorax armor, which I imagine would have been more common among the Bruttians and Lucanians due to their proximity to the Greek City States of Magna Graecia. Also shields of various types were used as well.
Over time the trend would be towards standardization, where thrusting spears were phased out in favor of the gladius, chainmail was adopted, and the shields made uniform. The Roman style of war evolved alongside its Italian contemporaries, to the point that by the Social Wars the distinction was almost meaningless, and the Socii infantry was for the most part trained, armed, and organized in the Roman fashion.
That ended up being a much longer answer than I intended! But hopefully it touched all of the salient points for you. The Italic armies aren't my specialty, but I'll try to answer any follow-up questions you may have.
