Traces of human life in the Abruzzi can already be found in the Palaeolithic Age. A number of places in the region indicate the uninterrupted presence of man on the basis of manifestations of different cultures in consistent evolution, until the  first century BC, when the Abruzzi region was populated by numerous peoples of Italic origin: among others the Sabines, Marsians, Paeligni, Picentenes, Samnites, and Aequi.

The different tribes allied to resist against the Roman advance. But the Romans were able to break the resistance of the local tribes in the 4th century at Boiano and expanded their dominion to the whole region.

After the fall of the Roman Empire the Abruzzi were occupied first by the Langobards and then by the Franks. In the 12th century the region was ruled by the Normans and became part of the Kingdom of Sicily which later, under Spanish rule, became the Kingdom of Naples.

In the 18th century the Abruzzi were ruled by the Bourbons. Apart from a short Napoleonic period this lasted until 1860 when they, after many riots against the Bourbons’ misgovernment, joined the Kingdom of Italy.

1963 the Molise separated from the Abruzzi and became an independent region.