SummaryWhereas in other countries in which historical linguistics struck root in the past century it became customary, particularly after 1870, to cultivate Romance and Indo-European studies as two separate, exacting disciplines which few specialists would want to bridge, Italy – initially under the impulse of Graziadio Isaia Ascoli — went her own way, allowing, above all, her ‘glottologi’ and, on a minor scale, her ‘filologi’ to participate actively in research conducted in both domains, with Latin serving as the obvious connection. Giacomo Devoto was the last major embodiment of this dual expertise; but many other names come to mind as well.