εὐγενής (eugenēs) 'well-born') were a group of populations, difficult to define, settled in the flat and mountainous areas of Northeast Italy, between the Eastern Alps and the Adriatic.
More likely, it is the term with which the Adriatic Venetians referred to a non-homogeneous group of tribes who, at the time of their arrival in Northeast Italy, occupied the vast area from Istria to Garda (or Oglio).
The Euganeans willingly accepted Roman domination, as demonstrated by the monuments erected in honor of the Augustan dynasty and the existence of a pagus called Livius by Livia.
According to Pliny, referring to Cato, the Euganeans were distributed in 34 oppida among which the "capital" Stoenos, an alpine locality which is difficult to identify, stood out.
The expression "Euganean Hills", which indicates the group of reliefs located south-west of Padua, is instead an invention of the Renaissance, while "Venezia Euganea", coined by the linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli, is even later.