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In Roman mythology, the Battle of the Lacus Curtius [2] was the final battle in the war between the Roman Kingdom and the Sabines following Rome's mass abduction of Sabine women to take as brides. It took place during the reign of Romulus, near the Lacus Curtius, future site of the Roman Forum.
Rome was founded on the Palatine Hill. The settlement flourished and their strength and size came to rival those of their neighbors. The city needed more marriageable women and feared their growth couldn't be sustained if the female population did not increase. Romulus appealed to the other cities in the region: [3]
Acting on the advice of the senate, Romulus sent envoys amongst the surrounding nations to ask for alliance and the right of intermarriage on behalf of his new community. [...] Nowhere did the envoys meet with a favourable reception. Whilst their proposals were treated with [contempt], there was at the same time a general feeling of alarm at the power so rapidly growing in their midst.
With the Roman people outraged at the response, Romulus announced a festival to be held in the city and invited the citizens of Caenina, Antemnae, Crustumerium, and Sabinia. [3] Once the festivities were underway, Romulus' men abducted the daughters of the Sabines and the other visitors. [3] Afterwards, hostilities broke out between them. [4] [5] Rome defeated three of their enemies, at which point the Sabines declared war. [6] [7]
The two sides spent a year preparing. During this time Rome improved its defenses and were reinforced with Albans soldiers sent by King Numitor and mercenaries under the command of the Romulus' friend and renowned commander Lucumo. After a final effort to resolve the matter peacefully, the Sabine army marched forth. [1]
The Vestal Virgin Tarpeia, the daughter of the commander of the citadel in Rome Spurius Tarpeius, betrayed Rome to the Sabines, offering them entry into the city. [8] [9] [10] Quoting Fabius and Cincius, Dionysius of Halicarnassus writes that Tatius tricked the daughter of the commander of the city's walled citadel to open the gates to his men by offering her what she thinks will be the gold bracelets they wear on their left arms, instead they crushed her to death when they heaped their shields on top of her as her reward. Lucius Piso claimed that she was motivated not by greed, but a plan to trick the Sabines and that she was killed only after they came to suspect her of treachery. Livy writes that the girl was simply bribed, but also cites the trickery account related by Dionysius. [11]
The Sabine and Roman armies gathered at the Palatine and Capitoline Hills; the Sabines were commanded by Mettius Curtius and the Romans by Hostus Hostilius. The river had recently flooded and left a thick mud in the area, [12]
After several skirmishes and minor engagements, the armies fought two pitched battles featuring valor and losses to both sides.
In the second and final battle between them, the armies met in between the two hills they occupied. Romulus and Lucumo were successfully attacking from both wings, but were forced to disengage when the center of the Roman line broke in order to stop the Sabines' advance under their general Mettius Curtius. [10] After being turned back, the Sabines made an orderly retreat; Mettius and Romulus engaged one another directly until Mettius fell, wounded. A marshy lake prevented his escape but he plunged into it and stymied his enemy's pursuit. [12] Once Romulus turned to face the remaining Sabines, the Sabine general pulled himself out of the mire and safely returned to his camp.
When Romulus was struck in the head with a stone, the tide reversed again as the soldiers lost heart without their commander. The army was in full-flight after a javelin felled Lucumo. Romulus recovered, and with the support of fresh reserves from within the city, the Romans regained the upper hand and the lines moved back against the Sabines. With the sun setting, the Sabines made an arduous retreat to the citadel and the Romans broke off their pursuit.
In Livy's account, the Romans assembled at the foot of the hill beneath the citadel, but the Sabines refused to emerge and engage them. Finally, in spite of their lack of the high ground, the frustrated Roman army attacked. Initially inspired by the heroics of their general Hostus Hostilius on the front line, the Roman line broke when he fell, Romulus makes a pledge to Jupiter that if he were to hold off the Sabine charge and restore the Roman's courage, he would build a new Temple to "Jupiter Stator" on the site. With a cry, Romulus led his army into the Sabines and routed them. The Sabine general Mettius was tossed in a swamp by his horse after it bolted. [13]
After the Sabines regrouped, the battle continued in the area between the two hills, but the Roman army had by then gained the upper hand. Suddenly, the abducted Sabine daughters rushed onto the battlefield and put themselves between the two armies. They implored both sides to stop the bloodshed and accept each other as family, as they then were. Ashamed, the leaders of the two peoples ended the fighting. [14]
In his account of the Battle of the Lacus Curtius, Plutarch provides additional details, but the basic account is the same as that of Livy and Dionysius. He notes that when the women intervened, they not only ended the battle, but brought food and water, as well as care for the injured. They also take the opportunity to introduce their husbands and their fathers. Henceforth, Sabine women have no duty but to spin wool for their husbands. [12]
After the battle, both sides decided to sign a peace treaty uniting the two kingdoms transferring administrative power to Rome. Citizens of Rome became known as Quirites after the town Cures. The Lacus Curtius was named after Sabine leader Mettius Curtius. [15]
In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus are twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the founding of the city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his fratricide of Remus. The image of a she-wolf suckling the twins in their infancy has been a symbol of the city of Rome and the ancient Romans since at least the 3rd century BC. Although the tale takes place before the founding of Rome around 750 BC, the earliest known written account of the myth is from the late 3rd century BC. Possible historical bases for the story, and interpretations of its local variants, are subjects of ongoing debate.
In Roman mythology, Amulius was king of Alba Longa who ordered the death of his infant, twin grandnephews Romulus, the eventual founder and king of Rome, and Remus. He was deposed and killed by them after they survived and grew to adulthood.
Numa Pompilius was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions are attributed to him, such as the Roman calendar, Vestal Virgins, the cult of Mars, the cult of Jupiter, the cult of Romulus, and the office of pontifex maximus.
In Roman mythology, Hersilia was a figure in the foundation myth of Rome. She is credited with ending the war between Rome and the Sabines.
The Sabines (, SAY-bynes,, SAB-eyens; Latin: Sabini; Italian: Sabini were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary style was atticistic – imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime.
Tullus Hostilius was the legendary third king of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius. Unlike his predecessor, Tullus was known as a warlike king who, according to the Roman historian Livy, believed the more peaceful nature of his predecessor had weakened Rome. It has been attested that he sought out war and was even more warlike than the first king of Rome, Romulus. Accounts of the death of Tullus Hostilius vary. In the mythological version of events Livy describes, he had angered Jupiter who then killed him with a bolt of lightning. Non-mythological sources on the other hand describe that he died of plague after a rule of 32 years.
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The Lacus Curtius was a pit or pool in the ground in the Forum Romanum. The area where the Forum would later be built was originally likely a lake, as the area it was in is known to have been surrounded by brooks and marshes. One part of the area was never drained, but gradually became smaller until only a basin, known as the Lacus Curtius, was left. Its nature and significance in Rome's early history is uncertain, and several conflicting stories exist about its history.
In Roman legend, Tarpeia, daughter of the Roman commander Spurius Tarpeius, was a Vestal Virgin who betrayed the city of Rome to the Sabines at the time of their women's abduction for what she thought would be a reward of jewelry. She was instead crushed to death by Sabine shields and her body cast from the southern cliff of Rome's Capitoline Hill, thereafter called after her the Tarpeian Rock.
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The Rape of the Sabine Women, also known as the Abduction of the Sabine Women or the Kidnapping of the Sabine Women, was an incident in the legendary history of Rome in which the men of Rome committed a mass abduction of young women from the other cities in the region. It has been a frequent subject of painters and sculptors, particularly since the Renaissance.
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In the Roman foundation myth, a she-wolf was an Italian wolf who nursed and sheltered the twins Romulus and Remus after they were abandoned in the wild by decree of King Amulius of Alba Longa. She cared for the infants at her den, a cave known as the Lupercal, until they were discovered by a shepherd, Faustulus. Romulus would later become the founder and first king of Rome. The image of the she-wolf suckling the twins has been a symbol of Rome since ancient times and is one of the most recognizable icons of ancient mythology.
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