| First Latin War | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Latin Wars | |||||||
 Depiction of the Battle of Lake Regillus, the most well known battle of the war | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Roman Republic | Latin League | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Sp. Cassius Vecellinus Titus Largius Aulus Regillensis Titus Aebutius Elva | Octavius Mamilius Tarquinius Superbus | ||||||
The Latin War was a war fought between the Roman Republic and the Latin League from 498 BC to 493 BC. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
According to the historical chronicles, [lower-alpha 1] [7] the beginnings of this war between the Romans and Latins can be seen as early as 501 BC, though the root causes date back much farther. In 501 BC, the Romans elected Titus Larcius as dictator with Spurius Cassius Vecellinus as his Master of the Horse, an overt indication of the expectation of conflict. [8] There were two major incidents in 501 BC that likely provoked the Romans to elect a dictator. First, an incident arose between the Romans and the Sabines in which a group of Sabines ironically abducted a number of Roman women during a festival being held in Rome. This relatively trivial action led to a violent altercation which threatened to nearly bring the two cities to war even though Rome had decisively defeated the Sabines very recently sometime between 505 and 503 BC. [9] [10] The other and more significant cause for the appointment of a dictator was the agitation of the rest of the Latin League, a group of around 30 different Latin city-states which were situated throughout Latium, [11] [12] and what Rome correctly perceived to be their mobilization towards a war footing. Soon after the appointment of Titus Largius to the dictatorship, the Sabines sued for a quick peace, leaving Largius to concentrate the brunt of his attention on the rest of the Latin League. The growing might of Rome in Latium had begun to upset the Latin balance of power. As a result, Octavius Mamilius, the leader of Tusculum began agitating the cities of the Latin League in a common cause against Rome. Mamilius was the son in law of the ex-Roman King Lucius Tarquinius Superbus who had gone into exile at Tusculum following his defeat at the Battle of Silva Arsia with the Etruscans and his failure to again capture Rome with the support of Clusium immediately after that. [13] [14]
The major decisive battle of this war was the Battle of Lake Regillus which was fought in 496 BC near Frascati. The Roman victory is largely attributed to decisive action on the part of the patrician cavalry units. According to Roman legends, Castor and Pollux are supposed to have fought on the Roman side of this battle as members of the famed cavalry units.
The war ended with the Foedus Cassianum (English: Treaty of Cassius) which ended the war and formed a treaty of alliance between the Romans and the members of the Latin League. The treaty was named after the contemporary Roman Consul, Spurius Cassius Vecellinus. This conflict marked the turning point where Rome became the dominant power in Latium although it still recognized the autonomy and independent rights of the various Latin city states and did not annex any of the cities to its banners. The treaty stipulated that the Latins were to provide military assistance in the event of external threats and that any armies raised in this manner were to be under Roman command. The treaty further legalized marriage between Roman citizens and Latins which had been a previous point of contention, and reinstated all trade between the cities.
Year 496 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Albus and Tricostus. The denomination 496 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 493 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Auruncus and Viscellinus. The denomination 493 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Tiberinus was the ninth king of Alba Longa, according to the traditional history of Rome handed down by Titus Livius. He was the successor of Capetus, the eighth king of Alba Longa. The Alban kings claimed descent from Aeneas, a Trojan prince who brought a remnant of the Trojan populace to Italy following the sack of Troy, and settled in Latium. Alba was built by Ascanius, the son of Aeneas and Lavinia, and founder of the Alban royal line. The Alban kings, including Tiberinus, bore the cognomenSilvius, after the son of Ascanius, who was said to have been born in the woods.
Spurius Cassius Vecellinus or Vicellinus was one of the most distinguished men of the early Roman Republic. He was three times consul, and celebrated two triumphs. He was the first magister equitum, and the author of the first agrarian law. The year following his last consulship, he was accused of aiming at regal power, and was put to death by the patricians.
The gens Mamilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome during the period of the Republic. The gens was originally one of the most distinguished families of Tusculum, and indeed in the whole of Latium. It is first mentioned in the time of the Tarquins; and it was to a member of this family, Octavius Mamilius, that Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last King of Rome, betrothed his daughter. The gens obtained Roman citizenship in the 5th century BC, and some of its members must subsequently have settled at Rome, where Lucius Mamilius Vitulus became the first of the family to hold the consulship in 265 BC, the year before the First Punic War.
The Battle of Lake Regillus was a legendary Roman victory over the Latin League shortly after the establishment of the Roman Republic and as part of a wider Latin War. The Latins were led by an elderly Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last King of Rome, who had been expelled in 509 BC, and his son-in-law, Octavius Mamilius, the dictator of Tusculum. The battle marked the final attempt of the Tarquins to reclaim their throne. According to legend, Castor and Pollux fought on the side of the Romans.
The Latin League was an ancient confederation of about 30 villages and tribes in the region of Latium near the ancient city of Rome, organized for mutual defense. The term "Latin League" is one coined by modern historians with no precise Latin equivalent.
Titus Larcius was a Roman general and statesman during the early Republic, who served twice as consul and became the first Roman dictator.
Agrarian laws were laws among the Romans regulating the division of the public lands, or ager publicus. In its broader definition, it can also refer to the agricultural laws relating to peasants and husbandmen, or to the general farming class of people of any society.
Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis or Inregillensis was the legendary founder of the Roman gens Claudia, and consul in 495 BC. He was the leading figure of the aristocratic party in the early Roman Republic.
According to Roman tradition, the Foedus Cassianum or the Treaty of Cassius was a treaty which formed an alliance between the Roman Republic and the Latin League in 493 BC after the Battle of Lake Regillus. It ended the war between the Latin League and Rome, placing Rome as equal in power to all of the members of the League combined.
Octavius Mamilius was princeps of Tusculum, an ancient city of Latium. He was the son-in-law of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king of Rome. According to tradition, the gens Mamilia was descended from Mamilia, reputedly a granddaughter of Ulysses (Odysseus) and Circe. Titus Livius described Octavius as head of one of the most distinguished families of Latium, and thus an important ally of Tarquinius.
The gens Herminia was an ancient patrician house at Rome. Members of the gens appear during the first war between the Roman Republic and the Etruscans, circa 508 BC, and from then to 448 BC. Two members of the family held the consulship, Titus Herminius Aquilinus in 506 BC, and Lars Herminius Aquilinus in 448.
Titus Herminius, surnamed Aquilinus, was one of the heroes of the Roman Republic. He participated in two of the most famous conflicts that attended the birth of the Republic, and was elected consul in 506 BC. However, his greatest fame was won as one of the defenders of the Sublician bridge against the army of Lars Porsena, the King of Clusium.
The gens Hostilia was an ancient family at Rome, which traced its origin to the time of Romulus. The most famous member of the gens was Tullus Hostilius, the third King of Rome; however, all of the Hostilii known from the time of the Republic were plebeians. Several of the Hostilii were distinguished during the Punic Wars. The first of the family to obtain the consulship was Aulus Hostilius Mancinus in 170 BC.
The gens Verginia or Virginia was a prominent family at ancient Rome, which from an early period was divided into patrician and plebeian branches. The gens was of great antiquity, and frequently filled the highest honors of the state during the early years of the Republic. The first of the family who obtained the consulship was Opiter Verginius Tricostus in 502 BC, the seventh year of the Republic. The plebeian members of the family were also numbered amongst the early tribunes of the people.
The Roman conquest of the Hernici, an ancient Italic people, took place during the 4th century BC. For most of the 5th century BC, the Roman Republic had been allied with the other Latin states and the Hernici to successfully fend off the Aequi and the Volsci. In the early 4th century BC, this alliance fell apart. A war fought between Rome and the Hernici in the years 366 - 358 BC ended in Roman victory and the submission of the Hernici. Rome also defeated a rebellion by some Hernician cities in 307 - 306 BC. The rebellious Hernici were incorporated directly into the Roman Republic, while those who had stayed loyal retained their autonomy and nominal independence. In the course of the following century, the Hernici became indistinguishable from their Latin and Roman neighbours and disappeared as a separate people.
The gens Duilia or Duillia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Marcus Duilius, tribune of the plebs in BC 470. The family produced several important statesmen over the first three centuries of the Republic, before fading into obscurity.
The Roman–Sabine wars were a series of wars during the early expansion of ancient Rome in central Italy against their northern neighbours, the Sabines. It is commonly accepted that the events pre-dating the Roman Republic in 509 BC are semi-legendary in nature.
The Battle of Pometia took place in 502 BC, a year after a revolt by two Latin towns, Pometia and Cora, against Rome. A Roman army led by the consuls Agrippa Menenius Lanatus and Publius Postumius Tubertus was eventually successful in forcing the Pometians to surrender.