Misplaced Pages

#610389

149-769: Alba Longa (occasionally written Albalonga in Italian sources) was an ancient Latin city in Central Italy in the vicinity of Lake Albano in the Alban Hills . The ancient Romans believed it to be the founder and head of the Latin League , before it was destroyed by the Roman Kingdom around the middle of the 7th century BC and its inhabitants were forced to settle in Rome. In legend, Romulus and Remus , founders of Rome, had come from

298-513: A brief but fierce storm sent up against the group at Juno 's request, Aeneas and his fleet made landfall at Carthage after six years of wanderings. Aeneas had a year-long affair with the Carthaginian queen Dido (also known as Elissa), who proposed that the Trojans settle in her land and that she and Aeneas reign jointly over their peoples. A marriage of sorts was arranged between Dido and Aeneas at

447-644: A cave on the Palatine Hill (the Lupercal ) after they had been thrown into the river Tiber on the orders of their wicked uncle, Amulius . The latter had usurped the throne of Alba from the twins' grandfather, king Numitor , and then confined their mother, Rhea Silvia , to the Vestal convent. They were washed ashore by the river, and after a few days with the wolf, were rescued by shepherds. Mainstream scholarly opinion regards Romulus as an entirely mythical character, and

596-455: A centre which may well have been Castel Gandolfo, whose significantly larger necropolis suggests a larger town. In the later republican period the territory of Alba (the Ager Albanus ) was settled once again with many residential villas , which are mentioned in ancient literature and of which remains are extant. Since the 16th century, the site has been at various times identified as that of

745-502: A curse that would forever pit Carthage against Rome, an enmity that would culminate in the Punic Wars . She then committed suicide by stabbing herself with the same sword she gave Aeneas when they first met. After the sojourn in Carthage, the Trojans returned to Sicily where Aeneas organized funeral games to honor his father, who had died a year before. The company traveled on and landed on

894-593: A daughter of king Priam of Troy ), Ascanius , founded a new city, Alba Longa in the Alban Hills, which replaced Lavinium as capital city. Alba Longa supposedly remained the Latin capital for some 400 years under Aeneas' successors, the Latin kings of Alba , until his descendant (supposedly in direct line after 15 generations) Romulus founded Rome in 753 BC. Under a later king Tullus Hostilius (traditional reign-dates 673–642 BC),

1043-501: A dispute erupted between a group of Romans and Albans, he seized upon the mutual accusations of robbery as a pretext for conflict. Both sides sent emissaries to demand redress. When the Alban delegation arrived in Rome, Tullus purposefully gave them such a warm greeting that they delayed making their demand. The Roman delegates, however, immediately addressed the Albans and were refused. By virtue of

1192-595: A fact have escaped record in the writings of Julius Caesar when that Roman military supreme commander had personally surveyed the lands there he had conquered for Rome by 48 BC? And indeed, why should the son Brutus have escaped from Latin histories altogether, given that they did deal with Silvius and Ascanius, and 'all they're [sic] childera & what became of them & how they endyd that succeeded them as kyngis'? Other details Rastell found were able to be discounted without resort to factual records, or with only very few facts needed other than everyday experience. Were

1341-437: A final attempt to preserve their independence. The war ended in 338 BC with a decisive Roman victory. The other Latin states were either annexed or permanently subjugated to Rome. The name Latium has been suggested to derive from the Latin word latus ("wide, broad"), referring, by extension, to the plains of the region (in contrast to the mainly-mountainous Italian Peninsula). If that is true, Latini originally meant "men of

1490-593: A genetic mixture of Imperial-era inhabitants of the city of Rome and populations from central or northern Italy. In the following Early Medieval period, invasions of barbarians may have brought central and/or northern European ancestry into Rome, resulting in the further loss of genetic link to the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. By the Middle Ages , the people of Rome again genetically resembled central and southern European populations. As regards to

1639-549: A god inhabiting a mortal body. However, there is no certainty regarding the origin of his name. In imitation of the Iliad , Virgil borrows epithets of Homer, including: Anchisiades, magnanimum , magnus , heros , and bonus . Though he borrows many, Virgil gives Aeneas two epithets of his own, in the Aeneid : pater and pius . The epithets applied by Virgil are an example of an attitude different from that of Homer, for whilst Odysseus

SECTION 10

#1732851447611

1788-420: A god. Aeneas was recognized as the god Jupiter Indiges . It's also been stated that Prince Aeneas is the ancestor to the founders of Rome, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus; the two orphan boys who are seen suckling from a she-wolf. [1] The English once widely claimed as history an original peopling of their island—prior to the event, a land only of fantastical giants—by descendants of Aeneas, though even in

1937-535: A libretto by André Alexis ) as a companion piece to Purcell's opera. Despite its many dramatic elements, Aeneas's story has generated little interest from the film industry. Ronald Lewis portrayed Aeneas in Helen of Troy , directed by Robert Wise, as a supporting character, who is a member of the Trojan Royal family, and a close and loyal friend to Paris, and escapes at the end of the film. Portrayed by Steve Reeves , he

2086-495: A mixture of local Iron Age ancestry and ancestry from an Eastern mediterranean population. Among modern populations, four out of six were closest to Northern and Central Italians , and then Spaniards, while the other two were closest to Southern Italians. Overall, the genetic differentiation between the Latins, Etruscans and the preceding proto-Villanovan population of Italy was found to be insignificant. Examined individuals from

2235-578: A number of extinct volcanoes and 5 lakes, of which the largest are lacus Nemorensis ( Lake Nemi ) and lacus Tusculensis ( Lake Albano ). These hills provided a defensible, well-watered base. Also the hills on the site of Rome, certainly the Palatine and possibly the Capitoline and the Quirinal , hosted permanent settlements at a very early stage. The Latins appear to have become culturally differentiated from

2384-510: A phase of migration and invasion of the lowland areas by Italic mountain tribes in the period after 500 BC. The Latins faced repeated incursions by the Hernici , Aequi and Volsci , whose territories surrounded Latium Vetus on its eastern and southern sides. The new Romano-Latin military alliance proved strong enough to repel the incursions of the Italic mountain tribes in the period 500–400 BC. During

2533-409: A powerful state in the area of the Alban Hills at this time". It is unlikely, in the opinion of classicist Tim Cornell, that there was any urbanised city-state capable of holding hegemony in the region at the time. Nor is there any convincing evidence to connect the modern town of Albano Laziale with the ancient Alba Longa. Much of the prominence of Alba Longa in the ancient world was due to its status as

2682-624: A pre-IE survival, a Paleo-European language part of an older European linguistic substratum, spoken long before the arrival of proto Indo-European speakers. Some scholars have earlier speculated that Etruscan language could have been introduced by later migrants. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus preserves the tradition that the Tyrrhenoi (Etruscans) originated in Lydia in Anatolia , but Lydians spoke an Indo-European language, completely different from

2831-476: A re-telling of the last six books of the Aeneid told from the point of view of Lavinia , daughter of King Latinus of Latium . Aeneas appears in David Gemmell 's Troy series as a main heroic character who goes by the name Helikaon . In Rick Riordan 's book series The Heroes of Olympus , Aeneas is regarded as the first Roman demigod, son of Venus rather than Aphrodite. Will Adams' novel City of

2980-501: A religious centre, as it hosted the annual Latin Festival on the mons Albanus in honour of Jupiter Latiaris . Archaeological data show the existence of a string of villages in the Iron Age , each with its own necropolis , along the south-western shore of Lake Albano. At the time it was destroyed by Rome, these villages must have still been in a pre-urban phase, beginning to group around

3129-471: A result is struck in the foot with a thunderbolt by Zeus. Thereafter he is lame in that foot, so that Aeneas has to carry him from the flames of Troy. Aeneas is a minor character in the Iliad , where he is twice saved from death by the gods as if for an as-yet-unknown destiny but is an honorable warrior in his own right. Having held back from the fighting, aggrieved with Priam because in spite of his brave deeds he

SECTION 20

#1732851447611

3278-467: A result of their liaison. Aphrodite assures him that he will be protected and tells him that she will bear him a son to be called Aeneas. However, she warns him that he must never tell anyone that he has lain with a goddess. When Aeneas is born, Aphrodite takes him to the nymphs of Mount Ida, instructing them to raise the child to age five, then take him to Anchises. According to other sources, Anchises later brags about his encounter with Aphrodite, and as

3427-635: A ridge. Dionysius of Halicarnassus repeated the story, but added that Ascanius, following an oracle given to his father, collected other Latin populations as well. Noting that alba means "white" and longa means "long", he translated the name into the Greek language as "long white town". Dionysius placed the town between the Alban Mount and the Alban Lake , thus beginning a long controversy about its location. There is, however, "no archaeological evidence of

3576-530: A single day, and all cooperating to kill those 32 husbands in a single night; or in combination with analysis of logistical realities, such as the suggested voyage of all 32 murderous widows to Britain without dispersion or diversion, over three thousand miles. Rastell was further able to discount the likelihood of any factuality to that ancient tale, due to his failure to discover, after diligent research, any authentic record of its origin or explanation as to why such record should be absent. Snorri Sturlason , in

3725-665: A vassal state of Rome. Not long afterwards, war did indeed break out with Veii and also with the Fidenates. Mettius and the Albans were ordered to march to battle with Tullus and the Romans, and they met the Etruscans on the far side of the Anio , on the banks of the Tiber . However, when the battle commenced, Mettius led his troops away from the battle, leaving the Romans to fight the Etruscans alone. Rome

3874-453: Is poikilios ("wily"), Aeneas is described as pius ("pious"), which conveys a strong moral tone. The purpose of these epithets seems to enforce the notion of Aeneas' divine hand as father and founder of the Roman race, and their use seems circumstantial: when Aeneas is praying he refers to himself as pius, and is referred to as such by the author only when the character is acting on behalf of

4023-549: Is 12 books of the legendary foundation of Lavinium which explains that Aeneas is one of the few Trojans who were not killed or enslaved when Troy fell. Aeneas, after being commanded by the gods to flee, gathered a group, collectively known as the Aeneads , who then traveled to Italy and became progenitors of the Romans . The Aeneads included Aeneas's trumpeter Misenus , his father Anchises , his friends Achates , Sergestus , and Acmon ,

4172-425: Is 9% blond or dark blond and 91% dark brown or black. The skin color is intermediate for 82%, intermediate or dark for 9% and dark or very dark for the remaining 9%. By contrast, the following results were obtained for Medieval/Early Modern period: the eye color is blue in 26% of the examined and dark in the remaining 74%. Hair color is 22% blond or dark blond, 11% red and 67% dark brown or black. The skin color

4321-516: Is Rome itself, which was originally a group of separate settlements on the various hills. It appears that they coalesced into a single entity around 625 BC, when the first buildings were established on the site of the later Roman Forum . According to the mainstream Kurgan hypothesis, the earliest Indo-European speakers were a nomadic steppe people, originating in the Eurasian steppes (southern Russia, northern Caucasus and central Asia). Their livelihood

4470-565: Is a favorite of the Sun God Apollo . Aphrodite and Apollo would frequently rescue Aeneas from combat with Diomedes of Argos , who nearly kills him, and carry him away to Pergamos for healing. Even the Sea God Poseidon , who usually favors the Greeks, comes to Aeneas's rescue after he falls under the assault of Achilles , noting that Aeneas, though from a junior branch of the royal family,

4619-641: Is a title character in Henry Purcell 's opera Dido and Aeneas ( c.  1688 ), and Jakob Greber 's Enea in Cartagine ( Aeneas in Carthage ) (1711), and one of the principal roles in Hector Berlioz ' opera Les Troyens ( c.  1857 ), as well as in Metastasio 's immensely popular opera libretto Didone abbandonata . Canadian composer James Rolfe composed his opera Aeneas and Dido (2007; to

Alba Longa - Misplaced Pages Continue

4768-513: Is also a brief physical description found in the 6th-century John Malalas ' Chronographia : "Aeneas: short, fat, with a good chest, powerful, with a ruddy complexion, a broad face, a good nose, fair skin, bald on the forehead, a good beard, grey eyes." Aeneas appears as a character in William Shakespeare 's play Troilus and Cressida , set during the Trojan War. Aeneas and Dido are

4917-509: Is apparently confirmed by the text of the first recorded Romano-Carthaginian treaty, dated by the ancient Greek historian Polybius to 507 BC, a date accepted by Cornell (although some scholars argue a much later date). The treaty describes the Latin cities of Lavinium and Ardea, among others, as "Roman subjects". Although the text acknowledged that not all the Latin cities were subjects of Rome, it clearly placed them under Rome's hegemony, as it provided that if Carthage captured any Latin city, it

5066-570: Is cast as an ancestor of Romulus and Remus . He became the first true hero of Rome. Snorri Sturluson identifies him with the Norse god Víðarr of the Æsir . Aeneas is the Romanization of the hero's original Greek name Αἰνείας ( Aineías ). Aineías is first introduced in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite when Aphrodite gives him his name from the adjective αὶνóν ( ainon , "terrible"), for

5215-484: Is connected with the early Roman traditions, for Silvia the mother of Romulus was a priestess. They were finally established in Rome during the reign of Numa , where they would remain until the institution was disestablished with the rise of Christianity during the late Roman Empire. On the top of the Monte Cavo (Mons Albanus) was a very ancient shrine consecrated to Jupiter Latiaris. Florus (2nd century) states that

5364-564: Is destined to become king of the Trojan people. Bruce Louden presents Aeneas as "type": The sole virtuous individual (or family) spared from general destruction, following the mytheme of Utnapishtim , Baucis and Philemon , Noah , and Lot . Pseudo-Apollodorus in his Bibliotheca explains that "... the Greeks [spared] him alone, on account of his piety." The Roman mythographer Gaius Julius Hyginus ( c.  64 BCE – CE 17) in his Fabulae credits Aeneas with killing 28 enemies in

5513-417: Is disputed among scholars). Instead of restoring their previous hegemony, the Romans apparently settled for a military alliance on equal terms with the Latins. According to the sources, the foedus Cassianum (Cassian treaty) was a bilateral treaty between the Romans on one side and the other Latin city-states combined. It provided for a perpetual peace between the two parties; a defensive alliance by which

5662-581: Is further confirmed by the fact that the subsequent Latial culture , Este culture and Villanovan culture , which introduced iron-working to the Italian peninsula , were so closely related to the Central European Urnfield culture ( c.  1300 –750 BC), and Hallstatt culture (which succeeded the Urnfield culture), that it is not possible to tell them apart in their earlier stages. Furthermore,

5811-506: Is genuine within the poem, and to what extent its deployment by Virgil is sarcastic. In the Aeneid , Aeneas is described as strong and handsome, but neither his hair colour nor complexion are described. In late antiquity however sources add further physical descriptions. The De excidio Troiae of Dares Phrygius describes Aeneas as "auburn-haired, stocky, eloquent, courteous, prudent, pious, and charming. His eyes were black and twinkling". There

5960-541: Is gleaned from other ancient sources, including Livy and Ovid 's Metamorphoses . According to Livy, Aeneas was victorious, but Latinus died in the war. Aeneas founded the city of Lavinium , named after his wife. He later welcomed Dido's sister, Anna Perenna , who then committed suicide after learning of Lavinia's jealousy. After Aeneas's death, Venus asked Jupiter to make her son immortal. Jupiter agreed. The river god Numicus cleansed Aeneas of all his mortal parts and Venus anointed him with ambrosia and nectar, making him

6109-538: Is implausible, likely anachronistic, and "cannot be historically true in a literal sense". Archaeological evidence indicates the presence of small villages in the area of the Alban hills during the late Bronze and early Iron Ages, but they failed to develop into cities and "are certainly unlikely to have founded Rome". Silver serrate denarius struck by C. Sulpicius C. f. Galba in Rome 106 BC. ref.: Sulpicia 1., Sydenham 572., Craw. 312/1 According to Roman mythology , after

Alba Longa - Misplaced Pages Continue

6258-478: Is pale for 15%, intermediate for 68%, intermediate or dark for 10% and dark or very dark for the remaining 7%. Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology , Aeneas ( / ɪ ˈ n iː ə s / ih- NEE -əs , Latin: [äe̯ˈneːäːs̠] ; from Ancient Greek : Αἰνείας , romanized :  Aineíās ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to

6407-420: Is tending his cattle among the hills near Mount Ida . When Aphrodite saw him, she was immediately smitten. She adorns herself as if for a wedding among the gods and appears before him. He is overcome by her beauty, believing that she is a goddess, but Aphrodite identifies herself as a Phrygian princess. After they make love, Aphrodite reveals her true identity to him and Anchises fears what might happen to him as

6556-789: The Italic branch of Indo-European. Speakers of Italic languages are assumed to have migrated into the Italian Peninsula during the late Bronze Age (1200–900 BC). The material culture of the Latins, known as the Latial culture , was a distinctive subset of the proto-Villanovan culture that appeared in parts of the Italian peninsula in the first half of the 12th century BC. The Latins maintained close culturo-religious relations until they were definitively united politically under Rome in 338 BC, and for centuries beyond. These included common festivals and religious sanctuaries. The rise of Rome as by far

6705-577: The Julii , Servilii , Quinctii , Geganii , Curiatii and Cloelii . Tullus built a new senate house, the Curia Hostilia , to house the enlarged Roman senate . He also recruited ten new turmae of equites from amongst the Albans, and new legions. The Alban immigrants lived on the Caelian Hill in Rome. The temple of Vesta which stood at the foot of the Palatine hill outside Rome presumably predated

6854-626: The Latial culture . The most distinctive feature of Latial culture were cinerary urns in the shape of miniature tuguria ("huts"). In Phase I of the Latium culture ( c.  1000 –900 BC) these hut-urns only appear in some burials, but they become standard in Phase II cremation burials (900–770 BC). They represent the typical single-roomed hovels of contemporary peasants, which were made from simple, readily available materials: wattle-and-daub walls and straw roofs supported by wooden posts. The huts remained

7003-623: The Latin language (specifically Old Latin ), a member of the western branch of the Italic languages , in turn a branch of the Indo-European (IE) family of languages in Europe The oldest extant inscription in the Latin language is believed to be engraved on the Lapis Niger ("Black Stone") discovered in 1899 in the Roman Forum , dating from around 600 BC: in the mid- Roman kingdom , according to

7152-472: The Rutuli , but Latinus received a prophecy that Lavinia would be betrothed to one from another land – namely, Aeneas. Latinus heeded the prophecy, and Turnus consequently declared war on Aeneas at the urging of Juno, who was aligned with King Mezentius of the Etruscans and Queen Amata of the Latins. Aeneas's forces prevailed. Turnus was killed, and Virgil's account ends abruptly. The rest of Aeneas's biography

7301-507: The fall of Troy in 1184 BC, Aeneas led a group of surviving Trojans through the Mediterranean Sea to Sicily , Carthage , and eventually the Italian Peninsula . On landing in Italy he was welcomed by Latinus , king of the early Latins . Soon, Aeneas married king Latinus' daughter, Lavinia , and founded the city of Lavinium in her name. Latinus later fell in war, making Aeneas king of

7450-575: The proto-Villanovan culture , the South-German Urnfield culture of Bavaria - Upper Austria and Middle-Danube Urnfield culture . According to David W. Anthony proto-Latins originated in today's eastern Hungary , kurganized around 3100 BC by the Yamna culture , while Kristian Kristiansen associated the proto-Villanovans with the Velatice-Baierdorf culture of Moravia and Austria. This

7599-507: The "Sanctuary of the 13 altars" discovered in the 1960s at Lavinium was the site of the Penates cult. Since each of the altars differ in style and date, it has been suggested that each was erected by a separate Latin city-state. Under the ever-growing influence of the Italiote Greeks , the Romans acquired their own national origin myth sometime during the early Republican era (500–300 BC). It

SECTION 50

#1732851447611

7748-574: The "terrible grief" ( αὶνóν ἄχος ) he has caused her by being born a mortal who will age and die. It is a popular etymology for the name, apparently exploited by Homer in the Iliad . Later in the Medieval period there were writers who held that, because the Aeneid was written by a philosopher, it is meant to be read philosophically. As such, in the "natural order", the meaning of Aeneas' name combines Greek ennos ("dweller") with demas ("body"), which becomes ennaios or "in-dweller"—i.e. as

7897-563: The 14 Alban kings an average reign of 30 years' duration, an implausibly high figure. The false nature of the Aeneas-Romulus link is also demonstrated by the fact that, in some early versions of the tradition, Romulus is denoted as Aeneas' grandson, despite being chronologically separated from Aeneas by some 450 years. Romulus himself was the subject of the famous legend of the suckling she-wolf ( lupa ) that kept Romulus and his twin Remus alive in

8046-533: The Aeneans fleeing Troy's destruction and, spurned by the words of a prophetess thought crazed, goes to a new country (Italy) where he will start an empire greater than Greece and Troy combined that shall rule the world for 1000 years, never to be outdone in the tale of men (the Roman Empire). In the 2018 TV miniseries Troy: Fall of a City , Aeneas is portrayed by Alfred Enoch . He also featured as an Epic Fighter of

8195-762: The Aeneid. Continuations of Trojan matter in the Middle Ages had their effects on the character of Aeneas as well. The 12th-century French Roman d'Enéas addresses Aeneas's sexuality. Though Virgil appears to deflect all homoeroticism onto Nisus and Euryalus , making his Aeneas a purely heterosexual character, in the Middle Ages there was at least a suspicion of homoeroticism in Aeneas. The Roman d'Enéas addresses that charge, when Queen Amata opposes Aeneas's marrying Lavinia . Medieval interpretations of Aeneas were greatly influenced by both Virgil and other Latin sources. Specifically,

8344-479: The Alban's first refusal, Tullus was justified in declaring war. Livy describes the war as being akin to a civil war because the Romans were said to be descended from the Albans. The king of the Albans, Cluilius, marched with his army into Roman territory, established a camp, and dug a huge trench around Rome, which became known as the Cluilian trench . However, Cluilius died in the camp of unspecified causes, whereupon

8493-401: The Albans appointed Mettius Fufetius as dictator to lead the army in his place. Tullus emerged from Rome with his army, passed the Alban camp at night and marched into Alban territory. Mettius followed, camped near the Roman army, and then sent a representative to invite Tullus to confer before any engagement. Tullus accepted the invitation. However, both sides were drawn up for battle while

8642-573: The Convent of St. Paul at Palazzola near Albano , Coste Caselle near Marino , and Castel Gandolfo . The last named of these places in fact occupies the site of the Villa of Domitian which, according to Juvenal , was situated on the arx of Alba. The Roman tradition held that Alba Longa was an urbanised city-state which founded a number of Latin colonies which it then organised into a Latin League . This narrative

8791-457: The Dardania faction in the Total War Saga: Troy in 2020. Scenes depicting Aeneas, especially from the Aeneid , have been the focus of study for centuries. They have been the frequent subject of art and literature since their debut in the 1st century. The artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo was commissioned by Gaetano Valmarana in 1757 to fresco several rooms in the Villa Valmarana, the family villa situated outside Vicenza . Tiepolo decorated

8940-472: The Etruscan language. Despite, a possible support for an eastern origin for Etruscan may be provided by two inscriptions in a language closely related to Etruscan found on the island of Lemnos in the northern Aegean Sea (see Lemnian language ), even though some scholars believe that the Lemnian language might have arrived in the Aegean Sea during the Late Bronze Age, when Mycenaean rulers recruited groups of mercenaries from Sicily, Sardinia and various parts of

9089-448: The Etruscans and have supported a deep, local origin. A 2019 Stanford genetic study, which has analyzed the autosomal DNA of Iron Age samples from the areas around Rome, has concluded that Etruscans were similar to the Latins from Latium vetus . According to British archeologist Phil Perkins, "there are indications that the evidence of DNA can support the theory that Etruscan people are autochthonous in central Italy". The tribe spoke

SECTION 60

#1732851447611

9238-425: The Greek cities of southern Italy, especially Taras (mod. Taranto ) in the period ending 275 BC. The figure of Aeneas as portrayed in the Iliad lent itself to his adoption as the Roman "Abraham": a mighty warrior of (minor) royal blood who personally slew 28 Achaeans in the war, he was twice saved from certain death by the gods, implying that he had a great destiny to fulfil. A passage in Homer's Iliad contains

9387-470: The Green Knight (late 14th century) the Pearl Poet, like many other English writers, employed Aeneas to establish a genealogy for the foundation of Britain, and explains that Aeneas was "impeached for his perfidy, proven most true" (line 4). Aeneas had an extensive family tree. His wet-nurse was Caieta , and he is the father of Ascanius with Creusa , and of Silvius with Lavinia . Ascanius, also known as Iulus (or Julius), founded Alba Longa and

9536-422: The Italian peninsula. Other scholars, however, argue that the presence of a language similar to Etruscan in Lemnos was due to Etruscan commercial adventurers arrived from the west shortly before 700 BC. The archaeological evidence available from Iron Age Etruria shows no sign of any invasion, migration, or arrival of small immigrant-elites from the Eastern Mediterranean who may have imposed their language. Between

9685-420: The Latins after Latinus, being either his grandson or step-grandson. Even if one ignores obviously far-fetched elements of this foundation myth of Britain, Johannes Rastell , writing in 1529, questioned along these lines: Supposing the original Brits were descendants of a line of Latin kings—Brute the son of Silvius, son of Ascanius, son of Aeneas who came to the Italian peninsula from Troy—then why should such

9834-418: The Latins and his son Ascanius (also called Iulus) his successor. A few years later, Aeneas was killed in battle, like Latinus, and Ascanius became king of the Latins . Ascanius is said to have built Alba Longa as his capital on the slope of Mount Alba, resettling six hundred families there as a colony of Lavinium in 1151 BC, only thirty years after Lavinium itself was founded. His descendants then ruled

9983-446: The Latins for another five hundred years. According to Festus , these kings were considered the source of the red or Tyrian purple calceus mulleus later worn by the Roman patricians . Alba Longa was reportedly the leading city of the roughly thirty cities, its colonies, that it led in the Latin League . The league's conferences were held by the Ferentine spring , in the scenic part of the valley between Albano and Marino , until

10132-411: The Latins occupied Latium Vetus not earlier than around 1000 BC. Initially, the Latin immigrants into Latium were probably concentrated in the low hills that extend from the central Apennine range into the coastal plain (much of which was then marshy and malarial, and thus uninhabitable). A notable area of early settlement were the Alban Hills , a plateau about 20 km (13 mi) SE of Rome containing

10281-403: The Latins to maintain a consistent thirty townships, thirty being of great importance among the Latin kingdoms as twelve was to the Ionians (or 4 divided into 3 parts each). Accordingly, the Latin kingdom of Latinus , and the Rutulian kingdom of Turnus must have had thirty cities each with Laurentum as the Latin capital prior to the arrival of Aeneas. Roman tradition held that Rome itself

10430-566: The Light " takes place in Alba Longa at the crucial time of Rome's founding. Alba Longa is described as seen by Flavia Herosilla, a well-educated woman who lived in Imperial Rome and was hurled a thousand years back in time, and who is concerned to ensure that Rome will be founded on schedule – for which purpose she successfully instigates a bloody regime change in Alba Longa. 41°44′49″N 12°39′01″E  /  41.74691°N 12.65026°E  / 41.74691; 12.65026 Latins (Italic tribe) Their language, Latin , belonged to

10579-432: The Lost assumes that much of the information provided by Virgil is mistaken, and that the true Aeneas and Dido did not meet and love in Carthage but in a Phoenician colony at Cyprus, on the site of the modern Famagusta . Their tale is interspersed with that of modern activists who, while striving to stop an ambitious Turkish Army general trying to stage a coup, accidentally discover the hidden ruins of Dido's palace. Aeneas

10728-641: The Prologue of the Prose Edda , tells of the world as parted in three continents : Africa , Asia and the third part called Europe or Enea. Snorri also tells of a Trojan named Munon (or Mennon), who marries the daughter of the High King (Yfirkonungr) Priam called Troan and travels to distant lands, marries the Sybil and got a son, Tror, who, as Snorri tells, is identical to Thor . This tale resembles some episodes of

10877-487: The Proud bound the Latin city-states into a military alliance under Roman leadership. Reportedly, Tarquin also annexed Pometia (later Satricum ) and Gabii ; established control over Tusculum by a marriage alliance with its leader, Octavus Mamilius; and established Roman colonies at Signia and Circeii . He was engaged in besieging Ardea when the revolt against his monarchy broke out. Rome's political control over Latium Vetus

11026-600: The Roman Venus ). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons of Ilus , founder of Troy ), making Aeneas a second cousin to Priam's children (such as Hector and Paris ). He is a minor character in Greek mythology and is mentioned in Homer 's Iliad . Aeneas receives full treatment in Roman mythology , most extensively in Virgil 's Aeneid , where he

11175-490: The Romans called Penates . Roman mythology claims that the Penates were Trojan gods first introduced to Italy by Aeneas. Among these household gods must have been Vesta who has been referred to as Vesta Iliaca (Vesta of Troy), with her sacred hearth being named Iliaci foci (Trojan hearth). The priestesses of Vesta, known as Vestal Virgins , administered her temple and watched the eternal fire. Their existence in Alba Longa

11324-407: The Romans razed Alba Longa to the ground and resettled its inhabitants on the mons Caelius ( Caelian Hill ) in Rome. There is controversy about how and when Aeneas and his Trojans were adopted as ethnic ancestors by the Romans. One theory is that the Romans appropriated the legend from the Etruscans, who in turn acquired themselves the legend from the Greeks. There is evidence that the Aeneas legend

11473-684: The Romulus legend of the suckling she-wolf is a genuine indigenous Latin myth. The traditional number of Latin communities for the purposes of the joint religious festivals is given as 30 in the sources. The same number is reported, probably erroneously, as the membership of the Romano-Latin military alliance, labelled the " Latin League " by modern scholars. But it appears that c.  500 BC there were just 15 independent Latin city-states in Latium Vetus, including Rome itself (the other 15 were annexed by

11622-469: The Tiber. Initially, King Latinus attempted to drive them out, but he was defeated in battle. Later, he accepted Aeneas as an ally and eventually allowed him to marry his daughter, Lavinia. Aeneas supposedly founded the city of Lavinium (Pratica di Mare, Pomezia ), named after his wife, on the coast not far from Laurentum. It became the Latin capital after Latinus' death. Aeneas' son (by his previous Trojan wife,

11771-872: The Trojan War. Aeneas also appears in the Trojan narratives attributed to Dares Phrygius and Dictys of Crete . The history of Aeneas was continued by Roman authors. One influential source was the account of Rome's founding in Cato the Elder 's Origines . The Aeneas legend was well known in Virgil's day and appeared in various historical works, including the Roman Antiquities of the Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus (relying on Marcus Terentius Varro ), Ab Urbe Condita by Livy (probably dependent on Quintus Fabius Pictor , fl. 200 BCE), and Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus (now extant only in an epitome by Justin ). The Aeneid which

11920-756: The Volsci. Finally, in 341 BC, all the Latin city-states combined in what proved to be a final effort to regain/preserve their independence. The so-called Latin War ended in 338 with a decisive Roman victory, following which Rome annexed most of Latium Vetus . A few of the larger Latin states, such as Praeneste and Tibur, were allowed to retain a degree of political autonomy, but only in a subordinate status as Roman socii ("allies"), tied to Rome by treaties of military alliance. A genetic study published in Science in November 2019 examined

12069-527: The accounts by Dares and Dictys, which were reworked by the 13th-century Italian writer Guido delle Colonne (in Historia destructionis Troiae ), colored many later readings. From Guido, for instance, the Pearl Poet and other English writers get the suggestion that Aeneas's safe departure from Troy with his possessions and family was a reward for treason, for which he was chastised by Hecuba . In Sir Gawain and

12218-527: The city of Rome during the time of the Roman Empire (27 BCE – 300 CE) bore far less genetic resemblance to Rome's founding populations, and were instead shifted towards the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East . The Imperial population of Rome was found to have been extremely diverse, with barely any of the examined individuals being of primarily local, central Italian ancestry. It was suggested that

12367-465: The city, which at the time of its founding only occupied the top of the hill: the hearth of Vesta would not ordinarily be built outside a city's walls. Worship of Vesta in Italy began in Lavinium , the mother-city of Alba Longa. From Lavinium worship of Vesta was transferred to Alba Longa. Upon entering higher office, Roman magistrates would go to Lavinium to offer sacrifice to Vesta and the household gods

12516-494: The consul Gaius Flaminius , who, in his eagerness to join his army at its assembly-point of Arretium , failed to attend the Latin Festival. Latin cultural-religious events were also held at other common cult-centres e.g. the major common shrine to Diana at Aricia . This may be the sacred grove to Diana which a fragment of Cato's Origines recorded dedicated, probably c.  500 BC , by various Latin communities under

12665-885: The contemporary Canegrate culture of Northern Italy represented a typical western example of the western Hallstatt culture, whose diffusion most probably took place in a Celtic -speaking context. Similarly, several authors have suggested that the Beaker culture of Central and Western Europe was a candidate for an early Indo-European culture , and more specifically, for an ancestral European branch of Indo-European dialects, termed "North-west Indo-European", ancestral to Celtic, Italic, Germanic and Balto-Slavic branches. All these groups were descended from Proto-Indo-European speakers from Yamna-culture, whose migrations in Central Europe probably split off Pre-Italic, Pre-Celtic and Pre-Germanic from Proto-Indo-European. Leaving archaeology aside,

12814-470: The data on the pigmentation of eyes, hair and skin, the following results were obtained from the study on ancient DNA of the 11 individuals of the Iron Age/Republican period, coming from Latium and Abruzzo, and the 27 individuals of Medieval/Early Modern period, coming from Latium. For Iron Age/Republic period, the eye color is blue in 27% of the examined and dark in the remaining 73%. Hair color

12963-422: The earliest phase of Latial culture also occur at Rome at the same time ( c.  1000 BC ), so archaeology cannot be used to support the tradition that Rome was founded by people from Alba Longa. If Alba Longa did not exist, then nor did the "Alban kings", whose genealogy was almost certainly fabricated to "prove" Romulus' descent from Aeneas. The genealogy's dubious nature is shown by the fact that it ascribes

13112-465: The early inhabitants of Britain giants, descended from the Devil in union with 32 daughters of a king Dioclisian of Syria ? To Rastell, if the devil had power to sow such seeds at the earlier time, then why not in his own time? Where were the giants today? Other fanciful elements he deduced from intuitive psychological insights: for example the greatly diminished chance of 32 daughters married to 32 kings on

13261-699: The end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age, Etruria shows above all contacts with Central Europe and the Urnfield culture , as there is great consensus that the subsequent orientalizing period was an artistic-cultural phenomenon not exclusively Etruscan, also spread to other areas of Italy and the Greek world, and that can be better explained by trade and exchange rather than by migrations. Genetic studies on samples of Etruscan individuals, both on mitochondrial and autosomal DNA, are also against an eastern origin of

13410-450: The former as they expanded, especially Rome). The size of the city-state territories in c.  500 BC were estimated by Beloch (1926): The table above shows the tiny size of Latium Vetus - only about two-thirds the size of the English county of Kent . Rome was by far the largest state, controlling some 35% of the total land area. The next four largest states ranged from just under half

13559-526: The geographical distribution of the ancient languages of the peninsula may plausibly be explained by the immigration of successive waves of peoples with different languages, according to Cornell. On this model, it appears likely that the "West Italic" group (including the Latins) were the first wave, followed, and largely displaced by, the East Italic (Osco-Umbrian) group. This is deduced from the marginal locations of

13708-530: The goddess Venus. Through the Julians, the Palemonids make this claim. The legendary kings of Britain – including King Arthur – trace their family through a grandson of Aeneas, Brutus . Aeneas's consistent epithet in Virgil and other Latin authors is pius , a term that connotes reverence toward the gods and familial dutifulness. There is significant scholarly debate, however, over the degree to which this epithet

13857-509: The gods to fulfill his divine mission. Likewise, Aeneas is called pater when acting in the interest of his men. The story of the birth of Aeneas is told in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite , one of the major Homeric Hymns . Aphrodite has caused Zeus the king of the Gods to fall in love with mortal women. In retaliation, Zeus decided to put a desire over her heart for the mortal Prince Anchises, who

14006-513: The healer Iapyx , the helmsman Palinurus , and his son Ascanius (also known as Iulus, Julus, or Ascanius Julius). He carried with him the Lares and Penates , the statues of the household gods of Troy, and transplanted them to Italy. Several attempts to find a new home failed; one such stop was on Sicily , where in Drepanum , on the island's western coast, his father, Anchises, died peacefully. After

14155-443: The historical era, scholars have reconstructed elements of proto-Indo-European culture. Relics of such elements have been discerned in Roman and Latin customs. Examples include: Despite their frequent internecine wars, the Latin city-states maintained close culturo-religious relations throughout their history. Their most important common tribal event was the four-day Latiar or Feriae Latinae ("Latin Festival"), held each winter on

14304-559: The inscription contains the word recei , the word for "king" in the dative singular in archaic Latin - regi in classical Latin, or to the rex sacrorum , rather than the political king of Rome. There is no archaeological evidence at present that Old Latium hosted permanent settlements during the Bronze Age . Some very small amounts of Apennine culture pottery shards have been found in Latium, most likely belonging to transient pastoralists engaged in transhumance . It thus appears that

14453-541: The instigation of Juno, who was told that her favorite city would eventually be defeated by the Trojans' descendants. Aeneas's mother Venus (the Roman adaptation of Aphrodite) realized that her son and his company needed a temporary respite to reinforce themselves for the journey to come. However, the messenger god Mercury (the adaptation of Hermes) was sent by Jupiter (who was Zeus in this version) and Venus to remind Aeneas of his journey and his purpose, compelling him to leave secretly. When Dido learned of this, she uttered

14602-453: The lead in organising an anti-Roman alliance. One ancient source names Egerius Baebius, the leader of Tusculum, as the "Latin dictator" (i.e. commander-in-chief of the Latin forces). It appears that Baebius dedicated a sacred grove to Diana at lucus Ferentinae (a wood near Aricia) in c.  500 BC in the presence of representatives of Latin states, including Tusculum, Aricia, Lanuvium, Lavinium, Cora, Tibur, Pometia and Ardea. This event

14751-407: The leaders met between the two forces. At the conference, Mettius proposed that the dispute be resolved by some means other than mass bloodshed, citing the concern that the nearby Etruscans would fall upon the two Latin states if these were weakened by war and unable to defend themselves. It was agreed that a set of triplets from each side, three brothers Horatii and three Curiatii, would battle for

14900-528: The leadership of the dictator of Tusculum , Egerius Baebius. Cornell argues that the temple of Diana reportedly founded by the Roman king Servius Tullius on the Aventine hill at Rome was also a common Latin shrine, as it was built outside the pomerium or City boundary. There was also an important Latin cult-centre at Lavinium . Lavinium hosted the cult of the Penates , or Latin ancestor-gods. Cornell suggests that

15049-412: The legend fictitious. On this view, Romulus was a name fabricated to provide Rome with an eponymous founding hero, a common feature of classical foundation-myths; it is possible that Romulus was named after Rome instead of vice versa . The name contains the Latin diminutive -ulus , so it means simply "Roman" or "little Roman". It has been suggested that the name "Roma" was of Etruscan origin , or that it

15198-471: The main characters of a 17th-century broadside ballad called " The Wandering Prince of Troy ". The ballad ultimately alters Aeneas's fate from traveling on years after Dido's death to joining her as a spirit soon after her suicide. In modern literature, Aeneas is the speaker in two poems by Allen Tate , "Aeneas at Washington" and "Aeneas at New York". He is a main character in Ursula K. Le Guin 's Lavinia ,

15347-566: The main form of Latin housing until about 650 BC. The most famous exemplar was the Casa Romuli ("Hut of Romulus ") on the southern slope of the Palatine Hill, supposedly built by the legendary founder of Rome with his own hands and which reportedly survived until the time of emperor Augustus (ruled 30 BC - AD 14). Around 650 BC began a period of urbanisation, with the establishment of political city-states in Latium. The most notable example

15496-633: The mainstream view that Etruscan was not Indo-European: he argues that Etruscan was closely related to the Indo-European Hittite and Lydian languages. Georgiev's thesis hasn't received support from other scholars. Excavations at Troy have yielded a single written document, a letter in Luwian . But as Luwian (which certainly is closely related to Hittite) was used as a kind of diplomatic lingua franca in Anatolia, it cannot be argued conclusively that Luwian

15645-416: The middle of the fourth century. The sacrifices of the league were offered on the Alban mountain from which all the country of Latium might be seen. The colonies of Alba Longa were distinct from the Alban townships which must have consisted of Albani plebs , as the genuine Albans were the populus . Among the Alban colonies some become part of the plebs: others become Latin cities. The others were ceded to

15794-470: The most populous and powerful Latin state from c. 600 BC led to volatile relations with the other Latin states, which numbered about 14 in 500 BC. In the period of the Tarquin monarchy ( c. 550–500 BC), Rome apparently acquired political hegemony over the other states. After the fall of the Roman monarchy around 500 BC, there appears to have been a century of military alliance between Rome and

15943-622: The nature of the Tarquinian hegemony over the Latins is unknown, it is impossible to tell how the terms of the Cassian treaty differed from those imposed by the Tarquins. But it is likely that Tarquin rule was more onerous, involving the payment of tribute, while the Republican terms simply involved a military alliance. The impetus to form such an alliance was probably provided by the acute insecurity caused by

16092-609: The observed genetic shift in the city's founding populations was a result of heavy migration of merchants and slaves from the populous urban centres of the Middle East and Greece. During late antiquity, after the Imperial era, Rome's population was drastically reduced as a result of political instability, epidemics and economic changes. In this period, more local or central Italian ancestry is evident in Rome; its inhabitants started to again approximate present-day Italians, and can be modeled as

16241-413: The origin of the legend, it is clear that the Latins had no historical connection with Aeneas and none of their cities were founded by Trojan refugees. Furthermore, Cornell regards the city of Alba Longa itself as probably mythical. Early Latial-culture remains have been discovered on the shore of the Alban lake, but they indicate a series of small villages, not an urbanised city-state. In any case, traces of

16390-506: The other Latin states to confront the threat posed to all Latium by raiding by the surrounding Italic mountain tribes, especially the Volsci and Aequi . This system progressively broke down after roughly 390 BC, when Rome's aggressive expansionism led to conflict with other Latin states, both individually and collectively. In 341–338 BC, the Latin states jointly fought the Latin War against Rome in

16539-438: The parties pledged mutual assistance in case of attack; a promise not to aid or allow passage to each other's enemies; the equal division of spoils of war (half to Rome, half to the other Latins) and provisions to regulate trade between the parties. In addition the treaty probably provided for overall command of the allies' joint forces to alternate between a Roman and a commander from one of the other Latin city-states each year. As

16688-604: The plain". The Latins belonged to a group of Indo-European -speaking (IE) tribes, conventionally known as the Italic tribes , that populated central and southern Italy during the Italian Iron Age , which began around 900 BC. The most widely accepted theory suggests that Latins and other proto-Italic tribes first entered Italy in the late Bronze Age proto-Villanovan culture, then part of the central European Urnfield culture system. In particular various authors, such as Marija Gimbutas , had noted important similarities between

16837-405: The prophecy that Aeneas and his descendants would one day rule the Trojans. Since the Trojans had been expelled from their own city, it was speculated that Aeneas and other Trojan survivors must have migrated elsewhere. The legend is given its most vivid and detailed treatment in the Roman poet Virgil 's epic, the Aeneid (published around AD 20). According to this, the Latin tribe's first king

16986-749: The relative chronology between the Italic IE languages and the non-IE languages of the peninsula, notably the Etruscan , which is considered related to the Raetic spoken in the Alps . Other examples of non-IE languages in Iron Age Italy are the Camunic language , spoken in the Alps, and the unattested ancient Ligurian and Paleo-Sardinian languages . Most scholars consider that Etruscan is

17135-451: The remains of six Latin males buried near Rome between 900 BC and 200 BC. They carried the paternal haplogroups R-M269 , T-L208 , R-P311 , R-PF7589 and R-P312 (two samples), and the maternal haplogroups H1aj1a , T2c1f , H2a , U4a1a , H11a and H10 . These examined individuals were distinguished from preceding populations of Italy by the presence of 30% steppe ancestry . Two out of six individuals from Latin burials were found have

17284-525: The royal dynasty of Alba Longa, which in Virgil 's Aeneid had been the bloodline of Aeneas , a son of Venus . According to Livy , Roman patrician families such as the Julii , Servilii , Quinctii , Geganii , Curiatii and Cloelii originated in Alba Longa. Livy said of Alba Longa that it was founded by Ascanius to relieve crowding at Lavinium . He placed it at the foot of the Alban Mount and said that it took its name from being extended along

17433-475: The royal line of Troy – and lay the foundations of Roman culture. In this film, he is not a member of the royal family and does not appear to fight in the war. In the role-playing game Vampire: The Requiem by White Wolf Game Studios, Aeneas figures as one of the mythical founders of the Ventrue Clan . in the action game Warriors: Legends of Troy , Aeneas is a playable character. The game ends with him and

17582-438: The sacred mons Albanus ( Monte Cavo , Alban Hills, SE of Rome), an extinct volcano. The climax of the festival was a number of sacrifices to Jupiter Latiaris ("Jupiter of Latium"); the sacrificed meat was shared by the representatives of the Latin communities. These elaborate rituals, as did all Roman religious ceremonies, had to be performed with absolute precision and, if any procedural mistakes were made, had to be repeated from

17731-545: The site was selected by Ascanius , who, having founded Alba, invited all the Latins to celebrate sacrifices there to Jupiter , a custom which eventually led to the annual celebration there of the Feriae Latinae , at which all the cities that belonged to the Latin Confederation would gather under the aegis of Alba, sacrificing a white bull, the flesh of which was distributed among all the participants. After Alba Longa

17880-406: The size of Rome down to a fifth of the size; the remaining ten ranged from a tenth of the size down to less than a twentieth. From an early stage, the external relations of the Latin city-states were dominated by their largest and most powerful member, Rome. The vast amount of archaeological evidence uncovered since the 1970s has conclusively discredited A. Alföldi's once-fashionable theory that Rome

18029-506: The start. The Latin Festival continued to be held long after all Latium Vetus was integrated into the Roman Republic after 338 BC (from then on, the Roman consuls presided over them) and into the Roman imperial era . The historian Livy , writing around AD 20, ascribed Rome's disastrous defeat by the Carthaginian general Hannibal at the Battle of Lake Trasimene in 217 BC to the impiety of

18178-597: The succeeding century, after Rome had recovered from the catastrophic Gallic invasion of 390 BC, the Romans began a phase of expansionism. In addition to the establishment of a series of Latin colonies on territories annexed from the mountain tribes, Rome annexed a number of neighbouring Latin city-states in steady succession. The increasing threat posed by Roman encroachment led the more powerful Latin states, such as Praeneste , to attempt to defend their independence and territorial integrity by challenging Rome, often in alliance with their erstwhile enemies, mountain-tribes such as

18327-612: The surrounding Osco-Umbrian Italic tribes from c.  1000 BC onwards. From this time, the Latins exhibit the features of the Iron Age Latial culture found in Etruria and the Po valley. In contrast, the Osco-Umbrian tribes do not exhibit the same features of the Latins, who thus shared the broadly same material culture as the Etruscans. The variant of Villanovan found in Latium is dubbed

18476-570: The surviving West Italic niches. Besides Latin, putative members of the West Italic group are Faliscan (now regarded as merely a Latin dialect), and perhaps Siculian , spoken in eastern Sicily . The West Italic languages were thus spoken in limited and isolated areas, whereas the "East Italic" group comprised the Oscan and Umbrian dialects spoken over much of central and southern Italy. The chronology of Indo-European immigration remains elusive, as does

18625-414: The theory that Romulus was a historical figure who indeed founded the city in c.  753 BC , as related by the ancient chroniclers, by ploughing a symbolic sacred furrow to define the city's boundary. But Carandini's views have received scant support among fellow scholars. In contrast to the legend of Aeneas, which was clearly imported into the Latin world from an extraneous culture, it appears that

18774-457: The time of the Renaissance , a non-English audience as well as at least one English writer found details of the stories less than convincing. The island known later as Great Britain was also previously known as Alba , a similarity of name supporting a connection with the city of Alba Longa , a pre-Roman city in central Italy, said to have been built by Ascanius, son of Aeneas and third ruler of

18923-413: The time of the revolution, was probably distorted for propaganda reasons by later Roman chroniclers. Livy claims that Porsenna aimed to restore Tarquin to his throne, but failed to take Rome after a siege. Tacitus suggests that Porsenna's army succeeded in occupying the city. The fact that there is no evidence of Tarquin's restoration during this occupation has led some scholars to suggest that it Porsenna

19072-456: The traditional Roman chronology, but more likely close to its inception. Written in a primitive form of Archaic Latin , it indicates that the Romans remained Latin-speakers in the period when some historians have suggested that Rome had become "Etruscanised" in both language and culture. It also lends support to the existence of the Kings of Rome in this era, whom some historians regarded as mythical:

19221-518: The victory of the two states. Livy refers to conflict amongst his own sources as to which set of brothers represented which state, but prefers the view that the Horatii were the Romans, and the Curiatii Albans. Vows were entered into in a most solemn form by each of the Romans and the Albans as to this agreement by which the future of each state would be bound by the outcome of the fight. Marcus Valerius

19370-458: The western coast of Italy. Aeneas descended into the underworld where he met Dido (who turned away from him to return to her husband) and his father, who showed him the future of his descendants and thus the history of Rome. Latinus , king of the Latins, welcomed Aeneas's army of exiled Trojans and let them reorganize their lives in Latium . His daughter Lavinia had been promised to Turnus , king of

19519-427: The whole story of the Aeneid, from Aeneas escape from to Troy, to his meeting of Dido, his arrival in Italy, and his duel with Turnus. The most recent cinematic portrayal of Aeneas was in the film Troy , in which he appears as a youth charged by Paris to protect the Trojan refugees, and to continue the ideals of the city and its people. Paris gives Aeneas Priam's sword, in order to give legitimacy and continuity to

19668-399: Was Latinus , who gave his name to the tribe and founded the first capital of the Latins, Laurentum , whose exact location is uncertain. The Trojan hero Aeneas and his men fled by sea after the capture and sack of their city, Troy , by the Greeks in 1184 BC, according to one ancient calculation. After many adventures, Aeneas and his Trojan army landed on the coast of Latium near the mouth of

19817-530: Was an insignificant settlement until about 500 BC, and thus that the Republic was not established before about 450, and possibly as late as 400 BC. There is now no doubt that Rome was a unified city (as opposed to a group of separate hilltop settlements) by c.  625 BC and had become the second-largest city in Italy (after Tarentum , 510 hectares) by around 550 BC, when it had an area of about 285 hectares (1.1 sq mile) and an estimated population of 35,000. Rome

19966-425: Was appointed Fetial , and Spurius Fusius Pater Patratus , for the purposes of binding Rome by the treaty. The combat commenced. Two of the Romans were the first to fall. Then the remaining Roman, Publius Horatius, slew the three Albans, and thus won victory for Rome. Afterwards, Tullus ordered Mettius to return with his army to Alba, but to be prepared in the event of war with Veii . The Albans became, in substance,

20115-579: Was based on horses and herding. In the historical era, the same socio-cultural lifestyle was maintained, in the same regions, by peoples descended from the Proto-Indo-Europeans (PIEs) known to the Greco-Romans as Scythians , Sarmatians and Alans , whose languages belonged to the Iranian branch of IE. On the basis of common steppe-nomadic features in the cultures of the various Indo-European peoples in

20264-534: Was centred on the figure of Aeneas , a supposed Trojan survivor of the destruction of Troy by the Achaean Greeks , as related in the poet Homer 's epic the Iliad (composed c.  800 BC ). The legend provided the Romans with a heroic "Homeric" pedigree, as well as a (spurious) ethnic distinctiveness from the other Latins. It also provided a rationale (as poetic revenge for the destruction of Troy) for Rome's hostilities against, and eventual subjugation of,

20413-547: Was derived from the Latin word ruma ("teat"), presumably because the shape of the Palatine Hill and/or Capitoline Hill resembled a woman's breasts. If the city was named after Romulus, it is plausible that he was historical. Nevertheless, Cornell argues that "Romulus probably never existed... His biography is a complex mixture of legend and folk-tale, interspersed with antiquarian speculation and political propaganda". In contrast, Andrea Carandini , an archaeologist who has spent most of his career excavating central Rome, advanced

20562-482: Was destroyed and her leadership role was assumed by Rome, tradition records the building of a full-scale temple to Jupiter Latiaris on the Alban Mount in the reign of Tarquinius Superbus ; of which only a few courses of perimeter wall remain today, now removed off site. There are, however, substantial remains of the paved road that connected it to the Via Appia near Aricia . Much of the science fiction story " To Bring

20711-466: Was founded as a colony of Alba Longa, by Romulus and Remus, two of the city's princes, who had been banished at birth in a dynastic struggle. The ancient Romans dated this event to the middle of the eighth century BC. In the seventh century BC, the Roman king Tullus Hostilius succeeded Numa Pompilius . During his reign, Rome's attitude toward its neighbours no longer reflected Numa's peaceful nature. Now it reflected Tullus's own predilection for war. When

20860-401: Was not given his due share of honor, he leads an attack against Idomeneus to recover the body of his brother-in-law Alcathous at the urging of Deiphobus . He is the leader of the Trojans' Dardanian allies, as well as a second cousin and principal lieutenant of Hector , son and heir of the Trojan king Priam . Aeneas's mother Aphrodite frequently comes to his aid on the battlefield, and he

21009-463: Was obliged to hand it over to Rome's control. Rome's sphere of influence is implied as extending as far as Terracina , 100 km to the south. The fall of the Roman monarchy was probably a more lengthy, violent and international process than the swift, bloodless and internal coup related by tradition. The role of the Etruscan king Lars Porsenna , of Clusium , who led an invasion of Roman territory at

21158-478: Was probably contemporaneous with, and connected with, the launch of the Latin alliance. The Latins could apparently count on the support of the Volsci Italic tribe. In addition, they were joined by the deposed Roman king Tarquin the Proud and his remaining followers. The Romans apparently prevailed, scoring a notable victory over the Latin forces at Lake Regillus sometime in the period 499-493 BC (the exact year

21307-585: Was the everyday language of Troy. Cornell points out that the Romans may have acquired the legend directly from the Italiote Greeks. The earliest Greek literary reference to Rome as a foundation of Aeneas dates to c.  400 BC . There is also much archaeological evidence of contacts between the cities of archaic Latium and the Greek world e.g. the archaic sanctuary of the Penates at Lavinium, which shows "heavy Greek influence in architectural design and religious ideology", according to Cornell. But whatever

21456-565: Was the first in a long series of kings . According to the mythology used by Virgil in the Aeneid, Romulus and Remus were both descendants of Aeneas through their mother Rhea Silvia, making Aeneas the progenitor of the Roman people. Some early sources call him their father or grandfather, but once the dates of the fall of Troy (1184 BCE) and the founding of Rome (753 BCE) became accepted, authors added generations between them. The Julian family of Rome, most notably Julius Cæsar and Augustus , traced their lineage to Ascanius and Aeneas, thus to

21605-409: Was the main character in the 1961 sword and sandal film Guerra di Troia ( The Trojan War ). Reeves reprised the role the following year in the film The Avenger , about Aeneas's arrival in Latium and his conflicts with local tribes as he tries to settle his fellow Trojan refugees there. Giulio Brogi , portrayed as Aeneas in the 1971 Italian TV miniseries series called Eneide , which gives

21754-469: Was the real agent of the Tarquin's downfall, and that he aimed to replace him as king of Rome. Any danger of an Etruscan takeover of Rome was removed by Porsenna's defeat at Aricia in 504 BC. There followed a war between Rome and the other Latin city-states, which probably took advantage of the political turmoil in Rome to attempt to regain/preserve their independence. It appears that Tusculum and Aricia took

21903-433: Was thus about half the size of contemporary Athens (585 hectares, including Piraeus ) and far larger than any other Latin city. The size of Rome at this time lends credence to the Roman tradition, dismissed by Alföldi, that in the late regal period (550–500 BC), traditionally the rule of the Tarquin dynasty, Rome established its political hegemony over the other city-states of Old Latium. According to Livy, king Tarquin

22052-413: Was victorious against the Etruscans. After the battle, Tullus executed Mettius for his perfidy. Then, on Tullus' orders, the Roman soldiers demolished the 400-year-old city of Alba Longa, leaving only the temples standing, and the entire population of Alba Longa was transported to Rome, thereby doubling the number of Roman citizens. Tullus enlisted the leading families of Alba amongst the patricians , namely

22201-471: Was well known among the Etruscans by 500 BC: excavations at the ancient Etruscan city of Veii discovered a series of statuettes portraying Aeneas fleeing Troy carrying his father on his back, as in the legend. Indeed, the Bulgarian linguist Vladimir Georgiev argued that the original Etruscans were in fact descendants of those Trojan refugees and that the Aeneas legend has a historical basis. Georgiev disputes

#610389