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63-585: Falerii Veteres , now Civita Castellana , was one of the chief cities of the duodecim populi of ancient Etruria . The site is about 2 km west of the course of the Via Flaminia , some 50 km north of Rome . It was the main city of the Falisci , a people whose language was Faliscan and was part of the Latino-Faliscan language group. The Ager Faliscus (Faliscan Country), which included

126-480: A colony at Carthage with further embellishment of its anti-Italian themes during the time of the Social War . Regardless, the ancient tradition records that within a year after Rome was reduced to ruins, the city had been completely rebuilt and all rebellions by Roman allies suppressed due to the extraordinary leadership of Camillus, who is therefore regarded as the city's "second founder". In these victories, he

189-410: A few months. More damningly, a passage of Aulus Gellius ' Attic Nights (5.4) preserves a fragment of Numerius Fabius Pictor that shows that alleged years where tribunes blocked all elections were a late annalistic invention, likely to line up Greek and Roman chronologies. The three alleged rogations touched on a number of topics. The first rogation was a mechanism for debt relief. The second imposed

252-652: A fragment of Aristotle asserting that "a certain Lucius" (probably a Lucius Albinius who is recorded to have secreted away the Vestal Virgins and sacred objects to Caere ) having saved the city. Polybius reports that rather than being defeated by Camillus, the Gauls occupied the city for some seven months before the Romans bought them off and they departed of their own accord to deal with an invasion of their territory by

315-412: A general, moderation in the face of hot-headed colleagues, and triumphant recall from exile. The memory of Camillus became part of the public image of the first Roman emperor Augustus . The history of Livy, for example, may have been written to coincide at the beginning of a great year consisting of 360–365 years. Starting with Romulus , the cycle reaches a peak under king Servius Tullius before

378-400: A larger annalistic tradition which painted Camillus as the dominant figure in this period of history; Livy, for his part, organised his fifth and sixth books around Camillus' career (Camillus enters public office at the start of the fifth book and leaves it at the end of the sixth). Little evidence of this tradition survives, though fragments of Quintus Claudius Quadrigarius ' work indicate that

441-579: A one-year truce after paying an indemnity of 100,000 asses of bronze coinage and year's pay for the troops of the consul who campaigned in Etruria. Falerii Veteres revolted against the Roman Republic in 241 BC. The Roman consul Titus Manlius Torquatus was sent and during the first battle the Romans heavy infantry was defeated, but the Faliscan cavalry lost. The Romans won a second battle and

504-462: A patrician-only praetor and curule aediles (in exchange for plebeian eligibility to the consulship); all accept the passage of the rogations and domestic harmony is restored; Camillus then constructs a temple to Concordia . "Very little of this narrative can be accepted as it stands". While Diodorus Siculus reports the length of the anarchy to have been merely one year, it is implausible that Rome could have been without magistrates for more than

567-641: A permanent treaty of peace. In the first years of the Third Samnite War (298-290 BC), when Etruscan city-states rose against Rome, the Faliscans remained loyal to Rome. In 298 BC, after a fight with Volaterrae , a city-state in northern Etruria, the Romans went to the Faliscan territory, left their baggage in Falerii and proceeded to ravage enemy territory. In 297 BC, envoys for the Faliscan cities of Sutrium, Nepete, and Falerii went to Rome to inform

630-485: A possession limit of 500 jugera of public land. The third was the reform that abolished the consular tribunate and required the election of consuls, one of which had to be a plebeian. Gary Forsythe, in Critical history of early Rome , accepts that the first law is consistent with voiced concerns over indebtedness from this period, that the second (limits on public land possession) is attested to in later speeches, and that

693-435: A strange race, new settlers, with whom they were neither securely at peace nor yet certain to have war." This must have been a reference to the Gauls who had invaded northern Italy, close to Etruria. The council allowed Etruscan men to volunteer to serve in the war and many men did so. In 396 BC two Roman commanders marched against Falerii and Capena. However, they were poor commanders and fell into an ambush. One of them fell and

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756-491: A superior position near the camp. Enemy forces which tried to hinder the work were routed and the Faliscans fled back to their city. Camillus proceeded to besiege it. The town had plenty of food supplies and the siege seemed a prolonged affair. The inhabitants carried on with their usual lives and their boys went to school. The Faliscans had adopted the Greek practice of entrusting their boys to one tutor. This tutor decided to betray

819-560: Is a semi-legendary Roman statesman and politician during the early Roman republic who is most famous for his capture of Veii and defence of Rome from Gallic sack after the Battle of the Allia . Modern scholars are dubious of Camillus' supposed exploits and believe many of them are wrongly attributed or otherwise wholly fictitious. The traditional account of Camillus' life comes from Livy and Plutarch's eponymous Life . But these were based on

882-544: Is an "evident anachronism". The story of conviction, however, likely did not happen and was instead adduced to place Camillus away from Rome when the Gallic sack occurs, excusing him of any blame for Rome's defeat. In 390 BC ( Varronian ), or more likely in 387 BC, a large group of Gauls crossed the Apennines into northern Etruria. They advanced until they reached Roman territory and there defeated Rome's army at

945-482: Is first firmly recorded as entering public office in 401 BC. He served in that year and again in 398 BC as consular tribune against the Falisci and the Capenates. Both were tribes near Rome and Veii . His first supposed office was that of censor (before having held any other public office) in the year 403 BC. He was then supposed to have, as dictator , completed a campaign against Veii which saw

1008-572: Is likely that many of the details of his return in Livy were copied from the less historically distant triumphal entrances of Scipio Africanus or Sulla . In 394 BC, he supposedly secured the surrender of the Falisci in their main town of Falerii Veteres (modern Civita Castellana ) after refusing to accept pupils from a schoolmaster as hostages. Much of the Livian narrative about the exchange with

1071-591: Is supposed to have dedicated three gold saucers to Juno for victory against the Volscians , Aequians , and Etruscans all the next year in 389 BC. None of these achievements are mentioned in Polybius or Diodorus. Livy next reports Rome sending Camillus to take the city of Tusculum in 381 BC. The city, already surrounded by Roman territory, immediately surrenders and the inhabitants thereof are given Roman citizenship with some level of self-rule, becoming

1134-506: Is unlikely that any evidence of Camillus' death was known in later times: Münzer, writing in the Realencyclopädie , believes later annalists simply assumed Camillus died in the epidemic. By the late republic, after centuries of embellishment from the fourth to the first century BC, the Romans believed that Camillus had captured Veii, saved the city from the Gallic sack, saved the city from foreign threats on all sides, opened

1197-534: The Battle of the Allia . In the following days, they entered Rome and sacked it. They then induced the surrender of Roman holdouts on the Capitoline hill before receiving a large ransom of gold and withdrawing north. This account is corroborated by Greek sources as early as the 4th century BC; Polybius places the sack in the same year as the Peace of Antalcidas and the siege of Rhegium . According to Livy, after

1260-466: The Veneti . While the literary sources assert Rome was sacked and had to be rebuilt, there is no archaeological evidence of major damage to pre-fourth century BC buildings in the forum , which indicates that the sack – if it occurred – consisted largely of stealing portable property. After the sack, Camillus is supposed to have led the opposition to a proposal circulating among the plebs to relocate

1323-510: The names Camillus, Manlius Capitolinus, and Sulpicius to inscriptions placed on the temple of Juno Moneta (erected in 345 BC by Lucius Furius Camillus ). The cognomen Camillus derives from the title of an aristocratic youth who helped in religious duties; it is possible that a young Camillus served in such a position. His filiation is identical with that of the consul of 413 BC, Lucius Furius Medullinus , which may indicate that Medullinus and Camillus were brothers. Camillus

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1386-448: The oracle at Delphi . Camillus, as commander, then persuades Veii's goddess, Juno Regina, to leave the city and move to Rome. Archaeological remains near Veii include blocked drainage tunnels from the fifth-century, which may indicate the possibility that this story in Livy arises a Romans breakthrough into the city through them. Following the capture of the city, Livy reports that Camillus had its free population sold into slavery before

1449-626: The Castle") mentioned first in 994. In the following centuries the city was a flourishing independent commune, often contended by the Pope and the Holy Roman Empire. Captured by Pope Paschal II at the beginning of the 12th century, the city was given as fief to the Savelli by Gregory XIV . Sixtus IV assigned the city to Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, the future Pope Alexander VI , who started

1512-536: The Faiscans' arms, cavalry, goods, slaves and half of their territory were confiscated. Later the town was destroyed and a new one built on a more accessible site. Remains of a temple were found at Lo Scasato , at the highest point of the ancient town, in 1888, and others have been excavated in the outskirts. The attribution of one of these to Juno Quiritis is uncertain. These buildings were of wood, with fine decorations of coloured terracotta . Numerous tombs hewn in

1575-513: The Roman salt works at the mouth of the River Tiber. The Romans crossed the river on rafts. They caught straggling pillagers in the fields and sized the enemy camp by surprise. The enemy was driven out of Roman territory. In 365 BC, another Etruscan city, Caere , joined Tarquinii. It was defeated and granted a 100-year truce. The Faliscans were accused of participating in the war and the brunt of

1638-561: The Romans that the city assemblies of Etruria were discussing suing for peace. In 295 BC, before the Battle of Sentinum , where the Romans faced a combined force of Samnites, Etruscans, Umbrians and Senone Gauls, the Romans stationed a reserve army in Faliscan territory. However, in 293 BC, the Faliscans made common cause with the Etruscans and Rome declared war on them. They seized the city of Troilum and then took five strong fortresses by storm. The Faliscans sued for peace and were granted

1701-490: The [surrounding] Etruscan culture, as well as, for a long time, the expansion of the Romans". Falerii was relatively close to Rome, and the Faliscans viewed the Romans as a threat to their security. For this reason, they supported the Etruscan cities of Veii and Fidenae (which was near Veii, on the other bank of the river) in their conflicts with Rome in the fifth century. Livy noted that: "As these two States [Falerii and

1764-566: The army of Veii. Falerii did not want to renew the war. In 434 the Romans seized Fidenae. This alarmed Veii and Falerii. They sent envoys to the Etruscan League (a council of the twelve major Etruscan cities) for assistance, but the league refused to help Veii. In 403 BC war broke out between Rome and Veii. The Romans began a siege which lasted until 396 BC when they seized and destroyed this city. In 402 BC Falerii and Capena bound themselves by an oath and sent troops to Veii. They attacked

1827-478: The book SPQR , to write "Camillus is probably not much less fictional than the first Romulus". Mommsen, writing in Römisches Strafrecht , called Camillus' legend "the most dishonest of all Roman legends". Tim Cornell, writing of Camillus, calls him "the most artificially contrived of all Rome's heroes". Other scholars have suggested that Camillus emerged from a popular oral tradition which linked

1890-488: The campaign at Veii was indecisive. In that year the Etruscan League held a council "where the Capenates and Faliscans proposed that all the nations of Etruria should unite in a common resolution 'and design to raise the siege of Veii." However, the request was refused because Veii had not consulted the other Etruscan cities "for advice in so weighty a matter." Moreover, "[t]here was now in the greatest part of Etruria

1953-463: The charge, though a quaestorian trial for misappropriation is more likely, Camillus was reportedly convicted and sent into exile. Historians believe this story of disgrace before the courts is modelled on fates of Achilles and Scipio Africanus and is meant to draw comparison with Themistocles and Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus . The underlying source for the story likely postdates the Sullan period and

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2016-469: The city and recovering the ransom. This story was probably a creation of Roman annalists during the first century BC; Ogilvie in his Commentary on Livy , calls it "one of the most daring fabrications in Roman history". Other traditions have different narratives: for example, the Livii Drusi are supposed to have by single combat with a Gaul named Drausus recovered the same ransom; Plutarch records

2079-541: The city captured in 396 BC. The specific story of Veii's capture in Livy is mostly legendary. After a ten-year siege (the third Veientine war) – "obviously modelled on the Greek legend of the Trojan war " – the Alban Lake rises supernaturally after a supposed prophecy of Veii's destruction in its "Books of Fate". The Romans then extirpate the prodigy by building a tunnel to drain the lake after being so instructed by

2142-480: The city to Veii. This story also cannot be accepted and is more likely "a reflection of the tensions that arose concerning the distribution of the conquered territory of Veii" and to introduce "anti-plebeian elements" into the Camillan narrative. The speech does not appear in Polybius and may have been invented c.  122 BC in order to oppose by historical precedent Gaius Gracchus ' proposal to establish

2205-468: The construction of the Rocca ("Castle"), which was completed under Julius II . Civita Castellana became an important road hub with the connection to the Via Flaminia (1606) and the construction of Ponte Clementino sometime after the Battle of Civita Castellana , a French Army victory against a Neapolitan Army here on December 5, 1798 while this community was still part of the 1798-1799 Roman Republic after

2268-513: The consul Gnaeus Manlius accomplished very little and mentioned that he was encamped at Sutrium, in Faliscan territory. In 356 BC, the Romans engaged the Faliscans and Tarquinenses. The priests of the latter rushed towards the Romans carrying snakes and torches. This dismayed the Roman soldiers, who fled to their rampart. They were mocked by their officers and they rushed against the enemy, routed them and seized their camp. All Etruscans then rose in arms led by Tarquinii and Falerii and advanced as far as

2331-565: The fall of the 754-1798 Papal States but before the return of the 1799-1809 Papal States. The town also contains the ruins of the Castle of Paterno, where, on 23 January 1002, Emperor Otto III died at the age of 22. The National Museum of the Faliscan Countryside contains findings from the ancient Falerii and the surrounding areas. Marcus Furius Camillus Marcus Furius Camillus ( / k ə ˈ m ɪ l ə s / ; possibly c.  448 – c.  365 BC )

2394-402: The fall of the city, Camillus is recalled from exile at Ardea by the people and appointed again as dictator – even though a consular tribune was available to nominate a dictator in the normal fashion – in the city's hour of need. Then, at the climax of the Gallic sack, when a thousand pounds of gold is being weighed out, Camillus and a hastily organised army returns and defeats the Gauls, saving

2457-522: The first Roman municipium . Tusculum would be one of the first to revolt in the Second Latin War . Both Camillus' role in Manlius' sedition and his later dictatorship (engaging the Gauls and plebeian reforms) may be anachronistic and fictitious insertions. The account of Dio , coming from a Byzantine summary by Zonaras , asserts Camillus was elected dictator in 384 BC to put down

2520-469: The highest magistracies to the plebeians, ensured domestic harmony, and largely settled the struggle of the orders. Through it all, they believed he had held six consular tribunates and been dictator five times. For these reasons, he was hailed as the second founder of the city. A bronze statue of Camillus also bedecked itself on the rostra in the Forum . His reputation by the late republic and early empire

2583-445: The land nor any productive plant." Capena sued for peace, but the war with Falerii continued. In 394 BC the war with Falerii was entrusted to Marcus Furius Camillus . He forced the Faliscans to come out of their town by ravaging the fields and burning the farmhouses. They encamped only one mile from the town, on a spot which they thought was safe because it was difficult to access. Guided by Faliscan prisoners, Camillus placed himself in

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2646-465: The land was resettled with Roman citizens with land allotments of seven jugera . Archaeological evidence points to Romans switching quarries: after the capture of Veii's better-quality quarries, Roman structures switch largely to using stone sourced therefrom, which may suggest enslaved Veientine quarry workers. Camillus then celebrates a triumph and dedicates a temple of Juno on the Aventine . It

2709-464: The last five or six years, they blocked the election of all magistrates in an attempt to pass what would become the Licinio-Sextian rogations . Camillus is alleged to have been elected dictator in 368 BC and attempted to obstruct their attempts, without success. But the next year, he is appointed dictator again. He then reconciles the plebeians and the patricians with a proposal to appoint

2772-549: The myth of Camillus was well-established by the 80s and 70s BC. The name Camillus is attested in the Etruscan François Tomb , built c.  300 BC near Vulci . One of the paintings therein describes a "Gneve Tarchunies Rumach" (probably Gnaeus Tarquinius the Roman) being killed by a "Marce Camitlnas" (possibly Marcus Camitilius or Marcus Camillus). It is not known, however, what specific legend

2835-435: The nearby Capena] were nearest in point of distance, they believed that if Veii fell they would be the next on whom Rome would make war". There had been a history of on-and-off conflicts between Rome and Veii, which often involved Fidenae. The Romans had placed a colony at Fidenae to garrison the city. In 437 BC Fidenae revolted, attacked the Roman settlers and sided with Veii. Roman envoys who were sent to Fidenae were killed on

2898-513: The order of the king of Veii. The Romans advanced on Fidenae. The Faliscans sent troops in support. The Veientes and Fidenates (the inhabitants of Veii and Fidenae) wanted to prolong the war, but the Faliscans wanted a pitched battle. The Romans routed the combined enemy forces. In 436 BC the Romans raided the territory of Veii and Falerii, but did not attack the two cities. In 435 BC the Fidenates crossed into Roman territory to raid it and called in

2961-512: The other withdrew. There was a rumour that Faliscans and Capenates were advancing and getting close to Veii "with the whole military strength of Etruria." This caused panic in Rome. This led to a Roman push at Veii, which was captured and destroyed. In 395 BC the Romans conducted operations against Falerii and Capena. They did not attack the cities. They ravaged the countryside and "despoiled the farmers of their possessions, leaving not one fruit-tree in

3024-493: The pupils; the Faliscans then surrender the city before Camillus' good faith. Camillus is similarly alleged to have resigned a dictatorship to which he was appointed merely because of faulty procedure; Livy mentions it – an event that "almost certainly never took place" – as an example of Roman legal scruples. In all, Camillus is mentioned in Livy's Ab urbe condita as an example to be followed eight times, an "unusually high frequency", usually in relation to his alleged successes as

3087-426: The righteousness of Camillus and sent envoys to him, "entrusting him with their lives and fortunes". Camillus sent them to Rome and they told the senate that "the Romans, by esteeming righteousness above victory, had taught them to love defeat above freedom and considered themselves "vanquished in virtue". According to Livy they also promised fidelity to Roman rule. The senate entrusted the matter to Camillus who demanded

3150-564: The rock are visible on all sides of the town, and important discoveries have been made in them; many objects, both from the temples and from the tombs, are in the Museo di Villa Giulia at Rome. Similar finds have also been made at Calcata , ten km to the south, and Corchiano, around ten km north-west. Civita Castellana Civita Castellana is a town and comune in the province of Viterbo , 65 kilometres (40 mi) north of Rome . Mount Soracte lies about 10 kilometres (6 mi) to

3213-437: The schoolmaster is meant to recount an exemplum which stresses the importance of Roman good will ( Latin : fides ) and the importance of gentlemanly aristocratic behaviour. After taking Veii and Falisci, Camillus is supposed to have been prosecuted. Accounts differ: he may have been accused by the quaestors of misappropriating spoils of war or of his extravagance in purchasing four white horses for his triumph. Whatever

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3276-590: The sedition of Marcus Manlius Capitolinus , who is believed to be trying to make himself king. Camillus reportedly has Manlius arrested by a slave before a trial; Manlius is convicted and then thrown from the Tarpeian Rock . No such attribution is given in the accounts of Livy and Plutarch, who note Camillus merely as one of the six consular tribunes in that year. According to Livy, there are ten years in which Gaius Licinius Stolo and Lucius Sextius Lateranus were elected plebeian tribunes continuously. During

3339-400: The smaller the two Roman camps from the rear. The Veientes attacked the Roman siege works form the front. The lack of unity between the Roman commanders led to a rout of the Romans, and the capture of the smaller camp. Some Romans escaped to the larger camp and some withdrew to Rome. In 400 BC the Romans recaptured the lost camp, raided the territories of Falerii and Capena, but did not attack

3402-591: The south-east. Civita Castellana was settled during the Iron Age by the Italic people of the Falisci , who called it " Falerii ." After the Faliscan defeat against the Romans , a new city was built by the latter, about 5 kilometres (3 mi) away, and called " Falerii Novi ." The abandoned city was repopulated beginning in the early Middle Ages , with the new name of Civita Castellana (roughly translated as "City of

3465-483: The third is reflected in the consular fasti . Livy includes in the same year of this compromise, 367 BC, another alleged victory by Camillus over the Gauls. Modern scholars are especially suspicious of this report, especially because Livy notes confusion in his own sources over this victory, which is alternatively attributed to Titus Manlius Torquatus . According the ancient Roman tradition, Camillus died during an epidemic that hit Rome in 365 BC. However, it

3528-484: The tomb depicts. Some scholars have suggested that Camitlnas refers to the Camillus of this article, but such attribution is problematic. Scholars believe Camillus qua person probably existed: the fasti , if believed, record his importance and influence in Roman public life at this time. But, in general, the quality of the sources – which interject "plenty of myth, embellishment, and fantasy" – led Mary Beard , in

3591-598: The town to pay the wages of the Roman soldiers for that year. In Livy's account, he granted peace; in Plutarch 's account, he "established friendship with all the Faliscans". He then went back to Rome. In 359 BC, war broke out between Rome and the Etruscan city-state of Tarquinii because the latter plundered Roman territory adjoining Etruria. In 357 BC, Faliscan men joined the Tarquinenses and refused to hand back Roman prisoners they had taken to Falerii. Livy wrote that

3654-449: The town. He led the boys out of the town daily to exercise them. At first he kept them close to the city walls. Then he ventured further out. Eventually he reached the Roman outposts and handed the boys to the enemy. He communicated to Camillus his intention to betray Falerii. Camillus ordered that the man be stripped, scourged, and driven back into the city by the boys. When the Faliscans saw the tutor coming back in this fashion, they admired

3717-584: The towns of Capena , Nepet , and Sutrium , was close to the Monti Cimini . The site of the original Falerii is a plateau , about 1100 × 400 m, not higher than the surrounding country (140 m) but separated from it by gorges over 60 m in depth, and only connected with it on the western side, which was strongly fortified with a mound and ditch. The rest of the city was defended by walls constructed of rectangular blocks of tuff of which some remains still exist. According to legend, Falerii Veteres

3780-594: The two cities. In 399 BC Falerii and Capena sent troops to relieve Veii. The Romans made a sortie from their camp, put their forces to flight and pursued them killed many of their men. Soon after this a contingent was sent to raid the territory of Capena. It fell on the survivors of the battle and destroyed them. In 398 BC The Romans raided the territories of Falerii and Capena, "carried off huge spoils and left nothing untouched that iron or fire could destroy". Livy mentioned Roman campaigns against Veii, of Falerii, and of Capena in 397 BC, but did not give any details. He wrote that

3843-581: The war was turned against them. The Romans could not find their forces and pillaged their land. In 351 BC the Romans conducted a campaign against Tarquinii and Falerii, ravaging their fields until their resistance was broken. The two city-states requested a truce and a forty-year truce was granted. In 342 BC, the Roman victory over the Samnites in the First Samnite War (344-342 BC) induced Falerii to ask Rome to convert their forty years' truce into

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3906-482: Was of Argive origin. Strabo 's assertion that the population, the Falisci , were of a different race from the Etruscans is supported by the evidence of the inscriptions which have been found here. They were written in a Latin dialect. Most of the surviving inscriptions date back to the second half of the fourth century BC and the first half of the third century BC. The Faliscan language survived "the domination of

3969-443: Was such that Camillus was a source of exempla : fables giving lessons for Romans on how to act in line both with morals and with Roman tradition and procedures. One of the most famous ones is during Camillus' capture of Faliscii: one of their schoolmasters defects, bringing with him to the camp his pupils who are Faliscan nobles' children. Camillus, displaying his exemplary fides , has the schoolmaster reprimanded and punished by

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