Misplaced Pages

#589410

131-477: But, now I know, the lineage of Aeneas will rule over all, and so too will his son, and his son's sons, who will be born thereafter. The city of Alba Longa, often abbreviated Alba , was a Latin settlement in the montes Albani , or Alban Hills , near the present site of Castel Gandolfo in Latium . Although the exact location remains difficult to prove, there is archaeological evidence of Iron Age settlements in

262-660: 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

393-607: 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),

524-437: 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

655-608: 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

786-564: A later invention, the Silvian house or gens Silvia likely did exist. Latins (Italic tribe) The Latins ( Latin : Latinus (m.), Latina (f.), Latini (m. pl.)), sometimes known as the Latials or Latians , were an Italic tribe that included the early inhabitants of the city of Rome (see Roman people ). From about 1000 BC, the Latins inhabited the small region known to

917-446: 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

1048-522: A mythical justification for the close ties between Rome and the rest of Latium, and enhancing the status of Roman and Latin families who claimed descent from the original Trojan settlers or their Alban descendants. Such was the eagerness in the late Republic to claim a Trojan pedigree that fifteen different lists of the Alban kings from Aeneas to Romulus survive. When Aeneas and the Trojan refugees landed on

1179-506: A number of black-figure and red figure vases unearthed in southern Etruria, dating from the end of the sixth century to the middle of the fifth century BC. Beginning in the late seventh century BC, Roman culture was heavily influenced by the Etruscans. Lucius Tarquinius Priscus , the fifth king of Rome, and his grandson, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus , the seventh and last king, were Etruscans, and it may have been during this period that

1310-594: 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

1441-462: A passage in Ranulf Higdon 's Polychronicon , Turnus is also named as King of Tuscany. This suggests that legends in the age after Virgil came to identify Turnus "as a legendary figure like Aeneas, Romulus , ' Langeberde ', and Brutus". In Book IX of John Milton's Paradise Lost , the story of Turnus and Lavinia is mentioned in relation to God's anger at Adam and Eve. Turnus can be seen as

SECTION 10

#1732801204590

1572-519: 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

1703-638: 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

1834-458: A ruse he induced the surrender of the Albans, and had Fufetius torn asunder by horses; he then forcibly relocated the entire Alban populace to Rome, and razed the city of Alba Longa to the ground. The traditions relating to the origins of Rome and the Latins belong to the realm of Roman mythology. This is not to say that the persons or events related in such traditions did not exist, or were solely

1965-425: 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

2096-521: 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

2227-509: 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

2358-534: Is believed to have invented the Alban chronology to fill the gap of centuries between the fall of Troy and the founding of Rome. This could have been achieved by him taking the Roman history as it was, comparing it with the Greek, and inserting Greek Olympiads or Athenian archons . This method would have made the Greek histories seem contemporary with the people and events in the Roman history of his time. The names of

2489-470: 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

2620-602: 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,

2751-606: Is pale for 15%, intermediate for 68%, intermediate or dark for 10% and dark or very dark for the remaining 7%. Turnus Turnus ( Ancient Greek : Τυρρηνός , romanized :  Tyrrhênós ) was the legendary King of the Rutuli in Roman history , and the chief antagonist of the hero Aeneas in Virgil 's Aeneid . According to the Aeneid , Turnus is the son of Daunus and

SECTION 20

#1732801204590

2882-478: Is reported of Alba Longa or its kings until the time of Tullus Hostilius , the third King of Rome, who according to tradition reigned from approximately 673 to 642 BC. During his reign, a series of cattle raids between Roman and Alban territory led to a declaration of war by Hostilius. At that time, the Alban king was Gaius Cluilius , whose relationship to the Silvii, if any, is entirely unknown. He set about arming

3013-568: The Feriae Latinae , Latin rites originally celebrated by the kings of Alba Longa. This confused many Romans, who hailed him as king upon his return to Rome. Mindful of the Republic's ancient traditions, including one by which any person claiming to be King of Rome was to be put to death, he rejected this honour. In the Forum of Augustus , statues of the kings of Alba Longa and members of

3144-420: The Aeneid , and by Eusebius , but there were also several other versions. Picus was also said to be the son of Mars , rather than Saturn. According to Justin , Faunus was Latinus' maternal grandfather, and was the son of Jupiter , rather than Picus; in this account Saturn was the first king of the Latins. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus , Latinus was the son of Hercules , and merely pretended to be

3275-575: The Aeneid . Turnus is mentioned in the Pseudo-Jasher , along with Angeas of Africa. In all of these historical sources, Turnus' heritage is unclear. Dionysius calls him Tyrrhenus , which means " Etruscan ", while other sources suggest a Greek ancestry. In all of these sources, Turnus and his Rutulians are settled in Italy prior to the arrival of the Trojans and are involved in the clash between

3406-733: The Aeolic tongue from Evander. In the Iliad , the god Poseidon prophesied that the descendants of Aeneas (the Aeneadae ), would survive the Trojan War and rule their people forever, but also that the rule of the Aeneadae would never happen in Troy . Virgil provided the imperial legacy of the Aeneadae by making Iulus the divine ancestor of Augustus in the Aeneid . From this divine connection

3537-670: The Horatii defeated the Curiatii , and peace was restored. Later, Fufetius arranged to join Fidenae in a revolt against Roman authority, aided by the Etruscan city of Veii . At a crucial point in the battle between the Roman and Fidenate armies, Fufetius, in command of the Alban forces ostensibly allied with Rome, withdrew from the field. After this betrayal, Hostilius determined to revenge himself upon both Fufetius and Alba Longa. By

3668-707: 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

3799-635: 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

3930-700: 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

4061-572: The Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , the unknown poet cites as a parallel to Brutus of Troy's founding of Britain, that of an unidentified "Ticius" to Tuscany . Although some scholars have tried to argue that "Titius" is derived from Titus Tatius , Otis Chapman has proposed that "Ticius" is a scribal error for what the poet intended to read as Turnus. On top of manuscript stylometric evidence, Chapman notes that in

Kings of Alba Longa - Misplaced Pages Continue

4192-500: The Prisci Latini , or "Old Latins". According to Dionysius, he reigned for twenty-nine years. He was succeeded by his son, Aeneas Silvius , who assumed his father's name as a cognomen , or surname; henceforth all of his descendants bore the name "Silvius" in addition to their personal names. This was the same process by which the nomen gentilicium later developed throughout Italy. Aeneas reigned for thirty-one years, and

4323-488: The Tiber . About thirty years after the founding of Lavinium, when the original Trojan settlement was flourishing and populous, Ascanius decided to establish a colony in the Alban Hills, which, as it was initially spread out along a ridge, became known as Alba Longa. Nothing further is written of Ascanius, who was succeeded by his son, Silvius, according to Livy. Silvius' name was reportedly derived from his having been born in

4454-521: The Tyrrhenians , originally a somewhat vague term for the inhabitants of central Italy, which in later times was applied specifically to the Etruscans. This passage reveals Hellenic interest in the peoples of Italy dating to at least the eighth century BC. In this account, the Romans are descended from Odysseus, one of the Achaeans, rather than his contemporary, the Trojan prince Aeneas. Writing in

4585-596: 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

4716-575: The "Oak-god", when he was called up to heaven. Geoffrey of Monmouth , a Benedictine monk living in the 12th century AD, wrote a fabricated history of the kings of Britain ( Historia Regum Britanniae ). In this history Britain is said to receive its name from Brutus , the first of its kings. According to him, Brutus was the son of Silvius and the grandson of Aeneas. While on a hunting trip with his father he accidentally shoots him and so flees Italy. First, Brutus goes to Greece and gathers Trojan companions who join him on his journey to Britain, where he takes

4847-519: 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

4978-574: 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

5109-445: The Alban kings as being crowned with a civic oak-leaf crown . The Roman kings then adopted the crown, becoming personifications of Jupiter on earth. Latinus was thought to have become Jupiter Latiaris after "vanishing" during a battle with Mezentius (king of Caere ). So too, Aeneas disappeared from a battle with Mezentius or with Turnus , and became Jupiter Indiges . Romulus (not unlike his Alban predecessors) became Quirinus ,

5240-430: The Alban populace and preparing for war, and constructed a large trench around the perimeter of Rome . However, he died before the two sides could engage in battle. It is not known whether he had any sons to succeed him in the kingship; the ancient historians report only that the military command was entrusted to Mettius Fufetius , who negotiated that the war be decided by a contest of champions; victory fell to Rome when

5371-462: The Etruscan interest in Aeneas was transmitted to Rome. Writing toward the end of the third century BC, Quintus Fabius Pictor , the father of Roman history, related the story that the Romans were descended from Aeneas, via his son Ascanius, the founder of Alba Longa. In his account of Roman origins, Pictor described a continuous history of Greek exports to Italy, including the landing of Heracles and

Kings of Alba Longa - Misplaced Pages Continue

5502-651: 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

5633-448: 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

5764-528: 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

5895-475: 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

6026-493: The Julian family were placed with Aeneas in the northwest hemicycle. In that hemicycle were the statues of Aeneas, the kings of Alba Longa, and M. Claudius Marcellus , C. Julius Caesar Strabo , and Julius Caesar (the adoptive father of Augustus ) among others. The northeast hemicycle had summi viri placed with Romulus. Augustus' funerary procession reflects the same kind of propaganda as his "Hall of Heroes" and included many of

6157-494: The Latins accused Ascanius of having done away with his stepmother. Silvius then succeeded Ascanius as king of the Latins, in preference to Ascanius' son, Iulus, whom Dionysius identifies as the ancestor of the Julii. According to Dionysius, Ascanius died in the thirty-eighth year of his reign, counting from the death of Aeneas, rather than the founding of Alba Longa. Livy records that Silvius founded several colonies, later known as

6288-441: The Latins and the Trojans, but there is a great deal of discrepancy in details. It appears that Virgil drew on a variety of historical sources for the background of Turnus in the Aeneid . Prior to Aeneas' arrival in Italy, Turnus was the primary potential suitor of Lavinia , the only daughter of Latinus , King of the Latin people. Upon Aeneas' arrival, however, Lavinia is promised to the Trojan prince. Juno , determined to prolong

6419-470: 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

6550-491: 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

6681-511: The Romans as Old Latium (in Latin Latium vetus ), the area in the Italian Peninsula between the river Tiber and the promontory of Mount Circeo 100 km (62 mi) southeast of Rome. Following the Roman expansion, the Latins spread into the Latium adiectum , inhabited by Osco-Umbrian peoples. Their language, Latin , belonged to the Italic branch of Indo-European. Speakers of Italic languages are assumed to have migrated into

SECTION 50

#1732801204590

6812-511: 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

6943-754: 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

7074-454: The Tiber in his memory; Dionysius says that he was slain in battle, and his body carried away by the river, after a reign of eight years. Tiberinus was followed by Agrippa , who ruled for forty-one years, and was succeeded by his son, Romulus Silvius , whom Dionysius calls Allocius. Livy states simply that he was struck by lightning, but Dionysius describes him as tyrannical and contemptuous of

7205-421: 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,

7336-520: The Trojans after defeating many opponents, but soon gets into trouble and is only saved from death by Juno. In Book X, Turnus slays the son of Evander, the young prince Pallas . As he gloats over the killing, he takes as a spoil of war Pallas' sword belt and puts it on. Enraged, Aeneas seeks out the Rutulian King with full intent of killing him. Virgil marks the death of Pallas by mentioning the inevitable downfall of Turnus. To prevent his death at

7467-423: The Trojans; his elder half brother, Iulus , was the son of Creusa , Aeneas' first wife, who died in the sack of Troy . This was the account favoured by Livy; in other versions, Ascanius was the son of Creusa; Dionysius and Virgil follow this account. However, the two differ where Vergil claims Ascanius and Iulus were the same; Dionysius, on the other hand, makes Iulus the son of Ascanius. In all accounts, Ascanius

7598-773: 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

7729-417: The area traditionally identified as the site. In Roman mythology , Alba was founded by Ascanius , the son of Aeneas, as a colony of Lavinium , the original settlement of Trojan refugees and native Latins, which it quickly eclipsed. There is some uncertainty in the tradition as to Ascanius' mother; in some accounts he was the son of Lavinia , and grandson of Latinus , the native king who welcomed Aeneas and

7860-484: The arrival of the Trojans, and rushed to arms; according to some accounts, a battle was fought, in which Latinus was defeated, and a peace concluded between the two groups, cemented by the marriage of Aeneas and Lavinia, daughter of the Latin king; in other versions battle was narrowly averted when the two leaders chose to parley before hostilities could begin, and Aeneas impressed his host with his noble bearing and woeful story, leading to an alliance. Aeneas then established

7991-410: 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

SECTION 60

#1732801204590

8122-437: 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

8253-780: 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,

8384-408: 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

8515-430: The deposed king of the Etruscans , Mezentius ; and Queen Camilla of the Volsci , allies in Turnus’ fight against Aeneas, the Trojans, and their allies. The Historia Brittonum connected Turnus with the Turoni , and the city of Tours : "[ Brutus of Troy ] was exiled on account of the death of Turnus, slain by Aeneas. He then went among the Gauls and built a city of the Turones, called Turnis [Tours]". In

8646-422: 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

8777-545: 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

8908-413: The establishment of a colony on the Palatine Hill by the Arcadians under Evander, to whom he attributed the introduction of the alphabet. In the second century BC, Marcus Porcius Cato, better known as Cato the Elder , composed his own history of Roman origins, following the existing traditions relating to Aeneas and his descendants; but to Cato, the Aborigines were themselves Greeks, and Romulus received

9039-400: 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

9170-408: The fourth century BC, Heraclides Ponticus , a pupil of Plato , referred to Rome as a "Greek city". About the same time, Aristotle related a tradition that Achaean warriors returning home after the Trojan War were driven to Italy by a storm. Stranded on the Italian shores with a number of captive Trojan women, they built a settlement called "Latinium". The Etruscans were particularly interested in

9301-423: 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

9432-503: The gods; he imitated thunder and lightning, so as to appear like a god before the people, whereupon he and his whole household were destroyed by thunder and lightning, and overwhelmed by the waters of the adjoining lake, after a reign of nineteen years. He bequeathed his throne to Aventinus , who reigned for thirty-seven years, and was buried on the hill that bears his name . He was followed by Proca , who reigned for twenty-three years. Proca had two sons, Numitor and Amulius ; his will

9563-519: The hallmarks of having developed over a long period. The first literary suggestions that the Romans were descended from survivors of the Trojan War are found among the Greek writers, many of whom considered the Romans descendants of the Achaeans, rather than the Trojans. At the conclusion of the Theogony , Hesiod mentions Latinus and Agrius as sons of Odysseus and Circe ; Agrius ruled over

9694-407: The hands of Aeneas, Juno conjures a ghost apparition of Aeneas, luring Turnus onto a ship and to his safety. Turnus takes great offense at this action, questioning his worth and even contemplating suicide. In Book XII, Aeneas and Turnus duel to the death; Aeneas gains the upper hand amidst a noticeably Iliad -esque chase sequence (Aeneas pursues Turnus ten times round, between the walls of Latium and

9825-499: 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

9956-565: 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

10087-563: The island from a race of giants. Benoît de Saint-Maure names Charlemagne as a descendant of the mythical Francus , thus linking the Plantagenet family to Aeneas. Francus, like Aeneas, survived the destruction of Troy and travelled to find a new home. He installed a territory with other Trojans comprising the entire Rhine and the Danube and founded a powerful village named Sicambri . The ancient historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus

10218-534: The kings are often based on places around Rome, such as Tiberinus, Aventinus, Alba, and Capetus. Others are rationalizations of mythical figures, or pure inventions to provide notable ancestors for status-seeking families. In the Aeneid , Virgil invents characters into living beings not unlike the heroes of Homer . The events described toward the end of the Aeneid were a nationalistic interpretation of perceived historical events in Roman history. However, despite being

10349-453: 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

10480-517: The leadership of both Trojans and Latins, declaring that henceforth all of his followers should be known as Latins. Subsequently, Mezentius , king of the Etruscan city of Caere , led an army against the Latins; he too was defeated after fierce fighting, but Aeneas fell in battle, or died soon afterward, and was buried on the banks of the Numicus , where he was later regarded as Jupiter Indiges ,

10611-538: 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

10742-412: 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

10873-463: The line of Aeneas stretched through Romulus, Augustus, and the Julio-Claudian emperors down to Nero . It was popular in the late Roman republic for the more distinguished families to claim divine origin, and it was believed that Iulus (Ascanius) was the mythical ancestor of the gens Julia . A notable member of the family, Julius Caesar , is said to have gone to Mount Alba to preside over

11004-530: The lines of men, much as in the duel between Achilles and Hector), wounding Turnus in the thigh. Turnus begs Aeneas either to spare him or give his body back to his people. Aeneas considers but upon seeing the belt of Pallas on Turnus, he is consumed by rage and finishes him off. The last line of the poem describes Turnus' unhappy passage into the Underworld. Turnus' supporters include: his sister and minor river/fountain deity, Juturna ; Latinus's wife, Amata ;

11135-413: The local god. Because Ascanius was still a child, Lavinia acted as regent until he came of age. Livy describes her as a woman of great character, who was able to maintain the peace between the Latins and their Etruscan neighbours to the north; he also describes the boundary between Latium and Etruria, fixed by treaty after the battle between Aeneas and Mezentius as the river Albula, subsequently known as

11266-579: 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

11397-651: 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

11528-475: 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

11659-472: The myth of Aeneas and Anchises from at least the late sixth century BC. Perhaps influenced by Hesiod, they originally considered the Greek Odysseus to be their founder-hero, but later embraced Aeneas as their founder due to their growing rivalry with the Greek city-states of Italy; increasingly they perceived the Greek colonists as their enemies, rather than partners in trade. Aeneas is depicted on

11790-644: 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

11921-582: The nymph Venilia and is brother of the nymph Juturna . While there is a limited amount of information in historical sources about Turnus, some key details about Turnus and the Rutuli differ significantly from the account in the Aeneid. The only source predating the Aeneid is Marcus Porcius Cato 's Origines . Turnus is also mentioned by Livy in his Ab Urbe Condita and by Dionysius of Halicarnassus in his Ρωμαϊκή Αρχαιολογία ( Rômaïkê Archaiologia , " Roman Antiquities "), both of which come later than

12052-620: 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

12183-413: 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

12314-515: 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

12445-438: 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

12576-612: 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

12707-438: The product of deliberate invention by later generations. But the earliest surviving records and accounts postdate the period of the Alban kings by several centuries, leaving little basis upon which to evaluate their historicity. In particular, the tradition connecting the founding of Alba Longa with the flight of Aeneas from Troy was only one of a number of stories about the origins of Rome, and although doubtless ancient, it shows

12838-405: 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

12969-728: 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

13100-451: 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

13231-438: 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

13362-411: The same statues, with one headed by Aeneas and the other by Romulus. In propagating his apotheosis , Augustus chose to include his adoptive father Julius Caesar who had recently achieved divinity himself, whereas Aeneas and Romulus are included for their divinity was well established. Kings of Alba Longa would have claimed to be descendants of Jupiter as Virgil demonstrates in the Aeneid. He represents

13493-494: The shores of the Laurentian plain, they encountered the Latins, led by their eponymous king, Latinus. The Latins were aborigines ; that is, the original inhabitants of Latium, a title sometimes used to refer to the Latins before the arrival of Aeneas. Latinus was the son of Faunus , and grandson of Picus , the first king of Latium, who was in turn the son of Saturn . This was the most usual account, followed by Virgil in

13624-406: 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

13755-569: The son of Faunus; Aeneas arrived in the thirty-fifth year of his reign over the Aborigines. Evander and Janus are also sometimes described as ancient kings of the Aborigines; but Livy describes Evander as a king of the Arcadians , as does Virgil, who makes him an ally of Aeneas in the war against the Rutuli . In his Saturnalia , Macrobius describes Janus as sharing Latium with another king, known as Camese. The Latins were alarmed by

13886-578: 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

14017-597: 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

14148-406: The suffering of the Trojans, prompts Turnus to demand a war with the new arrivals. King Latinus is greatly displeased with Turnus, but steps down and allows the war to commence. During the War between the Latins and the Trojans (along with several other Trojan allies, including King Evander 's Arcadians ), Turnus proves himself to be brave but hot-headed. In Book IX, he nearly takes the fortress of

14279-633: 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

14410-580: 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

14541-414: 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

14672-429: The throne. According to Dionysius, Amulius reigned forty-two years. The following year, which Dionysius makes the four hundred and thirty-second since the fall of Troy (i.e. 751 BC, only two years later than the era of Varro), Romulus and Remus set out to establish an Alban colony, which ultimately became the city of Rome. As Numitor had no further issue, the Silvian dynasty of Alba Longa ends with him. Nothing further

14803-413: 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

14934-469: The town of Lavinium, named after his young bride, with a mixed population of Trojans and Latins. But the new settlers and their alliance with Latinus soon encountered threats from two neighbouring peoples. First the Rutuli, whose prince, Turnus , had previously been betrothed to Lavinia, marched against them. The new allies defeated the Rutuli, but Latinus was slain in the fighting, whereupon Aeneas assumed

15065-460: 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:

15196-473: The woods, and Dionysius records a different tradition, whereby he was not the son of Ascanius, but his half-brother, the son of Aeneas and Lavinia. In this account, Lavinia feared that Ascanius, already a young man upon the death of his father, would harm her or her child, as threats to his bloodline, and therefore hid in the woods, where she was sheltered by Tyrrhenus, the royal swineherd and a friend of her father, Latinus. She and her son emerged from hiding when

15327-399: 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

15458-482: Was Mars himself. Amulius had her thrown in prison, and ordered the infants thrown into the Tiber. But as the Tiber was swollen and its banks unreachable, the boys were exposed at the base of a fig tree, where they were suckled by a she-wolf, and then discovered by the shepherd Faustulus , who raised them with the aid of his wife, Acca Larentia . When they had grown to manhood, Romulus and Remus contrived to assassinate their wicked uncle, and restored their grandfather to

15589-479: 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

15720-599: 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

15851-541: 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,

15982-547: 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

16113-412: 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

16244-485: 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

16375-406: Was succeeded by Latinus Silvius , who reigned for fifty-one years. The next king, Alba , reigned for thirty-nine years; according to Livy, he was succeeded by Atys , who reigned for twenty-six years, followed by Capys , who reigned twenty-eight years, and Capetus , who ruled for thirteen years. Capetus' successor, Tiberinus , was drowned crossing the river Albula, which was henceforth known as

16506-456: Was that he be succeeded by the elder son, Numitor, but Amulius drove out his brother, claiming the throne for himself. He had his brother's sons put to death, and appointed Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia , a Vestal Virgin , supposedly to do her honour, but in fact to ensure her perpetual virginity and prevent any further issue in her father's line. But Rhea was raped, and gave birth to twin sons, Romulus and Remus ; she claimed that their father

16637-592: 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

16768-486: Was the founder and first king of Alba Longa, while Iulus was claimed as the ancestor of the Julian gens . Eratosthenes , the most influential of the ancient chronologists, reckoned that the sack of Troy occurred in 1184 BC, more than four centuries before the traditional founding of Rome, in 753. The history of the Alban kings conveniently filled that gap with a continuous line leading from Aeneas to Romulus, thus serving as

16899-474: 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

17030-433: 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

17161-476: 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

#589410