A History of the Roman World

by Scullard, H. H.

  Thus in pre-Roman Italy there flourished an empire which corresponded in extent roughly with the Napoleonic kingdom of Italy, created probably rather by the haphazard needs and initiative of individual cities than by concerted action of the Etruscan League which was bound together more by cultural and religious than political ties. But it might have resulted in the spread of a common culture, if not in the creation of a single state, from the Alps to the Strait of Messina – had not a sudden collapse occurred, so that this achievement was reserved for the genius of Rome.

  10. EARLY LATIUM

  Latium was for long years inimical to man. The coastal plain, a late creation in geological time, was subject to flooding, while the Ciminian and Alban Hills displayed volcanic activity as late as 1000 BC; more than fifty craters can be found within twenty-five miles of Rome. When finally the volcanoes had died down and had covered the area with an ash rich in phosphates and potash, cultivation of the soil still remained impracticable until the jungle growth had formed a surface soil containing nitrogenous matter. This was soon provided by the forests which spread rapidly over the hills and gave Latium a different appearance and climate from today, when the wheat is harvested in June and the Roman Campagna is bare and parched in the summer months; then harvest-time was in July. As late as the third century BC Theophrastus wrote that Latium was well-watered: the plain bore laurel, myrtle and beech trees, the hills fir and pine, while oaks flourished on the Circeian promontory. This difference of moisture in ancient and modern times is probably due to the later deforestation of the hills behind Latium, rather than to a supposed rainy age in classical times. Thus a rich soil, provided by volcanic ash and vegetation, and a moist subsoil, provided by the forest reservoirs, rendered Latium habitable, and men settled south of the Tiber on that semicircle of hills, the dominating positions of which were later controlled by the towns of Tibur, Praeneste and Aricia.42

  Man did not appear in Latium until relatively late, and then in small and scattered settlements. Traces of Palaeolithic occupation are rare: they include some remains of Neanderthal man near Rome, and a cave near Tivoli used for several millennia by Upper Palaeolithic people. Continuing volcanic activity may have made Latium unattractive during the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages: traces of ‘Apennine’ material are only sporadic although they do reveal a settlement on the site of Rome itself (p. 39). However, despite a few traces of evidence at Lavinium and near Ardea, any continuing links with the Iron Age are as yet slender: the population explosion in the early Iron Age suggests new settlers from outside. This new culture, now known as ‘Latial’ rather than ‘southern Villanovan’, spread to Rome, the Alban Hills and southwards to Terracina. As we have seen (pp. 14–15) it closely resembled the Villanovan culture of Etruria, though cinerary urns shaped like the huts of the inhabitants were used (as in southern Etruria, in contrast with the biconical urns of northern Etruria). This new people imposed itself on any ‘Apennine’ stratum that survived, but it was soon reinforced by representatives of the inhuming Fossa culture from the south (p. 16). This new mixture marks the beginning of the Iron Age in Latium, which some archaeologists place as early as 1000 BC, others as late as 800; perhaps 900 may be nearer the mark. It lasted for a considerable time, but it began to change when the Etruscans expanded southwards.43

  Cemeteries of these Latin villages have been found in Rome (these are discussed in the next chapter) and on the western and southern slopes of the isolated Alban Hills which rise up from the plain some thirteen miles south of Rome and whose extinct craters formed the lakes of Albano and Nemi. Other Latins settled at Ardea, Antium, Satricum and other centres, large and small. Although Rome was traditionally founded as a colony of Alba Longa, archaeological evidence does not support the primacy of Alba. An important site, discovered in 1972, lay at Castel di Decima, some ten miles south of Rome, which is almost certainly ancient Politorium which the Roman king Ancus Marcius is said to have conquered. Of the 115 Fossa tombs excavated, the earliest is c. 740–20, most belong to the first half of the seventh century, and none is later than c. 600; this accords well with the traditional capture by Ancus. Many of the tombs are rich; four contained chariots, and in one of these (c. 700) a richly adorned woman was buried. Another recent identification is Ficana on Monte Cugno between Rome and Ostia, whose tombs suggest a settlement similar to that at Decima; here there is also some Bronze Age material. Other sites where excavation is throwing new light on Latin settlements are at La Rustica (= Caenina?) north-east of Rome, and at Osteria dell’Osa to the east of Rome, not very far from Gabii, where the remains in the cemetery (the majority inhumations) run from the ninth to the seventh centuries.44 Thus our knowledge of early Latium is rapidly expanding, and Latial culture is now divided into three groups, Boschetto, Alba and Campagna, in accordance with local variations – though these need not be detailed here since resemblances far exceed minor differences.

  The lack of material wealth and of harbours meant that the early Latins did not advance quite so quickly as the Northern Villanovans, but they began to enter into the wider life of Italy from about 700 BC. At first perhaps given to war and plunder and for long remaining semi-nomadic herdsmen, they gradually became essentially agriculturalists, growing wheat, millet and, later, barley; the vine was probably not cultivated until the Etruscan period, and the olive was a later arrival, but the fig was grown in early times. Pigs, sheep and oxen and perhaps goats were raised; the horse came later. Timber was a valuable source of wealth. The population soon grew large, as shown by the smallness of individual land-holdings (2 iugera or 1⅓ acres) and also by the extensive drainage works, tunnels and dams which were constructed partly for irrigation, but mainly to prevent the rainwater sweeping the precious soil down the hillsides: volcanic rock is easily dried up and washed away. Some of the larger works like those below Velitrae, or the emissarium of the Alban Lake, may be inspired by somewhat later Etruscan example, but they testify to the value set on preserving the fertile soil. While they were busy clearing the forests and cultivating the ground, many of the Latins settled in villages, congregating on hills to find protection against man and beast and to escape the unhealthiness of the plain. Here they lived, as Varro says, ‘in huts and cabins and knew not the meaning of a wall or gate’. The appearance of their huts is shown by their cinerary urns, while the process by which separate settlements coalesced into one large village is illustrated by the growth of early Rome (pp. 40–1). Each village (vicus), which may have been strengthened by a wooden palisade, had a pagus, the extended area in which its inhabitants carried on their pastoral or agricultural work, but sometimes various vici might hold a pagus in common and thus become linked in cantons. The vici were probably organized on the basis of clans (gentes), but the strongest social unit was the familia or household in which the pater-familias or eldest living male held almost absolute control. Surviving lists of Latin populi suggest some forty or fifty early villages, while the Prisci Latini (‘Original Latins’) are given as thirty.45

  The fact that all these small settlements shared a common language must have helped to develop a sense of unity. This was also fostered by common religious practices and led on to some common action in other fields. The Latins, who used to gather for a spring festival at the very ancient shrine of Jupiter Latiaris on Monte Cavo, the summit of the Alban Hills, formed a League which was probably fairly extensive; but although the leadership passed from Alba to Rome, the League probably remained of chiefly religious significance and did not provide a framework through which Rome could exercise political hegemony in Latium. Other gropings after unity are found in the common cults of Venus at Lavinium and of Diana near Tusculum, at shrines common to all the Latins at Ardea and Lavinium, and more especially the cult of Diana at Aricia at the source of Aqua Ferentina. While some historians try to explain some of these leagues as the various stages in the growth of one single Latin League, more probably several co-existed. Of these the Arician federation attained considerable importance in the sixth c
entury. The primitive state of these early cults is illustrated by the worship of Diana at Nemi, where the golden bough grew; amid the forests lurked the rex nemorensis, ‘the priest who slew the slayer, and shall himself be slain.’ But it is the political potentialities of these federations that are important in the history of Italy.46

  With the coming of the Etruscans Latium entered upon a new phase (c. 650), but although it was subjected to Etruscan cultural influences it remained essentially Latin, since the Latin language survived almost untouched. The Etruscans encouraged agriculture, large drainage works, industry and commerce, and they promoted synoecisms. Thus Latium was swept into a wider world. Further, Greek ideas were reaching it from the south, and it is not always easy to determine whether any particular gift, above all that of the alphabet, came direct from the south or was mediated through the Etruscans. Nor can we establish the extent of direct Etruscan political influence, except at Rome which was governed by Etruscan kings during the sixth century (pp. 48ff.). But though evidence for direct rule is lacking in other Latin cities, the general promotion of city life by the Etruscans need not be questioned. Latin Praeneste, which may have formed a key point in the Etruscan advance southwards since it commands the route to the Liris valley, was clearly subjected to Etruscan influences. Its two famous tombs, the Bernardini and Barberini, contain princely gold and bronze objects which resemble those of a similar Etruscan tomb at Caere of c. 650, yet a gold fibula which may have come from one of them bears an inscription written in Latin (‘Manios made me for Numasios’). Until very recently these tombs were often regarded as the resting-places of Etruscan nobles, but since the richness of the tombs of other Latin cities such as Decima has now been revealed, the finds at Praeneste may reflect a wider social-economic background existing throughout Latium rather than providing evidence for the direct intrusion of Etruscan princes. At the same time the genuineness of the Latin inscription on the fibula has been seriously questioned. The names of some Latin cities, as Tusculum, Velitrae, and Tarracina, seem to link them with the Etruscans, but how far Etruscan political domination extended is uncertain. However, the earliest treaty between Rome and Carthage of c. 509 BC (p. 144) suggests that the Etruscan rulers of Rome may have exercised some control over Ardea, Antium, Circeii, Tarracina and perhaps Lavinium.47

  A striking witness to Latium’s wider contacts is provided by the emergence of a new architectural form, the temple. At Rome, Satricum, Velitrae, Lavinium and other towns temples arose, whose gaily coloured terracotta decorations closely resemble those in Etruria and also many in Campania. Latium was becoming part of a common culture, based on Etruscan and Greek ideas. Many of the latter came via the Etruscans, but a recent discovery has emphasized the direct channel with the Greek cities of the south. A series of thirteen massive archaic stone altars was found at Lavinium (Pratica di Mare) about sixteen miles south of Rome. One altar had a bronze tablet inscribed in archaic Latin with a dedication to Castor and Pollux. This strengthens the likelihood that the cult of the Dioscuri reached Latium from the south rather than from Etruria.48 In addition to the altars Lavinium has recently produced another startling find (unpublished at the time of writing). Some fifty terracotta statues and other objects belonging to a sanctuary have been discovered. They appear to have been buried (for safety?) perhaps in the second century BC. The earliest date to the sixth century, but the majority to the fifth and fourth. The chief piece is a slightly larger than life-size statue of Minerva in battle. When this find has been properly assessed it will throw much light on the importance of early Lavinium and on the attraction of Latium to artists from Greek southern Italy. Etruscan influence lies behind the development of larger settlements: by 500 BC the original fifty or so communities had been reduced by a process of absorption to some ten or twelve, of which the largest, such as Praeneste, Tibur and Tusculum, dealt for a considerable time with Rome on equal terms. Thus Etruscan influence on Latium in the seventh and sixth centuries left permanent marks, but it was sporadic and did not undermine the basic nature of the native culture. The future of Latium lay not with Etruria but with one of its own cities, Rome.

  II

  REGAL ROME

  1. THE FOUNDATION OF ROME: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

  About fifteen miles from its mouth the River Tiber winds through a group of hills which rise from the Latin plain. Here was the natural meeting-place of the Etruscans, Latins and Sabellians, and the objective of any ambitious people. Far enough from the sea to protect its inhabitants from the danger of piracy, the settlement which spread over these hills lay on the chief river of central Italy. It commanded both the Tiber valley, which gave access to Etruria and the central highlands, and a ford which lay south of an island in the Tiber; any traffic from north to south or from the eastern hills to the sea would pass through it. It was thus a natural centre and a point of distribution.1 The hills themselves were well wooded, fairly precipitous and defensible; some were isolated, others formed spurs of a surrounding plateau. Though the ground between them was marshy and subject to flooding by the Tiber, the hills afforded some protection against disease, as well as against man and beast. Some, though not all, of the potential natural advantages of the future site of Rome must have been obvious to the earliest settlers.

  The chief hills of ancient Rome, except the Janiculum, all lay on the east bank of the Tiber. From a plateau there projected westwards towards the river (in order, from north to south) the Quirinal, Viminal, three spurs of the Esquiline called Cispius, Fagutal and Oppius, and the Caelius; between the Caelius and the river lay the Aventine. Within this semicircle were two nearly isolated hills, the Capitoline and Palatine, the former between the Quirinal and Tiber island, the latter connected by a ridge in the east, called the Velia, with the Oppius. The Palatine was spacious and had steep cliffs on three sides, which overlooked the moat-like marshes that later were converted into the Forum, Velabrum and Circus Maximus; on the fourth side its isthmus, the Velia, ensured communication with the interior, and this was the hill nearest to the ford below the island. It is here that ancient tradition places the first settlement of the Latins. The isolation of some of the hills was increased by the streams which flowed in gullies between the Quirinal, the Viminal, the Cispius and the Oppius; these joined the main stream that flowed through what was later the Roman Forum to reach the Tiber.

  Whatever geographical, commercial or military advantages of the site contributed to the future growth of Rome, in origin it was probably merely a shepherds’ village or group of villages lying midway between the plain and the hill country. Sporadic finds of flint implements, stone axes and a copper dagger, which were discovered in the 1870s, show that much of the Esquiline was inhabited at the end of the Neolithic period and at the beginning of the Chalcolithic, but the continuity or duration of this early settlement is uncertain. Then quite recently some Bronze Age ‘Apennine’ pottery was found in the Forum Boarium: it came from a soil filling made when a very early temple there had been rebuilt after a fire in 213 BC. This indicates that the settlement from which the earth had originally been taken lay nearby, probably on the Capitoline, Palatine or Aventine; it should be dated around 1500 BC, but continuity of habitation until the Iron Age settlements arrived cannot yet be confidently asserted.2

  Early in the eighth century Iron Age village settlements began to appear on the hilltops of the Palatine, Esquiline, Quirinal and probably the Caelian. These shepherds and farmers lived in wattle-and-daub huts and disposed of their dead on the slopes and valleys between the hilltops. The village on the Palatine was well placed: the hill commanded the Tiber and was easily defensible, but was also comparatively spacious and reasonably accessible from the landward side. It claimed to be the earliest settlement, founded by Romulus himself, whose Hut (casa Romuli) was preserved in historical times. In fact there were two heights on the Palatine, the Germalus and the Palatine itself; a cremation-grave has been found between them under the so-called House of Livia, so probably at first two separate co
mmunities existed, divided by a cemetery. That on the Germalus was probably slightly the older, since here lay the Hut of Romulus, and it is here that the foundations of three huts cut in the tufa rock were discovered in 1948. They are roughly rectangular (some 13½ × 11¾ feet), with drainage channels around. The disposition of the post-holes, together with the appearance of surviving clay hut-urns, enables the wooden superstructure to be reconstructed. A central wooden pillar held a ridge-piece, from which a gabled roof descended to, and extended beyond, the upright sides of the hut. In front of the door was a small porch or extension of the roof. The roof and walls consisted of wattle and daub (branches and thatch laid on a coating of dry clay). Clusters of such huts thus formed the earliest villages of Rome. The settlers on the Esquiline hill, however, buried their dead a fossa, while on the Quirinal the earliest tombs are a pozzo cremations – which are followed by a fossa inhumations. A main burial-ground lay at the foot of the Palatine on the site of the later Forum: here again both cremation and inhumation burials have been found, but with cremation dominant in the earliest tombs. These cremations are almost certainly the burials of the Palatine village (the alternative of a Velian village is less likely), and the inhumations those of the occupants of other hills; they extend from the eighth to the early sixth century. No traces of early settlement have yet come to light on the Capitol, despite its dominant position, a steep and narrow bluff; it may have served as an oppidum or temporary refuge rather than attracting a permanent settlement. Although their pottery showed some individual characteristics, the inhabitants of these villages shared a common Latial culture, those on the Palatine being closer to the Villanovans of the Alban Hills, while finds on the Esquiline have their parallels at Tibur and in southern Latium. The Esquiline graves from about 700 BC, however, contain many weapons; this points to the intrusion either of a wave of Fossa culture people or of the Sabines whom later Romans believed to have formed a substantial element in the early population, (p. 46). Thus the earliest settlers may have been joined by others from the area of the central Apennines; the Anio valley afforded easy access to the basin of the Tiber.