Latins (Italic tribe)

Map of Old Latium and surrounding regions that were eventually annexed by Rome to form New Latium

"Latini" redirects here. For other uses of the ethnonym, see Latins. For people with the last name Latini, see Latini (disambiguation).

The Latins (or Latini) were a people of ancient Italy who included the inhabitants of the early City of Rome. From ca. 1000 BC, the Latins inhabited the small part of the peninsula known to the Romans as Old Latium (Latium Vetus), that is, the region between the river Tiber and the promontory of Monte Circeo (ca. 60 mi or 100 km SE of Rome).

Name etymology

Linguistic map of Italy around 550 BC. Note the small region inhabited by the Latins

Latini probably simply means "people of Latium". It has been suggested that the name of their homeland, Latium, derives from the Latin word latus ("broad"), referring to the extensive plains of the region (in contrast to the mainly mountainous Italian peninsula).

Linguistic affiliation

The tribe spoke the Latin language, a member of the western branch of the Italic languages, in turn a branch of the Indo-European (IE) family of languages. Other members of the West Italic group are believed to have been Faliscan (now regarded as simply a Latin dialect), Venetic (in NE Italy) and Sicel, a language spoken in central 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. Iron Age Italy also hosted non-IE languages, Etruscan and its apparent derivative, Raetian, as well as Ligurian. It is uncertain whether these languages were pre-IE survivals, or post-IE intrusions. Greek and Gallic were certainly later intrusions, introduced by migrations in the periods 800-600 BC and 600-400 BC respectively.

The oldest extant inscription in the Latin language is on the Lapis Niger ("Black Stone") discovered in 1899 in the Roman forum, dating from ca. 600 BC, in the mid-point of the Roman kingdom, according to the traditional Roman chronology. In a very archaic form of the language, the importance of this find is that it proves that the Romans remained Latin-speakers in the period that some historians have suggested that Rome had become "Etruscanised". (It also proves the existence of the kings of Rome in this era, which some historians regarded as mythical. The inscription contains the word recei, the word for "king" in the dative case in archaic Latin).

Origins

The mainstream scenario for the migration of the Indo-European peoples in the period 4000-1000 BC. Known as the Kurgan hypothesis, the scenario envisages the IE peoples migrating outwards from an original homeland in the steppe of southern Russia, North of the Caucasus mountains (purple zone). The red zone indicates the possible extent of IE expansion by ca. 2500 BC, the orange zone by ca. 1000 BC. Note the movement of the Italic branch from the secondary zone (bottom left arrow)

Panorama of the Alban Hills, one of the earliest areas of Latium to be occupied by the Latin tribe, some 20km (13mi) SE of Rome. The region remained the site of important Latin rituals throughout the Roman era

The Latins belonged to a group of Indo-European tribes, conventionally known as the Italic tribes, that populated central and southern Italy during the Italian Iron Age (from ca. 900 BC onwards). The most common hypothesis is that the Italic peoples migrated into the Italian peninsula some time during the Italian Bronze Age (ca. 1800-900 BC). The most likely route for the Italic migration was from the Balkan peninsula along the Adriatic coast. However according to Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza given that the time depths of such patterns are not known, “associating them with particular demographic events is usually speculative”.

The archaeological evidence shows a remarkable uniformity of culture in the peninsula during the period 1800-1200 BC - the so-called "Apennine culture". Pottery with much the same incised geometric designs is found throughout Italy, and the design of weapons and tools was also homogenous. During this period, it appears that Italy was a heavily wooded land with a sparse population, concentrated in the mountainous centre of the peninsula. Most people were pastoralists practicing transhumance and inhabiting, at most, small villages. Inhumation was the universal method of burial. In the latter period of the Bronze Age (1200-900 BC), this pattern was disrupted by the appearance of cremation burials and the appearance of distinct regional variations in culture. Some historians have ascribed these changes to the arrival of the Italic peoples. But the distribution of the novel cremation culture (the "Villanovan culture") avoids the central region dominated by the Italic tribes. As Cornell points out: "Nothing in the archaeological record of the Italian Bronze and Iron ages proves, or even suggests, that any major invasions took place between ca. 1800 and ca. 800 BC". At the same time, however, archaeology does not prove that invasions did not take place. It is now firmly established that burial customs are not ethnically-based.

The geographical distribution of the ancient languages of the peninsula can plausibly be explained by the immigration of successive waves of peoples with different languages. On this model, it appears likely that the "West Italic" group (including the Latins), migrated into the peninsula in a first wave, followed later, and largely displaced, by the eastern (Osco-Umbrian) group. This is deduced from the marginal locations of the surviving West Italic niches. However, the timing remains elusive, as does the sequence of the Italic IE languages with the non-IE languages of the peninsula, notably Etruscan. The majority view of scholars is that Etruscan represents a pre-IE survival. However, it could equally be an intrusion introduced by later migrants. In any case, language change can be explained by scenarios other than mass migration.

There is no archaeological evidence at present that Old Latium hosted permanent settlements during the Bronze Age. Very small amounts of Apennine-culture pottery sherds have been found in Latium, most likely belonging to transient pastoralists engaged in transhumance. It thus appears that the Latins occupied Latium Vetus from ca. 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 would have been marshy and malarial). For example, the Alban Hills, a plateau containing a number of extinct volcanoes and two substantial lakes - lacus Nemorensis (Lake Nemi) and lacus Tusculensis (Lake Albano). These hills provided a defensible, well-watered base. Also the hills of 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 the other Italic tribes in the period ca. 1000-700 BC. This may be deduced by the emergence in this period of so-called Latial culture, or Latium variant of the Villanovan culture of central Italy and the Po valley. The most distinctive feature of this Latium culture were funerary urns in the shape of miniature tuguria ("huts"). These hut-urns appear in only some burials during Phase I of the Latium culture (ca. 1000-900 BC), but become standard in Phase II cremation burials (ca. 900-770 BC). They represent the typical single-roomed hovels of contemporary peasants. These were made from simple, readily available materials: wattle-and-daub walls and straw roofs supported by wooden posts. The huts remained the main form of Latin housing until ca. 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).

Mythical origins

The Trojan hero Aeneas' legendary landing on the shores of Latium (note prow of his beached ship, right). Aeneas is holding his son, Ascanius, by the hand. A sow (left) shows him where to found his city (Lavinium). According to Virgil's Aeneid, Aeneas founded a Latin dynasty that eventually spawned Romulus, the founder of Rome. Roman marble bas-relief, ca. AD 140-50. British Museum, London

View of Albanus mons (Monte Cavo, 949m), the sacred mount of the Latins in the Alban Hills. The annual religious rites of the Latin Festival were held on its summit. In foreground, the Alban lake, filling the caldera of an extinct volcano

According to Roman legend, the Latin tribe's first king was called Latinus, who gave his name to the tribe and founded the first capital of the Latins, Laurentum, whose exact location remains uncertain. The Trojan hero Aeneas and his men fled by sea after the capture and sack of their city, Troy, by the Greeks, supposedly in 1184 BC. After many adventures, Aeneas landed on the Latium coast near the mouth of the Tiber. Initially, king Latinus attempted to drive out Aeneas and his Trojan army, but was defeated in battle. Later, he accepted Aeneas as an ally and eventually allowed him to marry his daughter, Lavinia. Aeneas founded the city of Lavinium (Pratica di Mare, Pomezia), on the coast not far from Laurentum, which he named after his wife and which became the Latin capital after Latinus' death. The couple's son, Ascanius, founded a new city, Alba Longa in the Alban Hills, which in turn replaced Lavinium as capital city. It remained so for some 250 years under his successors, the Alban kings, until his descendant, Romulus founded Rome in 753 BC. Under their king Tullus Hostilius (ruled 673-642 BC), the Romans razed Alba Longa to the ground and resettled its inhabitants on the mons Caelius (Caelian Hill) in Rome.

Cornell regards Alba Longa as probably mythical. Early Latial remains have been discovered on the shore of the Alban lake, but they belong to a series of small villages, not an urbanised city-state. In any case, traces of the earliest phase of Latial culture also occur at Rome at the same time (1000 BC), so archaeology cannot be used to support the tradition that Rome was founded by people from Alba Longa.

The Latin city-states maintained close culturo-religious relations throughout their history. Their most important common event was the 4-day feriae Latinae ("Latin Festival"), held in winter each year on the sacred mons Albanus (Monte Cavo, Alban Hills, SE of Rome), an extinct volcano. Led by the Roman consuls, the Latins would make sacrifices to Jupiter Latiaris. The central ritual was the sharing of sacrificed meat by the representatives of the Latin communities.

Conflict with Rome

From an early stage, the external relations of the Latin city-states were dominated by their largest and most powerful member, Rome. The Roman historical tradition state that the last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus established himself as leader of a league of Latin states. However he was overthrown and Rome became a republic (traditionally dated to 509 BC). About the same time an Etruscan king, Lars Porsena of Clusium, laid siege to Rome and sent an army under his son Aruns into Latium. This army was defeated by the combined forces of the Latins and the Greek city of Cumae in a battle near Aricia. The Latins were in turn defeated by the Romans at the famous Battle of Lake Regillus a few years later.

In the early 5th century the Latins came under pressure of the invading tribes of the Aequi and the Volsci, and several outlying communities appear to have been overrun. Faced with this common threat the Romans, the other Latin cities and the neighbouring tribe of the Hernici concluded a military alliance to defend against the invaders, according to Roman historians after negotiations by the Roman consul Spurius Cassius.

During the second half of the 5th century Aequean and Volscian incursions into Latin territory appear to have become less frequent, probably due to a combination of military defeats and a more settled lifestyle. At the same time Rome grew more powerful and aggressive, especially after her conquest and annexation of the Etruscan city of Veii (traditionally dated to 396 BC). In a complete reversal of the previous situation, the 4th century therefore often saw Latin and Volscian cities allied in resistance against Roman expansion. Tibur and Praeneste, next after Rome the two most populous Latin states, often provided leadership in this struggle.

The last Latin attempt to stay independent from Rome came with the Latin War which lasted from 340 to 338 and ended with a Roman victory. In the peace settlement that followed Rome annexed some states outright while others retained autonomy. However the common Latin league was dissolved and replaced with separate treaties with Rome.

Less than a century later Roman rule had spread over all of Italy and the Latins came to enjoy a privileged position in the system of alliances established by Rome during her conquests. The Latin states all stayed loyal when Roman hegemony in Italy was challenged by Carthage during the Second Punic War. In 90 BC all Latins became Roman citizens as part of the settlement of the Social War.

See also

• Latium
• Latin League
• Roman kingdom
• Etruscans
• Casa Romuli
• Ancient peoples of Italy

References

Ancient

• Dio Cassius Roman History (ca. AD 250)
• Dionysius of Halicarnassus Roman Antiquities (ca. 10 BC)

Modern

• Cornell, T. J. (1995): The Beginnings of Rome
• Encyclopædia Britannica 15th Ed (1995): Micropædia: "Latium"

External links

• Images of Villanovan hut-urn