A prominent element in the Roman policy of expansion was the founding of colonies in the territories of defeated peoples. The Second Samnite war (327-304 BCE) had seen the founding of the Latin colonies of Suessa, Aurunca, Pontiae and Interamna, which were followed in 303 BCE by Alba Fucens in…
Between 358 BCE and 351 BCE Rome had already fought a war against the Etruscan city of Tarquinii (Tarchna). In spite of serious setbacks that war had ended in a Roman victory, after which a forty-year armistice had been concluded. That armistice expired in 311 BCE, and it looks like…
In 354 BCE the Romans had concluded an alliance with the Samnites of southern Central Italy. The First Samnite war of 343-341 BCE had ended this alliance, but it had been renewed after the Roman victory in the conflict. The Samnites had subsequently fought on the Roman side during the…
In 343 BCE a war broke out between the Romans and Samnites, an Oscan-speaking people that lived in the hills and mountains of southern Central Italy. Roman behaviour was exceptionally opportunistic, as little more than ten years ago they had made an alliance with the Samnites. Now, however, they decided…
After the defeat of Praeneste and Velitrae peace returned among the Latin allies, at least for the moment. But Rome still had plenty of other problems to deal with. The war with the Volsci was a never-ending story and these old enemies proved to be exceptionally tough. In the years…
After the brief occupation of Rome by Brennus’ Senones in 390 BCE or 387/386 BCE[1] a large part of the city lay in ruins. It is now no longer possible to establish the scale of the destruction, but there is no need to doubt that the damage was significant. The…
The Etruscan city of Veii (Veia) was Rome’s arch-rival for many decades. The city was situated on the other side of the Tiber on a highly defensible plateau and may have had between 20,000 and 30,000 inhabitants. In the fifth century BCE Rome and Veii had fought several wars over…
The Greek historian Polybius (ca. 203-120 BCE), who lived in Rome for a long time, has left us a description of the mixed constitution of the Roman Republic. He saw the consuls as the monarchic element of the constitution, the Senate as the aristocratic element and the people and their…
In the late sixth century BCE the Romans traded in their monarchy for a republican system of government. In the century that followed, the Roman Republic was dominated by the class of the patricians, the ancient Roman nobility of which the members had held the most important civil and religious…
There were several peoples that made life difficult for the Romans during the fifth century BCE, but there can be no doubt that the Volsci and Aequi were their most lethal enemies. Both peoples originally lived in the highlands of the Apennines, but in the sixth century BCE they migrated…
During the late Age of Kings, Rome had become the dominant power in Latium. Shortly after the expulsion of her last king, in 509 BCE, Rome was even able to conclude a treaty with the city of Carthage in Northern Africa. But at the end of the sixth and beginning…
The conflict of the Orders of the Early Republic was not, as is often claimed, a struggle between the patricians and plebeians. It was actually a struggle between, on the one hand, the patricians and the elite among the plebeians, and on the other between the two elites together –…
Towards the end of the sixth century BCE the Romans abolished their monarchy. The precise circumstances leading to this decision will probably remain shrouded in mystery forever, but it seems highly unlikely that anger about a crime committed by the son of the last king was the main reason to…