The Battle of Silva Arsia was a battle in 509 BC between the republican forces of

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...

and Etruscan forces of

Tarquinii Tarquinia (), formerly Corneto, is an old city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Central Italy, known chiefly for its ancient Etruscan tombs in the widespread necropoleis, or cemeteries, for which it was awarded UNESCO World Heritage statu ...

and

Veii Veii (also Veius; it, Veio) was an important ancient Etruscan civilization, Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the Comuni of the Province of Rome, comune ...

led by the deposed Roman king

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (died 495 BC) was the legendary seventh and final king of Rome, reigning 25 years until the popular uprising that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic.Livy, '' ab urbe condita libri'', I He is commonly known ...

. The battle took place near the

Silva Arsia The Silva Arsia was a forest or wooded area near Rome situated where the Roman and Veientine territories abutted. Legend has it that in 509 BCE Romans heard the prophetic voice of Silvanus foretelling their victory over the Etruscans (Livy), 2.7. ...

(the Arsian forest) in Roman territory, and resulted in victory to Rome but the death of one of her consuls,

Lucius Junius Brutus Lucius Junius Brutus ( 6th century BC) was the semi-legendary founder of the Roman Republic, and traditionally one of its first consuls in 509 BC. He was reputedly responsible for the expulsion of his uncle the Roman king Tarquinius Superbus after ...

. The battle was one of a number of attempts by Tarquin to regain the throne, and can also be seen as part of the ongoing conflict between the Etruscan cities and the expanding Roman state. The battle forms part of Rome's early history, which is to a large degree legendary.

Background

In 509 BC, the Roman monarchy was overthrown and the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

was established with the election of the first

consuls A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

. The deposed king,

, whose family originated from

Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscans. Thei ...

, garnered the support of the Etruscan cities of Veii and Tarquinii, recalling to the former their regular losses of war and of land to the Roman state, and to the latter his family ties.

Battle

The armies of the two cities followed Tarquin to battle, and the Roman consuls led the Roman army to meet them, with Publius Valerius commanding the Roman infantry and

the

equites The ''equites'' (; literally "horse-" or "cavalrymen", though sometimes referred to as "knights" in English) constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian ...

. Similarly, the king commanded the Etruscan infantry, and his son Aruns had command of the cavalry. The cavalry first joined battle and Aruns, having spied from afar the

lictor A lictor (possibly from la, ligare, "to bind") was a Roman civil servant who was an attendant and bodyguard to a magistrate who held ''imperium''. Lictors are documented since the Roman Kingdom, and may have originated with the Etruscans. Origi ...

s, and thereby recognising the presence of a consul, soon saw that Brutus was in command of the cavalry. The two men, who were cousins, charged each other, and speared each other to death. The infantry also soon joined the battle, the result being in doubt for some time. The right wing of each army was victorious, the army of Tarquinii forcing back the Romans, and the Veientes being routed. However the Etruscan forces eventually fled the field, the Romans claiming the victory. According to Plutarch the battle was said to have been fought on the last day of February.

Aftermath

On the night after the battle,

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

reports that a voice believed to be the spirit of Silvanus was heard to come from the nearby forest, saying "more of the Etrurians by one had fallen in the battle; that the Roman was victorious in the war".

, ''

Ab urbe condita ''Ab urbe condita'' ( 'from the founding of the City'), or ''anno urbis conditae'' (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an ex ...

'', 2.7 The consul Valerius collected the spoils of the routed Etruscans. He returned to Rome to celebrate a triumph which, according to the

Fasti Triumphales The ''Acta Triumphorum'' or ''Triumphalia'', better known as the ''Fasti Triumphales'', or Triumphal Fasti, is a calendar of Roman magistrates honoured with a celebratory procession known as a ''triumphus'', or triumph, in recognition of an imp ...

, took place on 1 March 509 BC. The funeral of Brutus was carried out by Valerius with great magnificence.

writes that later in 509 BC Valerius returned to fight the Veientes. It is unclear whether this was continuing from the Battle of Silva Arsia, or was some fresh dispute. It is also unclear what happened in this dispute.

2.8

References

{{coord missing, Italy 509 BC

6th-century BC conflicts 6th century BC in the Roman Republic