The Sabines (, , , ; ) were an Italic people who lived in the central

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

(see Sabina) of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whic ...

north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divided into two populations just after the founding of Rome, which is described by Roman legend. The division, however it came about, is not legendary. The population closer to Rome transplanted itself to the new city and united with the preexisting citizenry, beginning a new heritage that descended from the Sabines but was also Latinized. The second population remained a mountain tribal state, coming finally to war against Rome for its independence along with all the other Italic tribes. Afterwards, it became assimilated into the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

Etymology

The Sabines derived directly from the ancient Umbrians and belonged to the same ethnic group as the Samnites and the Sabelli, as attested by the common ethnonyms of ''Safineis'' (in ancient Greek ) and by the toponyms ''safinim'' and ''safina'' (at the origin of the terms '' Samnium'' and ''Sabinum''). The

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

' or evolved into the word , which later became ''Safin''. From ''Safinim'', ''Sabinus'', ''Sabellus'' and ''Samnis'', an

root can be extracted, , which becomes in Latino-Faliscan and in Osco-Umbrian: and . At some point in prehistory, a population speaking a common language extended over both Samnium and

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

. Salmon conjectures that it was common Italic and puts forward a date of 600 BC, after which the common language began to separate into dialects. This date does not necessarily correspond to any historical or archaeological evidence; developing a synthetic view of the ethnology of proto-historic Italy is an incomplete and ongoing task. Linguist Julius Pokorny carries the etymology somewhat further back. Conjecturing that the -a- was altered from an -o- during some prehistoric residence in Illyria, he derives the names from an o-grade extension *''swo-bho-'' of an extended e-grade *''swe-bho-'' of the possessive adjective, *''s(e)we-'', of the reflexive pronoun, *''se-'', "oneself" (the source of English ''self''). The result is a set of Indo-European tribal names (if not the endonym of the Indo-Europeans): Germanic

Suebi file:1st century Germani.png, 300px, The approximate positions of some Germanic peoples reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 1st century. Suebian peoples in red, and other Irminones in purple. The Suebi (also spelled Suavi, Suevi or Suebians ...

and Semnones, Suiones; Celtic

Senones The Senones or Senonii (Gaulish: "the ancient ones") were an ancient Gallic tribe dwelling in the Seine basin, around present-day Sens, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Part of the Senones settled in the Italian peninsula, where the ...

; Slavic

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

and

Sorbs Sorbs (; ; ; ; ; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Germany, states of Saxony and Brandenburg. Sorbs tradi ...

; Italic Sabelli, Sabini, etc., as well as a large number of kinship terms.

Language

There is little record of the Sabine language; however, there are some glosses by ancient commentators, and one or two inscriptions have been tentatively identified as Sabine. There are also personal names in use on Latin inscriptions from the Sabine country, but these are given in Latin form. Robert Seymour Conway, in his ''Italic Dialects'', gives approximately 100 words which vary from being well-attested as Sabine to being possibly of Sabine origin. In addition to these he cites place names derived from the Sabine, sometimes giving attempts at reconstructions of the Sabine form. Based on all the evidence, the Linguist List tentatively classifies Sabine as a member of the Umbrian group of

Italic languages The Italic languages form a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, whose earliest known members were spoken on the Italian Peninsula in the first millennium BC. The most important of the ancient Italic languages ...

of the Indo-European family, while

Glottolog ''Glottolog'' is an open-access online bibliographic database of the world's languages. In addition to listing linguistic materials ( grammars, articles, dictionaries) describing individual languages, the database also contains the most up-to-d ...

classifies it as an Old Sabellic dialect alongside South Picene and Pre-Samnite.

Historical geography

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

-speakers called the Sabines' original territory ''Sabinum'', and the ancient tribe's name in the Italian form of '' Sabina''. It straddling the modern regions of

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, and

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

. Within the modern region of Lazio (or

), Sabina constitutes a sub-region, situated north-east of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, around Rieti.

History

Origin and early history

The Sabines settled in Sabinum, around the tenth century BC, founding the cities of Reate, Trebula Mutuesca and Cures Sabini. Dionysius of Halicarnassus mentions the Sabines in relation to the Aborigines, from whom they allegedly stole their capital Lista, with a surprise war action starting from Amiternum. Ancient historians debated the specific origins of the Sabines. According to

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

the Sabines, after a long war with the Umbrians, migrated to the land of the Opici, following the ancient Italic rite of the Ver Sacrum. The Sabines then drove out the Opici and encamped in that region. Zenodotus of Troezen claimed that the Sabines were originally Umbrians that changed their name after being driven from the Reatine territory by the Pelasgians. Porcius Cato argued that the Sabines were a populace named after Sabus, the son of Sancus (a divinity of the area sometimes called Jupiter Fidius). In another account mentioned in Dionysius's work, a group of Lacedaemonians fled

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

since they regarded the laws of Lycurgus as too severe. In Italy, they founded the Spartan colony of ''Foronia'' (near the Pomentine plains) and some from that colony settled among the Sabines. According to the account, the Sabine habits of belligerence and frugality were known to have derived from the Spartans. Plutarch also mentions, in the Life of Numa Pompilius, "Sabines, who declare themselves to be a colony of the Lacedaemonians". Plutarch also wrote that the Pythagoras of Sparta, who was Olympic victor in the foot-race, helped Numa arrange the government of the city and many Spartan customs introduced by him to the Numa and the people.

At Rome

Legend of the Sabine women

Legend says that the Romans abducted Sabine women to populate the newly built Rome. The resultant war ended only by the women throwing themselves and their children between the armies of their fathers and their husbands. The Rape of the Sabine Women became a common motif in art; the women ending the war is a less frequent but still reappearing motif. According to

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 i ...

, after the conflict, the Sabine and Roman states merged, and the Sabine king Titus Tatius jointly ruled Rome with Romulus until Tatius' death five years later. Three new centuries of

Equites The (; , though sometimes referred to as " knights" in English) constituted the second of the property/social-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an (). Descript ...

were introduced at Rome, including one named Tatienses, after the Sabine king. A variation of the story is recounted in the pseudepigraphal ''Sefer haYashar'' (see Jasher 17:1–15).

Traditions

Tradition suggests that the population of the early Roman kingdom was the result of a union of Sabines and others. Some of the gentes of the

Roman republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

were proud of their Sabine heritage, such as the Claudia gens, assuming Sabinus as a

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...

or agnomen. Some specifically Sabine deities and cults were known at Rome: Semo Sancus and

Quirinus In Roman mythology and Roman religion, religion, Quirinus ( , ) is an early god of the Ancient Rome, Roman state. In Augustus, Augustan Rome, ''Quirinus'' was also an epithet of Janus, Mars (mythology), Mars, and Jupiter (god), Jupiter. Name ...

, and at least one area of the town, the Quirinale, where the temples to those latter deities were located, had once been a Sabine centre. The extravagant claims of

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

and

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

that

augury Augury was a Greco- Roman religious practice of observing the behavior of birds, to receive omens. When the individual, known as the augur, read these signs, it was referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" () means "looking at birds". ...

divination Divination () is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a should proceed by reading signs, ...

by dreams and the worship of

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

and

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

originated with the Sabines are disputable, as they were general Italic and Latin customs, as well as Etruscan, even though they were espoused by

Numa Pompilius Numa Pompilius (; 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC) was the Roman mythology, legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political ins ...

, second king of Rome and a Sabine.

Religion

Sabine gods

* Angitia * Diana * Feronia * Fortuna * Fons * Fides *

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

* Herentas *the Lares * Larunda * Lucina * Luna * Mamers * Mefitis *

*the Novensides * Ops * Pales *

* Sabus * Salus * Sancus *

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

* Sol * Soranus * Strenia * Summanus * Terminus * Vacuna * Vediovis * Vortumnus * * Vulcan Many of these deities were shared with the

Etruscan religion Etruscan religion comprises a set of stories, beliefs, and religious practices of the Etruscan civilization, heavily influenced by the mythology of ancient Greece, and sharing similarities with concurrent Roman mythology and Religion in ancie ...

, and were also adopted into the derivative Samnite and

ancient Roman religion Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the Roman people, people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as high ...

. Roman author

, who was himself of Sabine origin, gives a list of Sabine gods who were adopted by the Romans.Varro
''De Lingua Latina'' 5.74
/ref> Elsewhere, Varro claims Sol Indiges – who had a sacred grove at Lavinium – as Sabine but at the same time equates him with

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

. Of those listed, he writes, "several names have their roots in both languages, as trees that grow on a property line creep into both fields. Saturn, for instance, can be said to have another origin here, and so too Diana." Varro makes various claims for Sabine origins throughout his works, some more plausible than others, and his list should not be taken at face value. But the importance of the Sabines in the early cultural formation of Rome is evidenced, for instance, by the bride abduction of the Sabine women by Romulus's men, and in the Sabine ethnicity of

, second king of Rome, to whom are attributed many of Rome's religious and legal institutions. Varro, however, says that the altars to most of these gods were established at Rome by King Tatius as the result of a vow ('' votum'').

State

During the expansion of

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, there were a series of conflicts with the Sabines. Manius Curius Dentatus conquered the Sabines in 290 BC. The citizenship without the right of suffrage was given to the Sabines in the same year. The right of suffrage was granted to the Sabines in 268 BC. Velleius Paterculus 1.14.7

Prominent Sabines

Gentes of Sabine origin

Aemilia gens The gens Aemilia, originally written Aimilia, was one of the greatest patrician families at ancient Rome. The gens was of great antiquity, and claimed descent from Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome. Its members held the highest offices ...

– Patrician * Aurelia gens *

Calpurnia gens The gens Calpurnia was a plebs, plebeian family at ancient Rome, which first appears in history during the third century BC. The first of the gens to obtain the Roman consul, consulship was Gaius Calpurnius Piso (consul 180 BC), Gaius Calpurnius ...

* Calvisia gens * Claudia gens – Patrician * Curtia gens – Patrician * Flavia gens * Ligaria (gens) * Marcia gens – Patrician * Minatia (gens) * Oppia gens – Patrician * Opsia gens * Ostoria gens * Pantuleia (gens) * Petronia gens * Pinaria gens * Pompilia gens * Pomponia gens * Poppaea gens * Quirinia gens * Rania gens * Rubellia gens * Sabinia gens * Safinia gens * Sallustia gens * Saturia gens * Sertoria gens * Sicinia gens * Tarpeia gens – Patrician * Tineia gens * Titia gens * Valeria gens – Patrician

Romans of Sabine ancestry

* Titus Tatius, legendary King of the Sabines *

, legendary King of Rome * Ancus Marcius, legendary King of Rome * Quintus Sertorius, republican general * Sextus Vettulenus Cerialis, Roman senator, military commander, and first legate of Judea * Attius Clausus, founder of the Roman Claudia gens * Gaius Sallustius Crispus, Roman writer *

Marcus Terentius Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

, Roman scholar *

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

, Roman emperor and founder of the

Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty, lasting from 69 to 96 CE, was the second dynastic line of emperors to rule the Roman Empire following the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Julio-Claudians, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian. Th ...

Gallery

File:Sabini adriatici, corredo dalla tomba femminile 119 di campovalano (campli), VII-VI secolo ac ca.jpg, Grave goods 7th-6th century BC File:Sabini adriatici, ornamenti dalla tomba femminile 10 di case pecci (tortoreto), 810-700 ac ca., pettorale in bronzo e ambra.jpg, Bronze and amber jewellery, c. 800-700 BC File:Sabini adriatici, ornamenti dalla tomba femminile 33 di case pecci (tortoreto), 810-700 ac ca., collana a 8 fili.jpg, Jewellery, c. 800-700 BC File:Sabini adriatici, ornamenti dalla tomba femminile 33 di case pecci (tortoreto), 810-700 ac ca., collana con pendenti a occhiali e fibula.jpg, Ornaments, c. 800-700 BC File:Sabini adriatici, ornamenti dalla tomba femminile 33 di case pecci (tortoreto), 810-700 ac ca., fibula a disco con arco foliato.jpg, Ornaments, c. 800-700 BC File:Sabini adriatici, ornamenti dalla tomba femminile 33 di case pecci (tortoreto), 810-700 ac ca., pendagli a spirale in bronzo.jpg, Bronze ornaments, c. 800-700 BC

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

Ancient

* Ovid, '' Fasti'' (Book III, 167–258) * Ovid, '' Ars Amatoria'' (Book I, 102) *

, ''

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

'' (Book I, 9–14) *

, '' De Republica'' (Book II, 12–14) *

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

, ''

Parallel Lives * Culture of ancient Greece Culture of ancient Rome Ancient Greek biographical works Ethics literature History books about ancient Rome Cultural depictions of Gaius Marius Cultural depictions of Mark Antony Cultural depictions of Cicero ...

'' (Romulus, 14–20) *

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ; 55–128), was a Roman poet. He is the author of the '' Satires'', a collection of satirical poems. The details of Juvenal's life are unclear, but references in his works to people f ...

, '' Satires'' (Book III, 81–85) *

Modern

* * *

External links

* {{Authority control Ancient Abruzzo History of Lazio History of Umbria Italic peoples Ancient peoples of Italy