The Aborigines in

Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to th ...

are the oldest inhabitants of central

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, connected in legendary history with Aeneas, Latinus and Evander. They were supposed to have descended from their mountain home near Reate (an ancient Sabine town) upon

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 ...

, where they expelled the Sicels and subsequently settled down as Latini under a King Latinus.Dr. Leonhard Schmitz ''A History of Rome, From the Earliest Times to the Death of Commodus, A.D. 192.'' p.8-9 Dionysius of Halicarnassus. ''Roman Antiquities'', I.9.

Etymology

The most generally accepted etymology of the

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 ...

word aborigines is that it derives from ', according to which they were the original inhabitants of the country, although Cato the Elder regarded them as Hellenic immigrants, not as a native Italian people. For this reason, scholars have argued that the word actually has a pre-Latin origin, which has been lost, and ' is an example of etymological reinterpretation. Other etymological explanations suggested are ', meaning "

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

-born," and ', meaning " nomads". Lycophron calls a people of central Italy ', meaning " Boreal people".

Background

The Aborigines were possibly descendants of the Pelasgians, the original inhabitants of Greece and surrounding regions, or, more precisely, descendants of the Oenotrians, a tribe descended from Pelasgus by Oenotrus, son of Lycaon, primeval king of Arcadia. Their earliest known home was Reate, an ancient Sabine town to the north-east of

near Carseoli. These Aborigines were driven from their mountain home by the Sabines and settled on the river Anio. The Sicels, who inhabited Latium at the time, gave way to the Aborigines, and a portion of them emigrated to Sicily, providing the origin for the island's name. The emigration of the Sicels to Sicily is said to have taken place in either 1264 BC or 1035 BC (

Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...

). The remaining Siculians joined with the Aborigines eventually becoming the people known as ''Prisci Latini'' (meaning ''old Latins''), that is ''Prisci et Latini'', or simply '' Latini''. The Aborigines did not become ''Latini'' until the reign of their king, Latinus, from whom the Romans attributed their name. This was after the arrival of the Trojans with Aeneas in the aftermath of the Trojan War.

Cities

The following list is based on Dionysius of Halicarnassus.William Smit
''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' (1854)
/ref> * Palatium: 25 '' stades'' from Reate. * Tribula: 60 stades from Reate. * Suesbula: 60 stades from Tribula, near the Ceraunian Mountains. * Suna: 40 stades from Suesbula, with an ancient temple of

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 ...

. * Mefula: about 30 stades from Suna (ruins with walls in Roman times). * Orvinium: 40 stades from Mefula. Apparently was once a large and famous city in its area with an ancient temple of Minerva. * Corsula: about 80 stades from Reate, following the Curian Way, a road thought to go through Reate. * Issa: an island surrounded by a lake, where the Aborigines relied on the marshy waters of the lake for defence. * Maruvium: Situated near Issa, on an arm of the same lake and distant forty ''stades'' from something called the ''Septem Aquae''. * Batia: 30 stades from Reate. * Tiora (or Matiene): at a distance of 300 stades from Reate. * Lista: 24 stades from Tiora, claimed to be the mother-city of the Aborigines, which the Sabines had captured by a surprise attack. * Cutilia: 70 stades from Reate. All of these cities are claimed to have been taken from the Umbrians. In

itself the Aborigines had the cities Antemnae, Caenina, Ficulnea, Tellenae, and Tibur some of which Dionysius attests were taken from the Siculians.Dionysius of Halicarnassus ''Roman Antiquities'' I.44, II.35

Etymology

Background

Cities

See also

Notes

References

Further reading