Lars Tolumnius ( Etruscan: Larth Tulumnes, d. 437 BC) was the most famous king of the wealthy Etruscan

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

Veii Veii (also Veius; ) was an important ancient Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the comune of Rome. Many other sites associated with and in the city-st ...

. He is best remembered for instigating, and decisively losing, a war with the neighboring

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 ...

Background

Very little is known of Tolumnius outside of his involvement in Roman legend. His family was evidently part of the Veientine aristocracy, and its nomen is found on a number of inscriptions from votive offerings. Tolumius enters history when the Roman colony of

Fidenae Fidenae () was an ancient town of Latium, situated about 8 km north of Rome on the '' Via Salaria''. Its inhabitants were known as Fidenates. As the Tiber was the border between Etruria and Latium, the left-bank settlement of Fidenae represent ...

revolted against the Republic in 438 BC, and allied itself with Veii, giving Tolumnius control of the Fidenate army. The Romans sent four envoys ( Tullus Cloelius, Gaius Fulcinius,

Spurius Antius Spurius Antius was one of four Roman envoys sent to Fidenae after it revolted against Roman rule and allied itself with the Etruscan city state of Veii. He, and the other Roman emissaries, were murdered on the orders of the King of Veii, Lars To ...

, and Lucius Roscius) to Fidenae to demand an explanation, but they were murdered by the Fidenates, apparently on the king's orders.Livy, iv. 17. A popular story held that Tolumnius had not intended this breach of decorum: supposedly he was playing at dice when the Fidenates asked whether they should kill the ambassadors, and having just rolled fortuitously, the king exclaimed, "excellent!", which the Fidenates interpreted as an order to put the Romans to death.

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 ...

is skeptical of this tradition, disbelieving that Tolumnius would have allowed himself to become so easily distracted on an occasion of such importance. Rather, he suggests, Tolumnius intended the execution of the emissaries to involve the Fidenates in a deed that would make it impossible for them to repair the breach with Rome.

War with Rome

Outraged by Tolumnius' actions, the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

declared war against Veii, and the following year dispatched a consular army under the command of Lucius Sergius, which met Tolumnius and the Fidenates south of the Anio. Sergius won the day despite brutal fighting, and earned the surname ''Fidenas'', but the Roman losses were so high that a state of emergency was declared, and the Senate appointed Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

to meet the threat posed by Tolumnius' forces.Livy, iv. 18. Marshaling his troops, the dictator fortified a position at the confluence of the Anio and the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

, and waited for Tolumnius to offer battle. Tolumnius, whose army was reinforced by a contingent from Falerii, was content to let the Romans make the first move, but the men of Falerii were eager for battle, so the king agreed to take the field on the following day. He sent a contingent of Veientes through the hills to attack the Romans from the rear, and the Battle of Fidenae commenced. The fighting was fierce, and made especially noteworthy by the actions of the Roman and Etruscan cavalry. The Roman cavalry broke through the Etruscan lines, and began pursuing the soldiers as they fled, while Tolumnius at the head of the Etruscan horse valiantly opposed them in the defense of his soldiers. The outcome of the battle was in doubt until Aulus Cornelius Cossus, one of the

military tribune A military tribune () was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion. Young men of Equestrian rank often served as military tribunes as a stepping stone to the Senate. The should not be confused with the ...

s serving in the cavalry, charged at the king and unhorsed him. Before Tolumnius could rise, Cossus dismounted and forced the king to the ground with his shield, and stabbed him repeatedly with his spear. With the king's death, the Etruscan cavalry abandoned the field, and the battle was decided.Bakkum, pp. 38 ''ff''. In recognition of his victory, the dictator Mamercus was granted a triumph, although the most famous hero of the battle was Cossus, who claimed the spolia opima, stripping the arms and armor from the fallen king, and dedicating them at the temple of Jupiter Feretrius.Livy, iv. 20. Meanwhile, four statues were erected on the

rostra The Rostra () was a large platform built in the city of Rome that stood during the republican and imperial periods. Speakers would stand on the rostra and face the north side of the Comitium towards the senate house and deliver orations to t ...

in the forum, in memory of the murdered ambassadors.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Titus Livius (

), ''

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 ...

''. * ''

Oxford Classical Dictionary The ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'' (''OCD'') is generally considered "the best one-volume dictionary on antiquity," an encyclopædic work in English consisting of articles relating to classical antiquity and its civilizations. It was first pub ...

'', 2nd ed. (1970). * C. J. Smith, ''The Roman Clan: The Gens from Ancient Ideology to Modern Anthropology'', Cambridge University Press,
pp. 161 ''ff''
accessed 9 March 2006. * Bernard Mineo, ''A Companion to Livy'', Wiley,
pp. 322 ''ff''
accessed 15 Sept. 2014. * Gabriël C. L. M. Bakkum, ''The Latin Dialect of the Ager Faliscus: 150 Years of Scholarship'', Amsterdam University Press (2009),
pp. 38 ''ff''

External links