Osci
The Osci (also called Oscans, Opici, Opsci, Obsci, Opicans)
Traditions of the Opici fall into the legendary period of Italian history, roughly from the beginning of the first millennium BC until the foundation of the Roman Republic. No consensus can be reached concerning their location and language. By the end of this period, the Oscan language had evolved and was spoken by a number of sovereign tribal states. By far the most important of these in terms of military prowess and wealth was the Samnites, who rivalled Rome for about 50 years in the second half of the 4th century BC, sometimes being allies, and sometimes at war with the city, until they were finally subdued with considerable difficulty and were incorporated into the Roman state.
The Osci kept their independence by playing one state against another, especially the Romans and Samnites. Their sovereignty was finally lost during the
Classical sources
According to
Oscans of the early republic
A people called the Aurunci by
The Aurunci appear one more time in the early republic in a failed attempt to support the
Conflict and subjugation
In the last half of the 4th century BC, the remaining Oscan populations (who were not Samnites) lived in three sovereign states: the Sidicini, the Aurunci and the Ausones.[8] The Sidicini's capital city was Teanum, which minted its own coins bearing inscriptions in the Oscan language.[9] The town of Cales was the capital of the Ausones.
Volscian war
The beginning of the end of Oscan sovereignty was their attempted exploitation of an opportunity to maraud against the Romans in the period of instability following a major victory against the Volsci, a tribe occupying the Volsci Mountains overlooking and including the Pontine Marshes. During the final revolt of the Volsci, the Romans had sacked and leveled Satricum about 346 BC and had sold the remaining 4,000 fighting men into slavery.[10] For whatever reasons, the Aurunci chose this moment to send a marauding expedition against the Romans. Panic ensued in the city. The senators saw a wider conspiracy with the Latin League. They appointed Lucius Furius Camillus dictator, halted business, drafted an army on the spot and sent it into the field against the Aurunci, but "the war was finished in the very first battle". The Romans used the army to complete the conquest of the Volsci at Sora.[11]
First Samnite War
The
The Roman Senate declared war, the people ratified the declaration, two consular armies were sent into Samnium and Campania respectively. For two years the Romans knew only victories, until at last the Samnites sued for the restoration of their former alliance with one condition: they would be free to war on the Sidicini if they wished. The Romans had an agreement with Campania, but none with the Sidicini. The Senate bought peace by ratifying the treaty and paying off their army.[13]
Latin War
The Samnites used their army to attack the Sidicini again. In desperation, the latter offered themselves to Rome but were turned down on the grounds that they were too late. The Sidicini allied with a force being raised by the
Encouraged by Roman refusal to assume leadership, the Latins made plans to turn their army against Rome once the Samnite threat had been neutralized. Word of the plans leaked to the Romans, who reacted by inviting ten Latin chiefs to Rome to receive orders under the terms of the treaty. As the price for submitting to Rome, the Latins demanded a new common government, with one consul and half the Senate to be elected from the Latins. When
In a number of legendary battles, the Romans defeated the Latin League, taking away the sovereignty of its tribal states, who subsequently assimilated to Rome. The consul, Lucius Furius Camillus, asked the Senate: "Do you wish to adopt ruthless measures against a people that have surrendered and been defeated? ... Or do you wish to follow the example of your ancestors and make Rome greater by conferring her citizenship on those whom she has defeated?" The Senate chose to offer different terms to different Latin cities. Colonists were placed throughout Latium.[15]
Fall of Cales
The
Peace with the Sidicini and Aurunci
After the fall of Cales, both consular armies were sent against the Sidicini, who fortified themselves in Teanum with a large army. Livy does not reveal the outcome of this campaign. The Romans were struck by a plague (the most typical plague in the region was malaria, carried by the marsh mosquitos); both consuls were relieved for suspicion of impiety, but the Roman army remained among the Sidicini.[17] Livy changes the topic to relations with the Samnites in preparation for his account of the Second Samnite War (326–304 BC). The Sidicini do not appear in that war or ever again in history, but Teanum goes on as Teanum Sidicinum and its territory as Sidicinus ager. If the Romans had fought a great battle and had obliterated the Sidicini there would be some mention of it or some evidence of a discontinuity at Teano. Instead, the city prospers. Smith accords with the general conclusion that between 335 and 326, most likely in 334, the Sidicini consented to lay down their arms and become part of the greater Roman municipality.[8] Livy's omission remains unexplained.
The Aurunci similarly disappeared from tradition after they became subject to Rome. After the Samnites were pacified, the region kept the peace and was prosperous. It was popular vacation spot, being on high ground away from the pestilential air, which today is recognized to be the malaria mosquito.
Vestiges of the Oscans at Rome
Their debauchery was adopted by the larger Roman society over time, and the term Osci loqui or Obsci loqui came to mean licentious or lewd language. Another vestiges of the Oscans at Rome was the Atellan Farce, also known as the Oscan Games, which were masked improvised farces in Ancient Rome.[18] The Oscan athletic games were very popular, and usually preceded by longer pantomime plays.[19]
References
- ^ Lewis, Charlton T; Short, Charles (2010) [1879]. "Osci". A Latin Dictionary. Tufts University: Perseus Digital Library.
- ^ Aristotle (1932). "vii.10". Politics.
- ^ Strabo (1917). "5.4.3". Geography.
- ^ Strabo (1917). "5.4.6". Geography.
- ^ Smith 1854, pp. 343, 345
- ^ Livy. "2.16". City.
- ^ Livy. "2.26". City.
- ^ a b Bunbury, Edward Herbert (1873). "Sidicini". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Volume. Vol. II. London: John Murray. pp. 995–996.
- ^ The Sidicini's territory was approximatively 3,000 km² wide (Giacomo Devoto, Gli antichi italici, Firenze, Vallecchi, 1931, p.118).
- ^ Livy. "7.27". City.
- ^ Livy. "7.28". City.
- ^ Livy. "7.29–7.31". City.
- ^ Livy. "8.1–8.2". City.
- ^ Livy. "8.3–8.7". City.
- ^ Livy. "8.14". City.
- ^ Livy. "8.15". City.
- ^ Livy. "8.16". City.
- ^ Smith, Winifred (1964). The Commedia Dell'Arte. New York: Benjamin Blom. p. 26.
Atellnae were farces marked by improvisation and masked personages,
- ISBN 9780486216799.
They were later called Exodiae, because they were often given at the end of the performance.
Bibliography
- Cancik, Hubert; Helmuth Schneider, eds. (2003). "Oscans". Brill's New Pauly Encyclopedia of the Ancient World. Vol. II. Leiden: Brill Academic Publisher. ISBN 90-04-12259-1.
- Caspari, M.O.B. (1911). "The Etruscans and the Sicilian Expedition of 414–413 B.C." The Classical Quarterly. 5 (2): 113–115. S2CID 170932168.
- Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Anthony, eds. (2003). Oxford Classical Dictionary (Revised) (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-866172-X.
- Livy (1990). "History of Rome". In Lewis, Naphtali; Reinhold, Meyer (eds.). Roman Civilization: The Republic and the Augustan Age. Vol. I (3rd ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 81–85. ISBN 0-231-07131-0.
- Smith, William, ed. (1854). "Aurunci, Ausones". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Volume. Vol. I. Boston: Little, Brown & Company.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne.
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See also
- Oscan language
- Ancient peoples of Italy
- Prehistoric Italy
- Ausones