Roman conquest of the Hernici
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
The Roman conquest of the Hernici, an
The Foedus Cassianum – 5th century BC
From at least the early fifth century BC there were disputes between Rome and the Hernici.[citation needed]
In 495 BC, the Hernici joined the
In 487 BC, they again engaged the Romans in battle, and were defeated by the Romans under the leadership of the Roman consul Gaius Aquillius Tuscus.[3]
In the following year, 486 BC, the Hernici entered into a treaty with Rome. Dionysius of Halicarnassus says the terms were similar to the Foedus Cassianum, a mutual military alliance among the Latin cities with Rome as the leading partner.[4] However, it is unclear whether the Hernici were admitted as a party to that same treaty, or to a separate similar treaty with Rome.[5] The terms of the treaty included that the Hernici were to cede two thirds of their land.[6] Debate about the distribution of that land amongst Romans and the Latin allies caused discord in Rome, which in turn led to the trial and execution in 485 BC of the three-times consul Spurius Cassius Vecellinus for high treason, ironically having been the person who negotiated the treaty with both the Latin allies and the Hernici and for whom the treaty was named.[7]
While the precise workings of the Foedus Cassianum remains uncertain, its overall purpose seems clear. During the 5th century, the Latins were threatened by invasion from the
Defection of the Hernici – 380s BC
Livy writes that in 389, after a hundred years of loyal friendship, the Latins and Hernici defected from Rome in 389, after Rome had been sacked by the Gauls.[9] Then in 386 and 385 Latin and Hernician men were found fighting for the Volsci.[10] Rome protested, and refused to hand back their Latin and Hernician prisoners, but did not declare war.[11]
Livy viewed the sack of Rome by the Gauls as a grave disaster that encouraged Rome's neighbours to rise against her. However, modern historians believe that the ancient historical tradition exaggerate the impact of the sack. Likewise, they disagree with Livy's views that the Hernici defected from Rome; as Livy notes, no open warfare between Rome and the Hernici is recorded for this time period. Rather, the military alliance between Rome and the Latins and Hernici appear to have been allowed to wither.[12][13] This might have been a conscious policy by Rome to free herself from treaty obligations and so gain wider freedom of action.[14] However, the Latins and the Hernici, no longer threatened by the Aequi and Volsci, could also have seized the opportunity of the Gallic Sack to abandon their alliance with an increasingly dominating Rome.[15] While it is possible that this led to some Latin and Hernician warriors fighting for the Volsci, these could also be inventions by Livy to provide a literary motif to his narrative.[16] Except for these doubtful notices then, no conflicts are recorded between Romans and Hernici until 366[17]
The Hernician War 362–358
After some mostly peaceful years, in 362, the Romans went to war against the Hernici, starting a period of unprecedented successful warfare for the Romans.[18] Livy provides the only narrative account for this Hernican War. In addition, two triumphs and an ovation against the Hernici are recorded in the Fasti Triumphales.[19]
Outbreak of the war
According to Livy, in 366, it was reported in Rome that the Hernici had rebelled, but nothing was done to prevent any action from being taken by the plebeian consul.
As usual, Livy makes Rome the offended party, but Roman designs on Hernician land might well have been real cause of this war.[23] The failed levy of L. Manlius is probably not historical, but has likely been invented as a motive for the famous prosecution of L. Manlius, traditionally dated to 362.[24]
Dictatorship of Appius Claudius Crassus
The surviving patrician consul,
Livy's extended narrative of this campaign is full of standard annalistic features and very little of the detail provided can have been derived from authentic records. The first military command ever held by a plebeian consul and the subsequent dictatorship of the conservative patrician Appius Claudius ties Livy's account into the
Rome triumphant
Livy only provides brief narratives for the remaining years of the Hernician war, being more interested in the
There is no particular reason to doubt the historicity of these Roman victories, though it is unlikely that Livy's description of Fabius first winning several minor battles and then a major battle, perhaps a condensation of a longer account found in his sources, is derived from authentic records.[35] In 358, the Latins renewed their alliance with Rome when Latium was threatened by invasion from the Gauls. Fear of the Gauls might also have influenced the Hernici to accept a new treaty with Rome,[36] but the Hernici probably obtained less favourable terms than their old alliance.[37] Ferentinum is described as independent in 306, and so must have been handed back to the Hernici at some point, perhaps as part of the peace terms.[38] Of the two Roman tribes created in 358, the Pomptina was evidently located in the Pomptine on territory Rome had taken from the Volsci. The location of the Publilia is less certain; modern historians generally locate it on territory taken from the Hernici, but it is possible that the Publilia was also located on former Volscian land.[39][40]
Final rebellion of the Hernici 307–306
Towards the end of the
References
- ^ Salmon, E.T. (1953). "Rome and the Latins: II". Phoenix. 7 (4): 126 – via JSTOR.
- Ab urbe condita, 2:22
- Ab urbe condita, 2:40
- ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, 8.69.2
- ^ Tim Cornell, Rome and Latium to 390 BC, in The Cambridge Ancient History, 2nd ed., vol. VII.2 (Cambridge: CUP 1989), ch. 6, pp. 243-308 at 276
- Ab urbe condita, 2:41
- Ab urbe condita, 2:41
- ^ Salmon, E.T. (1953). "Rome and the Latins: II". Phoenix. 7 (4): 129 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Livy, 6:2.3-4
- ^ Livy, 6:7.1, 8.4-10, 11.9-10, 12.7-11, & 13.1-8
- ^ Livy, 6:6.2-3, 10.6-9, 14.1, 17.7-8
- ISBN 978-0-415-01596-7.
- ISBN 0-19-815277-9.
- ^ Cornell, p. 322
- ^ Oakley, p. 354
- ^ Oakley, pp. 354, 446-114
- ISBN 978-0-19-815226-2.
- ^ Cornell, p. 324
- ^ Oakley, pp. 3-4
- ^ Livy, 7:1.3-4
- ^ Livy, 7:3.4-9
- ^ Livy, 7:6.1-7
- ^ Oakley, p. 4
- ^ Oakley, p. 72
- ^ Livy, 7:6.11-12
- ^ Livy, 7:7.1-9
- ^ Livy, 7:8.1-7
- ^ Oakley, pp. 4, 103-104
- ^ Livy, 7:9.1
- ^ Livy, 7:11.2
- ^ Livy, 7:11.8-9
- ^ Livy, 7:12.7
- ^ Livy, 7:14.10
- ^ Livy, 7:15.11
- ^ Oakley, p. 4
- ^ Cornell, p. 324
- ^ Cornell, p. 324; Oakley, p. 4
- ^ Oakley, p. 4
- ^ Cornell, p. 324; Oakley, p. 4, 175
- ISBN 0-520-24991-7.
- ^ Livy, 9:43.22-25
- ^ Cicero, De Officiis, 1:35