1. The fourteen-month term is an immediate result of the fact that the
axes of rotation and figure of the earth do not strictly coincide, but
make with each other a small angle of which the mean value is about
0.15". If the earth remained invariable, without any motion of matter on
its surface, the result of this non-coincidence would be the revolution
of the one pole round the other in a circle of radius 0.15", or about 15
ft., in a period of about 429 days. This revolution is called the
_Eulerian motion_, after the mathematician who discovered it. But owing
to meteorological causes the motion in question is subject to annual
changes. These changes arise from two causes--the one statical, the
other dynamical.
2. The statical causes are deposits of snow or ice slowly changing the
position of the pole of figure of the earth. For example, a deposit of
snow in Siberia would bring the equator of figure of the earth a little
nearer to Siberia and throw the pole a little way from it, while a
deposit on the American continent would have the opposite effect. Owing
to the approximate symmetry of the American and Asiatic continents it
does not seem likely that the inequality of snowfall would produce an
appreciable effect.
3. The dynamical causes are atmospheric and oceanic currents. Were these
currents invariable their only effect would be that the Eulerian motion
would not take place exactly round the mean pole of figure, but round a
point slightly separated from it. But, as a matter of fact, they are
subject to an annual variation. Hence the motion of the pole of rotation
is also subject to a similar variation. The annual term in the latitude
is thus accounted for.
Besides Chandler, Albrecht of Berlin has investigated the motion of the
pole P. The methods of the two astronomers are in some points different.
Chandler has constructed empirical formulae representing the motion,
with the results already given, while Albrecht has determined the motion
of the pole from observation simply, without trying to represent it
either by a formula or by theory. It is noteworthy that the difference
between Albrecht's numerical results and Chandler's formulae is
generally less than 0.05´´.
When the fluctuation in the position of the pole was fully confirmed,
its importance in astronomy and geodesy led the International Geodetic
Association to establish a series of stations round the globe, as nearly
as possible on the same parallel of latitude, for the purpose of
observing the fluctuation with a greater degree of precision than could
be attained by the miscellaneous observations before available. The same
stars were to be observed from month to month at each station with
zenith-telescopes of similar approved construction. This secures a
double observation of each component of the polar motion, from which
most of the systematic errors are eliminated. The principal stations
are: Carloforte, Italy; Mizusawa, Japan; Gaithersburg, Maryland; and
Ukiah, California, all nearly on the same parallel of latitude, 39° 8´.
The fluctuations derived from this international work during the last
seven years deviate but slightly from Chandler's formulae though they
show a markedly smaller value of the annual term. In consequence, the
change in the amplitude of the fluctuation through the seven-year period
is not so well marked as before 1900.
Chandler's investigations are found in a series of papers published in
the _Astronomical Journal_, vols. xi. to xv. and xviii. Newcomb's
explanation of the lengthening of the Eulerian period is found in the
_Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society_ for March 1892.
Later volumes of the _Astronomical Journal_ contain discussions of the
causes which may produce the annual fluctuation. An elaborate
mathematical discussion of the theory is by Vito Volterra: "Sulla
teoria dei movimenti del Polo terrestre" in the _Astronomische
Nachrichten_, vol. 138; also, more fully in his memoir "Sur la théorie
des variations des latitudes," _Acta Mathematica_, vol. xxii. The
results of the international observations are discussed from time to
time by Albrecht in the publications of the International Geodetic
Association, and in the _Astronomische Nachrichten_ (see also EARTH,
FIGURE OF). (S. N.)
LATIUM,[1] in ancient geography, the name given to the portion of
central Italy which was bounded on the N.W. by Etruria, on the S.W. by
the Tyrrhenian Sea, on the S.E. by Campania, on the E. by Samnium and on
the N.E. by the mountainous district inhabited by the Sabini, Aequi and
Marsi. The name was, however, applied very differently at different
times. Latium originally means the land of the Latini, and in this
sense, which alone is in use historically, it was a tract of limited
extent; but after the overthrow of the Latin confederacy, when the
neighbouring tribes of the Rutuli, Hernici, Volsci and Aurunci, as well
as the Latini properly so called, were reduced to the condition of
subjects and citizens of Rome, the name of Latium was extended to
comprise them all. It thus denoted the whole country from the Tiber to
the mouth of the Savo, and just included the Mons Massicus, though the
boundary was not very precisely fixed (see below). The change thus
introduced, though already manifest in the composition of the Latin
league (see below) was not formally established till the reign of
Augustus, who formed of this larger Latium and Campania taken together
the first region of Italy; but it is already recognized by Strabo (v. 3.
2. p. 228), as well as by Pliny, who terms the additional territory thus
incorporated _Latium Adjectum_, while he designates the original Latium,
extending from the Tiber to Circeii, as _Latium Antiquum_.
1. LATIUM ANTIQUUM consisted principally of an extensive plain, now
known as the Campagna di Roma, bounded towards the interior by the
Apennines, which rise very abruptly from the plains to a height of
between 4000 and 5000 ft. Several of the Latin cities, including Tibur
and Praeneste, were situated on the terrace-like underfalls of these
mountains,[2] while Cora, Norba and Setia were placed in like manner on
the slopes of the Volscian mountains (Monti Lepini), a rugged and lofty
limestone range, which runs parallel to the main mass of the Apennines,
being separated from them, however, by the valley of the Trerus (Sacco),
and forms a continuous barrier from there to Terracina. No volcanic
eruptions are known to have taken place in these mountains within the
historic period, though Livy sometimes speaks of it "raining stones in
the Alban hills" (i. 31, xxxv. 9--on the latter occasion it even did so
on the Aventine). It is asserted, too, that some of the earliest tombs
of the necropolis of Alba Longa (q.v.) were found beneath a stratum of
peperino. Earthquakes (not of a violent character within recent
centuries, though the ruin of the Colosseum is probably to be ascribed
to this cause) are not unknown even at the present day in Rome and in
the Alban Hills, and a seismograph has been established at Rocca di
Papa. The surface is by no means a uniform plain, but is a broad
undulating tract, furrowed throughout by numerous depressions, with
precipitous banks, serving as water-courses, though rarely traversed by
any considerable stream. As the general level of the plain rises
gradually, though almost imperceptibly, to the foot of the Apennines,
these channels by degrees assume the character of ravines of a
formidable description.
Geology.
Four main periods may be distinguished in the geological history of
Rome and the surrounding district. The hills on the right bank of the
Tiber culminating in Monte Mario (455 ft.) belong to the first of
these, being of the Pliocene formation; they consist of a lower
bluish-grey clay and an upper group of yellow sands and gravels. This
clay since Roman times has supplied the material for brick-making, and
the valleys which now separate the different summits (Janiculum,
Vatican, Monte Mario) are in considerable measure artificial. On the
left bank this clay has been reached at a lower level, at the foot of
the Pincian Hill, while in the Campagna it has been found to extend
below the later volcanic formations. The latter may be divided into
two groups, corresponding to the second and third periods. In the
second period volcanic activity occurred at the bottom of the Pliocene
sea, and the tufa, which extends over the whole Campagna to a
thickness of 300 ft. or more, was formed. At the same time, hot
springs, containing abundant carbonate of lime in solution, produced
deposits of travertine at various points. In the third, after the
Campagna, by a great general uplift, had become a land surface,
volcanic energy found an outlet in comparatively few large craters,
which emitted streams of hard lava as well as fragmentary materials,
the latter forming sperone (_lapis Gabinus_) and peperino (_lapis
Albanus_), while upon one of the former, which runs from the Alban
Hills to within 2 m. of Rome, the Via Appia was carried. The two main
areas near Rome are formed by the group of craters on the north
(Bracciano, Bolsena, &c.) and the Alban Hills on the south, the latter
consisting of one great crater with a base about 12 m. in diameter, in
the centre of which a smaller crater was later on built up (the basin
is now known as the Campo di Annibale) with several lateral vents (the
Lake of Albano, the Lake of Nemi, &c.). The Alban Mount (Monte Cavo)
is almost the highest point on the rim of the inner crater, while
Mount Algidus and Tusculum are on the outer ring wall of the larger
(earlier) crater.
The fourth period is that in which the various subaërial agencies of
abrasion, and especially the streams which drain the mountain chain of
the Apennines, have produced the present features of the Campagna, a
plain furrowed by gullies and ravines. The communities which inhabited
the detached hills and projecting ridges which later on formed the
city of Rome were in a specially favourable position. These hills
(especially the Palatine, the site of the original settlement) with
their naturally steep sides, partly surrounded at the base by marshes
and situated not far from the confluence of the Anio with the Tiber,
possessed natural advantages not shared by the other primitive
settlements of the district; and their proximity to one another
rendered it easy to bring them into a larger whole. The volcanic
materials available in Rome and its neighbourhood were especially
useful in building. The tufa, sperone and peperino were easy to
quarry, and could be employed by those who possessed comparatively
elementary tools, while travertine, which came into use later, was an
excellent building stone, and the lava (_selce_) served for paving
stones and as material for concrete. The strength of the renowned
Roman concrete is largely due to the use of pozzolana (see PUTEOLI),
which also is found in plenty in the Campagna.
Between the volcanic tract of the Campagna and the sea there is a
broad strip of sandy plain, evidently formed merely by the
accumulation of sand from the sea, and constituting a barren tract,
still covered almost entirely with wood as it was in ancient times,
except for the almost uninterrupted line of villas along the ancient
coast-line, which is now marked by a line of sand-hills, some ½ m. or
more inland (see LAVINIUM, TIBER). This long belt of sandy shore
extends without a break for a distance of above 30 m. from the mouth
of the Tiber to the promontory of Antium (Porto d'Anzio); a low rocky
headland, projecting out into the sea, and forming the only
considerable angle in this line of coast. Thence again a low sandy
shore of similar character, but with extensive shore lagoons which
served in Roman times and serve still for fish-breeding, extends for
about 24 m. to the foot of the Monte Circeo (_Circeius Mons_, q.v.).
The region of the Pomptine Marshes (q.v.) occupies almost the whole
tract between the sandy belt on the seashore and the Volscian
mountains, extending from the southern foot of the Alban Hills below
Velletri to the sea near Terracina.
Drainage.
The district sloping down from Velletri to the dead level of the
Pontine (Pomptine) Marshes has not, like the western and northern
slopes of the Alban Hills, drainage towards the Tiber. The subsoil too
is differently formed: the surface consists of very absorbent
materials, then comes a stratum of less permeable tufa or peperino
(sometimes clay is present), and below that again more permeable
materials. In ancient, and probably pre-Roman, times this district was
drained by an elaborate system of _cuniculi_, small drainage tunnels,
about 5 ft. high and 2 ft. wide, which ran, not at the bottom of the
valleys, where there were sometimes streams already, and where, in any
case, erosion would have broken through their roofs, but along their
slopes, through the less permeable tufa, their object being to drain
the hills on each side of the valleys. They had probably much to do
with the relative healthiness of this district in early times. Some of
them have been observed to be earlier in date than the Via Appia (312
B.C.). They were studied in detail by R. de la Blanchère. When they
fell into desuetude, malaria gained the upper hand, the lack of
drainage providing breeding-places for the malarial mosquito. Remains
of similar drainage channels exist in many parts of the Campagna
Romana and of southern Etruria at points where the natural drainage
was not sufficient, and especially in cultivated or inhabited hills
(though it was not necessary here, as in the neighbourhood of
Velletri, to create a drainage system, as streams and rivers were
already present as natural collectors) and streams very frequently
pass through them at the present day. The drainage channels which were
dug for the various crater lakes in the neighbourhood of Rome are also
interesting in this regard. That of the Alban Lake is the most famous;
but all the other crater lakes are similarly provided. As the drainage
by _cuniculi_ removed the moisture in the subsoil, so the drainage of
the lakes by _emissaria_, outlet channels at a low level, prevented
the permeable strata below the tufa from becoming impregnated with
moisture which they would otherwise have derived from the lakes of the
Alban Hills. The slopes below Velletri, on the other hand, derive much
of their moisture from the space between the inner and outer ring of
the Alban volcano, which it was impossible to drain: and this in turn
receives much moisture from the basin of the extinct inner crater.[3]
Pre-historic remains.
Numerous isolated palaeolithic objects of the Mousterian type have
been found in the neighbourhood of Rome in the quaternary gravels of
the Tiber and Anio; but no certain traces of the neolithic period have
come to light, as the many flint implements found sporadically round
Rome probably belong to the period which succeeded neolithic (called
by Italian archaeologists the eneolithic period) inasmuch as both
stone and metal (not, however, bronze, but copper) were in use.[4] At
Sgurgola, in the valley of the Sacco, a skeleton was found in a
rock-cut tomb of this period which still bears traces of painting with
cinnabar. A similar rock-cut tomb was found at Mandela, in the Anio
valley. Both are outside the limits of the Campagna in the narrower
sense; but similar tombs were found (though less accurately observed)
in travertine quarries between Rome and Tivoli. Objects of the Bronze
age too have only been found sporadically. The earliest cemeteries and
hut foundations of the Alban Hills belong to the Iron age, and
cemeteries and objects of a similar character have been found in Rome
itself and in southern Etruria, especially the characteristic
hut-urns. The objects found in these cemeteries show close affinity
with those found in the terremare of Emilia, these last being of
earlier date, and hence Pigorini and Helbig consider that the Latini
were close descendants of the inhabitants of the terremare. On the
other hand, the ossuaries of the Villanova type, while they occur as
far south as Veii and Caere, have never so far been found on the left
bank of the Tiber, in Latium proper (see L. Pigorini in _Rendiconti
dei Lincei_, ser. v. vol. xvi., 1907, p. 676, and xviii., 1909). We
thus have at the beginning of the Iron age two distinct currents of
civilization in central Italy, the Latin and that of Villanova. As to
the dates to which these are to be attributed, there is not as yet
complete accord, _e.g_. some archaeologists assign to the 11th, others
(and with far better reasons) to the 8th century B.C., the earliest
tombs of the Alban necropolis and the coeval tombs of the necropolis
recently discovered in the Forum at Rome. In this last necropolis
cremation seems slightly to precede inhumation in date.
For the prehistoric period see _Bullettino di paleontologia Italiana,
passim_, B. Modestov, _Introduction à l'histoire romaine_ (Paris,
1907), and T. E. Peet, _The Stone and Bronze Ages in Italy_ (Oxford,
1909).
Latin League.
It is uncertain to what extent reliance can be placed upon the
traditional accounts of the gradual spread of the supremacy of Rome in
Latium, and the question cannot be discussed here.[5] The list of the
thirty communities belonging to the Latin league, given by Dionysius of
Halicarnassus (v. 61), is, however, of great importance. It is
considered by Th. Mommsen (_Roman History_, i. 448) that it dates from
about the year 370 B.C., to which period belong the closing of the
confederacy, no fresh communities being afterwards admitted to it, and
the consequent fixing of the boundaries of Latium. The list is as
follows: Ardeates, Aricini, Bovillani,[6] Bubentani, Cabani, Carventani,
Circeiates, Coriolani, Corbintes, Corni (probably Corani), Fortinei (?),
Gabini, Laurentini, Lavinates, Labicani, Lanuvini, Nomentani, Norbani,
Praenestini, Pedani, Querquetulani, Satricani, Scaptini, Setini,
Tellenii, Tiburtini, Tolerini, Tusculani, Veliterni.
These communities may be briefly described according to their
geographical arrangement. Laurentum and Lavinium, names so conspicuous
in the legendary history of Aeneas, were situated in the sandy strip
near the sea-coast--the former only 8 m. S.E. of Ostia, which was from
the first merely the port of Rome, and never figured as an independent
city. Farther S.E. again lay Ardea, the ancient capital of the Rutuli,
and some distance beyond that Antium, situated on the sea-coast, which
does not occur in the list of Dionysius, and is, in the early annals
of Rome, called a Volscian town--even their chief city. On the
southern underfalls of the Alban mountains, commanding the plain at
the foot, stood Lanuvium and Velitrae; Aricia rose on a neighbouring
hill, and Corioli was probably situated on the lower slopes. The
village of the Cabani (probably identical with the Cabenses) is
possibly to be sought on the site of the modern Rocca di Papa, N. of
Monte Cavo. The more important city of Tusculum occupied one of the
northern summits of the same group; while opposite to it, in a
commanding situation on a lofty offshoot of the Apennines, rose
Praeneste, now Palestrina. Bola and Pedum were probably in the same
neighbourhood, Labici on an outlying summit (Monte Compatri) of the
Alban Hills below Tusculum, and Corbio (probably at Rocca Priora) on a
rocky summit east of the same city. Tibur (Tivoli) occupied a height
commanding the outlet of the river Anio. Corniculum, farther west,
stood on the summit of one of three conical hills that rise abruptly
out of the plain at the distance of a few miles from Monte Gennaro,
the nearest of the Apennines, and which were thence known as the
Montes Corniculani. Nomentum was a few miles farther north, between
the Apennines and the Tiber, and close to the Sabine frontier. The
boundary between the two nations was indeed in this part very
fluctuating. Nearly in the centre of the plain of the Campagna stood
Gabii; Bovillae was also in the plain, but close to the Appian Way,
where it begins to ascend the Alban Hills. Several other
cities--Tellenae, Scaptia and Querquetulum--mentioned in the list of
Dionysius were probably situated in the Campagna, but the site cannot
be determined. Satricum, on the other hand, was certainly south of the
Alban Hills, between Velitrae and Antium; while Cora, Norba and Setia
(all of which retain their ancient names with little modification)
crowned the rocky heights which form advanced posts from the Volscian
mountains towards the Pontine Marshes. Carventum possibly occupied the
site of Rocca Massima N. of Cori, and Tolerium was very likely at
Valmontone in the valley of the Sacco (anc. Trerus or Tolerus). The
cities of the Bubentani and Fortinei are quite unknown.
A considerable number of the Latin cities had before 370 B.C. either
been utterly destroyed or reduced to subjection by Rome, and had thus
lost their independent existence. Such were Antemnae and Caenina, both
of them situated within a few miles of Rome to the N., the conquest of
which was ascribed to Romulus; Fidenae, about 5 m. N. of the city, and
close to the Tiber; and Crustumerium, in the hilly tract farther north
towards the Sabine frontier. Suessa Pometia also, on the borders of the
Pontine Marshes, to which it was said to have given name, was a city of
importance, the destruction of which was ascribed to Tarquinius
Superbus. In any case it had disappeared before 370 B.C., as it does not
occur in the list of the Latin league attributable to that date. It is
probably to be sought between Velletri and Cisterna. But by far the most
important of these extinct cities was Alba, on the lake to which it gave
its name, which was, according to universally received tradition, the
parent of Rome, as well as of numerous other cities within the limits of
Latium, including Gabii, Fidenae, Collatia, Nomentum and other
well-known towns. Whether or not this tradition deserves to rank as
historical, it appears certain that at a still earlier period there
existed a confederacy of thirty towns, of which Alba was the supreme
head. A list of those who were wont to participate in the sacrifices on
the Alban Mount is given us by Pliny (_N.H._ iii. 5. 69) under the name
of _populi albenses_, which includes only six or at most eight of those
found in the list of Dionysius;[7] and these for the most part among the
more obscure and least known of the names given by him. Many of the rest
are unknown; while the more powerful cities of Aricia, Lanuvium and
Tusculum, though situated immediately on the Alban Hills, are not
included, and appear to have maintained a wholly independent position.
This earlier league was doubtless broken up by the fall of Alba; it was
probably the increasing power of the Volsci and Aequi that led to the
formation of the later league, including all the more powerful cities of
Latium, as well as to the alliance concluded by them with the Romans in
the consulship of Spurius Cassius (493 B.C.). Other cities of the Latin
league had already (according to the traditional dates) received Latin
colonies--Velitrae (494 B.C.), Norba (492), Ardea (442), Labici (418),
Circei (393), Satricum (385), Setia (382).
The cities of the Latin league continued to hold general meetings or
assemblies from time to time at the grove of the Aqua Ferentina, a
sanctuary at the foot of the Alban Hills, perhaps in a valley below
Marino, while they had also a common place of worship on the summit of
the Alban Mount (Monte Cavo), where stood the celebrated temple of
Jupiter Latiaris. The participation in the annual sacrifices at this
sanctuary was regarded as typical of a Latin city (hence the name
"prisci Latini" given to the participating peoples); and they continued
to be celebrated long after the Latins had lost their independence and
been incorporated in the Roman state.[8]
Roman supremacy.
We are on firmer ground in dealing with the spread of the supremacy of
Rome in Latium when we take account of the foundation of new colonies
and of the formation of new tribes, processes which as a rule go
together. The information that we have as to the districts in which the
sixteen earliest clans (_tribus rusticae_)[9] were settled shows us
that, except along the Tiber, Rome's dominion extended hardly more than
5 m. beyond the city gates (Mommsen, _History of Rome_, i. 58). Thus,
towards the N. and E. we find the towns of Antemnae, Fidenae, Caenina
and Gabii;[10] on the S.E., towards Alba, the boundary of Roman
territory was at the Fossae Cluiliae, 5 m. from Rome, where Coriolanus
encamped (Livy ii. 39), and, on the S., towards Laurentum at the 6th
mile, where sacrifice to Terminus was made (Ovid, _Fasti_, ii. 681): the
Ambarvalia too were celebrated even in Strabo's day (v. 3. 3. p. 230) at
a place called [Greek: Phêstoi] between the 5th and 6th mile. The
identification (cf. Hülsen in Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyclopädie_, vi.
2223) of this locality with the grove of the Arval brothers at the 5th
mile of the Via Portuensis, to the W. of Rome, and of the Ambarvalia
with the festival celebrated by this brotherhood in May of each year, is
now generally accepted. But Roman sway must either from the first, or
very soon, have extended to Ostia, the port of Rome at the mouth of the
Tiber: and it was as the emporium of Latium that Rome acquired her first
importance.[11]
The primitive tribes.
The boundary of the _Ager Romanus antiquus_ towards the north-west is
similarly fixed by the festival of the Robigalia at the 5th milestone of
the Via Clodia. Within this area fall the districts inhabited by the
earliest tribes, so far as these are known to us. The _tribus Romilia_
was settled on the right bank of the Tiber near the sanctuary of the
Arvales, the _Galeria_ perhaps a little farther west on the lower course
of the stream now known as Galera, and the _Fabia_ perhaps on the
Cremera towards Veii. We know that the _pagus Lemonius_ was on the Via
Latina, and that the _tribus Pupinia_ dwelt between Tusculum and the
city, while the territory of the _Papiria_ possibly lay nearer Tusculum,
as it was to this tribe that the Roman citizens in Tusculum belonged in
later days. It is possible that the _Camilia_ was situated in the
direction of Tibur, inasmuch as this town was afterwards enrolled in
this tribe. The _tribus Claudia_, probably the last of the 16 older
_tribus rusticae_, was according to tradition founded in 504 B.C. Its
territory lay beyond the Anio, between Fidenae and Ficulea (Liv. ii. 16;
Dion. Hal. v. 40). The locality of the _pagi_ round which the other
tribes were grouped is not known to us.
Road system.
With the earliest extensions of the Roman territory coincided the
first beginnings of the Roman road system. The road to Ostia may have
existed from the first: but after the Latin communities on the lower
Anio had fallen under the dominion of Rome, we may well believe that
the first portion of the Via Salaria, leading to Antemnae, Fidenae
(the fall of which is placed by tradition in 428 B.C.) and
Crustumerium, came into existence. The formation (according to the
traditional dating in 495 or 471 B.C.) of the _tribus Clustumina_ (the
only one of the earlier twenty-one tribes which bears a local name) is
both a consequence of an extension of territory and of the
establishment of the assembly of the plebs by tribes, for which an
inequality of the total number of divisions was desirable (Mommsen,
_History of Rome_, i. 360). The correlative of the Via Salaria was the
Via Campana, so called because it led past the grove of the Arvales
along the right bank of the Tiber to the Campus Salinarum
Romanarum,[12] the salt marshes, from which the Via Salaria took its
name, inasmuch as it was the route by which Sabine traders came from
the interior to fetch the salt. To this period would also belong the
Via Ficulensis, leading to Ficulea, and afterwards prolonged to
Nomentum, and the Via Collatina, which led to Collatia. Gabii became
Roman in fairly early times, though at what period is uncertain, and
with its subjugation must have originated the Via Gabina, afterwards
prolonged to Praeneste. The Via Latina too must be of very early
origin; and tradition places the foundation of the Latin colony at
Signia (to which it led) as early as 495 B.C. Not long after the
capture of Fidenae, the main outpost of Veii, the chief city itself
fell (396 B.C.) and a road (still traceable) was probably made
thither. There was also probably a road to Caere in early times,
inasmuch as we hear of the flight of the Vestals thither in 389 B.C.
The origin of the rest of the roads is no doubt to be connected with
the gradual establishment of the Latin league. We find that while the
later (long distance) roads bear as a rule the name of their
constructor, all the short distance roads on the left bank of the
Tiber bear the names of towns which belonged to the league--Nomentum,
Tibur, Praeneste, Labici, Ardea, Laurentum--while Ficulea and Collatia
do not appear. The Via Pedana, leading to Pedum, is known to us only
from an inscription (_Bull. Soc. Antiquaires de France_, 1905, p. 177)
discovered in Tunisia in 1905, and may be of much later origin; it was
a branch of the Via Praenestina.
There must too have been a road, along the line of the later Via
Appia, to Bovillae, Aricia, Lanuvium and Velitrae, going thence to
Cora, Norba and Setia along the foot of the Volscian Mountains; while
nameless roads, which can still be traced, led direct from Rome to
Satricum and to Lavinium.
We can trace the advance of the Roman supremacy with greater ease after
387 B.C., inasmuch as from this year (adopting the traditional dating
for what it is worth) until 299 B.C. every accession of territory is
marked by the foundation of a group of new tribes; the limit of 35 in
all was reached in the latter year. In 387, after the departure of the
Gauls, southern Etruria was conquered, and four new tribes were formed:
_Arnensis_ (probably derived from Aro, mod. Arrone--though the ancient
name does not occur in literature--the stream which forms the outlet to
the lake of Bracciano, anc. _Lacus Sabatinus_),[13] _Sabatina_ (called
after this lake), _Stellatina_ (named from the Campus Stellatinus, near
Capena; cf. Festus p. 343 Müll.) and _Tromentina_ (which, Festus tells
us, was so called from the Campus Tromentus, the situation of which we
do not know). Four years later were founded the Latin colonies of
Sutrium and Nepet. In 358 B.C. Roman preponderance in the Pomptine
territory was shown by the formation of the _tribus Pomptina_ and
_Publilia_, while in 338 and 329 respectively Antium and Tarracina
became colonies of Roman citizens, the former having been founded as a
Latin colony in 494 B.C.
After the dissolution of the Latin league which followed upon the defeat
of the united forces of the Samnites and of those Latin and Volscian
cities which had revolted against Rome, two new tribes, _Maecia and
Scaptia_,[14] were created in 332 B.C. in connexion with the
distribution of the newly acquired lands (Mommsen, _History_, i. 462). A
further advance in the same direction ending in the capture of Privernum
in 329 B.C. is marked by the establishment in 318 B.C. of the _tribus
Oufentina_ (from the river Ufens which runs below Setia, mod. _Sezze_,
and Privernum, mod. _Piperno_, and the _tribus Falerna_ (in the Ager
Falernus), while the foundation of the colonies of Cales (334) and
Fregellae (328) secured the newly won south Volscian and Campanian
territories and led no doubt to a prolongation of the Via Latina. The
moment had now come for the pushing forward of another line of
communication, which had no doubt reached Tarracina in 329 B.C. but was
now definitely constructed (_munita_) as a permanent military highway as
far as Capua in 312 B.C. by Appius Claudius, after whom it was named. To
him no doubt is due the direct line of road through the Pontine Marshes
from Velitrae to Terracina. Its construction may fairly be taken to mark
the period at which the roads of which we have spoken, hitherto probably
mere tracks, began to be transformed into real highways. In the same
year (312) the colony of Interamna Lirenas was founded, while Luceria,
Suessa (Aurunca) and Saticula had been established a year or two
previously. Sora followed nine years later. In 299 B.C. further
successes led to the establishment of two new tribes--the _Teretina_ in
the upper valley of the Trerus (Sacco) and the _Aniensis_, in the upper
valley of the Anio--while to about the same time we must attribute the
construction of two new military roads, both secured by fortresses. The
southern road, the Via Valeria led to Carsioli and Alba Fucens (founded
as Latin colonies respectively in 298 and 303 B.C.), and the northern
(afterwards the Via Flaminia[15]) to Narnia (founded as a Latin colony
in 299 B.C.). There is little doubt that the formation of the _tribus
Quirina_ (deriving its name possibly from the town of Cures) and the
_tribus Velina_ (from the river Velinus, which forms the well-known
waterfalls near Terni) is to be connected with the construction of the
latter high road, though its date is not certainly known. The further
history of Roman supremacy in Italy will be found in the article ROME:
_History_. We notice, however, that the continual warfare in which the
Roman state was engaged led to the decadence of the free population of
Latium, and that the extension of the empire of Rome was fatal to the
prosperity of the territory which immediately surrounded the city.[16]
Causes of depopulation.
What had previously, it seems, been a well-peopled region, with peasant
proprietors, kept healthy by careful drainage, became in the 4th and 3rd
centuries B.C. a district consisting in large measure of huge estates
(_latifundia_) owned by the Roman aristocracy, cultivated by gangs of
slaves. This led to the disappearance of the agricultural population, to
a decline in public safety, and to the spread of malaria in many parts;
indeed, it is quite possible that it was not introduced into Latium
before the 4th century B.C. The evil increased in the later period of
the Republic, and many of the old towns of Latium sank into a very
decayed condition; with this the continual competition of the provinces
as sources of food-supply no doubt had a good deal to do. Cicero speaks
of Gabii, Labici and Bovillae as places that had fallen into abject
poverty, while Horace refers to Gabii and Fidenae as mere "deserted
villages," and Strabo as "once fortified towns, but now villages,
belonging to private individuals." Many of the smaller places mentioned
in the list of Dionysius, or the early wars of the Romans, had
altogether ceased to exist, but the statement of Pliny that fifty-three
communities (_populi_) had thus perished within the boundaries of Old
Latium is perhaps exaggerated. By the end of the Republic a good many
parts of Latium were infected, and Rome itself was highly malarious in
the warm months (see W. H. S. Jones in _Annals of Archaeology and
Anthropology_, ii. 97, Liverpool, 1909). The emperors Claudius, Nerva
and Trajan turned their attention to the district, and under their
example and exhortation the Roman aristocracy erected numerous villas
within its boundaries, and used them at least for summer residences.
During the 2nd century the Campagna seems to have entered on a new era
of prosperity. The system of roads radiating in all directions from Rome
(see ITALY: _History_, § B) belonged to a much earlier period; but they
were connected by a network of crossroads (now mostly abandoned, while
the main lines are still almost all in use) leading to the very numerous
villas with which the Campagna was strewn (even in districts which till
recently were devastated by malaria), and which seem in large measure to
belong to this period. Some of these are of enormous extent, _e.g._ the
villa of the Quintilii on the Via Appia, that known as Setta Bassi on
the Via Latina, and that of Hadrian near Tibur, the largest of all.
When the land tax was introduced into Italy in 292, the first region of
Augustus obtained the name of _provincia Campania_. Later on the name
Latium entirely disappeared, and the name Campania extended as far as
Veii and the Via Aurelia, whence the medieval and modern name Campagna
di Roma. The donation made by Constantine to various churches of Rome of
numerous estates belonging to the _patrimonium Caesaris_ in the
neighbourhood of Rome was of great historical importance, as being the
origin of the territorial dominion of the papacy. His example was
followed by others, so that the church property in the Campagna soon
became considerable; and, owing to the immunities and privileges which
it enjoyed, a certain revival of prosperity ensued. The invasions of the
barbarian hordes did great harm, but the formation of centres
(_domuscultae_) in the 8th and 9th centuries was a fact of great
importance: the inhabitants, indeed, formed the medieval militia of the
papacy. Smaller centres (the _colonia_--often formed in the remains of
an ancient villa--the _curtis_ or _curia_, the _castrum_, the _casale_)
grew up later. We may note that, owing to the growth of the temporal
power of the popes, there was never a _dux Romae_ dependent on the
exarchate of Ravenna, similar to those established by Narses in the
other districts of Italy.
Under the commune.