Roman–Latin wars
[citation needed] The Latins first went to war with Rome in the 7th century BC during the reign of the Roman king Ancus Marcius.
[citation needed] According to Livy the war was commenced by the Latins who anticipated Ancus would follow the pious pursuit of peace adopted by his grandfather, Numa Pompilius.
Its residents were removed to settle on the Aventine Hill in Rome as new citizens, following the Roman traditions from wars with the Sabines and Albans.
[citation needed] On the first, which according to the Fasti Triumphales occurred before 588 BC, Tarquinius took the Latin town of Apiolae by storm, and from there brought back a great amount of loot to Rome.
[3] On the second occasion, Tarquinius subdued the entirety of Latium, and took several towns that belonged to the Latins or which had revolted against them: Corniculum, old Ficulea, Cameria, Crustumerium, Ameriola, Medullia and Nomentum, before agreeing to peace.
During the 5th century the Latins were threatened by invasion from the Aequi and the Volsci, as part of a larger pattern of Sabellian-speaking peoples migrating out of the Apennines and into the plains.
Several peripheral Latin communities appear to have been overrun, and the ancient sources record fighting against either the Aequi, the Volsci, or both almost every year during the first half of the 5th century.
In 387 the situation with Latins and Hernici was brought up in the Roman senate, but the matter was dropped when news reached Rome that Etruria was in arms.
The majority of the captives were found to be Hernici and Latins, including men of high rank, which the Romans took as proof that their states were formally assisting the Volscians.
[20] When the Latins, Hernici, and the colonists of Circeii and Velitrae tried to persuade the Romans to release those of their countrymen who had been made prisoner, they were refused.
In the preceding decades Rome had grown considerably in power, especially with the conquest of Veii, and the Romans might now have preferred freedom of action to the obligations of the alliance.
Also, several Latin towns appear to have remain allied to Rome; based on later events these would have included at least Tusculum and Lanuvium to which Cornell adds Aricia, Lavinium and Ardea.
The colonies of Circeii and Velitrae are likely to have remained partly inhabited by Volsci, which helps explain their rebellion, but these two settlements more than any other Latin towns would have felt vulnerable to Rome's aggressive designs for the Pomptine region.
The continued loyalty of Ardea, Aricia, Gabii, Labicum, Lanuvium and Lavinium would help explain how Roman armies could operate in the Pomptine region.
Though this might genuinely reflect Italic warfare of this era, Livy appears here to be using it as a literary motif to bring continuity to his narrative of the 380s.
In Rome, on the advice of the senate, the tribes unanimously declared for war on Velitrae after five commissioners had been appointed to distribute the Pomptine territory and three to settle a colony at Nepete.
There was also a rumour that Praeneste had revolted, and the peoples of Tusculum, Gabii and Labici complained that their territories had been invaded, but the Roman senate refused to believe these charges.
[40][41] Livy and other later writers portrayed the annexation of Tusculum as a benevolent act, but this view more properly reflect their own times, when Roman citizenship was highly sought after.
After a failed census in Rome, the plebeian tribunes started agitating for debt relief and obstructed the enrollment of fresh legions for the war against Praeneste.
In response the Praenestines withdrew to the Allia where they set up camp, hoping that memories of their earlier defeat against the Gauls at the same place would cause dread among the Romans.
Having defeated the enemy in battle and captured two camps and nine towns, Titus Quinctius returned to Rome in triumph, carrying with him from Praeneste a statue of Jupiter Imperator.
[47] According to Livy, the next year, 379, the Praenestines renewed hostilities by instigating revolts among the Latins;[48] however, apart from this notice Praeneste is not mentioned again in the sources until 358.
[citation needed] Modern historians generally accept the core of Livy's account of Titus Quinctius' dictatorship and its dating to 380.
Titus Quinctius Flamininus is said to have brought back a statue of Jupiter from Macedonia after his victories in the Second Macedonian War two centuries later and these two events have become then confused.
[54] Mater Matuta was a deity originally connected with the early morning light, and the temple at Satricum was the chief centre of her cult.
[59] According to Livy the immediate cause for this war came in 361 when the Tiburtes closed their gates against a Roman army returning from a campaign against the Hernici.
The Romans were at first alarmed, but when daylight revealed a comparatively small force, the consuls attacked from two separate gates and the Tiburtines were routed.
The Latins sent a strong contingent to fight against the Gauls, who had reached Praeneste and settled in the country round Pedum, in accordance with the old treaty which for many years had not been observed.
The other Latin states cannot have been pleased with the now-permanent Roman presence in the Pomptine region, but the seriousness of the Gallic threat would have provided motive for resuming their alliance with Rome.
[68] None of the other Latin states are recorded as hostile to Rome and presumably continued to supply contingents after 358, and this might be one of the reasons behind the increased pace of Roman expansion during the 350s and 340s.
