Tenney Frank

“ Since, however, the land of central Latium is rolling, and consequently erodes quickly, whereas the basic tufa is comparatively hard and disintegrates very slowly, the arable soil is apt to wash away when stripped for long periods by the ax and plow. Nevertheless, the whole plain is so superior in productivity to the ragged limestone ridges which border it that its inhabitants were doubtless often compelled to defend their title by force of arms. ”

“ In these circumstances the Romans could hardly imagine themselves as the god's favorite people, possessing an exclusive monopoly of his protective power in the event that they chose to disregard the treaties which he had been called upon to witness. Finally, the respect that neighboring peoples showed for Rome's pledge of faith during the Punic war and the high praise which Polybius,25 the first Greek observer of Roman institutions, accords the Roman rules of Warfare, testify to the fact that the fetial law was by no means a dead letter in historical times. ”

“ It is more likely that the victors, after having overcome all armed opposition, incorporated the remaining inhabitants, chiefly women and children of course, into their own tribe. If this be true, the Roman people were a mixed race whose chief elements were immigrant Aryans and conquered non-Aryans.3 However this may be, certainly the predominant element was Aryan, for the Latin language is a close relative of Greek and of Celtic. ”

“ They employed most of the domestic animals and cultivated many of the cereals and fruits which were found in Italy in Cato's day. The men of the Villanova settlements were workers in iron also, and adorned their utensils and weapons with many pleasing, though simple, designs. Even though the excavations in Latium have as yet proved unsatisfactory, we can hardly doubt that the immigrant tribe which took possession of the lower Tiber valley was also far advanced in the arts of a stable agricultural people. ”

“ Before the Indo-European tribes reached central Italy, Latium was possessed by a race of unknown origin,2 men of short stature and dark complexion, who had not yet learned the use of metallic implements. They are usually classed as members of the Mediterranean race. The Indo-European invaders began to enter Italy from the north and east during the third millennium B.C., and continued to come in wave after wave until they mastered the greater part of Italy. ”

“ Law and order were particularly profitable in Latium, which was a plain much coveted by the tribes who eked out a scanty livelihood upon the Sabine and Volscian ridges. It is a commonplace that tribes of the plains have always discovered the advantages of peace before the highlanders. ”

“ Under the circumstances it was inevitable that some men became lords of extended fields and persons of influence in the state, while others were reduced to economic and political dependence upon them. ”

“ It seems futile to search further for evidence of racial differences. A more satisfactory explanation is suggested by the fact that economic conditions were such in Latium as readily to create class distinctions. In the first place, the land varied greatly in productivity.14 The Alban hills are high enough to attract a greater rainfall than the Latian plain secures, while the lands beneath the Sabine and Roman hills are aided by subsoil moisture from mountain springs. These things gave certain farmers a great advantage over others, since the dry season in Latium is normally very long. ”

“ The People of Rome and Latium
Rome is situated about fourteen miles from the ancient coast line of the Mediterranean upon the low hills bordering the navigable Tiber. The Latian plain, which the city commands, stretches from the Tiber to the Volscian hills, and from the Sabine ridges to the sea; it may be crossed in either direction in a brisk day's walk. The soil1 of the plain is productive. ”

“ They accordingly reached the conviction naturally that neighboring tribes must dwell in peace, that brigandage must be suppressed, and that the rules of equitable dealing which are observed by well-balanced individuals must also hold between neighboring tribes. ”

“ The names of the more primitive deities, e.g Jupiter, Janus, Diana, Saturnus, Vesta, Volcanus, Neptunus, contain Indo-European bases, and the characteristic institutions of family, tribe, and city are unmistakably Aryan in type. ”

“ Eventually, the influential men took the legal steps necessary to secure predominance for themselves and their descendants; they stereotyped that caste system by ordaining that they alone, the patricii, could hold offices of state, they alone could consult the auspices in behalf of the city, and that their ranks should not be contaminated by intermarriage with plebeians. ”

“ Secondly, since the central plains were quickly washed bare of soil if kept constantly exposed by cultivation, the farmers, who persisted in agriculture in such places must have found themselves reduced to a precarious existence. The cure for the evil lay in using such fields for winter grazing and acquiring summer pasturage on higher and less parched ground. ”

“ The most widely accepted view13 discovers a basis for the distinction between plebian and patrician in the racial differences of the conquered inhabitants and the victorious invaders,--a view which seems to receive the support of a good historical parallel in the Norman conquest of England. ”