The Aurunci were an ancient Italic tribe that inhabited the region around Monte Santa Croce and Sessa Aurunca in southern Latium and northern Campania.
Roman authors often equated the Aurunci with the broader group known as the Ausones (Αὔσονες), a term used by the Greeks to describe various Italic peoples. However, by the 4th century BCE, Roman sources distinguished the two groups as separate yet related tribes, both dwelling on the borders of Latium and Campania.
The Aurunci were considered one of the most ancient and powerful nations of Italy in early historical records. They were involved in numerous conflicts with Rome, notably in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, including their participation in the Latin War (340–338 BCE). Over time, their territory was gradually incorporated into the Roman Republic, and their independent existence came to an end. The modern town of Sessa Aurunca and the Aurunci Mountains preserve the name of this ancient tribe.
Name and Identity
editThe name "Aurunci" (singular: Auruncus) appears in Roman sources, while the equivalent Greek term was "Ausones" (Αὔσονες). According to ancient grammarians, the Latin form may derive from the Greek through the process of rhotacism, in which an intervocalic "s" became "r".[1] Thus, "Ausones" may have yielded "Auruni" or "Aurunci" in Latin.
Servius referred to the Aurunci as one of the oldest nations of Italy, and both Cassius Dio and Festus connected them with the broader Ausonian peoples who once occupied the region between the Volsci and the Campanians.[2]
By the 4th century BCE, Roman authors appear to distinguish between the Aurunci and the Ausones, assigning them to separate but related tribes inhabiting adjacent regions. The Aurunci were primarily associated with the volcanic highlands of Monte Santa Croce (modern Roccamonfina) and the surrounding lowlands.
Territory and Settlements
editThe Aurunci originally occupied a wide area of southern Latium and northern Campania, but by the mid-4th century BCE they had been confined to the mountainous area around Monte Santa Croce. Their early capital was Aurunca, located near the summit of the mountain, while Suessa (modern Sessa Aurunca) later became their principal settlement on its southwestern slope.
Other nearby populations included the Sidicini of Teanum and the people of Cales, who were described by Livy as being of Ausonian race but politically distinct from the Aurunci.[3]
Historical References
editThe first recorded conflict between the Aurunci and Rome occurred in 503–502 BCE, when the Latin towns of Cora and Pometia revolted and were supported by the Aurunci. According to Livy, the Roman consuls defeated them and restored order.[4]
In 495 BCE, during renewed hostilities with the Volsci, the Aurunci again took up arms against Rome and advanced as far as Ariccia, where they were defeated by the consul Publius Servilius Priscus Structus.[5]
After this point, the Aurunci vanish from Roman accounts for nearly a century. When they reappear in 344 BCE, Livy presents them as a diminished highland people inhabiting the Roccamonfina region. They were again defeated and submitted to Roman authority.[6]
In 337 BCE, the Aurunci abandoned their hilltop capital of Aurunca due to pressure from neighboring Sidicini and established themselves in Suessa. Eventually, in 313 BCE, Rome founded a colony at Suessa, marking the formal integration of Auruncan territory into the Roman state.[7]
Cultural and Linguistic Context
editThe Aurunci are generally believed to have spoken an Oscan dialect, placing them within the broader Osco-Umbrian language group common to many Italic peoples. Their customs, material culture, and urban forms likely resembled those of neighboring Oscan-speaking groups, including the Sidicini, Volsci, and Campanians.[8]
Like the Ausones, the Aurunci were associated with early hillfort settlements, some of which have been identified through remains of polygonal walls near Roccamonfina and other nearby sites.[9]
Legacy
editThe name of the Aurunci survives today in the Monti Aurunci, a mountain range in southern Lazio, and in the modern town of Sessa Aurunca, which preserves the name of the tribe’s final capital. In Roman literature, the Aurunci are occasionally referenced by poets, but more often the poetic term "Ausonia" supplanted their specific name.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Varro, Marcus Terentius. "26". De Lingua Latina. Vol. 7.
- ^ Bunbury, Edward Herbert (1854). "Aurunci". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. John Murray. p. 343.
- ^ Livy, Titus. "16". Ab Urbe Condita. Vol. VIII.
- ^ Livy, Titus. "16–17". Ab Urbe Condita. Vol. II.
- ^ Livy, Titus. "26". Ab Urbe Condita. Vol. II.
- ^ Livy, Titus. "28". Ab Urbe Condita. Vol. VII.
- ^ Livy, Titus. "28". Ab Urbe Condita. Vol. IX.
- ^ Cornell, T. J. (1995). The Beginnings of Rome. Routledge. pp. 45–48. ISBN 978-0-415-01596-7.
- ^ Leighton, Robert (1994). "Prehistoric Italy: A Review". The Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology. 7 (2): 175–203.
Further reading
edit- Farney, Gary D. (2007). Ethnic Identity and Aristocratic Competition in Republican Italy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521863315.
- Cornell, T. J. (1995). The Beginnings of Rome. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-01596-7.
Attribution
editThis article incorporates text from:
- Bunbury, Edward Herbert (1854). "Aurunci". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray. p. 343.
which is in the public domain.