Battle of Caenina
| Battle of Caenina | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:CaeninaiscapturedbyRomulus.png Caenina is captured by Romulus | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Roman Kingdom | Caenina | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Romulus | Unknown | ||||||
Template:Roman Kingdom Campaigns
The Battle of Caenina took place during the 8th century BCE, when the city of Caenina was captured and sacked by the King of Rome, Romulus.
Background
Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus are the grandsons of Numitor, the king of Alba Longa. After Numitor is deposed by his brother Amulius and his daughter Rhea Silvia is forced to become a Vestal virgin, she becomes pregnant – allegedly raped by the war god Mars – and delivers the two illegitimate brothers.[1] Amulius orders that the children be left to die on the slopes of the Palatine or in the Tiber River, but they are suckled by a she-wolf at the Lupercal and then discovered by the shepherd Faustulus and taken in by him and his wife Acca Larentia. (Livy combines Larentia and the she-wolf, considering them most likely to have referred to a prostitute, also known in Latin slang as a lupa or she-wolf.)[2] Faustulus eventually reveals the brothers' true origins, and they defeated and killed Amulius to restore Numitor to his throne.
Founding of Rome
The Brothers leave to establish a new city at the location where they had been rescued.[3][4]
The twins then come into conflict during the foundation of the city, leading to the murder of Remus. The dispute is variously said to have been over the naming of the new city, over the interpretation of auguries,[5] whether to place it on the Palatine or Avernine Hill, or concerned with Remus's disrespect of the new town's ritual furrow or wall. Some accounts say Romulus slays his brother with his own hand, others that Remus and sometimes Faustulus are killed in a general melee.[6] Wiseman and some others attribute the aspects of fratricide to the 4th-century BC Conflict of the Orders, when Rome's lower-class plebeians began to resist excesses by the upper-class patricians.[7]
Romulus, after ritualistically ploughing the generally square course of the city's future boundary, erects its first walls and declares the settlement an asylum for exiles, criminals, and runaway slaves. The city becomes larger but also acquires a mostly male population.[8] A coalition of Latin and Sabine cities was created, consisting of Crustumini, Antemnates, king Acron of Caenina, and king Titus Tatius of Cures, who was worried about roman expansion.
Rape of the Sabine Woman
With Rome growing at such a steady rate in comparison to its neighbors, Romulus became concerned with maintaining the city's strength. His main concern was that with few women inhabitants there would be no chance of sustaining the city's population, without which Rome might not last longer than a generation. On the advice of the Senate, the Romans then set out into the surrounding regions in search of wives to establish families with. The Romans negotiated unsuccessfully with all the peoples that they appealed to, including the Sabines, who populated the neighboring areas. The Sabines feared the emergence of a rival society and refused to allow their women to marry the Romans. Consequently, the Romans devised a plan to abduct the Sabine women during the festival of Neptune Equester. They planned and announced a festival of games to attract people from all the nearby towns. According to Livy, many people from Rome's neighboring towns – including Caeninenses, Crustumini, and Antemnates – attended the festival along with the Sabines, eager to see the newly established city for themselves. At the festival, Romulus gave a signal by "rising and folding his cloak and then throwing it round him again," at which the Romans grabbed the Sabine women and fought off the Sabine men.[9] Livy does not report how many women were abducted by the Romans at the festival, he only notes that it was undoubtedly many more than thirty.[10] All of the women abducted at the festival were said to have been virgins except for one married woman, Hersilia, who became Romulus' wife and would later be the one to intervene and stop the ensuing war between the Romans and the Sabines.[11]
Battle of Rome
Outraged at what had happened, the Caeninenses' king, Acron, invaded Roman territory, and upon arrival near the city, began construction of a defensive camp, which was meant to protect his his troops during the night and provide a location, Acron could retreat to in the face of defeat. While still building the camp, Acron dispatched raiding parties to lay waste and devastate the Roman country side. The Caeninenses began destroying and seizing crops, livestock, and other valuables, and razed several farmhouses. Acron's strategy was to prevent Rome's agricultural production from supporting Romulus' war effort, and he hoped that the Romans would stay behind their defensive walls, or to draw Romulus into a pitched battle, where he held the advantage in numbers.
Romulus, however had become aware of Acron's movements sense the start due to his spy network. Romulus, and his scouts observed Acron's raiding parties, and noticed how dispersed and spread out they were. Romulus reacted decisively, and led his men out, and fell upon the pillagers. The raiders were shocked by the Roman's sudden appearance, and they quickly routed suffering heavy casualties.[12] Acron made another tactical blunder by either leaving his men too spread-out, or with an insufficient number of men to defend the camp. Romulus learned of this, and marched to the cantonment, and attacked with ferocity. The Caeninenses fought desperately, but were outnumbered, and the camp fell with relative ease.[13]
In order to save face, Acron decided on confronting Romulus, and drew up his army, challenging him to open battle, to which Romulus responded in a kind.[14] The two kings, decided upon single combat. Prior to the duel, Romulus pledged an oath to Jupiter, vowing to that if he won, he would donate Acron's armor to the gods.[15] The two kings approached one another, and the fight began. The duel was a hard fought, but Romulus won the duel, and killed Acron. To add further insult to injury, Romulus stripped Acron's expensive and ornate armor in full view of the Caeninensian army. Romulus then returned to his line, before ordering a charge against the Caeninense army, and utterly crushed them, and very few escaped.[16]
Battle and Sack
Following his victory at Rome, Romulus marched to Caenina to sack the city, and found that the townsfolk were unaware of the defeat and death of Acron. There was few sentries guarding the walls, and the gate wasn't barred. Romulus, immediately ordered his men to breach the town, and managed to force their way into Caenina in only one attempt, and within hours, Romulus gained complete mastery of Caenina.[17]
Romulus finished securing the city, and setting up guard post, before announcing that he intended to inflict no physical harm upon the people. Romulus's peace terms forced the Caeninenses to relinquish their weapons and many of the remaining adults would be forced to relocate to Rome, where they would become Roman citizens. The Caeninenses were forced to handoff a number of children, to serve as hostages, and the majority of Caenina was destroyed, including the walls and gate.[18] Romulus forced the Caeninenses to do the razing themselves. Romulus looted everything of value, before handing out the spoils to his men, before finally returning to Rome.[19]
Aftermath
The Caeninenses never challenged Rome again, following this conflict. The Antemnates invaded Roman territory, just like Acron before. The Romans retaliated, and the Antemnates were defeated in battle and their town captured. The Crustumini also invaded, but they too were defeated and their town was captured.
Bibliography
- Miles, Gary (1995). Livy: Reconstructing Early Rome. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1107038257. JSTOR 10.7591/j.ctv5rf1mt. Retrieved 13 March 2024. Search this book on
- Lomas, Kathryn (2018). The Rise of Rome: from the Iron Age to the Punic Wars. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674659650. Retrieved 13 March 2024. Search this book on
- Forsythe, Gary (2005). A Critical History of Early Rome: from Prehistory to the First Punic War. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520249912. JSTOR 10.1525/j.ctt1ppxrv. Retrieved 13 March 2024. Search this book on
- Livius, Titus (1853). The History of Rome, Books 1 to 8. Translated by D. Spillan. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 13 March 2024. Search this book on
- Plutarch (December 8, 2015). Plutarch's Lives: Life of Romulus. Translated by John Dryden. CreateSpace Independent. ISBN 978-1519653369. Retrieved 13 March 2024. Search this book on
- Dionysius of Halicarnassus (1950). William Thayer, ed. Roman Antiquities. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Ernest Cary. Cambridge, Chicago: Harvard University, University of Chicago. ISBN 0-674-99352-7. Retrieved 13 March 2024. Search this book on
- Florus (January 1, 1929). Epitome of Roman History. Translated by E. S. Forster. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674992542. Retrieved 13 March 2024. Search this book on
- Cicero (1923). on Divination. Loeb Classical Library. ISBN 978-0199297917. Retrieved 13 March 2024. Search this book on
References
- ↑ Miles 1995, pp. 138–39, on Livy, notes how he distinguishes between literal truth and a Roman "right to claim descent from Mars... because it appropriate symbolises the martial accomplishments of [later] Romans, who... have the ability to compel others to accede to that claim". Miles 1995, p. 142.
- ↑ Miles 1995, p. 142.
- ↑ Lomas 2018, p. 45.
- ↑ Miles 1995, p. 147 n. 15: in Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom., 1.85.1–3, Numitor sends the twins to found a city and gives them assistance; in Livy 1.6–7 the twins do so on their own initiative.
- ↑ Miles 1995, p. 147. Remus sees birds first; Romulus sees more. The correct interpretation of the omens "is ambiguous" and "is settled only by the murder of Remus and by the success of Romulus and his city".
- ↑ Miles 1995, p. 148 n. 17, noting that Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom., 1.87.2–3 "suppresses altogether" the fratricide and instead has Remus killed by an unknown assailant with Romulus mourning his death.
- ↑ Forsythe 2005, p. 96. Forsythe notes also that some scholars, like T P Wiseman, believe the tale was an invention of the fourth century BC and reflected self-image of the then-emerging patrician and plebeian nobiles.
- ↑ Miles 1995, p. 147 n. 16: in Livy 1.8.1, 1.8.6, 2.1.4 the city is made of only refugees; in Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom., 1.85.3 it is instead made up of both refugees as well as prominent men from Alba Longa and descendants of Trojan exiles.
- ↑ "Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 1, chapter pr". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ↑ "Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 1, chapter 13". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- ↑ "Plutarch • Life of Romulus". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
- ↑ Dion. hal. 2.33.2; Livy 1.10.
- ↑ Dion. Hal. 2,33.2.
- ↑ Plut. Rom. 16.4; Dion. Hal. 2.33.2
- ↑ Plut. Rom. 16.4
- ↑ Plut. Rom. 16.4; Dion. Hal. 2.33.2
- ↑ Dion. Hal. 2.33.2; Livy 1.10;Plut. Rom. 16.4; Flor. 1.1.11.
- ↑ Plut. Rom. 16.4; Dion. Hal. 2.34.1.
- ↑ Plut. Rom. 16.4; Flor. 1.1.11; Cic. Rep. 2.15–16; Dion. Hal. 2.28.3.
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