Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1225

 TIBUR. We know notliing of the history of Tibur except in connection with that of Rome. The first occasion on which we find it mentioned is in the tinie of the decemvirate, b. c. 446, when M. Claudius, the infamous tool of the decemvir Appius, went into exile there (Liv. iii. 58). It does not appear, how- ever, as taking any active part in affairs till r.. c. 357 ; in which year the Tiburtines sliut their gates against the Roman consuls C. Sulpicius and C. Licinius Calvus, who were returning from a success- ful expedition against the Hernici. There appear to have been previous disputes and complaints between the Tiburtines and Ronian.s, and the latter seized the opportunity to declare war (Liv. vii. 9). But liostilities were suspended fur a time by an incursion of the Gauls, who crossed the Anio and advanced to within 3 miles of Rome. This in- vasion of the Gauls was assisted by the Tibur- tines ; and therefore, after the barbarians had been repulsed by the prodigious valour of Manliiis Torquatus, the consul C. Poetelius was sent against tiiem with an army in the following year. But the Gauls returned to the assistance of the Tiburtines; and, to meet this emergency, Q. Servilius Ahala was named dictator. The Gauls again advanced close to the walls of Rome, and a great battle was fought just outside the Porta Collina, in the sight of all the citizens. After a desperate conflict, the bar- barians were defeated and fled to Tibur for refuge. Here they were intercepted by the consul Poetelius, who drove them into the city, as well as the Tibur- tines who had come to their aid. For this achieve- ment a triumph was awarded to Poetelius, which we find recorded in the Fasti Capitolini as well as by Livy. This triumph, however, excited the ridi- cule of the Tiburtines, who denied that the Romans had ever met them in a fair and open field : and in order to wipe out this affront, they made, in the fol- lowing year, a nocturnal attempt upon Rome itself. But when day dawned and two armies, led by the two consuls, marched out against them from diffe- rent gates, they were scarcely able to sustain the first charge of the Romans (Liv. vii. 11, 12). Yet the war contiimed for several years. In b. c. 350, tiie consul M. Popilius Laenas devastated their territory (ifi. 17), and in the following year Valerius Poplicola took Ernpulum, one of their dependent cities {ib. 18; ef. Eju'ULUm). Sassula also yielded in 348 to the arms of M. Fabius Ambustus; and the Tiburtines would have lost all the rest of their territory had they not laid down their arms and submitted to the Roman consul. The triumph of Fabius is recorded in the Fasli and by Livy {lb. 19). Yet a few years later we find the Tiburtines joining the Latin league against the Romans ; anil even after the overthrow of the Latins they allied them- selves with the Praenestini and Velilerni to defend Pedum (Id. viii. 12). In n. c. 335, tlie consul L. Furius Camilius, attacki-d and comjiletely defeated them under the walls of that jilacc, in spite of a sortie of the inhabitants, and then took the town by escalade. All Latium was now subdued, and we do not again hear of the Tiburtines taking up arms against Rome {ib. 13). For this exploit Camilius not only obtained a triumph, but also an equestrian .statue in the forum, a rare honour in that age. In the Senatusconsultum subse(juently drawn up for the settlement of Latium, Tibur and Praeneste were treated with more severity than the other cities, except Velitrae. They were deprived of part of their territory, and were not adniiited to tiie VOL. II. TIBUR 1201 Roman franchise like the rest. The cause of th.is severity was not their recent insurrection, the guilt of which they shared with the rest of the Latin cities, but their having formerly joined their arms with those of the Gauls (ib. 14). Thus Tibur re- mained nominally free and independent, so that Roman exiles might resort to it (Polyb. vi. 14). Hence we find the tibiciiies taking refuge there when they fied from the rigour of the censors (b. c. 310), who had deprived them of the good dinners which they were accustomed to enjoy in the temple of Jupiter; an event more important than at first sight it might seem to be, since, without the tiliicines, neitiier sacrifices, nor several other important cere- monies, could be performed at Rome. On this occa- sion the rights of the Tiburtines were respected. The senators sent ambassadors to them as to an independent city, to request their assistance in jiro- curing the return of the fugitives. The Tiburtines, like able diplomatists, took the pipers by their weak side. They invited them to dinner and made them drunk, and during the night carted them in waggons to Rome, so that when they awoke in the morning sober, they found themselves in the Forum (Liv. ix. 30). The story is also told by Ovid with his usual felicity (^Fast. vi. 665, sqq.). Other instances might be adduced in which Til)ur enjoyed the pri- vilege of affording an asylum. That of M. Claudius, before alluded to, was of course previous to the con- quest of Latium by the Romans; but we find Cinna taking refuge at Tibur after the murder of Caesar (App. B. C. i. 65) : and Ovid (ex Punto, i. 3, 81, sq.) notes it as the most distant land of exile among the ancient Romans. It was at Tibur that Syphax, king of Numidia, expired, in B.C. 201, two years after being captured in Africa. He had been brought thither from Alba, and was destined to adorn the triumph of Scipio; a linmiliation which he escaped by his death (Liv. xxx. 45). Some centuries later Tibur received a more interesting captive, the beautiful and accomplished Zenobia. The former queen of the East resided near the villa of Hadrian, in the unostentatious manner of a Roman matron; and at the time when Trcbel- lius Pollio wrote her hi.story, the estate still bore her name. (Poll. A'A'A'. Tyr. 26.) In the Barberini palace at Rome is preserved a bronze tablet on which is engraved the following fragment of a Senatusconsultum: I'ropterea . quad . scibumus . ea . vos . merito . nostro . Jacere . non . potuisse . neqiie . vos . d'tgtws . esse . quel . faceretis . neque . id . voheis . ncque . rci . poplicae . vostrae . oilite . esse . facere. This monument, first acquired by Fulvio Orsiin, and left by him to Cardinal Farnese, is jjublished by Gruter {insa: ccccxcix. 12). The tenuur seems to show that the Tibur- tines had been accused of some grave offence from which they succeeded in exculpating themselves; but, as there is nothing to fix the date of the in- scription, various opinions have been entcrlaineil re-' specting the occasion of it. As tiie style seems to belong to about the middle of the 7th century ot Rome, Nil)by {Dintorni, iii. p. 172) is of opmion that the document refers to the social war ; that the Tilmrtines had cleareii themselves from the cliurge ot taking part in that lejigne, and were in conseijuence admitted to the Roman franchise, at tliu same time with many other Latin and Etruscan cities. This conjecture is by no means impmbablc. If, however, Tibur received tlio franchise before the civil wars of Marius and Sulla, the latter nnist have taken 4 II