Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1266

 1242 TUSCULUxM, Superbus, who courted the friendship of the Latin cities, Oct.wius Mamihus of TuscuUim was the foremost man of all the race, tracing his descent from Ulysses and Circe. Him Tarquin conciliated by the gift of his daughter in marriage, and thus obtained the powerful alliance of his family and con- nections. (Liv. i. 49 ; Dionys. iv. 45.) The ge- nealogical pretensions of the gens JIamilia are stdl to be seen on their coins, which bear on the obverse the head of Mercury, and on the reverse Ulysses in his travelling dress and with his dog. The alliance of JIamilius with Tarquin, however, was the main cause of the Latin War. After his expulsion from Rome, and unsuccessful at- tempt to regain his crown by means of the Etrus- cans, Tarquin took refuge with his son-in-law at Tusculum (Liv. ii. 15), and by his assistance formed an alliance wnth the confederacy of the thirty Latin cities. {Ih. 18). The confederate army took up a position near Lake Regillus, a small sheet of ■water, now dry, which lay at the foot of the hill on which Tusculum is seated. This was the scene of the famous battle so fatal to the Latins, in u. c. 497. JIamilius, who commanded the Latin army, was killed by the liand of Titus Herminius; Tar- quinius Superbus himself, who, though now ad- vanced in years, took a part in the combat, was wounded; and the whole Latin army sustained an irretrievable defeat {ih. 19, 20; Dionys. vi. 4, seq.). After the peace which ensued, the Tusculans re- mained for a long while the faithful allies of Home; an attachment which drew down on their territory the incursions of the Volsci and Aequi, b. c. 461, 460. (Liv. iii. 1, 8.) In b. c. 458, when the lioman capitol was seized by the Sabine Appius llerdonius, the Tusculans gave a signal proof of their love and fidelity towards Rome. On the next morning after the arrival of the news, a large body of them marched to that city and assisted the Romans in recovering the capitol; an act for which they received the public thanks of that people (ii. 18; Dionys. x. 16); and soon afterwards, Lucius IMamilius, the Tusculan dictator was rewarded with the gift of Roman citizenship. (Liv. ih. 29.) In the following year the Romans had an opportunity of repaying the obligation. The Aequi had seized the citadel of Tusculum by a nocturnal assault. At that time, Fabius with a Roman army was encamped before Antium; but, on hearing of the misfortune of the Tusculans, he immediately broke up his camp and flew to their assistance. The enterprise, liowever, was not of such e:isy execution as the expulsion of Her- donius, and several months were spent in combats in the neighbourhood of Tusculum. At length the Tusculans succeeded in recapturing their citadel by reducing the Aequi to a state of famine, whom they dismissed after compelling them to pass unarmed under the yoke. But as they were flying homewards the Roman consul overtook them on Mount Algidus, and slew them to a man. {Ih. 23; Dionys. s. 20.) In the following year, the Aequi, under the con- duct of Gracchus, ravaged the Labican and Tus- culan territories, and encamped on the Algidus with their booty. The Roman ambassadors sent to ex- postulate with them were treated with insolence and contempt. Then Tit. Quinctius Cincinnatus was chosen dictator, who defeated the Aequi, and caused them, with their commander Gracchus, to pass ignominiously under the yoke. (Liv. ib. 25 — 28.) Algidus became the scene of a struggle between the Romans and Aequi on two or three subsequent occa- TUSCULUM. sions, as in B.C. 452 and 447. {Ib. 31, 42.) In the latter battle the Romans sustained a sevei'e de- feat, being obliged to abandon their camp and take refuge in Tusculum. After this, we do not again hear of the Tusculans till b. c. 416. At that period, the Romans, suspecting the Labicans of having en- tered into a league with the Aequi, charged the Tusculans to keep a watch upon them. The.se sus- picions were justified in the following year, when the Labicans, in conjunction with the Aequi, ravaged the territory of Tusculum and encamped upon the Algidus. The Roman army despatched against them was defeated and dispersed, owing to the dis- sensions among its chiefs. iIany of these, however, together with the elite of the army, took refuge at Tusculum; and Q. Servilius Priscus, being chosen dictator, changed the face of affairs in eight days, by routing the enemy and capturing Labicum. (Id. iv. 45—47.) This steady friendship between Tusculum and Rome, marked for so many years by the strongest tokens of mutual goodwill, was at length interrupted by an occurrence which took place in b. c. 379. In that year the Tusculans, in conjunction with the Gabinians and Labicans, accused the Praenestines before the Roman senate of making inroads on their lands; but the senate gave no heed to their com- plaints, Next year Camillus, after defeating the Volscians, was surprised to find a number of Tus- culans .among the prisoners whom he had made, and, still more so when, on questioning them, ho found tiiat they had taken up arms by public con- sent. These prisoners lie introduced before the Roman senate, in order to prove how the Tuscular.s had abandoned the ancient alliance. So war was declared against Tusculum, and the conduct of it entrusted to Camillus. But the Tusculans would not accept this declaration of hostilities, and opposed the Roman arms in a manner that has scarcely beeri paralleled before or since. When Camillus entered their territory he found the peasants engaged in their usual avocations ; provisions of all sorts were offered to his army; the gates of the town were standing open; and as the legions defiled through the streets in all the panoply of war, the citizens within, likethe countrymen without, were seen intent upon their daily business, the schools resounded with the hum of pupils, and not the slightest token of hostile preparation could be discerned. Then Camillus invited the Tusculan dictator to Rome. When he appeared before the senate in the Curi.i Hostilia, not only were the existing treaties with Tusculum confirmed, but the Roman franchise also was shortly afterwards bestowed upon it, a privilege at that time but rarely conferred. It was this last circumstance, however, together with their unshaken fidelity towards Rome, that drew down upon the Tusculans the hatred and ven- geance of the Latins; who, in the year b. c. 374, having burnt Satricum, with the exception of the temple of Matuta, directed their arms against Tus- culum. By an unexpected attack, they obtained possession of the city; but the inhabitants retired to the citadel with their wives and children, and de- spatched messengers to Rome with news of the in- vasion. An army was sent to their relief, and the Latins in turn became the besieged instead of the besiegers; for wliilst the Romans encompassed the walls of the city, the Tusculans made sorties upon the enemy from the arx. In a short time the Ro- mans took the town by assault and slew all the