Page:Roman Constitutional History, 753-44 B.C..djvu/18

4 Alba Longa was the oldest and most important canton centre. It was regarded as the primitive seat of the Latins and as the mother city of Rome and a number of other communities. Other ancient centres were Lanuvium and Tusculum.

The Latin League.—A common origin, language, and religion, and similar institutions, led the cantons to establish leagues. The Latin league in the eighth century B.C. was perhaps not the first nor the only one, but it alone possesses any historic importance. According to tradition, it had thirty members. Once a year these met on the Alban Mount and celebrated the Latin festival (feriae Latinae). An ox was sacrificed to the Latin Jupiter (Juppiter Latiaris), and portions of the roasted victim were distributed among the members. The assemblies of the league were held at the foot of the mountain, near the source of the Ferentina. Besides mutual protection, the purpose of the league was to place on a legal basis intermarriage and commercial intercourse between the allied communities. The scope of the federal powers cannot be determined, but it was not comprehensive; and the leading canton, Alba Longa, may have had simply an honorary presidency.

III.

The Site of Rome.—The site of Rome was not wholesome, but it offered the advantages of a strong central position. A city built on the hills rising from the banks of the Tiber, about fourteen miles from its mouth, would naturally become the centre of the river trade. It was far enough from the sea to be safe from pirates, yet near enough to have a convenient harbor. While it was close to the Etrurian and Sabine territories, and necessarily served as a frontier fortress of Latium, it reaped at the same time the benefits of