The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 05 : $b the Roman Republic
History
The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 05 : $b the Roman Republic
World history
The close of the fifth century was also marked by new conflicts between
the Roman-Latin nations and the Veientines. The peace with this people
which had lasted so many years came to an end in 438, when the Roman
city Fidenæ, on the Tiber, fell into the possession of Veii. In 437 a
war broke out that was interrupted in 434 by the conclusion of an eight
years’ truce, then resumed until the total overthrow of Fidenæ in 425,
after which it terminated in a second truce of twenty years. During all
this period of truce the political situation of the Rasena, the race
that had for long been powerful in Italy, was so adverse that the Romans
were led to entertain the project of entirely destroying Veii and then
proceeding northward from the Tiber on a grand conquering expedition
against Etruria. The power of the Rasena had attained its height in the
beginning of the fifth century when, firmly established on their three
mainland districts, in alliance with the Carthaginians they made Greeks
and Italians feel their supremacy on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Etruria had
also owned for many decades--as Carthage had, since 500, owned the island
of Sardinia--the coast lands of Corsica; but these possessions were
seriously threatened by the rise in power of the Hellenes.
[Sidenote: [425-395 B.C.]]
Since the crushing defeat suffered by the Etruscans in 474 at the hands
of Hiero I of Syracuse and the Greeks of Cyme, in a sea battle near
that town, Syracuse, Tarentum, and Massilia had further impaired their
predominance on the Italian seas. The Campanian province of Etruria
and northern Italy were also about that time menaced simultaneously by
different but equally powerful enemies. The danger on the Campanian side
was from the Sabellian populations. At the time of Tarquinius’ departure
the Samnites had probably been long in possession of the mountainous
regions extending between the lowlands of the Apulian and Campanian
coasts, and since the middle of the fifth century had sent out successive
conquering expeditions which, penetrating further and further southward
and seaward, threatened equal danger to the Italians and the Etruscans.
Simultaneously with the uprising of the Lucanian Sabellians in Magna
Græcia, in the third decade before the close of the fifth century,
Campanian Sabellians invaded the beautiful regions on the Gulf of Naples.
In 420 the Greeks lost Cyme--henceforth Italian Cumæ--but continued to
have dominion in and around Naples for several centuries, and in 424,
when Etruscan Capua fell, the Rasena were driven forever from that part
of Italy.
More disastrous still to the Rasena of northern Italy were the conquests
of the Celts, a people destined to play the gloomy rôle of destroyer, who
had lately made violent irruption among the Italian races.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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