Fregellae

Rome rapidly expanded in the Republican period, and conquered the entire Italian peninsula with its wide variety of city-states and tribes. The impact of Roman imperialism and expansionism on religious life in the newly incorporated areas has often been regarded as minimal, following the axiom of Roman ‘religious tolerance’. However, literary and epigraphic evidence points at the political and ideological importance of cult sites especially in conflict situations.
Moreover, during the period of conquest and political incorporation, incisive changes in religious practices as well as in the cult sites where these were performed, are documented all over the peninsula. The causality between Roman expansionism and these trends is much discussed, and the ‘religious Romanization’ of Italy is currently a key debate.

This volume explores the development of religious practices and cult places in the conquered Italic areas, and the role of Rome and its colonies in it. Rather than denying Roman impact and intentionality altogether, it assesses the potential influences of Roman expansionism on the sacred landscapes of ancient Italy in wide and variegated terms.

The studies brought together in this volume draw on different types of evidence and approaches, reflecting also the diversity of different national and disciplinary traditions and schools of thought that often have remained isolated in current debates. It presents important new evidence from the inland Italic areas, as well as synthetic discussions addressing key scholarly controversies, such as the agency of Roman magistrates and the role of Roman colonization in ritual change and votive practices. By focusing on the dynamic interaction between authorities, local communities and wider trends in Hellenistic societies, the volume opens new perspectives on religious change in Italy and its relationship to the rise of Rome.

BICS SUPPLEMENT 132 ISBN 978-1-905670-58-1 viii + 332 pp, colour and black and white images, index

https://store.london.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=1&deptid=158&catid=86&prodid=1219&searchresults=1

This paper reconstructs the reasons for the defection of the Latin colony of Fregellae in 125 BC. Normally it is believed that the revolt is a consequence of the rejection by the senate of Fulvius Flaccus' proposal to extend citizenship to the allies. Here, the author proposes a different hypothesis. The civic body of Fregellae appears quite varied in the second century BC. Alongside the cives Latini, our sources witness a massive immigration of Italici from Samnium: they may be organized in the colony in a subordinate position (as incolae?). Flaccus' proposal is part of the agrarian policy of the Gracchi: the extention of citizenship could affect the allocations of public land provided by the lex Sempronia. Since he increases the number of beneficiaries, Flaccus might modify the agrarian and socio-economic setup of Fregellae. Thus, the revolt involves the Latin élite, which opposes land distributions to the Italians. Therefore, here it is assumed that the ejection of the proposal is a consequence of the revolt, rather than the cause.

Hardback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78925-310-8 Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78925-311-5 (ePub) Hardcover Edition: ISBN 978-1-78925-310-8 Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78925-311-5 (epub) A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Control Number:2019944981

The article examines the problem of the border along the Liris as a factor that determined the confrontational nature of the Roman-Samnite relations. Special studies on this topic are still missing in both domestic and foreign historiography. However, a consistent study of the evolution of Roman-Samnite relations allows us to single out the Liris border as the main factor that determined the nature of the interaction of the parties over the course of 50 years. To confirm this thesis, we trace and analyze the main stages of the diplomatic and military solution of the territorial problem. Delimitation of spheres of influence along the Liris and the conclusion of a defensive alliance under the treaty of 354 BC laid the foundations for further interaction between the two peoples. At the first stage in 354-343 BC the Liris was a kind of detente factor in relations between the two sides expanding in the same direction. However, the turning point came in connection with the outbreak of the First Samnite War of 343-341 BC, begun through the fault of Rome. In the second stage, 341-328 BC the official nature of the relationship between the parties was determined by the peace treaty of 341 BC, according to which a legal border was established along the Middle Liris with the concomitant refusal of the Samnites from demarcation along the Lower Liris. Despite the apparent settlement of contradictions, in fact, between the two peoples established a state of mutual mistrust, which every year acquired an increasingly pronounced character. Once again, the Liris Valley was at the center of the confrontation. All this found its expression in the diplomatic struggle of the 330s BC, which by the beginning of the 320s BC showed the actual superiority of the forces of Rome due to the stabilization of the military political situation near its borders, as well as due to the weakening of the Samnites after the war with Alexander of Epirus. The third stage 327-304 BC marked the final transition of the parties to a military solution to the « Liris problem», the first step towards which, again, was made by Rome. The turning point in hostilities in 313 BC allowed the Quirites to establish control on both sides of the Lower and Middle Liris, which was then legally enshrined in the peace treaty of 304 BC. In the future, of course, there were still military clashes between the parties in this region, but after 304 BC the Liris Valley ceased to play the key role in Roman-Samnite relations. The problem of the border along the Liris was finally solved in favor of Rome.

La colonia latina di Fregellae, lungo la via Latina, venne distrutta dai Romani nel 125 a.C. e mai più riedificata. Questa peculiare situazione offre la possibilità di studiare le fasi mediorepubblicane di questo insediamento. Il ritrovamento di un impianto termale, tra i più antichi in Italia, consente di osservare sia le pavimentazioni che il funzionamento di una struttura che, in un periodo così antico, può essere definita "sperimentale". Nella seconda fase dei bagni, attribuibile all'incirca al secondo quarto del  II a.C., sono presenti sia cocciopesti decorati sia tessellati monocromi a tessitura diritta, eseguiti con tessere di notevole spessore per garantire una migliore tenuta contro l'umidità. Inoltre è possibile osservare la base di un labrum rivestito di cocciopesto decorato da un reticolato di losanghe in tessere bianche.

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