iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Sabines

Enlarge picture
The Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna.


The Sabines (Latin Sabini - singular Sabinus) were an Italic tribe that lived in ancient Italy. Their language belonged to the Sabellic subgroup of Italic languages and shows some similarities to Oscan and Umbrian.

Latin-speakers called the Sabines' original territory, straddling the modern regions of Lazio, Umbria, and Abruzzo, Sabinium. To this day, it bears the ancient tribe's name in the Italian form of Sabina. Within the modern region of Lazio (or Latium), Sabina constitutes a sub-region, situated north-east of Rome, around Rieti.

The ancient Sabines inhabited Latium before the founding of Rome. Legend says that Romans abducted Sabine women to populate the newly built town, resulting in conflict ended only by the women throwing themselves and their children between the armies of their fathers and their husbands.

The Rape of the Sabine Women ("rape" in this context meaning "kidnapping" rather than its modern meaning) became a common motif in art; the women ending the war forms a less frequent but still reappearing motif.

Studies have found many relationships between the Romans and the Sabines, especially in the fields of religion and mythology. In fact, many Sabine deities and cults developed in Rome, and many areas of the town (like the Quirinale) had once served as Sabine centers.

The area of Sabina today has become a tourist destination, with plenty of interesting medieval villages; and arguably best known for its production of olive oil.

Origins

According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, many Roman historians (including Porcius Cato and Gaius Sempronius) regarded the origins of the Romans (descendants of the Aborigines) as Greek despite the fact that their knowledge was derived from Greek legendary accounts.[1] The Sabines, specifically, were first mentioned in Dionysius's account for having captured the city of Lista by surprise, which was regarded as the mother-city of the Aborigines.[2] There was still debate among ancient historians pertaining to the specific origins of the Sabines. Zenodotus of Troezen claimed that the Sabines were originally Umbrians that changed their name after being driven from the Reatine territory by the Pelasgians. However, Porcius Cato argued that the Sabines were a populace named after Sabus, the son of Sancus (a divinity of the area sometimes called Jupiter Fidius).[3] In another account mentioned in Dionysius's work, a group of Lacedaemonians fled Sparta since they regarded the laws of Lycurgus as too severe. In Italy, they founded the Spartan colony of Foronia (near the Pomentine plains) and some from that colony settled among the Sabines. According to the account, the Sabine habits of belligerence and frugality were known to have been derived from the Spartans.[4]

Notable Sabines

Mythological references

Popular references

In the 1954 MGM movie musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, the main character, a backwoodsman named Adam, encourages his six younger brothers to kidnap the women they love, citing the story of the Sabine women. All seven brothers sing a song called "Sobbin' Women" (their mispronunciation of "Sabine") as they prepare to abduct their future wives.

References

1. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, Book 1, 11. But the most learned of the Roman historians, among whom is Porcius Cato, who compiled with the greatest care the "origins" of the Italian cities, Gaius Sempronius and a great many others, say that they [Aborigines] were Greeks, part of those who once dwelt in Achaia, and that they migrated many generations before the Trojan war. But they do not go on to indicate either the Greek tribe to which they belonged or the city from which they removed, or the date or the leader of the colony, or as the result of what turns of fortune they left their mother country; and although they are following a Greek legend, they have cited no Greek historian as their authority. It is uncertain, therefore, what the truth of the matter is.
2. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, Book 1, 14. Twenty-four stades from the afore-mentioned city stood Lista, the mother-city of the Aborigines, which at a still earlier time the Sabines had captured by a surprise attack, having set out against it from Amiternum by night.
3. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, Book 2, 49. But Zenodotus of Troezen, a...historian, relates that the Umbrians, a native race, first dwelt in the Reatine territory, as it is called, and that, being driven from there by the Pelasgians, they came into the country which they now inhabit and changing their name with their place of habitation, from Umbrians were called Sabines. But Porcius Cato says that the Sabine race received its name from Sabus, the son of Sancus, a divinity of that country, and that this Sancus was by some called Jupiter Fidius.
4. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, Book 2, 49. There is also another account given of the Sabines in the native histories, to the effect that a colony of Lacedaemonians settled among them at the time when Lycurgus, being guardian to his nephew Eunomus, gave his laws to Sparta. For the story goes that some of the Spartans, disliking the severity of his laws and separating from the rest, quitted the city entirely, and after being borne through a vast stretch of sea, made a vow to the gods to settle in the first land they should reach; for a longing came upon them for any land whatsoever. At last they made that part of Italy which lies near the Pomentine plains and they called the place where they first landed Foronia, in memory of their being borne through the sea, and built a temple to the goddess Foronia, to whom they had addressed their vows; this goddess, by the alteration of one letter, they now call Feronia. And some of them, setting out from thence, settled among the Sabines. It is for this reason, they say, that many of the habits of the Sabines are Spartan, particularly their fondness for war and their frugality and a severity in all the actions of their lives. But this is enough about the Sabine race.
Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
..... Click the link for more information.
Sabinus (Latin, Sabine, ie from the Sabine region - feminine form Sabina), can refer to:
  • Sabinus (mythology), the fabled ancestor of the Sabines, an ancient people that lived in Latium, Italy before the founding of Rome.

..... Click the link for more information.
Italic means "of or from Italy". The term is most commonly used to refer to the peoples and languages of what is now Italy from the historic period before the Roman Empire.
..... Click the link for more information.
Anthem
Il Canto degli Italiani
(also known as Fratelli d'Italia)


..... Click the link for more information.
The Osco-Umbrian languages or Sabellic languages are a group of languages that belong to the Italic language family of the Indo-European languages. They were spoken in central and southern Italy before Latin replaced them as the power of the Romans expanded.
..... Click the link for more information.
Italic subfamily is a member of the Centum branch of the Indo-European language family. It includes the Romance languages (including Italian, Catalan, Occitan, French, Corsican, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish), and a number of extinct languages.
..... Click the link for more information.
Oscan, the language of the Osci, is in the Sabellic branch of the Italic language family, which is a branch of Indo-European that also includes Umbrian, Latin, and Faliscan. It was spoken in Samnium and in Campania, as well as in Lucania, Ager Bruttius, and Abruzzo.
..... Click the link for more information.
Umbrian}}} 
Writing system: Old Italic alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: ine
ISO 639-3: xum  
This article is about the ancient language.

..... Click the link for more information.
Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
..... Click the link for more information.
Latium was a region of ancient Italy, home to the original Latin people. Its area is now part of the (much larger) modern Italian Regione of Lazio, also called Latium in Latin and also occasionally so in modern English.
..... Click the link for more information.
Regione Umbria


Map highlighting the location of Umbria in Italy

Capital Perugia
President Maria Rita Lorenzetti
(DS-Union)
Provinces 2
Comuni 92
Area 8,456 km
 - Ranked 16th (2.8 %)
Population (2006 est.
..... Click the link for more information.
Regione Abruzzo


Map highlighting the location of Abruzzo in Italy

Capital L'Aquila
President Ottaviano Del Turco
(SDI-Union)
Provinces L'Aquila
Chieti
Pescara
Teramo
Comuni 305
Area 10,794 km
..... Click the link for more information.
20th century - 21st century - 22nd century
1970s  1980s  1990s  - 2000s -  2010s  2020s  2030s
2004 2005 2006 - 2007 - 2008 2009 2010

2007 by topic:
News by month
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun
..... Click the link for more information.
Italian}}} 
Official status
Official language of:  European Union
 European Union
 Switzerland
 San Marino
Vatican City
Sovereign Military Order of Malta

The template is . Please use instead.

..... Click the link for more information.
Sabina, the region in the Sabine Hills of Latium named for the Sabines, is the ancient territory that is today mainly identified with the Province of Rieti, in Lazio, although it includes parts of southern Umbria (area of Cascia, Amelia, Narni, Accumoli and Norcia) and
..... Click the link for more information.
Latium was a region of ancient Italy, home to the original Latin people. Its area is now part of the (much larger) modern Italian Regione of Lazio, also called Latium in Latin and also occasionally so in modern English.
..... Click the link for more information.
Sabina, the region in the Sabine Hills of Latium named for the Sabines, is the ancient territory that is today mainly identified with the Province of Rieti, in Lazio, although it includes parts of southern Umbria (area of Cascia, Amelia, Narni, Accumoli and Norcia) and
..... Click the link for more information.
Comune di Roma

Flag
Seal
Nickname: "The Eternal City"
Motto: "Senatus Populusque Romanus" (SPQR)   (Latin)
..... Click the link for more information.
Country Italy
Region Lazio
Province Rieti (RI)
Mayor Giuseppe Emili (since May 2002)

Area km
Population
 - Total (as of December 31, 2004)
 - Density /km
Time zone
..... Click the link for more information.
clear distinction between fact and .
Please [ edit this article], according to the fiction guidelines, to meet Wikipedia's . (talk, )
The founding of Rome
..... Click the link for more information.
clear distinction between fact and .
Please [ edit this article], according to the fiction guidelines, to meet Wikipedia's . (talk, )
For other senses of this name, see Roman Kingdom (disambiguation).

..... Click the link for more information.
This article or section is written like a personal reflection or and may require .
Please [ improve this article] by rewriting this article or section in an . (, talk)


..... Click the link for more information.
religion is a set of common beliefs and practices generally held by a group of people, often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience.
..... Click the link for more information.
The word mythology (from the Greek μύθολογία mythología, from μυθολογείν mythologein
..... Click the link for more information.
original research or unverifiable claims.
* It may be too long. Some content may need to be summarized or split.

Please help [ improve the article] or discuss these issues on the talk page.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Quirinal Hill,
one of the seven hills of Rome
In Latin / Italian Collis Quirinalis /
colle Quirinale
Rione Monti
Buildings Gardens of Sallust, Baths of Constantine, Torre delle Milizie, Trevi Fountain,

Palazzi
..... Click the link for more information.
Olive oil

Olive oil from Italy.
Fat composition

Saturated fats Palmitic acid: 7.5–20.0 %
Stearic acid: 0.5–5.0 %
Arachidic acid: <0.8%
Behenic acid: <0.3%
Myristic acid: <0.1%
Lignoceric acid:
..... Click the link for more information.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Halicarnassus c. 60 BC–after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus.

Life


..... Click the link for more information.
The name Pelasgians (Ancient Greek: Πελασγοί - Pelasgoí, s. Pelasgós) was used by some ancient Greek writers to refer to groups of people who preceded the Hellenes.
..... Click the link for more information.
Laconia (Λακωνία), also known as Lacedaemonia, is a prefecture in Greece. Laconia has the legal status of a prefecture, with Sparta its administrative capital.
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter