Sabines

Roman Empire	Browse Topics	Alphabetical index	Site Map	Site News	Links

The Sabine Women

SABINES, or Sabini, a people of ancient Italy, who occupied a large part of northeastern and middle Italy. Amiternum was their capital and occupied a place near the present town of Aquila. The Sabines were closely allied to the Latins. They were an important nation before Rome was founded and it is thought that they occupied the Quirinal Hill, while Romulus built Rome on the Palatine Hill. The Sabines ceased to exist as an independent nation in 290 b. c., when the Romans incorporated them as a part of Rome. History contains many evidences that the population of Rome included an important Sabine element and that its influences became intermixed with those of Latin origin, both in religious rites and civil institutions. No remains of the Sabine language in the form of inscriptions have been discovered, but coins issued in Rome at an early period give evidence that the Sabine language had a notable influence upon that of the Romans.