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MEMOIRS
OF
THE
AMERICAN
ACADEMY
IN
ROME
VOLUME
I
SCHOOL
OFCLASSICAL
STUDIES
1915-1916
BERGAMO
ISTITUTO
ITALIANO
D'ARTI
GRAFICHE
1917
THE
MILITARYINDEBTEDNESS
OF
EARLY
ROME
TO
ETRURIA
EUGENE
s.
MCCARTNEY.
tiyadoi
yd(>,
el
xal
TIVS;
etsgoi,
jusraiafietv
0r]
xal
tr]1.u>oat
TO(iehiov
xal
'Pcoficuot.(Polyb.
VI.
25.
1
1).
HE
debt
of
Rome
to
Etruria
in
all
fields
of
her
life
and
art
is
receiving
annually
*
fuller
acknowledgement
as
the
evidence
slowlybut
ceaselessly
accumulates.
For
many
of
hercustoms
and
institutions,
civil
and
religious,
public
and
private,
tradition
has
longascribed
an
Etruscan
origin,
a
claim
that
is
now
being
substantiated
by
the
science
of
archaeology.
In
no
sphere
of
activity
is
this
indebtedness
more
pronounced
than
in
thingsmilitary
1.
The
scope
and
importance
of
the
contributions
of
the
mysterious
people
north
of
the
Tiber
to
this
department
of
Rome's
greatness
will
be
more
readily
appreciated
if
we
draw
a
preliminary
pictureof
the
weapons
and
methods
of
warfare
in
vogue
in
primitive
Latium
prior
to
the
establishment
of
close
relations
with
Etruria.
The
reconstruction
of
such
a
picture
depends
in
large
measure
upon
literaryevi-
dence
2
.
Perhapsno
single
statement
in
the
pages
of
a
Greek
or
Latin
writer
may
be
1
For
the
purposes
of
this
paper
thewriter
has
re-
garded
as
due
to
Etruscan
influencethe
introduction
of
anyelement
the
knowledge
of
which
was
acquired
from
the
Etruscans,
irrespective
of
its
ultimate
origin.
He
has
at
times,
however,
noted
incidentally
the
paths
by
which
certain
weapons
made
their
advent
into
Etruria.
A
short
summary
of
these
is
to
be
found
onpage
166,
n.
3.
2
The
numerous
quotations
that
have
been
culled
from
almost
every
department
of
Latin
literature
natu-
rally
vary
greatlyin
their
value
as
evidence.
From
the
very
nature
of
the
case
the
poet
is
not
subject
to
the
ame
restraints
as
the
prose
writer,
although
he
may
beversed
in
archaeology,
as
was
Vergil.
The
Aeneid's
delineation
of
ancient
tribes
may
occasionally
consist
ofpictures
of
contemporary
life
in
the
by-ways
[of
Italy,
and
still
be
reliable
in
the
main,
since
inrural
and
moun-
tainous
districts
customs
andmannerschangedeven
more
slowly
in
antiquity
than
they
do
to-day.
Before
rejecting
Vergil's
archaeology
onemustbe
very
sure
of
his
ground.
(See
J.
W.
MACKAIL,
Virgil
and
Roman
Studies,
J.
R.
S.,
Ill,
1-24).
Some
cautionmust,
however,
be
exercised
in
passages
imitative
of
Homer.
Even
the
words
of
one
and
the
same
historian
may
have
a
different
value,as
in
the
case
of
Livy
for
the
periods
preceding
and
fol-
lowing
390
B.
C.,
the
date
of
the
destruction
of
Rome
by
the
Gauls,
and
the
consequent
loss
of
the
records
and
documents.
There
is
no
doubt
that
Livyand
his
sources
122
EUGENE
S.
McCARTNEY
taken
with
the
finality
of
an
ipse
dixit,
yet
when
we
have
a
ratherlarge
mass
of
tradition,
and
this
tradition
is
tenable
ona
priori
grounds,
or
accords
with
facts
which
can
be
or
have
been
ascertained
by
investigation,
greater
weight
mustbe
attached
to
it.
It
is
the
object
of
thepresent
study
to
gather
togetherthe
various
threads
of
information,
and
to
weave
into
a
fabric
the
sporadicstatements
of
classic
authors
with
the
almost
equally
scattered
results
of
modern
research.
All
the
evidence
indicatesthat
the
earliest
period
of
Rome's
military
history,of
which
we
can
get
faint
glimpses
through
the
enveloping
mist,
was
in
no
way
greatly
unlike
that
of
her
barbarian
neighbors,or
even
of
savages
to-day.
In
many
spheres
of
activity
nations
have
trudged
painfully
up
to
civilization
on
roads
more
or
less
parallel.
The
civilized
peoples
are
differentiated
from
others
chiefly
throughhaving
travelled
farther.
"
The
archaeologist
",
says
Pitt-Rivers',
n
traces
back
the
arts
and
institutions
of
his
own
people
and
country
until
he
finds
that
they
once
existed
in
a
condition
as
low
or
lower
than
that
of
existing
savages,
having
the
same
arts,
and
using
preciselythe
same
implements
and
weapons;
andhe
arrives
at
theconclusion
that
the
difference
observable
between
existing
races
is
one
of
divergence
and
not
of
origin
".
The
analogies
between
the
Greeksand
the
Romans
in
the
development
of
military
science
are
especially
striking,
as
will
be
shown
later.
Perhapsno
featureoftheprimitive
Latinaccoutrements
is
so
striking
as
the
absence
of
bronze.
Nee
rudis
infestis
miles
radiabat
in
armis,
says
Propertius
(IV,
1,
27)
in
describing
early
conditions.
Here
we
really
have
two
statements,
first
that
the
soldier
was
untutored,
and
secondly,
that
he
did
not
wear
burnishedarmor.
So,
too,
Vergil
pictures
ancient
panoply
in
which
there
was
no
ringingshield
nor
resounding
chariot,
Nee
clipei
currusve
sonant
(Aen.
VII,
686).
Livy
calls
special
attention
to
the
fact
that
in
the
first
class
of
the
Servian
organizationthe
galea,
clipeum,
ocreae,
and
lorica
were
all
of
bronze,evidently
an
innovation
and
a
contrast
to
the
previous
equipment.
Propertius
goes
on
to
state
(IV,
1,
28)
that
this
crude
soldiery
used
to
engage
in
proelia
nuda,
i.
e.,
they
fought
without
shield
or
otherdefensive
equipment.
Offensivelythe
earliest
weapon
was
a
club
or
a
shaft,
sometimes
hardened
at
the
end
by
fire.
Lucretius
(V,
1284)
notes
theuse
of
sikamm
fragmina
rami
as
primitive
arms.
Such
weaponswere
never
despised.
A
bronze
figure
from
Sardinia
represents
a
warrior
with
a
stout
club,
although
he
is
armed
also
with
a
good
sword
and
dagger
2
.
have
at
times
committed
anachronisms,
and
haveused
paper.
Critical
comments
have
beenmade,
asa
rule,
only
their
imaginations
to
supply
missing
details.
The
annalists
where
confidence
in
the
contents
of
a
passage
has
been
were
apt
to
duplicate
for
Latin
literature
thrilling
incidents
necessary
for
the
further
elaboration
of
the
argument,
orepisodes
that
they
found
in
the
pages
of
the
Greek
'
The
Evolution
of
Culture
and
Other
Essays,
p.
141.
authors.
Quotations
are
introduced,
then,
only
for
what
2
G.
PINZA,
Museo
Etrusco
Gregoriano,Material!
they
are
worth,
especially
in
the
introductoryportion
of
the
per
la
Etnologia
Antica
Tuxemo-Lazialc,
\,
p.
153.
Sections
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- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 123
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 127
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 129
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 131
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 133
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 135
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 137
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 139
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRUR1A 141
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRUR1A 143
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 145
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 149
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 151
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 153
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRUR1A 155
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 157
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRUR1A 159
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 161
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 163
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 165
- THE MILITARY INDEBTEDNESS OF EARLY ROME TO ETRURIA 167
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