We return for the final instalment on the fall of Veii in 396 BCE.

In our previous episode, we witnessed the actual conquest of the great Etruscan city.

Now it’s Camillus’ time to bask in the glory!

He’s a Real Trip

Camillus has managed to secure victory for Rome, and one of the advantages now that it’s all over is that sweet, sweet booty. Everyone knew that Veii was wealthy, but Camillus is staggered (pun intended) by the number of captured spoils. As he offered detailed thanks to the gods, he stumbled. The Romans were a superstitious bunch, so although Camillus tried to gloss over this trip, it was seen as an omen. Camillus, and perhaps Rome herself, were destined to take a mighty tumble. Foreshadowing!

But that all lay in the future. Camillus had to decide how to divvy up the booty. He tried to take the sensible path and consult with the Senate, but he failed to please most of the populace with his choices. Ingrates!

This Lady IS for Turning!

The fate of Veii’s tutelary deity, Juno Regina, was an even more delicate matter. The Romans hoped they could persuade her to switch her allegiance and residence to Rome. Juno agrees to make the move and was initially established in a new temple on the Aventine. That little minx!

This is the first example of the ritual of evocatio, which we sometimes see pop up when Rome conquers Etruscan cities. This may have something to do with the fact that the rite probably originated in Etruria. We wish we knew more about this fascinating practice, but as usual, we have more questions than answers. The religious calendars of Rome indicate that the cult of Juno Regina did begin at around this time, so this may lend some support to our historical narrative. Either way, Veii has now not only been conquered, but stripped of divine protection. OUCH.

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No white horses here! Mosaic depicting a quadriga of the factio prasina (‘the greens,’ representing the spring), 3rd century AD, from Rome, National Archaeological Museum of Spain, Madrid, courtesy of Carole Raddato on Flickr.

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

Back in the city, the Romans are thrilled with this military victory. The matrons don’t even need to be told by the Senate to go and thank the gods in the temples. Hold my purse, Julius! I have praying to do!

Camillus was mobbed by crowds upon his return. No one will be surprised to hear that Camillus was awarded a triumph. EVERYTHING about it was OTT. The Senate decreed FOUR whole days of supplications, and Camillus and FOUR white horses for his chariot. With such a showy display, Camillus was thought to be likening himself to Jupiter and the sun god.

Not everyone thought this triumph was in good taste. After such an important victory, Camillus was eroding those warm fuzzies in record time. That is, of course, if we can believe the details. It’s hard to know what the norm was for a triumph in the early 4^th century BCE.

Camillus ignored the haters, and busied himself with all the vows and promises he had made to various deities. There were temples to build for Juno and Mater Matuta, and then there was also the matter of gifts to Apollo. Camillus had pledged one tenth of the booty seized. The pontiffs decided that this needed to come from the people, who were less than impressed with a request to return some of their share of the spoils.

The Year That Had Everything

The year wrapped up with peace being secured on multiple fronts. Perhaps after seeing Veii’s defeat, the Volscians and Aequians decided to sue for peace themselves.

396 BCE truly was an epic year. We think you’ll agree once you’ve listened to all parts of our trilogy that it deserves to be known as ‘The Year That Had Everything’.  

Things to Look Out For:

• Unexpected crossover with the plot of Gladiator (2000)





• First mass enslavement and sale of POWs





• Spooooky aspects to Roman triumph





• Cameos from Romulus and Julius Caesar





• Camillus being paired up with the Athenian general Themistocles by Plutarch





• Dr Rad realising that the theme song for Roman triumphs should have been 1977’s Psycho Killer by Talking Heads





• Throwback to classic Aussie songs like 1991’s Horses by Daryl Braithwaite, former lead singer of Sherbet. It’s hard to know what is better – the song or the video clip, but we’re really glad this randomly came up.   

Our Players 396 BCE

Military Tribunes with Consular Power

• L. Titinius L. f. M. n. Pansa Saccus Mil Tr. c.p. 400

• P. Licinius P. f. P. n. Calvus Esquilinus Mil. Tr. c.p. 400

• P. Manlius Sp. f. C. n. Capitolinus Mil Tr. c.p. 400

• Q. Manlius A. f. Cn. n. Vulso Capitolinus? (Pat)

• Cn. Genucius M. f. M. n. Augurinus Mil. Tr. c.p. 399

• L. Atilius L. f. L. n. Priscus Mil Tr. c.p. 399

Dictator

• M. Furius L. f. Sp. n. Camillus (Pat) Mil Tr. c. p. 401, 398, 394, 386, 384, 381

Master of the Horse

• P. Cornelius P. f. M. n. Maluginensis (Pat) Mil. Tr. c.p. 397, 390

Interreges

• L. Valerius (Potitus) (Pat) Cos. 393, 392, Mil. Tr. c.p. 414, 406, 403, 401. 398

• Q. Servilius Fidenas (Pat)

• M. Furius Camillus (Pat) Mil. Tr. c.p. 401, 398, 394, 386, 384, 381

Our Sources

• Dr Rad reads Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, 5.18-23.





• Dr G reads Diodorus Siculus, 14.90.1, 14.93.2-3; Fasti Capitolini; Dionysius of Halicarnassus 12.13-16, 13.1-3; Plutarch, Life of Camillus, 5-8; Pliny, Natural History, 33.111; Appian, Ital. 8; Florus, 1.17; Valerius Maximus 1.5.2, 1.8.3; Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights, 17.21; Eutropius, 1.20; Augustine, City of God, 2.17; Orosius, 2.19.1-4; Zonaras, 7.21.





• Bernard, Seth. “Rome from the Sack of Veii to the Gallic Sack.” In Building Mid-Republican Rome. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190878788.003.0003.





• Bradley, G. 2020. Early Rome to 290 BC (Edinburgh University Press).





• Broughton, T. R. S., Patterson, M. L. 1951. The Magistrates of the Roman Republic Volume 1: 509 B.C. – 100 B.C. (The American Philological Association)





• Bruun, Patrick. “Evocatio Deorum: Some Notes on the Romanization of Etruria.” Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis 6 (1972): 109–20. https://doi.org/10.30674/scripta.67073.





• Cornell, T. J. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC) (Taylor & Francis) Forsythe, G. 2006. A Critical History of Early Rome: From Prehistory to the First Punic War (University of California Press) 





• Duff, T. E. 2010. ‘Plutarch’s Themistocles and Camillus’. In N. Humble, ed., Plutarch’s Lives: parallelism and purpose (Classical Press of Wales: Swansea, 2010), pp. 45-86.





• Eder, W. (. (2006). Triumph, Triumphal procession. In Brill’s New Pauly Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e1221100 





• Elvers, K. (., Courtney, E. (. V., Richmond, J. A. (. V., Eder, W. (., Giaro, T. (., Eck, W. (., & Franke, T. (. (2006). Furius. In Brill’s New Pauly Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e416550





• Gowing, Alain M. 2009. “The Roman exempla tradition in imperial Greek historiography: The case of Camillus in Feldherr, A., ed. The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Historians. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.





• Graf, F. (. O., & Ley, A. (. (2006). Iuno. In Brill’s New Pauly Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e603690





• Kraus, C. S. 2020. ‘Urban Disas