We jump into the year of 402 BCE and Rome and Veii are tooth and nail in siege mode. In addition to this, Rome is rapidly approaching the end of the 5th century BCE, a date that is meaningful for historians and scholars but less significant for the Romans who understood the years through the names of the magistrates more than being overly interested in the base ten system.

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Episode 151 – Factional Foibles

Watch your back!

Rome’s siege of Veii continues so there’s good reason to see six military tribunes with consular power in the role this year. But it may be the case that Rome’s military preoccupation with Veii is about to become costly. Just ask the Rome’s new garrison at Anxur in Volscian territory…

Siege Developments

Now you’d be forgiven for thinking a siege is not the most exciting form of warfare. And if it was just Rome versus Veii, it may indeed have remained a boring affair. But sometime in this year, it seems that Veil’s northern neighbours have realised that Veii falling to Rome might be terrible for them. Enter the Capenantes and Falscians and cue siege chaos! How will the situation be resolved? Tune in to find out.

Map of Veii including cities to the north Capena (Capenantes) and Falerii (Falsicans).

Things to Listen Out For

• The joys of Cornettos





• Skipping through the daisies





• A hideous sandwich situation





• Consideration of the extent of the powers of the tribunes of the plebs





• A potted introduction to the 3rd century CE writer Dio Cassius





• Some details about the archaeological record between Veii and Rome during this period





• A new record with the Partial Pick!





• A very late background contribution from one of our star podcats 🙂

Our Players for 402 BCE

Military Tribunes with Consular Power

• Gaius Servilius P. f. Q. n. Ahala (Pat)





• Quintus Servilius Q. f. P. n. Fidenas (Pat)





• Lucius Verginius L. f. Opetr. N. Tricostus Esquilinus (Pat)





• Quintus Sulpicius Ser. f. Ser. n. Camerinus Cornutus (Pat)





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





• Maelius Sergius L. f. L. n. Fidenas (Pat)

Our Sources

• Dr Rad reads Livy 5.8.1





• Dr G reads Diodorus Siculus 14.38.1; Fragmentvm de Praenominibus; Fasti Capitolini; Dio Cassius Book 6.23ish





• Arizza, M., Rossi, D. 2022. ‘The territory between Veii and Rome in the Archaic period: Rural structures as territorial markers of cultural frontiers’ Frontière.s, Revue d’archèologie, histoire et histoire de l’art Volume 6: 49-62. https://journals.openedition.org/frontieres/1297





• 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)





• 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) 





• Lomas, Kathryn (2018). The rise of Rome. History of the Ancient World. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. doi:10.4159/9780674919938. ISBN978-0-674-65965-0. S2CID239349186.





• Ogilvie, R. M. 1965. A Commentary on Livy: Books 1-5 (Clarendon Press). 

Sound Credits

Our theme music was composed by the amazing Bettina Joy de Guzman

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Map of Veii from The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria by George Dennis 1848

Automated Transcript

Lightly edited for Latin terminology and to support our wonderful Australian accents!

Dr Rad 0:15
Welcome to The Partial Historians.

Dr G 0:19
We explore all the details of ancient Rome.

Dr Rad 0:23
Everything from political scandals, the love affairs, the battled wage and when citizens turn against each other. I’m Dr Rad.

Dr G 0