Sabine
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The Sabines (Latin Sabini - singular Sabinus), an Italic tribe. 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 kidnapping (see The Rape of the Sabine Women) 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.
[edit] Notable Sabines
- Numa Pompilius, legendary King of Rome
- Titus Tatius, legendary King of the Sabines
- Ancus Marcius, legendary King of Rome
- Quintus Sertorius
- Attius Clausus
- Pope Lando
[edit] Mythological References
- Ovid, Fasti (Book III 167–258)
- Ovid, Ars Amatoria (Book II 30–47)
- Livy, Ab Urbe Condita (Book I 9–13)
- Cicero, De Republica (Book II 12–14)
- Plutarch, Parallel Lives (Romulus 14–20)
- Juvenal's, Satires (Book III 81-85)
[edit] 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.