Aboriginal (Italy)

According to traditional Roman tradition , the Aborigines were the earliest inhabitants of Lazio . The etymology of the name is uncertain. Today's interpretation as a native inhabitant (from Latin ab origine "from the origins") cannot be proven from ancient Roman times. An ancient Greek name for the Aborigines was Βορείγονοι (Boreígonoi "originating from the north"). An onomatic development of the name Aberigenees (from Latin aberrare "to wander around"), referring to a possible nomadic way of life, towards Aborigines was assumed .

The origin of the Aborigines was already controversial among ancient writers. Some authors considered them to be the autochthonous population of Lazio, others as immigrant Ligurians or Greeks . They came from the area of Reate and displaced the Sakrani or the Sikeler from Latium and defeated the Umbrians . Sallust describes it as uncultivated, but other sources describe a monarchically organized community. Several kings - many of whom became gods - are named: Saturnus , Thybris , Faunus , Aventinus , Picus and Latinus , to whom Latium supposedly owes its name.

In the tradition, the Aborigines appear together with the Trojans as a tribal tribe of the Latins . The tradition shows a mixture of founding myth and fictitious historiography . There are various traditions that describe the Aborigines partly as opponents and partly as allies of the Trojans.

When Justin also will Romulus named as Aboriginal.

swell

• Dionysius of Halicarnassus , Antiquitates Romanae I, 10 ff.
• Anonymus, Origo gentis Romanae ( Latin text and German translation ).
• Johannes Lydos , De magistratibus I, 10 and I, 22.
• Sallust , De coniuratione Catilinae 6.1.
• Iustinus , Historiarum Philippicarum libri XLIV 43.1 f.

literature

• Conrad Cichorius : Aborigines . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, column 106 f.