Mettius Fufetius
Mettius (or Mettus ) Fufetius (- 673 BC ) was the legendary last chief ( dictator after Livius 1,23,4; dux , German "leader" or "army leader" after Valerius Maximus 7,4,1) the Latin city of Alba Longa .
In the war against Rome , he proposed that the conflict be resolved by a proxy battle between the Roman Horatius triplets and the Curiatius triplets from Alba Longa. Since the Horatians won, Mettius Fufetius had to agree to a military alliance between his city and Rome.
Secretly, however, he pursued anti-Roman politics by encouraging the Etruscan cities of Fidenae and Veii, which were hostile to Rome, to defend Rome in 665 BC. To declare war. Although he took part in the decisive battle on the Roman side, he had his troops withdrawn before the start of the fight in order to weaken the Roman contingent and to change fronts if the opposing side had a superiority.
After the Romans had won the battle despite the defection of the Albanians, Mettius Fufetius was imprisoned by a ruse by the Roman King Tullus Hostilius and torn to pieces by two four- in-hand men as punishment for his betrayal . This procedure was later seen in Roman antiquity as a prime example of a particularly cruel execution, which historians such as Livy highlighted as unique, since the Romans could otherwise boast that they always impose milder sentences than other peoples (Livy 1,28,11 ).
literature
- Friedrich Münzer: Mettius Fufetius. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VII, 1, Stuttgart 1910, Col. 197 f.
- John D. Noonan: Mettius Fufetius in Livy. In: Classical Antiquity , Volume 25, No. 2 (2006), pp. 327-349.