Battle of Aricia

Battle of Aricia - battle in 506 or 504 BC. e. between the Etruscan army and the army of Latins and Cumean Greeks.

After the conclusion of peace between Rome and Porcine, King Clusius transferred half of the army to his son Arrunt , and he opposed the city of Aricia . After two years of war, the Etruscans clashed with a coalition of the cities of Anzia , Tuscula and the Greeks from Qom , who came to the aid of the Aryans. In the decisive battle held under the walls of Aricia, Arrunt at first was successful, attacking superior enemy forces and overthrowing the Latins, but then the Greek commander Aristodemus struck the Etruscans who were carried away by the persecution, surrounded and defeated their army. Arrunt died in battle. The remnants of Etruscan troops took refuge in Rome ^[1] .

According to ancient historians, the Romans helped the Etruscans out of generosity. Part of the Etruscans decided to stay in Rome, where they were allocated for the settlement the area, called the Etruscan quarter. Dionysius adds that Porsenna, in gratitude for the salvation of his people, returned to the Romans the land on the right bank of the Tiber , which was transferred to the Etruscans under a peace treaty ^[1] .

Researchers believe that the battle of Aricia was the final episode of the Etruscan attempt to establish a direct land link between their main territories ( Twelfth ) and Campanian Etruria. Rome at that time was under the control of Porsenna, who thus gained access to Lazio , and, possibly, was the base for Etruscan troops. This allows us to explain the asylum of the defeated Arrunt army. The Etruscan quarter in Rome was to appear much earlier, and an explanation of the reasons for its occurrence in Libya and Dionysius seems unnecessary and strained. It can be assumed that the defeat under Aricia meant a general failure of Etruscan expansion to the south and led to the decline of the Campanian colonies. Rome was probably also freed from the power of King Porsenna ^[2] .