Albani (people)

Albani was the Latin name in the Roman Republic for the inhabitants of Alba Longa, southeast of Rome.

According to legend, Ascanius, son of Trojan War hero Aeneas, founded the Albani tribe when he settled Alba Longa around 1152 BC. Literary sources suggest the city’s name is derived from the white (alba) sow Aeneas saw when arriving in Latium. Based on limited archaeological evidence, experts say the Albani tribe inhabited the long ridge between the modern-day Lake Albano and Monte Cavo (see map below).

At its height, the Albani and the city of Alba Longa exerted great power and influence over Latium. In particular, literary sources such as Pliny the Elder’s Historia Naturalis state that Alba Longa headed a league of city-states in Latium, possibly called Prisci Latini. Most of these sources tend to vary regarding the political structure of the alliance as well as Alba Longa’s hegemonic role. Many historians say it is uncertain if the Albani exerted any sort of dominance since most of the surviving sources are biased.

The Prisci Latini are the colonists sent out by the Alban king, Latinus Silvius, who would be made to submit to Roman authority following the destruction of Alba Longa in the mid-7th century BC. Those colonists would be a part of 30 villages that would form the populi Albenses which may have been related to the 30 Latin villages of the same time in ancient Latium.

However, Pliny and others generally agree that the communities of Latium gathered at Alba Longa for sacrificial rites. Every year in the spring, the tribes would congregate on Mons Albanus (Monte Cavo) to worship Iuppiter Latiaris. The festival was known as Feriae Latinae. The major custom in this ceremony was a great banquet, which required all attending cities to bring food, especially meat. These offerings were then divided among the attendants and owning some of the food signified membership within the league. Pliny lists 30 tribes participating in the Feriae Latinae. This festival continued as an annual event through the imperial age of Rome. There is also evidence that leaders from the surrounding tribes of Latium met at a spring in Alba Longa known as Aqua Ferentia. This supports the theory that the Albani were a central figure in Latium. Alba Longa was also known for its wine and good stone quarries.

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Wikipedia