Kinship in Roman-italian Relationships: Diverse Traditions, Perspectives and Interpretations in Velleius Paterculus and Other Roman and Greek Historical Writers

This paper studies the concept of kinship between Italians and Romans in Velleius Paterculus and other historical writers, both Roman and Greek. The results have both historiographical significance, illuminating the historical writers’ varied treatments of the concept and, in some cases, the familial and ethnic influences upon them, and historical significance, allowing considered historical judgements about when and how the concept was used by Italians, including Latins, and how Romans, both corporately and individually, responded to these Italian uses. In studying the important concept of kinship I am of course not claiming that it trumps other historical factors (Realpolitik considerations, for instance). In restricting the literary evidence to historical prose writers (whether historiographers, biographers, antiquarians, or orators treating historical matters), I am operating within the brief of Histos; focusing on concrete historical contexts; and leaving open the possibility that the picture might be somewhat modified if the evidence of poetry (for example, Virgil’s Aeneid or Silius’ Punica) were included. The paper is organised as follows: . Introduction: ethnicity in Greek and Roman diplomacy; . The Italian perspective on Roman-Italian kinship: the evidence of Velleius Paterculus on the Social War; . Roman-Italian kinship in other Greek and Roman historical writers and in other political and military contexts; . The case of the Mamertines: homophylia in Greece and the homophylia of Italy in the Punic Wars; . Roman-Italian consanguinity based on common Trojan origins: the Punic Wars; . The concept of kinship between Romans and Latins; . Roman response to Latin claims of Roman-Latin kinship; * This article is part of a wider research project funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung. I would like to express my gratitude to Dr Federico Santangelo for advice; to the anonymous readers for their fruitful and stimulating critiques; and to Ms Linda Wimmer, Dr Clemence Schultze and Professor John Moles for improving the text in numerous different ways. Translations are original. The copy-editing was done by Thilo Rising. Kinship in Roman-Italian Relationships  . The evidence of Florus on the Social War; differences between Florus and Velleius and Appian; conclusions. The organisation is thus thematic and synchronic rather than diachronic, though the treatment brings out the importance of specific historical contexts and allows for the possibility of development or change in attitudes, whether on the Italian or on the Roman side. . Introduction: Ethnicity in Greek and Roman Diplomacy thnic discourse represented one of the most distinctive features of Greek diplomacy: the Greeks founded many of their international relationships (between Greeks and non-Greeks, as well as between Greeks and Greeks) on concepts somehow connected to the basic idea of ethnicity. Among all the arguments of an ethnic nature that the Greeks systematised in order to negotiate their diplomatic relationships, kinship was one of the most used by Greek communities that sought to strengthen alliances with other Greek cities. J. M. Hall explains: ‘Syngeneia is the regular word for family kinship, though it is important to note that it does not signify an externally defined system of cognitive relationships between siblings and cousins, but rather the kin relationships that a particular individual might recognise at any one time by reference to shared ancestors in the lineage. In other words, a syngenes is one who is recognised as belonging to the same genos as oneself, whether or not this is biologically the case. But, just as genos can be extended beyond the scope of the family to refer to larger collectivities, so syngeneia can refer to the wider kinship that individuals might share with one another by virtue of their belief in descent’. In this sense, the original meaning, connected to familial life, is adopted and adapted to describe and define specific and close kinds of political and diplomatic relationships. Many studies have focused on reviewing the operation of the concept of kinship in the Greek world, for instance, those by Musti, Curty and Will. The existence of this concept in the traditions of the populations of ancient Italy has also been stressed by Dench. Recently, some studies have been dedicated to the usage of kinship in Roman diplomacy, with specific attention to Roman-Greek relationships and the subsequent exploitation of the Trojan myth. However, none of these studies has directly dealt with such a  Hall () – (his italics).  Musti (); Curty (); (); Will ().