Tullus Hostilius

Tullus Hostilius (r. 673 BC – 641 BC) was the third of the legendary Kings of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius, and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius.

His successful wars with Alba Longa, Fidenae and Veii shadow forth the earlier conquests of Latin territory and the first extension of the Roman territory beyond the walls of Rome. It was during his reign that the combat between the Horatii and Curiatii, the representatives of Rome and Alba Longa, took place. He is said to have been struck dead by lightning as the punishment of his pride.

Tullus Hostilius was chosen by the senators because he was a Roman and because his grandfather had fought with Romulus against the Sabines. After the death of Numa Pompilius the spirit of peace seemed to weaken. Friendly feelings between the Romans and the countrymen of Alba Longa in the hills outside of Rome gave way to quarreling because people began to raid each other's fields for crops and animals.

When the ruler of the Albans complained to Tullus Hostilius, he rebuked them with the argument that they had initiated the hostilities, not the Romans. The Alban and Roman armies prepared to fight. On the proposal of the Alban dictator, Mettius Fufetius, the two sides agreed that the dispute would be resolved by combat between two sets of triplet brothers, with the losing side submitting to rule by the victorious one. The Roman Horatii brothers defeated the Alban Curiatii in a battle fought with sword and shield, a single Horatius alone surviving. The Albans thus became subjects of the Roman state. When they refused to help Rome in a battle, Hostilius had the dictator of Alba, Mettius Fufetius, torn in two by chariots running in opposite directions. He had Alba Longa destroyed and gave the Albans the Caelian Hill to live on.

Legend has it that Tullus was so busy with one war after another that he neglected any service to the gods. A dreadful plague came upon the Romans. Even Tullus was stricken with it. He determined to practice secret sacrifices to Jupiter to ask for his favour and help. However, he did not complete them properly and the god struck him down with a thunderbolt for his wrongful practice of religion.

This was seen as an omen to the Romans that they had better choose a new king who would follow the peaceful example of Numa Pompilius. They chose Ancus Marcius, the grandson of Numa Pompilius.

Myth versus history

As with all the early kings of Rome, the events ascribed to the reign of Tullus Hostilius are treated with skepticism by modern historians. Part of this is due to obvious flaws in the literary tradition describing the kings: much like the confusion the Ancients exhibited in attributing identical accomplishments to both Tarquinius Priscus and Tarquinius Superbus, the accomplishments of Tullus Hostilius are thought by many scholars to be rhetorical doublets of those of Romulus. Both are brought up among shepherds, carry on war against Fidenae and Veii, double the number of citizens,and organize the army. Additionally, Tullus Hostilius' warlike and ferocious character seems be little more than a contrasting stereotype to the peaceable, devout Numa Pompilius; the first Roman annalists may merely have imputed aggressive qualities to Hostilius by naively parsing his gentile name (Hostilius = "hostile").

Hostilius "was" probably a historical figure, however, in the strict sense that a man bearing the name Tullus Hostilius likely reigned as king in Rome. The most compelling evidence is his name: "Tullus" is a unique praenomen in Roman culture, and his gentile name is obscure and linguistically archaic enough to rule out the possibility that he was a crude later invention. Additionally two distinctive events traditionally ascribed to his reign may be regarded as historical fact in the sense that we know they happened during the early regal period, though their association with Hostilius is debatable. The first event is the destruction of Alba Longa. That the Alban mountains were the site of a large settlement, and that this settlement fell under Roman power during the regal period, is beyond doubt. But when and by whom it was destroyed is uncertain; it was almost certainly subjugated at a later date than that given by Livy, and may have been destroyed by the Latins and not by the Romans, who might have regarded as impious the destruction of their traditional mother-country.

The second historical event is the construction of the original Senate House, the Curia Hostilia, whose remains on the northwestern edge of the Forum have been dated to around 600 BC, and which was universally held by the tradition to have been built by - and thus named in honor of - Tullus. Although a date of 600 BC would put it well outside of the dates traditionally ascribed to Tullus Hostilius' reign, this is hardly a problem; the absurdly long reigns of the Roman kings have never been taken seriously by scholars (with an average length of 34 years per king, the traditional chronology would be without historical parallel - even the remarkably stable and healthy English monarchy has an average reign of only 21 years). A more plausible chronology offered by T.J. Cornell and supported by recent archaeological research contracts the regal period from 240 to around 120 years and places the historical accomplishments of the kings between 625 BC (when the first signs of real urbanization and unification of Rome show up in the archaeological record) and 500 BC. This would bring the construction of the Curia Hostilia well within the time of a possible reign by Tullus Hostilius, and also explain the otherwise inexplicable name of the building. [T.J. Cornell, "The Beginnings Of Rome" pp 120-121]

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