Historiography, ethnography and the case of the Sabina

Abstract

This essay uses the ancient construction of accounts of the Sabines as an illustration of ways in which the Romans used the ethnography of Italy to reflect on their own history and their own values. The essay considers the nature of Roman accounts of Italy, of their approach to ethnography more generally, and specifically how the fact of Curius Dentatus’ conquest of the Sabina, and his renowned frugality, became a key moment in the development of the specific historical framing of the Sabines.