Summary:

Juha Tuppi, A look at the resources of periphery in the pre-Roman central Italy: the case of Crustumerium

Crustumerium, a pre-Roman center in the Tiber Valley north of Rome, was located at a strategically significant position in the immediate vicinity of the territorial borders of Etruscans, Faliscans and Sabines. The Tiber River and Via Salaria functioned as effective transport routes within Latium Vetus, and according to current research, Crustumerium was also part of an important commercial route that reached from Veii in southern Etruria to Campania. According to archaeological evidence, Crustumerium flourished during the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. Its success was undoubtedly due to its famed fertile fields as well as good links to the neighboring territories; thus, with the exception of Rome, Crustumerium in its prime ranked as one of the greatest centers in pre-Roman Latium Vetus.

As the center grew and traffic increased during the 7th century BCE, significant earthwork projects took place at Crustumerium: among these are the road cutting crossing the settlement area and a moat protecting the southeast sector of the center. Projects of this magnitude could not have been carried out without centralized governance, organizational ability, tools and labor.
The primary aim of this paper is to scrutinize Crustumerium’s possibilities of utilizing the population of the surrounding periphery as a labor force through a case study of the center and its territory. In addition, I will attempt to outline the possible benefits the periphery could have gained from this relationship.