an ancient people of Central Italy, were generally supposed to have derived their name from Sabus, their chief tutelary deity. Their antiquity was very great. They were the parent-stock of many of the neighbouring tribes, such as the Samnites, the Peligni, and the Picentes. Of their early descent nothing certain was known. The only plausible genealogy is that which infers, from a similarity of language and religion, that they were a cognate branch with the Umbrians. So completely, indeed, was their origin lost in obscurity that Strabo calls them natives of the soil. The territory of the Sabines was bounded on the S. by Latium, on the E. by the Marsi and Vestini, on the N. by Umbria, and on the W. by Umbria and Etruria. It was very broken and rugged. The eastern part was occupied with the barren ranges and offshoots of the Apen- Sabines. The western part, though arable, sloped away in considerable undulations towards the valley of the Tiber. A country of such highland nature had an effect upon the character of the Sabines. The mountain air and exercise made them healthy, strong, and hardy. Their want of all luxuries preserved them from weakness and effeminacy. The religious superstitions which were fostered by the wild and weird phenomena of their homes heightened their valour to the pitch of enthusiasm. They were indeed men who were ready to dare and able to accomplish the conquering of inroads upon their neighbours' territories. Accordingly, at an early age of authentic history, the Sabines, issuing from the north-eastern uplands to which they were originally confined, began a system of warlike aggression. Gradually, and by repeated attacks, their invading hordes subdued the aborigines, and advanced southward, occupying the land. At length, pushing their outposts to the very gates of Rome, they commenced to interfere with the affairs of the rising city. By victory or by compromise they gained admittance into the state upon very advantageous terms. The Quirinal Hill was allotted for their residence; a share in the government was given to them; and their sacerdotal and religious institutions were adopted by the whole body of the people. Nor did this important acquisition satisfy the ambition of the rest of the Sabine nation. They persisted in their encroachments upon the Roman territory. The defeats they received from Tullus Hostilius and from Tarquinius Priscus only checked them for a time. Their system of predatory raids was resumed, and was not discontinued till 449 B.C. The power of the Sabines then began to be broken. In that year M. Horatius gave them a defeat which stilled their animosity for more than a century and a half. They recovered in 290 B.C., only to be overthrown by Manlius Curius Dentatus with greater completeness than ever. Their nationality had received its death-blow. Not more than twenty years had elapsed before the Roman right of suffrage was conferred upon them, and they were absorbed into the commonwealth of Rome.