Sabines

Sabines, an ancient Italian people of the Central Apennines, belonged to the Indo-European race, and extended from Umbria to Lucania and Apulia. The Sabines, in a more particular sense, were those in the N., separated by the Tiber from Etruria, and from Rome by the Anio. They were a pastoral race, and, after being subdued by Rome in 200 B.C., received the Roman franchise. At an earlier period the Romans supplied themselves with wives by the well-known Sabine Rape. The Sabines had a curious custom of protecting themselves against over-population by declaring a Sacred Spring (ver sacrum), i.e. forcing all those born in a certain year to emigrate and found new colonies.