LIFE IN THE VILLAGES AROUND ROME
The circumstances in which the Romans found themselves changed dramatically around 500. In consequence, the fifth century seems to have been a difficult time for the inhabitants of Latium, Campania, and the Greek cities of the south. The settled coastal plains of the west and south were disturbed by the movements of peoples and bands of warriors beyond their margins. The inhabitants of the valleys and plateaus of the central Italian highlands did not live in an urbanized social environment.
Villages were the chief settlements here, and in their economies the herding of animals seems to have been more important than agriculture. Raiding may well have been ubiquitous; some villages shared fortified hilltop places of refuge where they and their herds could take shelter when attacked. By the beginning of the fifth century, ruling elites had begun to merge and form federations. Although these combinations did not result in cities and the more highly orga-nized life associated with them, they were capable of collective action on a larger scale than before, especially when it came to raiding, warfare, and self-defense.
One further aspect of life in the highlands added to the problems of the cities on the coastal plains. In response to famine, scarcity of land, or other misfortune, the highlanders of central Italy had developed the custom of dedicating some of their children to the gods, and then expelling them when they reached adulthood so that they would be forced to find homes and land elsewhere. This widespread practice, known as a “Sacred Spring,” may well have been long established (con-siderable uniformity of language among these highlanders reinforces the likeli-hood that they had a common ancestry).