Rome, Kinship And Diplomacy

Abstract

The chapter argues that kinship was for Rome much more a diplomatic and cultural element than one based on ethnic criteria. It inclined to make a sharp distinction between the policy adopted by Rome in international and Italic matters. Almost all Romes relationships involved Troy as a common ancestor. The chapter considers the chronological span during which Rome was involved in a syngeneia with other cities and peoples. In analyzing some individual cases, the author shows that the Romans knew the value that religion could have in relation to kinship. The chapter focuses on the diplomatic contacts between Rome and other states or poleis, with whom there is a reported claim of kinship, or a related concept like oikeiotes , starting with the early third century B. C. It reverses the conventional perspective, which considers these cases mainly as proof of Romes acceptance of the Trojan myth. Keywords: cultural element; diplomatic contacts; Kinship relation; oikeiotes ; Rome; syngeneia ; Trojan myth