The Cumaean-aided defeat of Clusium at Aricia halted Etruscan expansion into Latium and left surviving Clusian soldiers settled in Rome's Vicus Tuscus.
Key Facts
- Approximate date
- c. 508 BC
- Clusian commander
- Aruns, son of Lars Porsena
- Defenders
- Aricia, Latin League, and Cumae
- Decisive tactic
- Cumaean rear attack after feigned withdrawal
- Outcome for survivors
- Clusian refugees settled in Rome's Vicus Tuscus
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
After Lars Porsena, king of Clusium, concluded a peace treaty with Rome following his siege on behalf of the exiled Tarquinius Superbus, he sought to prevent his campaign from appearing fruitless. He accordingly dispatched his son Aruns with a portion of the Clusian army to besiege the Latin city of Aricia, extending Etruscan military ambitions southward into Latium.
The Aricians appealed to the Latin League and the Greek city of Cumae for military aid. When allied reinforcements arrived, the combined force engaged the Clusians in open battle. The Clusians initially routed the Arician contingent, but Cumaean troops allowed the Clusians to pass, then struck them from the rear, destroying the Clusian army and ending the siege.
The defeat shattered Clusian military power in the region and curtailed further Etruscan expansion into Latium. Survivors fled to Rome as supplicants and were granted a settlement district that came to be known as the Vicus Tuscus, leaving a lasting cultural imprint on the city.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Aruns (son of Lars Porsena).
Side B
3 belligerents