Editing Tullus Hostilius (section)

==Historical events==
Two distinctive events are traditionally ascribed to Tullus's reign. Historians regard the events as having taken place during the early regal period, but the question of whether the events should be directly associated with Tullus is debatable.

The first event is the destruction of Alba Longa. The historical record shows that the [[Alban Hills]] were the site of a large settlement and that this settlement fell under Roman power during the regal period. Details are uncertain about when and by whom Alba Longa was destroyed. It was almost certainly subjugated at a later date than that given by Livy and it may have been destroyed by the Latins and not by the Romans (which some scholars suggest may have been considered impious, given Alba Longa's status as a traditional ancestral city).{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}}

===Wars with Alba Longa===
The battle of Alba Longa was settled by having two sets of triplets, one born in Alba Longa and one in Rome, fight for their city. The last person standing alive would be the winner, and his city would win the war without having their armies engage in battle. The story states that these triplets were singled out as champions of both cities.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 1, chapter 24|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0026:book=1:chapter=24|access-date=2020-12-08|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> According to Livy, the triplets were named [[Horatii and Curiatii]], and the majority believed that the Horatii belonged to Rome and the Curiatii to Alba Longa, though this is not certain.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 1, chapter 24|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0026:book=1:chapter=24|access-date=2020-12-12|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> After battling for a long time, one of the Roman brothers was victorious, and in the legend, Rome, under Tullus Hostilius, was said to have emerged victorious.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 1, chapter 25|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0026:book=1:chapter=25|access-date=2020-12-12|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>

The Alban dictator [[Mettius Fufetius]] betrayed Rome during the war with the Etruscans, where Rome requested Alban military assistance, which Mettius agreed to, but also had a secret agreement with the Etruscans to desert Rome in the heat of battle, leaving Tullus alone to fight the battle. Mettius also betrayed the Etruscans by not joining in the battle at all.<ref name=":022">{{Citation|last=Neel|first=Jaclyn|chapter=Alba Longa|date=2015-06-30|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History|pages=1–2|publisher=John Wiley & Sons |doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah25024|isbn=978-1-4443-3838-6}}</ref> Tullus won the battle despite the betrayal.  Mettius was taken prisoner by Tullus.<ref name=":4" />

Roman tradition holds that Tullus ordered Alba Longa to be destroyed and forced the migration of the Alban citizenry to Rome, where they were integrated and became Roman citizens. According to Livy, Tullus ordered Mettius Fufetius to be executed by being torn apart between two chariots, a method described as unprecedented and never repeated in Roman practice.<ref name=":022"/> According to Livy, this was the first and last time the Romans used this method of execution.<ref name=":022"/>

===Construction of the Curia Hostilia===
Tullus's second alleged historical accomplishment was the construction of the original Roman Senate house, the [[Curia Hostilia]]. After the incorporation of leaders from Alba Longa into the senate, it became necessary to erect a new building to accommodate the now much bigger Roman Senate. Thus the Curia Hostilla was built.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 1, chapter 30|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0026:book=1:chapter=30|access-date=2020-12-12|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> It was universally held by tradition to have been built by—and named in honor of—Tullus, and its remains on the northwestern edge of the [[Roman Forum|Forum]] have been dated to around 600 BC.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Cornell|first=T. J.|title=The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000–264 BC)|publisher=Routledge|year=1995|location=London and New York|pages=71}}</ref> Although that date falls well outside the traditionally-ascribed period of Tullus Hostilius' reign, scholars are dubious regarding the tales of the overly-long reigns of the Roman kings—with an average reign of 34 years per king, the traditional chronology would be without historical parallel (the English monarchy, where monarchs have reigned for an average of 21 years{{or|reason=By what definition? Does this include British (post-1707) monarchs? Pre-Conquest kings? Does it count kings who were deposed and later restored (Æthelred the Unready, Henry VI, Edward VI) as one reign or two? Does it count the Interregnum as part of Charles II's reign? Does it factor in co-monarchs (Mary I/Philip, William/Mary II)? Who chose these definitions?|date=January 2024}}). Recent archaeological research supports historian [[Tim Cornell]]'s proposal of a more plausible chronology which contracts the regal period from 240 years to around 120 years. This places the historical accomplishments of the kings between 625 BC—the date that the archaeological record shows the first signs of Rome's [[urbanisation]] and unification—and 500 BC.<ref name=":2" /> Using this timeframe, the construction of the Curia Hostilia is possible during the reign of Tullus Hostilius. It would also explain things which are otherwise puzzling: Tullus's name being attached to the building, and how, as Roman traditions attest, Tullus could have led Rome's successful wars against the [[Roman-Etruscan Wars#Second War with Fidenae and Veii.2C under Tullus Hostilius|Fidenae and Veii]] and the [[Roman-Sabine wars#War with Tullus Hostilius|Sabines]].