Sabines, << SAY bynz, >> were a people of ancient Italy. They lived northeast of Rome in present-day Umbria. According to legend, after Romulus founded Rome in 753 B.C., the city had too few women. He sent ambassadors to nearby tribes to ask that Roman men be allowed to marry their women. When the tribes refused, Romulus invited them to a great festival. During the festival, the Roman men kidnapped the Sabine women. The Sabines then went to war with the Romans. But the women persuaded the men to stop fighting, and the two groups lived as one people for a time. However, the Romans and Sabines fought many more times before the Sabines became Roman citizens in 268 B.C.
