Ancient historians recount that, when Rome was newly founded, it was populated almost exclusively by men. Romulus sought to remedy this by forming alliances that included the arrival of women from other populations, but these agreements never materialized. Consequently, the Romans organized an event to which they invited men from neighboring cities along with their wives and daughters. Among the guests were many Sabines, who came from the city of Cures on the Tiber River. At Romulus' signal, the Roman men abducted the women of their guests, forcing the men to flee. The surrounding populations, enraged by the incident, immediately attacked Rome. The Ceninenses and Atemniates were easily defeated, while the Sabines, led by King Titus Tatius, managed to occupy the Capitoline Hill, partly due to the betrayal of Tarpeia, and prepared to fight the Romans.
The Sabine women intervened, convincing both their fathers on one side and their husbands on the other to cease hostilities. The Romans and Sabines then decided to merge into a single people: the Sabines migrated en masse to Rome, settling on the Quirinal Hill, and King Titus Tatius began to co-rule the city with Romulus. Livy also recounts that from that time, the inhabitants of Rome were called Curites, later known as Quirites, in honor of the city of Cures. This episode, known in history as the "Rape of the Sabine Women," likely holds more of an etiological significance than a historical one. It explains the origins of the Sabine presence in Rome and their eventual fusion with the Latin population.
Most likely, the Sabines migrated to Rome because they sought to settle in a more modern and vibrant city. Rome, in fact, was open to welcoming groups and individuals from various peoples to grow its population. As for the specific act of abduction, it may have been linked to an ancient marriage ritual in which the bride was "abducted" by her husband. The fusion between the Latins and Sabines was also evident in the governance of the city: after the reign of Romulus and Titus Tatius, there was an alternation of kings of Latin origin, such as Servius Tullius, and of Sabine origin, such as Numa Pompilius and Ancus Marcius.