Crustumerium
or
Crustumium. A town of the Sabines in the vicinity of Fidenae, and,
like Fidenae, founded by a colony from Alba. Its great antiquity is attested by Vergil
(
Aen. vii. 629) and by Silius Italicus (viii. 367). From Pliny we learn
that the Crustumini were vanquished by Romulus, and that a settlement was formed in their
territory. Their city, however, was not finally conquered till the reign of the elder Tarquin
(
Liv.i. 38). The name of Crustumini Colles appears to have been
given to the ridge of which the Mons Sacer formed a part. The tribe called Crustumina
evidently derived its name from this ancient city ( Liv. xlii. 34).