Any member of an ancient Italic tribe located east of the Tiber River.
According to legend, Romulus invited them to a festival and then carried off ("raped") their women to provide wives for his men. The second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, probably a Sabine, is credited with creating a great number of the early Roman religious institutions and practices. Later groups displaced the Sabines from Rome. The Romans conquered them and granted them partial citizenship in 290 BC; they became full citizens in 268.