Caenina was a town nearby ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

, in Latium

Latium

Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy...

.

In Rome's early semi-legendary history, the king of the Romans, Romulus

Romulus

- People:* Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome* Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman Emperor* Valerius Romulus , deified son of the Roman emperor Maxentius* Romulus , son of the Western Roman emperor Anthemius...

, sought to obtain women as wives for his male citizens. After delegations were sent to nearby regions requesting wives and the delegations were refused, Romulus devised a festival of Neptune Equester and proclaimed the festival amongst Rome's neighbours. The citizens of Caenina (the Caeninenses) attended the festival along with many others of Rome's neighbours, including the Crustumini

Crustumerium

Crustumerium was an ancient town of Latium, on the edge of the Sabine territory, near the headwaters of the Allia, not far from the Tiber....

, and Antemnates

Antemnae

Antemnae , an ancient village of Latium, situated on the west of the Via Salaria, two miles north of Rome, where the Anio falls into the Tiber....

, and many of the Sabines. At the festival Romulus gave a signal, at which the Romans grabbed the virgins amongst the spectators for wives. This event is known as The Rape of the Sabine Women

The Rape of the Sabine Women

The Rape of the Sabine Women is an episode in the legendary history of Rome in which the first generation of Roman men acquired wives for themselves from the neighboring Sabine families. The English word "rape" is a conventional translation of Latin raptio, which in this context means "abduction"...

 .

Outraged at the occurrence, the king of the Caeninenses entered upon Roman territory with his army. Romulus and the Romans met the Caeninenses in battle, killed their king, and routed their army. Romulus subsequently attacked Caenina and took it at the first assault. Returning to Rome, Romulus dedicated a temple to Jupiter Feretrius

Jupiter (mythology)

In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....

 (according to Livy, the first temple dedicated in Rome) and offered the spoils of the enemy king as spolia opima

Spolia opima

Spolia opima refers to the armor, arms, and other effects that an ancient Roman general had stripped from the body of an opposing commander slain in single combat...

. According to the Fasti Triumphales, Romulus celebrated a triumph over the Caeninenses on 1 March 752 BC .