Alba Fucens was an ancient Italic town occupying a lofty location (1,000 m) at the foot of the

Monte Velino Monte Velino is a mountain (2,487 m) in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, central Italy, part of the Abruzzo Apennines. Located nearby the boundary with Lazio, between the Fucino plain and the Aterno, Salto and Velino rivers' valleys ...

, c. 6.5 km north of Avezzano, Abruzzo, central Italy. Its remains are today in the ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' of

Massa d'Albe Massa d'Albe is a ''comune'' and town in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is part of the Marsica. The town was founded in the 14th century by the inhabitants of the ancient Alba Fucens, whose remains are in the a ...

History

It was originally a town of the

Aequi 300px, Location of the Aequi (Equi) in central Italy, 5th century BC. The Aequi ( grc, Αἴκουοι and Αἴκοι) were an Italic tribe on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the east of Latium in central Italy who appear in the early hist ...

, though on the frontier of the

Marsi The Marsi were an Italic people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus (which was drained for agricultural land in the late 19th century). The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. ...

, but was occupied by a Latin colony (304 BC) owing to its strategic importance. It lay on a hill just to the north of the

Via Valeria The Via Valeria was an ancient Roman road of Italy, the continuation north-eastwards of the Via Tiburtina from Tibur. It probably owed its origin to Marcus Valerius Messalla, censor in 154 BC. The route It ran first up the Anio valley past ...

, which was probably prolonged beyond Tibur at this very period. In the Second Punic War Alba at first remained faithful, but afterwards refused to send contingents and was punished. Endnote: A very good description of the site, with plans, is given by C. Promis, ''L'Antichità di Alba Fucense'' (Rome, 1836). After this it became a regular place of detention for important state prisoners, such as Syphax of Numidia, Perseus of Macedonia,

Bituitus Bituitus ('' fl.'' 2nd century BCE) was a king of the Arverni, a Gaulish tribe living in what is now the Auvergne region of France. The Arverni were a powerful opponent of the Roman Republic during the 3rd and 2nd centuries under the leadership ...

, king of the Arverni. It was attacked by the allies in the Social War, but remained faithful to Rome; and its strong position rendered it a place of some importance in the civil wars. Its prosperity, in the imperial period, can only be inferred from the number of inscriptions found there. The town was completely destroyed by the Saracens in the 10th century.

Buildings

Anfiteatro di Alba Fucens e monte Velino

It is chiefly remarkable for its finely preserved fortifications. The external walls, which have a circuit of about 3 km, are constructed of

polygonal masonry Polygonal masonry is a technique of stone wall construction. True polygonal masonry is a technique wherein the visible surfaces of the stones are dressed with straight sides or joints, giving the block the appearance of a polygon. This techniqu ...

; the blocks are carefully jointed, and the faces smoothed. With our present knowledge of such constructions their date cannot certainly be determined. They are not preserved to any very considerable height; but the arrangement of the gates is clearly traceable; as a rule they come at the end of a long, straight stretch of wall, and are placed so as to leave the right side of any attacking force exposed. On the north there is, for a length of about 150 m, a triple line of defences of later date (possibly added by the Roman colonists), inasmuch as both the city wall proper, and the double wall thrown out in front of it are partly constructed of concrete, and faced with finer polygonal masonry (in which horizontal joints seem to be purposely avoided). A mile to the north of the city a huge mound with a ditch on each side of it (but at a considerable distance from it) may be traced; for a couple of miles. Within the walls there are hardly any buildings of a later date. Excavations have only been made casually, though remains of buildings and of roads can be traced, and also an extensive system of underground passages perhaps connected with the defences of the place. The hill at the western extremity was occupied by a temple of the Tuscan order, into which was built the church of S. Pietro; this contains ancient columns, and some remarkably fine specimens of

Cosmatesque Cosmatesque, or Cosmati, is a style of geometric decorative inlay stonework typical of the architecture of Medieval Italy, and especially of Rome and its surroundings. It was used most extensively for the decoration of church floors, but was also u ...

work. It is the only monastic church in the Abruzzi in which the nave is separated from the aisles by ancient columns. The collegiate church of S. Nicola, in the village, contains a remarkable staurotheca of the 11th (?) century, and a wooden

triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided ...

in imitation of the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

style with enamels, of the 13th century.

Excavations

In the 20th century the Belgian academy at Rome carried out excavations at the site, under the direction of Joseph Mertens. This project led to a series of publications of the site and its remains.

People

Naevius Sutorius Macro Quintus Naevius Cordus Sutorius Macro (21 BC – AD 38) was a prefect of the Praetorian Guard, from 31 until 38, serving under the Roman Emperors Tiberius and Caligula. Upon falling out of favour, he killed himself. Biography Macro was born in 2 ...

Bibliography

* J. Mertens. 1969. ''Alba Fucens 2 Rapports et études''. Bruxelles: Rome Institut Historique Belge.

References

External links

Academia Belgica, Archivio Mertens (Alba Fucens)
{{Authority control Roman sites of Abruzzo Roman amphitheatres in Italy Former populated places in Italy 303 BC 300s BC establishments Polygonal masonry Coloniae (Roman) Roman Republic Roman towns and cities in Abruzzo Massa d'Albe National museums of Italy