The Archaeological Park of Urbs Salvia is situated 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

Urbisaglia Urbisaglia is a ''comune'' in the province of Macerata, Marche, Italy. Its name comes from the ancient Roman town Urbs Salvia. History Situated in the Regio V Picenum, along the via Salaria Gallica, the town was founded during the 2nd century ...

(

Province of Macerata The province of Macerata ( it, provincia di Macerata) is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Macerata. The province includes 55 comunes (Italian: ''comuni'') in the province, see Comunes of the Province of Mace ...

), in the

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

s, Italy. It is the largest archaeological park in the region.

History

The city, located in the V Regio Picenum, was founded as a '' colonia'' during the 2nd century BC. It was the birthplace of some leading figures of the Roman Empire, such as the consul Gaius Fufius Geminus and

Lucius Flavius Silva Nonius Bassus Lucius Flavius Silva Nonius Bassus was a late-1st-century Roman general, governor of the province of Iudaea and consul. Silva was the commander of the army, composed mainly of the ''Legio X Fretensis'', in 72 AD which laid siege to the near-impre ...

. Urbs Salvia was sacked by the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

in 408–10 AD, and suffered destruction over the years from earthquakes and plundering. The decadence of the town is described by the poet

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

(1265–1321) in his ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...

'' (Paradiso, XVI, 73-78):

If Luni thou regard, and Urbisaglia,
How they have passed away, and how are passing
Chiusi and Senigallia after them,
To hear how races waste themselves away
Will seem to thee no novel thing nor hard
Seeing that even cities have an end.

Archaeological Park

The Archaeological Park of Urbs Salvia is exceptional for the ease with which the overall building plan can be deciphered. The itinerary starts at the Archaeological Museum which houses, among other things, epigraphs, statues and portraits that were excavated in Urbisaglia from the middle of the 18th century onwards.

Reservoir

Just outside the medieval city walls, on the highest point of the site, you can find the large reservoir collecting and cleaning the water coming from the Roman Aqueduct of Urbs Salvia. It was formed by an underground vaulted conduit with lateral walls made of bricks (''

opus latericium 250px, Example of ''opus latericium'' on a tomb of the ancient Appian Way in Rome.">Rome.html" ;"title="Appian Way in Rome">Appian Way in Rome. ''Opus latericium'' (Latin for "brick work") is an Ancient Rome, ancient Roman construction technique ...

''). The ancient aqueduct ran under the top of this hill and was about 1.5 km long. It had a gentle and constant slope so that it could carry water from a spring situated at the opposite side of the present-day Urbisaglia into this structure. The cisterns consist of two barrel vaulted tunnels connected at both ends, with internal walls covered by hydraulic mortar. The whole structure was built in ''

opus caementicium Roman concrete, also called , is a material that was used in construction in ancient Rome. Roman concrete was based on a hydraulic-setting cement. It is durable due to its incorporation of pozzolanic ash, which prevents cracks from spreading. B ...

'' (Roman concrete). Each tunnel was about 51 m long, 2.90 m wide and 4.10 m high and had a capacity of about 1,000 cubic metres of water.
The reservoir provided the whole town with spring water and it was situated in the highest area inside Urbs Salvia so that it could be powered only by gravity. In the reservoir are still visible: * the water outlet: the opening through which water was distributed to the town. The pipes (''fistulae'') were made of lead; * the ventilation shafts (''lumina''): a series of openings in the vault for air exchange, check of level and quality of water and periodical maintenance (manual cleaning of the internal walls); * the water inlet: whence water flowed inside. It is formed by one of the ends of the aqueduct and shows a very thick layer of water deposit (calcium carbonate); * traces of the planks utilized to build the vaults are still visible at some parts.

From the theater to the amphitheater

Proceeding downwards there is the imposing Roman theatre, built in 23 AD, on the Hellenic model. The structure presents a ''

cavea The ''cavea'' (Latin for "enclosure") are the seating sections of Greek and Roman theatres and amphitheatres An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performance ...

'' (auditorium) divided into three tiers of seats with entrances on the different levels. Around the ''cavea'' there is a corridor with steps running to the top, where there was a ''

sacellum In ancient Roman religion, a ''sacellum'' is a small shrine. The word is a diminutive from ''sacrum'' (neuter of ''sacer'', "belonging to a god"). The numerous ''sacella'' of ancient Rome included both shrines maintained on private properties by fa ...

'' (small temple). Of the original stage the lower part of the walling is preserved; behind the stage, there is an artificial terrace which was framed by a colonnade supported by solid brick walling. Lower down is a niched building, a containment wall which is to be included in the whole urban context pivoting on an axis characterized by the Theatre – Forum – Temple. At the foot of the hill, conveniently placed alongside the via Salaria Gallica (i.e., the main line of communication in the

Picenum Picenum was a region of ancient Italy. The name is an exonym assigned by the Romans, who conquered and incorporated it into the Roman Republic. Picenum was ''Regio V'' in the Augustan territorial organization of Roman Italy. Picenum was also ...

, here matching up with the ''

cardo maximus A cardo (plural ''cardines'') was a north–south street in Ancient Roman cities and military camps as an integral component of city planning. The cardo maximus, or most often the ''cardo'', was the main or central north–south-oriented street ...

'' of the town), was the sanctuary-complex. The main temple had a six-column facade. What remains of the original structure is part of the podium lacking the white limestone slabs with which it was originally paved. It was dedicated to the Salus Augusta (protector goddess of the Emperor), and was probably used for the imperial cult promoted by

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

, successor of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

. The temple is enclosed by a

porticus A porticus, in church architecture and archaeology, is usually a small room in a church. Commonly, porticus form extensions to the north and south sides of a church, giving the building a cruciform plan. They may function as chapels, rudimentary ...

made up of four underground galleries with frescoes in the 3rd Pompeiian style. The frescoes represent haunting animals, masks, and pictures connected with Augustus' political propaganda (

trophies A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals (or, in ...

). Next to the main temple there is a smaller one. Behind it there is an area which was probably devoted to the ritual use of water, and behind the main temple there is a '' via munita'', corresponding to the first East ''

cardo A cardo (plural ''cardines'') was a north–south street in Ancient Roman cities and military camps as an integral component of city planning. The cardo maximus, or most often the ''cardo'', was the main or central north–south-oriented street ...

''.

Just outside the city walls, there are two funeral monuments and the

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

, one of the best preserved examples of this type in the Marche region. The amphitheatre was built after the year 81 AD by the Urbisalvian

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a mili ...

' military general

, who captured the

Masada Masada ( he, מְצָדָה ', "fortress") is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. It is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dea ...

fortress in Palestine. The amphitheatre was used for gladiatorial contests and other entertainments. All its perimeter is preserved up to the first seating level, including the first level of the '' vomitoria'' (the exit-ways) and the bases of the pillars of the external corridor. In its original form it probably had three tiers of seats. The external wall of the ''cavea'' (auditorium) had a series of semicircular niches which later formed the supports of the stairs to the entrances on the upper floors. The arena is 59m long and 35m wide. The two entrances at the major axis of the elliptical amphitheatre were for the

gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

Sources

* Bacchielli L. - Ch. Delplace - W. Eck - L. Gasperini - G. Paci. ''Studi su Urbisaglia romana. Supplementi a PICUS''. Tivoli, 1995. * Bertini, Adelaide - Giuseppe Ferranti - Miria Salvucci (et al. ). ''Abati e feudatari nella Valle del Fiastra''. Urbisaglia, 1996. * Capodaglio, Giuseppina. '' Statue e ritratti di età romana da Urbs Salvia''. Pollenza, 1994. * Capodaglio, Giuseppina - Fabrizio Cipolletta. ''I teatri romani nelle Marche''. Macerata, 1999. * Fabrini, Giovanna Maria. ''Il nuovo volto di Urbs Salvia: dalle origini alla prima età imperiale''. In G. de Marinis - G. Paci - E. Percossi - M. Silvestrini. ''Archeologia nel Maceratese. Nuove Acquisizioni''. 2005. * Ferranti, Giuseppe. ''Guida al territorio di Urbisaglia''. Pro Manoscritto a cura di Urbsalviambiente. Urbisaglia, 1994. * Luni Mario ( a cura di). ''Archeologia nelle Marche. Dalla preistoria all'Età tardoantica''. Firenze, 2003. * Salvucci Benedetto ( a cura di). ''Urbs Salvia''. Periodico, I-III. Urbisaglia, 1970-1972. * Salvucci Miria - Salvucci Giovanna (et al. ). ''Urbisaglia. Urbs Salvia, Capolavori in corso''. Urbisaglia, 2003.

External links