Cures was an ancient

Sabine The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divide ...

town between the left bank of the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Riv ...

and the

Via Salaria The Via Salaria was an ancient Roman road in Italy. It eventually ran from Rome (from Porta Salaria of the Aurelian Walls) to ''Castrum Truentinum'' (Porto d'Ascoli) on the Adriatic coast, a distance of 242 km. The road also passed throug ...

, about from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, in central Italy. Its remains are located in the modern commune of

Fara Sabina Fara in Sabina, also spelled Fara Sabina, is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rieti in the Italian region Lazio, located about northeast of Rome and about southwest of Rieti. History The area was inhabited in prehistoric times, as ...

. According to legend, it was from Cures that

Titus Tatius According to the Roman foundation myth, Titus Tatius was the king of the Sabines from Cures and joint-ruler of the Kingdom of Rome for several years. During the reign of Romulus, the first king of Rome, Tatius declared war on Rome in respon ...

led to the

Quirinal The Quirinal Hill (; la, Collis Quirinalis; it, Quirinale ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who resides in the Quirinal Palace ...

the Sabine settlers, from whom, after their union with the settlers on the

Palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

, the whole Roman people took the name

Quirites Quirites is the name of Roman citizens in their peacetime functions. Etymology Latin ''Quirītis'' most likely stems from an earlier *''quiri-''. The origin of the latter is uncertain. Since the ''quirīs'' is connected with Sabellic immigrants ...

. Another legend, related by Dionysius, connects the foundation of Cures with the worship of the Sabine god ''Quirinus'', whence Quirites. It was also renowned as the birthplace of Ancient Rome's second king

Numa Pompilius Numa Pompilius (; 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC) was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions are a ...

. According to

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

, Numa Pompilius resided in Cures immediately prior to his election as king. Its importance among the Sabines at an early period is indicated by the fact that its territory is often called simply ager Sabinus. At the beginning of the imperial period it is spoken of as an unimportant place, but seems to have risen to greater prosperity in the 2nd century.

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

notices the Curenses as one of the municipal towns of the Sabines; and numerous inscriptions of Imperial date speak of its magistrates, its municipal senate (''ordo''), etc., whence we may infer that it continued to be a tolerably flourishing town as late as the 4th century. In these inscriptions it is uniformly termed Cures Sabini, an epithet probably indicating the claim set up by the people to be the metropolis of the Sabines. It appears as the seat of a bishop in the 5th century, after the establishment of Christianity. The bishops assumed the title of ''Curium Sabinorum'', and sometimes even that of ''Episcopus Sabinensis''. The town seems to have been destroyed by the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...

in 589 AD. An epistle of

Pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...

states that in 593 the site was already desolate.Nibby, ''Dintorni'', vol. i. pp. 532, 533. The site consists of a hill with two summits, round the base of which runs the Fosso Corese: the western summit was occupied by the

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

, the eastern by the citadel, and the lower ground between the two by the city itself. Excavations from 1874 up until 1877 revealed a temple, forum, baths, etc.

Sources

Thomas Ashby Thomas Ashby, (14 October 1874 – 15 May 1931) was a British archaeologist. Family He was the only child of Thomas Ashby (1851–1906), and his wife, Rose Emma, daughter of Apsley Smith. His father belonged to the well-known Quaker family ...

i
''Papers of the British School at Rome''
iii. 34–35, 1906. (T. As.) * *

References

{{Authority control Sabine cities 589 disestablishments Populated places disestablished in the 6th century Archaeological sites in Lazio Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Italy