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Eretum (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: ), was an ancient town of the
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 ...
s, situated on 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 ...
, at its junction with the
Via Nomentana
Via Nomentana is an ancient road of Italy, leading North-East from Rome to Nomentum (modern Mentana), a distance of . It originally bore the name "Via Ficulensis", from the old Latin village of Ficulea, about from Rome. It was subsequently extend ...
, a short distance from 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 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 ...
.
History
Eretum lay near the frontier between Roman and Sabine territory in the regal period and early Republic.
Solinus writes that it was established by Greeks in honor of
Hera
In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...
, and thus the name of the city (which he calls "Heretum") derives from her name. From the mention of its name by
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
among the Sabine cities which joined in the war against
Aeneas
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons ...
, we may presume that it was considered as an ancient town, and one of some importance in early times.
Eretum never bears any prominent part in history, though from its frontier position on the line by which the former people must advance upon Rome, it was the scene of repeated conflicts between the two nations. The first of these occurred in the reign of
Tullus Hostilius
Tullus Hostilius (r. 672–640 BC) was the legendary third king of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius. Unlike his predecessor, Tullus was known as a warlike king who according to the Roman Historian Livy, believ ...
, during the war of that monarch with the Sabines; his successor
Tarquinius Priscus
Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, or Tarquin the Elder, was the legendary fifth king of Rome and first of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned for thirty-eight years.Livy, ''ab urbe condita libri'', I Tarquinius expanded Roman power through military conqu ...
also defeated the
Etruscans
The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...
, who had taken advantage of the friendly disposition of the Sabines to advance through their territory, at Eretum; and
Tarquinius Superbus
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (died 495 BC) was the legendary seventh and final king of Rome, reigning 25 years until the popular uprising that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic.Livy, ''ab urbe condita libri'', I He is commonly known a ...
gained a decisive victory over the Sabines in the same neighbourhood. Under the
Roman republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
also we find two victories recorded over the Sabines at the same place, the one by the consuls
Postumius and
Menenius in 503 BCE, the other by
Gaius Nautius Rutilus
Gaius Nautius Rutilus was consul of the Roman Republic in 475 BC and 458 BC.
In his first consulship he was the senior consul, and his colleague was Publius Valerius Poplicola. Nautius was given command of Roman forces against the Volsci who had ...
in 458 BCE. During the decemvirate also the Sabines established their headquarters at Eretum, whence they ravaged the Roman territory. It is again mentioned in the
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...
as the place whence
Hannibal
Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
diverged to attack the shrine of
Feronia Feronia may mean:
* Feronia (mythology), a goddess of fertility in Roman and Etruscan mythology
* ''Feronia'' (plant), a genus of plants
* Feronia Inc., a plantations company operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Feronia (Sardinia) ...
in
Etruria
Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria.
Etruscan Etruria
The ancient people of Etruria
are identified as Etruscan civiliza ...
, during his advance on Rome (or, according to others, on his retreat) by the Salarian Way. But though its position thus brings it frequently into notice, it is clear that it was, under the Roman dominion at least, a very inconsiderable place.
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
says it was little more than a village, and
Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' ...
terms it ''vicus Sabinae regionis''.
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 ...
does not even mention it among the towns of the Sabines, nor is its name found in the ''
Liber Coloniarum
In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion and Roman mythology, mythology, Liber ( , ; "the free one"), also known as Liber Pater ("the free Father"), was a god of viticulture and wine, male fertility and freedom. He was a patron de ...
'': hence it is almost certain that it did not enjoy municipal privileges, and was dependent on one of the neighbouring towns, probably Nomentum (modern
Mentana
Mentana is a town and ''comune'', former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy. It is located north-east of Rome and has a population of about 23,000.
History
Mentana's name in ...
). But its name is still found in the
Itineraries
A travel itinerary is a schedule of events relating to planned travel, generally including destinations to be visited at specified times and means of transportation to move between those destinations. For example, both the plan of a business trip ...
as a station on the Salarian Way, and it must therefore have continued to exist as late as the fourth century. From this time all trace of it disappears.
Location
The position of Eretum has been a subject of much dispute, though the data furnished by ancient authorities are sufficiently precise. The Itineraries place it 18
Roman mile
The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 Engli ...
s from Rome; and Dionysius in one passage calls it 140
stadia
Stadia may refer to:
* One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums"
* The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes'').
* Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey
* Stadi ...
(ca. ) from the city, though in another place he gives the same distance at only 107 stadia. Strabo adds that it was situated at the point of junction of the Via Salaria and Via Nomentana; a circumstance which could leave no doubt as to its position, but that there is some difficulty in tracing the exact course of the Via Salaria, which appears to have undergone repeated changes in ancient times. Hence Abbé
Capmartin De Chaupy was led to fix the site of Eretum at a place called
Rimane, where there were some Roman ruins near a bridge called the ''Ponte di Casa Cotta'', but this spot is not less than 21 miles from Rome; on the other hand,
Monterotondo
Monterotondo is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, central Italy.
History
According to some historians, Monterotondo is the heir of the ancient Sabine town of Eretum, although the modern settlement appeared in the 10th-11th ce ...
, the site chosen by
Cluverius, is little more than 15 miles from Rome, and could never by possibility have been on the Via Nomentana. Grotta Marozza (a ''
località
A ''località'' is an inhabited place in Italy that is not accorded a more significant distinction in administrative law such as a ''frazione'', ''comune'', ''municipio'', ''circoscrizione'', or ''quartiere''. The word is cognate to English ''loc ...
'' of 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 Mentana), on the left hand of the Via Nomentana, rather more than 3 miles beyond Nomentum, has therefore decidedly the best claim: it is 17.5 miles from Rome, and it is probable that the ancient Via Salaria did not follow the same line with the modern road of that name, but left the valley of the Tiber near Monte Rotondo, and joined the Via Nomentana near the spot above indicated. There are no ruins at Grotta Marozza, but the site is described as well-adapted for that of a town of small extent.
At a short distance from Grotta Marozza are some sulphureous springs now known as the Bagni di Grotta Marozza, which are in all probability those anciently known as the Aquae Labanae (the of Strabo, who describes them as situated in the neighbourhood of Eretum).
References
*
{{Coord, 42.1352, N, 12.7383, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Sabine cities
Former populated places in Italy