![04 Lucus Feroniae](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/04_Lucus_Feroniae.jpg)
Feronia or
Lucus Feroniae (,
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 ...
; ,
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
) was an ancient town near the present town of
Fiano Romano. It is located in the plain along 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 ...
river, at the foot of
Mount Soracte
Monte Soratte (ancient: ''Soracte'') is a mountain ridge in the Metropolitan City of Rome, central Italy. It is a narrow, isolated limestone ridge with a length of and six peaks. Located some south east of Civita Castellana and c. north of R ...
, and was within the ancient territory of
Capena. It began as a sanctuary called Lucus Feroniae in the time of Tullus Hostilius (r.672–640 BC) when it was located 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 ...
.
It was partially excavated when the A1 Rome-Milan motorway which crosses it was built, and the archaeological site is adjacent to that of the ancient Roman
Villa dei Volusii
The ancient Roman Villa dei Volusii or Villa dei Volusii-Saturnini is an archaeological site located in the municipality of Fiano Romano, next to the ancient Roman town and sanctuary of Lucus Feroniae, along the route of ancient Via Tiberina.
...
.
History
Excavations from 1952 show that the town developed around the archaic sanctuary of Lucus Feroniae as a meeting centre and famous market. It was located at a obvious communications centre between the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
,
Sabine, Etruscan and
Faliscan territories, near the Tiber and
via Amerina
The ''Via Cassia'' ("way of Cassius") was an important Roman road striking out of the ''Via Flaminia'' near the Milvian Bridge in the immediate vicinity of Rome and, passing not far from Veii, traversed Etruria. The ''Via Cassia'' passed throug ...
and at the start of the routes to the Picena and Teramo-Aquilana regions, the future
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 ...
and
via Caecilia Via Caecilia, an ancient highroad of Italy, which diverged from the Via Salaria at the 35th mile (56 km) from Rome, and ran by Amiternum to the Adriatic coast, passing probably by Hadria (Atri). A branch ran to Interamna Praetuttiorum (Teramo) ...
.
Archaeology at the beginning of the 1970s led to the identification of buildings which were related to the forum and were in use during the second half of the 3rd c. BC.
Strabo is the only author who mentions a town of the name, which he calls Feronia; other writers speak of Lucus Feroniae and Feroniae fanum.
It is natural that in process of time a town should have grown up around a site of so much sanctity, and which was annually visited by a great concourse of persons.
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) ...
appears to have been a
Sabine goddess, and hence the festivals at her shrine seem to have been attended especially by the Sabines, though the sanctuary itself was in the
Etruscan __NOTOC__
Etruscan may refer to:
Ancient civilization
*The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy
*Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization
**Etruscan architecture
**Etruscan art
**Etruscan cities
**Etruscan ...
territory, and dependent upon the neighbouring city of Capena The first mention of these annual festivals occurs as early as 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 ...
, when we find them already frequented by great numbers of people, not only for religious objects, but as a kind of fair for the purposes of trade, a custom which seems to have prevailed at all similar meetings.
Great wealth had, in the course of ages, been accumulated at the shrine of Feronia, and this tempted
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 ...
to make a digression from his march during his retreat 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 211 BC, for the purpose of plundering the temple. On this occasion he despoiled it of all its gold and silver, amounting to a large sum, besides which there was a large quantity of rude or uncoined brass, a sufficient proof of the antiquity of the sanctuary. The only other notices of the spot which occur in history are some casual mentions of prodigies that occurred there; but Strabo tells that it was still much frequented in his time, and that many persons came thither to see the miracle of the priests and votaries of the goddess passing unharmed through a fire and over burning cinders. This superstition is ascribed by other writers to the temple of
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
, on the summit of Mount Soracte. It was probably transferred from thence to the more celebrated sanctuary at its foot.
In the 2nd c. BC the town underwent considerable development with the start of a rectangular town plan and housing blocks (''
insulae'').
Pliny mentions a Lucus Feroniae among the colonies of the interior of Etruria and from the order in which he describes the towns of that province, there can be little doubt that he means the celebrated locality of the name in southern Etruria. But it is singular that Ptolemy, who also notices a Lucus Feroniae, to which he gives the title of a colonia, places it in the northwest extremity of Etruria, between the Arnus (modern
Arno
The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.
Source and route
The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a s ...
) and the
Macra
Macra is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about northwest of Cuneo.
Macra borders the following municipalities: Celle di Macra, Marmora, Sampeyre, San Dam ...
. No other notice occurs of any such place in this part of Etruria; and the ''Liber Coloniarum'', though unusually copious in its description of the province of
Tuscia, mentions no such colony at all. An inscription, on the other hand, in which we find the name of ''Colonia Julia Felix Lucoferonensis'' refers probably to the southern Etruscan town, and on the whole it is more probable that the name should have been altogether misplaced by Ptolemy, than that there should have existed a second colony of the name, of which we know nothing.
Colonia Julia Felix Lucus Feroniae
In 46 BC Julius Caesar passed a law for the redistribution of state land which was enacted after 44 BC under the
triumvirate, including the territory of Capena. Archaeology has shown that the Colonia Julia Felix Lucus Feroniae was founded for army veterans at this time starting with the forum area built over the earlier town and with an orthogonal city plan. The town was separated from the sanctuary, which had been destroyed, by a wall. The cult of Feronia was abolished and replaced by that of Salus Frigifera to whom a small temple was built at the end of the forum.
The colony was already partly built around the forum when Augustus (r. 27 BC - 14 AD) initiated many enhancements and new buildings including the aqueduct,
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
and amphitheatre. The shops in the forum were restored and an equestrian statue of
M. Volusius Saturninus, friend of the emperor, patron of the town, and owner of the neighbouring villa-estate, was erected in the forum.
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 ...
continued with building monuments including the
Augusteum
An Augusteum (plural ''Augustea'') was originally a site of imperial cult in ancient Roman religion, named after the imperial title of Augustus. It was known as a Sebasteion in the Greek East of the Roman Empire. Examples have been excavated in ...
. The numerous honorary inscriptions in the Forum testify to a flourishing life from the Julio-Claudian age to the Flavian age up to 266 AD.
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
(r.98 - 117) restored much of the town and built the forum baths and two small temples in the sanctuary. The last building works date to the 4th c. when housing blocks were enlarged and renovated and houses were built on the via Tiberina near the amphitheatre.
The town seems to have been abandoned at start of the 5th century.
The site
![07 Lucus Feroniae](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/07_Lucus_Feroniae.jpg)
Two roads crossed the town, the
via Tiberina
The via Tiberina was an ancient Roman road, which from the north of Rome, going up the right bank of the Tiber valley, crossed the ancient Faliscan-Capenate countryside to reach the Sabina and continued towards Ocriculum in Umbria. Today, in the m ...
and the via Capenate from Feronia to
Capena.
Several residential areas have been brought to light and are organised in distinct blocks, aligned with the axis of the later forum, these extend to occupy the area south-west and below the portico and the adjacent tabernae of the late republican forum. They include a beautiful ''
domus
In Ancient Rome, the ''domus'' (plural ''domūs'', genitive ''domūs'' or ''domī'') was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the ma ...
'' of the 2nd c. AD with a series of emblematic polychrome mosaics and had been preceded by republican phases with ''
opus signinum
''Opus signinum'' ('cocciopesto' in modern Italian) is a building material used in ancient Rome. It is made of tiles broken up into very small pieces, mixed with mortar, and then beaten down with a rammer. Pliny the Elder in his '' Natural Histor ...
'' floors. The orientation of the urban layout indicate its clear connection with the sacred area surrounding the Temple of Feronia adjacent to the forum, which had one of the main entrances at this point, preserved almost unchanged in the radical restructuring that the site underwent at the time of the establishment of the Roman colony.
The amphitheatre is the smallest in the Roman Empire with a capacity of about 5000 people. It was financed by a freedman, M. Silius Epaphroditus, with his own money.
There was also a theatre and a Temple to Hercules mentioned on an inscription but yet to be found, a
schola
Scholae ( el, Σχολαί) is a Latin word, literally meaning "schools" (from the singular ''schola'', ''school'' or ''group'') that was used in the late Roman Empire to signify a unit of Imperial Guards. The unit survived in the Byzantine Empire ...
or large hall with a beautiful ''
opus sectile
''Opus sectile'' is a form of pietra dura popularized in the ancient and medieval Roman world where materials were cut and inlaid into walls and floors to make a picture or pattern. Common materials were marble, mother of pearl, and glass. The ...
'' floor (1st century AD) and the
Villa dei Volusii
The ancient Roman Villa dei Volusii or Villa dei Volusii-Saturnini is an archaeological site located in the municipality of Fiano Romano, next to the ancient Roman town and sanctuary of Lucus Feroniae, along the route of ancient Via Tiberina.
...
.
A magnificent
mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
was found nearby in
Fiano Romano, sculptures from which are now in the museum.
The sanctuary
Inscriptions show that the sanctuary or ''
lucus
In ancient Roman religion, a ''lūcus'' (, plural ''lūcī'') is a sacred grove.
''Lucus'' was one of four Latin words meaning in general "forest, woodland, grove" (along with ''nemus'', ''silva'', and ''saltus''), but unlike the others it wa ...
'' of Feronia lay behind the eastern wall of the forum and was accessible through a small portico built in the early Augustan period by the
duumvir A. Ottavius who also reconstructed the forum.
[M. Torelli, LUCUS FERONIAE, Enciclopedia dell' Arte Antica (1973)]
The forum
![LucusFeroniaeForumbase](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/LucusFeroniaeForumbase.jpg)
The first of the forum buildings date from the second half of the 1st c. BC and lay on top of the Hellenistic town. long rectangular Roman Forum was bordered on the north end by a sacred terrace with a
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
for law-courts and traders, and behind that the temple of Salus Frugifera, a
sacellum of the
Augustales
The Sodales or Sacerdotes Augustales (''singular'' Sodalis or Sacerdos Augustalis), or simply Augustales,Tacitus, ''Annales'' 1.54 were an order ('' sodalitas'') of Roman priests originally instituted by Tiberius to attend to the maintenance of t ...
and the late-
Tiberian
Tiberian may refer to:
* Tiberian vocalization, an oral tradition within the Hebrew language
* Tiberian Hebrew, the variety of Hebrew based on Tiberian vocalization
* Tiberias, a city in Lower Galilee, Israel
* Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesa ...
Augusteum
An Augusteum (plural ''Augustea'') was originally a site of imperial cult in ancient Roman religion, named after the imperial title of Augustus. It was known as a Sebasteion in the Greek East of the Roman Empire. Examples have been excavated in ...
which formed a monumental backdrop. A colonnaded portico borders the Forum on the western side, on which
tabernae
A ''taberna'' (plural ''tabernae'') was a type of shop or stall in Ancient Rome. Originally meaning a single-room shop for the sale of goods and services, ''tabernae'' were often incorporated into domestic dwellings on the ground level flanking ...
(shops) open, some of which are paved with mosaics, while at the entrance of others is a sort of ideogram of the activity of the trader, a sort of ancient advertising sign.
On the eastern side is the enclosure wall of the sanctuary of Feronia on top of which were channels and lead pipes from the
Aqua Augusta aqueduct in the Augustan era, mentioned in inscriptions.
At the centre of the Forum was a series of altars and statues including 2 equestrian statues, one of M. Volusius Saturninus, friend of the emperor, patron of the town and owner of the neighbouring villa-estate.
The basilica and Augusteum
The basilica was built under Augustus and had a porticoed courtyard housing statues and honorary inscriptions. Under Tiberius the apsidal
sacellum (small shrine) became an Augusteum in 14-20 AD and the staircase was blocked. The Augusteum was paved in colourful marble (
opus sectile
''Opus sectile'' is a form of pietra dura popularized in the ancient and medieval Roman world where materials were cut and inlaid into walls and floors to make a picture or pattern. Common materials were marble, mother of pearl, and glass. The ...
) and contained 12 statues. The basilica was repaved under Trajan.
The forum baths
![Lucus Feroniae, Italy - 50921664706](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Lucus_Feroniae%2C_Italy_-_50921664706.jpg)
These are the largest baths discovered in the town, excavated in the 1970's. They were built over a housing block (
insula) next to the forum. Floors were paved with monochrome mosaics, one with a laurel wreath motif in the centre. In the 5th century a church was built in the atrium. They had a separate, smaller women's section with only a
frigidarium and a
calidarium
230px, Caldarium from the Roman Baths at Bath, England. The floor has been removed to reveal the empty space where the hot air flowed through to heat the floor.
A caldarium (also called a calidarium, cella caldaria or cella coctilium) was a room ...
. Brick stamps show that repairs were done under Emperor
Caracalla
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...
(r. 198-217) and some partly coloured mosaic panels were possibly added then.
The baths on the via Capenate
This is the only building on the Roman via Capenate that has been completely excavated. These thermal baths were built under
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
(r. 98-117) over an earlier house with shop (''
taberna'') that was isolated in an undeveloped urban area. The suite of rooms included marble-lined internal walls. It was restored in the 4th century with ''
opus vittatum''.
References
Sources
*
{{coord missing, Italy
Roman towns and cities in Italy
Etruria