![Tabula of the Ligures Baebiani in the Museo Nazionale Romano](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Tabula_of_the_Ligures_Baebiani_in_the_Museo_Nazionale_Romano.jpg)
![Circello, area archeologica (6)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Circello%2C_area_archeologica_%286%29.jpg)
In ancient geography, the Ligures Baebiani were a settlement of
Ligurians
The Ligures (singular Ligur; Italian: liguri; English: Ligurians) were an ancient people after whom Liguria, a region of present-day north-western Italy, is named.
Ancient Liguria corresponded more or less to the current Italian regi ...
in
Samnium
Samnium ( it, Sannio) is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the The lan ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
History
The towns of ''Taurasia'' (not to be confused with modern
Taurasi
Taurasi is a town and municipality in the province of Avellino, Campania, southern Italy. In antiquity it was a town in Samnium. The town's name probably derives from the Latin ''Taurus''. Over time it changed from ''Taurasos'' to ''Taurasia ...
) and ''
Cisauna'' in Samnium had been captured in 298 BC by the
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
L. Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, and the territory of the former remained Roman state domain (''
ager publicus
The ''ager publicus'' (; "public land") is the Latin name for the public land of Ancient Rome. It was usually acquired via the means of expropriation from enemies of Rome.
History
In the earliest periods of Roman expansion in central Italy, th ...
''). In 180 BC, 47,000 Ligurians, the
Ligures Apuani, a people repeatedly noted by Livy as the most formidable of the Ligurian tribes who controlled the region from the coastal neighborhoods of
Luna
Luna commonly refers to:
* Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin
* Luna (goddess), the ancient Roman personification of the Moon
Luna may also refer to:
Places Philippines
* Luna, Apayao
* Luna, Isabela
* Luna, La Union
* Luna, San Jose
Roma ...
to Tuscany's Apuan Alps and Apennine mountains, including women and children, were
forcibly deported to this district in southern Italy. Two settlements were formed, the ''Ligures Baebiani'' and the ''Ligures Corneliani'', taking their names from the consuls of 181 BC who oversaw their deportation,
M. Baebius Tamphilus and
P. Cornelius Cethegus.
Location and archaeology
The site of the former town lies 15 m. north of
Beneventum in the Macchia district of the municipality of modern
Circello
Circello ( Beneventan: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about northeast of Naples and about 25 km north of Benevento and approximately above sea level.
Circello borders t ...
,
[Circello Touris]
"Scavi Archeologici di Macchia"
Retrieved on 25 May 2017. on the road to
Saepinum
Saepinum (modern Altilia, near Sepino) was a Samnite town located c. south of the modern Campobasso in south central Italy. Saepinum was on the ancient road from Beneventum to Corfinium.
History
The position of the original town is on the m ...
and
Aesernia
Isernia () or, in Pliny and later writers, ''Eserninus'', or in the Antonine Itinerary, ''Serni''. is a town and ''comune'' in the southern Italian region of Molise, and the capital of province of Isernia.
Geography
Situated on a rocky crest r ...
. In its ruins several inscriptions have been found, notably a large bronze tablet discovered in a public building in the Forum bearing the date AD 101, and relating to the alimentary institution founded by
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 ...
here (see
Veleia). A sum of money was lent to landed proprietors of the district (whose names and estates are specified in the inscription), and the interest which it produced formed the income of the institution, which, on the model of that of Veleia, would have served to support a little over one hundred children. The capital was 401,800 ''
sesterces'', and the annual interest probably at 5%, i.e. 20,090 ''sesterces''. The site of the other settlement, that of the ''Ligures Corneliani'' is unknown.
See
Theodor Mommsen
Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th cent ...
in ''
Corp. Inscr. Lat.'' ix. (Berlin, 1883), 125 sqq.
References
*
;Specific
{{Archaeological sites in Campania
Roman towns and cities in Italy
Archaeological sites in Campania