Politorium was a town in ancient

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whi ...

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 ...

. In the early semi-legendary history of Rome, Politorium was one of a number of towns of the

Latins The Latins were originally an Italic tribe in ancient central Italy from Latium. As Roman power and colonization spread Latin culture during the Roman Republic. Latins culturally "Romanized" or "Latinized" the rest of Italy, and the word Latin ...

who went to

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

with

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

in the 7th century BC, during the reign of the Roman King

Ancus Marcius Ancus Marcius was the legendary fourth king of Rome, who traditionally reigned 24 years. Upon the death of the previous king, Tullus Hostilius, the Roman Senate appointed an interrex, who in turn called a session of the assembly of the people who ...

. The Romans' first move in the war was to march on Politorium and to take it by force. The citizens of Politorium were removed to settle on the

Aventine Hill The Aventine Hill (; la, Collis Aventinus; it, Aventino ) is one of the Seven Hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the modern twelfth ''rione'', or ward, of Rome. Location and boundaries The Aventine Hill is the sou ...

in Rome as new citizens, following the Roman traditions from wars with the

Sabines 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 divid ...

and Albans. When the other Latins subsequently occupied the empty town of Politorium, Ancus took the town again and demolished it.

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

, writing in the 1st century AD describes Politorium as one of a number of former Latin peoples that have disappeared without trace. The site of ancient Politorium has been identified as being the town of La Giostra on the Via Appia, La Torretta near Decimo on the Via Larrentina or Castel di Decima.

Fausto Zevi Fausto Zevi is a contemporary Italian classical archaeologist. Presently he is professor of Archaeology and Greco-Roman art history at the University of Rome ''La Sapienza'' and has previously held posts at the University of Naples ''Federico II ...

(see Bonnefoy, Y., and Doniger, W., ''Roman and European Mythologies'', 1992, p55)

Notes

Roman Kingdom Latin cities Destroyed cities {{AncientRome-stub