Potentia was a Roman town along the central Adriatic Italian coast, near the modern town of Porto Recanati, in the province of Macerata. Its original position was just north of the main Roman bed of the

River Potenza The Potenza ( la, Flosis) is a river in the province of Macerata in the Marche region of Italy. The source of the river is in the territory of Fiuminata. The source is located at an elevation of on Monte Pennino. The river flows northeast throu ...

(the ancient Flosis), which now flows more than to the north.

History

In 268 BC the central Adriatic homeland of the local

Picene Picene is a hydrocarbon found in the Pitch (resin), pitchy residue obtained in the distillation of peat tar and of petroleum. This is distilled to dryness and the distillate repeatedly Recrystallization (chemistry), recrystallized from cymene. It ...

peoples was military dominated and incorporated by the Romans. Later, under emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

, it was organized as Regio V Picenum. The installation of a series of mostly maritime Latin and Roman colonies during the second part of the 3rd and the 2nd centuries BC was a major impulse for the

Romanization Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

of a region that knew no real urbanized society before. In 184 BC with the foundation of Potentia, a coastal colony for Roman citizens (mentioned by Livy), the lower Potenza valley, and with it the whole area of northern Picenum, entered its first phase of real urbanization. By 174 BC the colony probably received a circuit wall with three arched gates, a street network with sewers, an aqueduct, a temple to Jupiter, and a portico with shops enclosing the forum.Livy XLI.27, 1 and 10–13 The flourishing of the town from the Augustan Age onwards far into the late 2nd century AD, is attested by epigraphic evidence. From the 3rd century AD onwards, the lack of significant numbers of inscriptions could point to a decline in the city’s prosperity. Although the city became an Episcopal seat around AD 400 and is still mentioned in sources at the beginning of the 7th century AD, Potentia clearly did not survive into the Middle Ages.

Archaeological and historical research

Nereo Alfieri, an Italian specialist in ancient topography, located the archaeological site of Potentia in 1940. The first architectural remains were investigated in the 1960s-70s under the direction of Liliana Mercando. Between 1986 and 2006 systematic excavation campaigns under the direction of Edvige Percossi of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici delle Marche, have been organized. These excavations revealed a late Republican temple (2nd century BC) surrounded by a portico and other buildings of Republican and Imperial Age. The Potenza Valley Survey Project (Ghent University), under the direction of prof. Frank Vermeulen, made it possible to understand the wider picture of the city’s plan and development. Due to intensive aerial coverage,

geomorphological Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

approaches, artefact surveys and studies, geophysical prospections, and the excavation of the western city gate there is now a more defined chronological interpretation of the site as well as a comprehensive cartographic mapping of its main features.

Archaeological remains from the late Republic and early Empire

City wall, gates and streets

The city has a strictly rectangular town plan of c. 525 x 350 m (around 18), and is laid out parallel with the coast. The urban area is subdivided by a regular network of streets oriented parallel with the walls, thus forming city blocks or

insulae The Latin word ''insula'' (literally meaning "island", plural ''insulae'') was used in Roman cities to mean either a city block in a city plan, i.e. a building area surrounded by four streets, or, later, a type of apartment building that occup ...

(a minimum of 58) of different dimensions. Fairly central to the plan are the principal streets, the

cardo A cardo (plural ''cardines'') was a north–south street in Ancient Roman cities and military camps as an integral component of city planning. The cardo maximus, or most often the ''cardo'', was the main or central north–south-oriented street ...

and

decumanus maximus In Roman urban planning, a decumanus was an east–west-oriented road in a Roman city or castrum (military camp). The main decumanus of a particular city was the Decumanus Maximus, or most often simply "the Decumanus". In the rectangular street gr ...

, with the forum square set south west of their crossroads. The regular street system consist of cardines and decumani neatly parallel and perpendicular with the main axes. According to the evidence from the surveys and the excavations they are some 5 m wide and normally consist of a surface of battered river pebbles. Excavations have revealed that at least some of them had one or two parallel footpaths and brick sewers, which lay underneath the roadway. It is likely that the city wall incorporated three major gates, as suggested by Livy’s account. The northern and western gates, both more or less centrally placed on the respective sides of the city and well-connected with the extramural road are securely located. All three roads leaving the city gates were bordered by cemeteries, with funeral monuments facing the roadway.

The city center

Excavations as well as geophysical survey have located several public buildings around the forum square: a possible

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 ...

, a main temple, a possible

curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...

and a food market (

macellum A macellum (plural: ''macella''; ''makellon'') is an ancient Roman indoor market building that sold mostly provisions (especially meat and fish). The building normally sat alongside the forum and basilica, providing a place in which a market cou ...

). A small theatre lies near the eastern city wall and a possible baths building in the south. The geophysical surveys helped also to distinguish remains and partial plans of many housing units, some of domus type, others clearly

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 ...

, and others simple habitations and shops, spread all over the many insulae.

Date

According to the dates of the portico surrounding the excavated temple east of the forum and of the macellum to the north and a luxurious building (domus?) to the east of the temple, the city centre was especially monumentalised in the time of Augustus. Further expansion and investment continued until the Antonines, before major problems hit the town in the "

Crisis of the 3rd Century The Crisis of the Third Century, also known as the Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis (AD 235–284), was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed. The crisis ended due to the military victories of Aurelian and with the ascensio ...

References

Bibliography

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External links

General Department for Archaeological Monuments in the Marches - Potentia
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Ghent University - Potenza Valley Survey Project
Picenum Roman towns and cities in Italy Archaeological sites in le Marche Roman sites of the Marche Tourist attractions in le Marche Populated places established in the 2nd century BC Former populated places in Italy