Amiternum was an ancient

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 ...

city, then Roman city and later bishopric and

Latin Catholic , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

in the central

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

region of modern

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 ...

, located from

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of both the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 70,967 inhabitants. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valle ...

. Amiternum was the birthplace of the historian

Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (; 86 – ), was a Roman historian and politician from an Italian plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became during the 50s BC a partisan o ...

(86 BC).

History

The site, in the upper Aterno valley, was one of the most important of Sabinum. Amiternum was defeated by the Romans in 293 BC. It lay at the point of junction of four roads: the

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) ...

, the

Via Claudia Nova The Via Claudia Nova was an ancient Roman road, built in 47 AD by the Roman emperor Claudius to connect the Via Caecilia with the Via Claudia Valeria in central Italy. There is no precise information about the road's route: according to som ...

and two branches of 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 ...

. There are considerable remains of an amphitheatre and a theatre, all of which belong to the imperial period, while on the hill of the surrounding village of

San Vittorino San Vittorino Amiterno is a village in the Abruzzo, region of central Italy. It is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of L'Aquila. History S. Vittorino is important because the ancient Roman city of Amiternum Amiternum was an ancient Sabine ...

there are some Christian

catacombs Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etymology and history The first place to be referred ...

. A well known Roman funerary relief of the first century BC depicts the Roman funeral procession or ''pompa''. File:Amiternum 2015 by-RaBoe 097.jpg, Amphitheatre of Amiternum File:Amiternum 2015 by-RaBoe 064.jpg, Amiternum Theatre

Ecclesiastical history

The modern name of the locality, San Vittorino, recalls the martyr of Victorinus, who is looked on as bishop of Amiternum, of the time of the persecution by Roman Emperor

Nerva Nerva (; originally Marcus Cocceius Nerva; 8 November 30 – 27 January 98) was Roman emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became emperor when aged almost 66, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the succeeding rulers of the Flavian dy ...

(30-98 AD), while other sources put the bishopric's foundation circa 300AD. Circa 400 AD it gained territory from the suppressed Diocese of Pitinum. Other bishops of Amiternum include Quodvultdeus, who encouraged the religious veneration of Victorinus by constructing his tomb, Castorius, who is mentioned by

Pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...

Saint Cetteus Saint Cetteus (or ''Ceteus'', also known as ''Peregrinus, Pelligrinus, Pellegrino'') (d. June 13, 597) ( it, San Cetteo, Ceteo) is the patron saint of Pescara. He was a bishop of the 6th century, elected to the see of Amiternum in Sabina (region), ...

, martyred by the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...

in 597, and Leontius, a brother of

Pope Stephen II Pope Stephen II ( la, Stephanus II; 714 – 26 April 757) was born a Roman aristocrat and member of the Orsini family. Stephen was the bishop of Rome from 26 March 752 to his death. Stephen II marks the historical delineation between the Byzant ...

. The last known bishop is Ludovicus, who took part in a synod held in Rome in 1069. Circa 1060 AD, the bishopric was suppressed and it the territory merged into the

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

. In the mid-13th century the population was transferred to the newly founded town of

, which was erected as a diocese by

Pope Alexander IV Pope Alexander IV (1199 or 1185 – 25 May 1261) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 December 1254 to his death in 1261. Early career He was born as Rinaldo di Jenne in Jenne (now in the Province of Rome), he ...

on 20 February 1257, incorporating in it the territory that had once been that of the diocese of Amiternum.

Titular see

No longer a residential bishopric, the name Amiternum has been used by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

since 1966 as a ''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 831 Latin

titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

. It has had the following incumbents: * Titular Bishop Stanislao Amilcare Battistelli,

Passionists The Passionists, officially named Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (), abbreviated CP, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720 with a special emphasis on and de ...

(C.P.) (1967.02.22 – 1976.01.06) * Titular Archbishop

Agostino Cacciavillan Agostino Cacciavillan (14 August 1926 – 5 March 2022) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, and a cardinal since 2001. He worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1959 to 1998; he was given the titles of archbishop and nu ...

(1976.01.17 – 2001.02.21), ** as papal diplomat (Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Kenya (1976.01.17 – 1981.05.09), **

Apostolic Pro-Nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

to India (1981.05.09 – 1990.06.13), ** Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Nepal (1985.04.30 – 1990.06.13), **

Permanent Observer Observer status is a privilege granted by some organizations to non-members to give them an ability to participate in the organization's activities. Observer status is often granted by intergovernmental organizations (IGO) to non-member parties and ...

to Organization of American States (OAS) (1990 – 1998.11.05), ** Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to United States of America (1990.06.13 – 1998.11.05)), ** President of

Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See The Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA; it, Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica, link=no) is the office of the Roman Curia that deals with the "provisions owned by the Holy See in order to provide the fun ...

(1998.11.05 – 2002.10.01) * ''T''itular Archbishop Timothy Paul Andrew Broglio (2001.02.27 – 2007.11.19) * Titular Archbishop

Luciano Suriani Luciano Suriani (born 11 January 1957) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has serves as Apostolic Nuncio to Bulgaria from 2022. Biography Suriani was born in 1957 in Atessa, Chieti. He was ordained a priest on 5 August 1981. He wa ...

(2008.02.22 – ...)

References

Sources and external links

Richard Stillwell, ed. ''Princeton Encyclopaedia of Classical Sites'', 1976:
"Amiternum (San Vittorino), Latium, Italy"

Attribution: * {{Authority control Roman sites of Abruzzo L'Aquila Former populated places in Italy Roman amphitheatres in Italy Ancient Roman theatres in Italy Populated places established in the 3rd century BC Roman towns and cities in Abruzzo National museums of Italy