Saepinum (modern Altilia, near
Sepino
Sepino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Campobasso in the Italian region Molise, located about south of Campobasso.
The archaeological site of Saepinum is located nearby. Sepino borders the following municipalities: Cercemag ...
) was a
Samnite town located c. south of the modern
Campobasso
Campobasso (, ; nap, label= Campobassan, Cambuàsce ) is a city and ''comune'' in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Molise and of the province of Campobasso. It is located in the high basin of the Biferno river, surrounded by Sa ...
in south central
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 ...
. Saepinum was on the ancient road from
Beneventum to
Corfinium
Corfinium (Greek: ) was a city in ancient Italy, on the eastern side of the Apennines, due east of Rome, near modern Corfinio, in the province of L'Aquila (Abruzzo region).
History
Corfinium was the chief city of the Paeligni, situated in the ...
.
[
]
History
The position of the original town is on the mountain far above the Roman town, and remains of its walls in Cyclopean masonry still exist. It was captured by the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
in 293 BC. The city walls (in ''opus reticulatum'') of the Roman town were erected by
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 ...
before he became emperor, and are dated to between 2 BC and 4 AD by an inscription. Within the city walls are remains of a
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
and other buildings, including temples of
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...
and
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= ...
. There still exists, by the gate leading to
Bovianum, an important inscription of about 168 AD, relating to the ''tratture'' (see
Apulia
it, Pugliese
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) in Roman days, forbidding the natives to harm the shepherds who passed along them.
The presence of tombs from the 4th century within the city walls suggests that the city had been largely abandoned by that time. Following the collapse of the
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...
, Saepinum was taken in 882 by
Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...
.
[Jeff Matthews]
Saepinum
References
External links
*Jeff Matthews
*Michael Frank, "A Rarity Among Roman Towns," ''New York Times'', December 23, 1990, web
*
Roman towns and cities in Italy
Archaeological sites in Molise
Former populated places in Italy
National museums of Italy
Basilicas in Italy
{{Molise-geo-stub