Suessa Pometia ( el, ; also Pometia) was an ancient city of

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 ...

, which had ceased to exist in historical times. Although the modern city of

Pomezia Pomezia () is a municipality (''comune'') in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Lazio, central Italy. In 2009 it had a population of about 60,000. History The town was built entirely new near the location of ancient Lavinium on land resulting ...

is named after it, the exact location of the ancient city is unknown. It bordered on the Pomptinus ager or Pomptinae Paludes, which supposedly took its name.

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

reckons it among the colonies of

Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scottish people, Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed i ...

, and must therefore have considered it as a Latin city: it is found also in the list of the same colonies given by

Diodorus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

; but it seems certain that it had at a very early period become a

Volscian Volscian was a Sabellic Italic language, which was spoken by the Volsci and closely related to Oscan and Umbrian. Overview Volscian is attested in an inscription found in Velitrae (Velletri), dating probably from early in the 3rd century BC; it ...

city. It was taken from that people by

Tarquinius Superbus Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (died 495 BC) was the legendary seventh and final king of Rome, reigning 25 years until the popular uprising that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic.Livy, ''ab urbe condita libri'', I He is commonly known a ...

, the first of the Roman kings who is mentioned as having made war on the Volsci: Strabo indeed calls it the metropolis of the Volsci, for which we have no other authority; and it is probable that this is a mere inference from the statements as to its great wealth and power. These represent it as a place of such opulence, that it was with the booty derived from thence that Tarquinius was able to commence and carry on the construction of the

Capitoline The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. T ...

temple at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. This was indeed related by some writers of

Apiolae Apiolae (also Appiolae) was a town in ancient Latium, Italy. During the early semi-legendary history of Rome, in the reign of Rome's fifth king, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, it is said that the Latins went to war with Rome. Tarquinius took Apio ...

, another city taken by Tarquin, but the current tradition seems to have been that connected with Pometia. The name of Suessa Pometia is only once mentioned before this time, as the place where the sons of

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 ...

retired into exile on the accession of

Servius Servius is the name of: * Servius (praenomen), the personal name * Maurus Servius Honoratus, a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian * Servius Tullius, the Roman king * Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the 1st century BC Roman jurist See ...

. It is clear also that it survived its capture by Tarquin, and even appears again in the wars of the Republic with the Volscians, as a place of great power and importance. Livy indeed calls it a ''Colonia Latina'', but we have no account of its having become such. It, however,

revolted In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

(according to his account) in 503 BC together with Cora and with the assistance of the

Aurunci The Aurunci were an Italic tribe that lived in southern Italy from around the 1st millennium BC. They were eventually defeated by Rome and subsumed into the Roman Republic during the second half of the 4th century BC. Identity Aurunci is the n ...

, and was not taken until the following year, by Sp. Cassius, when the city was destroyed and the inhabitants sold as slaves. It nevertheless appears again a few years afterwards (495 BC) in the hands of the Volscians, at which time children of the leading men of the city were offered as hostages to prevent war, but when war broke out soon afterwards the city was again taken and pillaged by the consul

Publius Servilius Priscus Structus Publius Servilius Priscus Structus was a Roman statesman who served as Senator and Consul. Consulship and military campaigns Servilius was Roman consul in 495 BC, along with Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis, and was the first consul of gens S ...

. This time the blow seems to have been decisive; for the name of Suessa Pometia is never again mentioned in history, and all trace of it disappears. Pliny notices it among the cities which were in his time utterly extinct. and no record seems to have been preserved even of its site. We are, however, distinctly told that the Pomptinus ager and the Pomptine tribe derived their appellation from this city,Fest. s. v. Pomptina, p. 233 and there can therefore be no doubt that it stood in that district or on the verge of it.

References

{{coord missing, Italy Latin cities Destroyed cities Former populated places in Italy