Valle Latina (''Latin Valley'') is an Italian geographical and historical region that extends from the south of
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 ...
to
Cassino
Cassino () is a ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Southern Italy, at the southern end of the region of Lazio, the last city of the Latin Valley.
Cassino is located at the foot of Monte Cairo near the confluence of the Gari and Liri rive ...
, corresponding to the eastern area of ancient Roman
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 ...
.
The valley's principal cities are
Frosinone
Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the Va ...
,
Cassino
Cassino () is a ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Southern Italy, at the southern end of the region of Lazio, the last city of the Latin Valley.
Cassino is located at the foot of Monte Cairo near the confluence of the Gari and Liri rive ...
,
Sora,
Grottaferrata
Grottaferrata () is a small town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, situated on the lower slopes of the Alban Hills, south east of Rome. It has grown up around the Abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, founded in 1004. Nearby comm ...
,
Anagni
Anagni () is an ancient town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, Latium, central Italy, in the hills east-southeast of Rome. It is a historical and artistic center of the Latin Valley.
Geography Overview
Anagni still maintains the ...
,
Alatri
Alatri ( la, Aletrium) is an Italian town and ''comune'' of the province of Frosinone in the region of Lazio, with c. 30,000 inhabitants. An ancient city of the Hernici,Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hernici". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed. ...
.
Geographical, historical and cultural regions of Italy
History
Ancient
According to the tradition, in 496 BC the Romans defeated their Latin rivals in the
Battle of Lake Regillus
The Battle of Lake Regillus was a legendary Roman victory over the Latin League shortly after the establishment of the Roman Republic and as part of a wider Latin War. The Latins were led by an elderly Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seve ...
and imposed their dominion over the
Latium vetus
Old Latium ( la, Latium vetus or ') is a region of the Italian peninsula bounded to the north by the river Tiber, to the east by the central Apennine mountains, to the west by the Mediterranean Sea and to the south by Monte Circeo. It was the ter ...
, corresponding in part to the northern area of the current Latin Valley. In the following centuries, the center and south of the Valley was the heart of Latin colonization in Roman times. Unlike the coastal areas where small Roman colonies were founded, the inland areas saw the creation of diverse and densely populated Latin colonies. The Latins and Romans mixed with the pre-existing
Osco-Umbrian
The Osco-Umbrian, Sabellic or Sabellian languages are an extinct group of Italic languages, the Indo-European languages that were spoken in Central and Southern Italy by the Osco-Umbrians before being replaced by Latin, as the power of Ancient Rom ...
-speaking populations, in particular the
Hernici
The Hernici were an Italic tribe of ancient Italy, whose territory was in Latium between the Fucine Lake and the Sacco River (''Trerus''), bounded by the Volsci on the south, and by the Aequi and the Marsi on the north.
For many years of the earl ...
, with their capital
Anagni
Anagni () is an ancient town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, Latium, central Italy, in the hills east-southeast of Rome. It is a historical and artistic center of the Latin Valley.
Geography Overview
Anagni still maintains the ...
, and the
Volsci
The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the ...
in
Frosinone
Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the Va ...
and in the
Liri Valley
{{refimprove, date=December 2020
The Valle del Liri (''Liri valley'') is a valley and a geographical region of southern Lazio and part of the larger Latin Valley, located in the province of Frosinone, crossed by the Liri river (as well as the Va ...
. Further south, the Oscan city of
Casinum
Casinum was an ancient town of Italy, of Oscan origin. Varro states that the name in Oscan language meant ''forum vetus'' ("old forum"), and also that the town itself was Samnite before the Roman conquest. Casinum was a Samnite city only bef ...
(
Cassino
Cassino () is a ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Southern Italy, at the southern end of the region of Lazio, the last city of the Latin Valley.
Cassino is located at the foot of Monte Cairo near the confluence of the Gari and Liri rive ...
) had been conquered by Volsci,
Samnites
The Samnites () were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy.
An Oscan-speaking people, who may have originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they for ...
and finally Romans. Within its territory (''ager casinas'') the Romans founded the colony of
Interamna Lirenas
Interamna Lirenas was an ancient Roman colony near the current Pignataro Interamna, in the southern province of Frosinone, central Italy.
Modern archaeological excavations at the site commenced in 2010.
History
Interamna Lirenas was founded in 31 ...
. Other important Latin colonies in the region were
Sora and
Fregellae
Fregellae was an ancient town of Latium adiectum, situated on the Via Latina between Aquinum (modern Aquino) and Frusino (now Frosinone, in central Italy), near the left branch of the Liris.
History
Fregellae was said to have been founded i ...
. The Latin-Roman colonization coincided with the creation of the
Latium adiectum
Latium adiectum () or Latium Novum was a region of Roman Italy between Monte Circeo and the river Garigliano, south of and immediately adjacent to Old Latium, hence its name of ''attached Latium''.
Sources
As a geographical term, it was used at l ...
and the
Via Latina
The Via Latina (Latin for "Latin Road") was a Roman road of Italy, running southeast from Rome for about 200 kilometers.
Route
It led from the Porta Latina in the Aurelian walls of Rome to the pass of Mount Algidus; it was important in the ear ...
. The Via Latina started from Porta Capena in Rome, passing through the Porta Latina, then continued south-east, crossing the
Alban Hills
The Alban Hills ( it, Colli Albani) are the caldera remains of a quiescent volcano, volcanic complex in Italy, located southeast of Rome and about north of Anzio. The high Monte Cavo forms a highly visible peak the centre of the caldera, bu ...
(High Valle Latina), the
Valle del Sacco
Valle Latina (''Latin Valley'') is an Italian geographical and historical region that extends from the south of Rome to Cassino, corresponding to the eastern area of ancient Roman Latium.
The valley's principal cities are Frosinone, Cassino, So ...
(Middle Valle Latina) and the
Valle del Liri
{{refimprove, date=December 2020
The Valle del Liri (''Liri valley'') is a valley and a geographical region of southern Lazio and part of the larger Latin Valley, located in the province of Frosinone, crossed by the Liri river (as well as the Va ...
up to Cassino (Lower Latin Valley), the last city of the Latins and the current Latin Valley, to then enter Campania and end in Capua. With the territorial reorganization of Italy under Augustus, the area was incorporated into the
Regio I Latium et Campania, a territorial institution that will remain in force until the fall 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 ...
in 476 AD.
Middle Ages and Modern era
![Castello di Monte San Giovanni Campano 5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Castello_di_Monte_San_Giovanni_Campano_5.JPG)
At the end of the 5th century the Valley, along with the rest of the Peninsula, became part of the
Ostrogothic Kingdom
The Ostrogothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of Italy (), existed under the control of the Germanic peoples, Germanic Ostrogoths in Italian peninsula, Italy and neighbouring areas from 493 to 553.
In Italy, the Ostrogoths led by Theodoric the ...
. Around the year 529,
St. Benedict
Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Christianity in Italy, Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Ortho ...
of Norcia founded the
Abbey of Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first h ...
on the summit of Montecassino, on the southern edge of the Latin Valley, which represented a point of reference for the Christian identity of Western Europe. A few years later, in 535, the Greek-Gothic war broke out and ended in 553 with the Byzantine victory. With the subsequent
Lombard invasion, the political unity of the Latin Valley was compromised: the Lower Latin Valley was incorporated into the Lombard
Duchy of Benevento
The Duchy of Benevento (after 774, Principality of Benevento) was the southernmost Lombard duchy in the Italian Peninsula that was centred on Benevento, a city in Southern Italy. Lombard dukes ruled Benevento from 571 to 1077, when it was conq ...
, to then follow the history of southern Italy, while the Upper and Middle Valle remained in the
Roman Duchy
The Duchy of Rome ( la, Ducatus Romanus) was a state within the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna. Like other Byzantine states in Italian peninsula, Italy, it was ruled by an imperial functionary with the title ''dux''. The duchy o ...
and therefore the subsequent
Church State. Anyway, in the southern area of the Latin Valley, autonomous feudal territories were formed that were able to shape their own and separate identity. Particular attention should therefore be paid, in this regard, to the
Terra Sancti Benedicti
The ''Terra Sancti Benedictʃti'' ("Land of Saint Benedict") was the secular territory, or seignory, of the powerful Abbey of Montecassino, the chief monastery of the megladon and one of the first Western monasteries: founded by Benedict of Nu ...
[L. Fabiani, ''La terra di S. Benedetto: studio storico giuridico sull'Abbazia di Montecassino dall’VIII al XIII secolo'', Badia di Montecassino, 1968, rist. anastatica, Isola del Liri] and the
Duchy of Sora
The Duchy of Sora was a semi-independent state in Italy, created in 1443 by King Alfonso I of Naples and dissolved in 1796. It occupied the south-eastern part of what is today Lazio, bordering what is now Abruzzo. Its capital was first Sora, an ...
. The hopes of municipal autonomy of the main cities of the Middle Latin Valley, including for example Ferentino and Alatri, as well as others in the neighboring regions, but in any case subject to papal authority, pushed Innocent III to establish the Province of
Campagna e Marittima in the XII century.
Cultural heritage
![Nebbia_e_castello](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Nebbia_e_castello.jpg)
In the Valley there are numerous small towns of great artistic and cultural importance. A quick and incomplete presentation is given here. In addition to the aforementioned Abbey of Monte Cassino, the city of Cassino preserves the remains of the ancient
Casinum
Casinum was an ancient town of Italy, of Oscan origin. Varro states that the name in Oscan language meant ''forum vetus'' ("old forum"), and also that the town itself was Samnite before the Roman conquest. Casinum was a Samnite city only bef ...
and in particular an
amphitheater
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
dating back to the 1st century AD, a Roman theater (still in use) and a section of the Via Latina.
A little further north, in
Roccasecca
Roccasecca is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Frosinone, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is the birthplace of Thomas Aquinas.
History
The history of Roccasecca is tightly bound to its strategic position, a "dry '' rocca''" at ...
, there are the remains of the castle of the Counts of Aquino where
St. Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known ...
was born. In
Monte San Giovanni Campano
Monte San Giovanni Campano is a ''comune'' (municipality) of about 12,800 inhabitants in the province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about southeast of Rome and about east of Frosinone. Monte San Giovanni Campano is in the Lati ...
, on the right bank of the Liri, the castle where the saint was imprisoned by his family is preserved in excellent condition. The city of
Arpino
Arpino (Southern Latian dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Frosinone, in the Latin Valley, region of Lazio in central Italy, about 100 km SE of Rome. Its Roman name was Arpinum. The town produced two consuls of the R ...
is particularly known for being the birthplace of
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
and
Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius (; – 13 January 86 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. Victor of the Cimbric and Jugurthine wars, he held the office of consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his important refor ...
, in the sixteenth century,
Giuseppe Cesari
Giuseppe Cesari (14 February 1568 – 3 July 1640) was an Italian Mannerist painter, also named Il Giuseppino and called ''Cavaliere d'Arpino'', because he was created ''Cavaliere di Cristo'' by his patron Pope Clement VIII. He was much patronize ...
, known as the Cavalier d'Arpino. The city retains a perfectly preserved historic center, as well as megalithic walls that rise in the acropolis. It is also an important center for contemporary art thanks to the Umberto Mastroianni Foundation. Further north, in the High Latin Valley, in
Grottaferrata
Grottaferrata () is a small town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, situated on the lower slopes of the Alban Hills, south east of Rome. It has grown up around the Abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, founded in 1004. Nearby comm ...
, there is the
Abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata
The Territorial Abbacy of Santa Maria of Grottaferrata is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction which administers the Abbey of Saint Mary in Grottaferrata located in Grottaferrata, Rome, Lazio, Italy. The Abbacy and its territory are stauropegic, that is, ...
.
Gallery
File:Cascata Isola del Liri.jpg,
File:Arpino panorama.jpg,
File:Monte Cassino Opactwo 1.JPG,
File:Cassino, Anfiteatro Romano.png,
File:Sora, Italy.jpg,
File:SGiovanniNotte.jpg,
References
Bibliography
* Giuseppe Ponzi,
Osservazioni geologiche fatte lungo la Valle Latina', Roma, 1849
* Sabrina Pietrobono,
La Media Valle Latina: castelli e viabilità in una zona di frontiera Società degli Archeologi Medievisti Italiani, 2006
* Sabrina Pietrobono, ''I monasteri della Media Valle Latina (Frosinone): aspetti topografici e scelte insediative'', in Letizia Ermini Pani, ''Committenza, scelte insediative e organizzazione patrimoniale nel Medioevo'', Atti del Convegno di studio, Tergu 15-17 settembre 2006, Centro Italiano di Studi sull'Alto Medioevo, Spoleto, 2007
* ''Italy'', Volume 1, Naval Intelligence Division (of the United Kingdom), 1944, p. 292
See also
*
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 ...
*
Via Latina
The Via Latina (Latin for "Latin Road") was a Roman road of Italy, running southeast from Rome for about 200 kilometers.
Route
It led from the Porta Latina in the Aurelian walls of Rome to the pass of Mount Algidus; it was important in the ear ...
*
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 ...
{{coord missing, Italy
Valleys of Lazio
Province of Frosinone
Geography of Lazio