Bovillae was an ancient
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
town in
Lazio
it, Laziale
, population_note =
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, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
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, 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 ...
, currently part of Frattocchie ''
frazione
A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...
'' in the municipality of
Marino.
Overview
Bovillae was a station on the
Via Appia
The Appian Way (Latin and Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is indicated by its common name, ...
(which in 293 BC was already paved up to this point), located c. south-east 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 ...
. It was a colony of
Alba Longa, and appears as one of the thirty cities of the
Latin league
The Latin League (c. 7th century BC – 338 BC)Stearns, Peter N. (2001) ''The Encyclopedia of World History'', Houghton Mifflin. pp. 76–78. . was an ancient confederation of about 30 villages and tribes in the region of Latium near the ancient ...
. After the destruction of Alba Longa in 658 BC the ''
sacra'' were, it was held, transferred to Bovillae, including the cult of
Vesta (in inscriptions ''virgines Vestales Albanae'' are mentioned, and the inhabitants of Bovillae are always spoken of as ''Albani Longani Bovillenses'') and that of the gens Iulia. The existence of this hereditary worship led to an increase in its importance when the
Julian house rose to the highest power in the state. The horsemen met
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 Pr ...
's dead body at Bovillae on its way to Rome, and in 16 AD the shrine of the family worship was dedicated anew and yearly games in the circus instituted, probably under the charge of the ''
sodales Augustales
The Sodales or Sacerdotes Augustales (''singular'' Sodalis or Sacerdos Augustalis), or simply Augustales,Tacitus, ''Annales'' 1.54 were an order ('' sodalitas'') of Roman priests originally instituted by Tiberius to attend to the maintenance of t ...
'', whose official calendar has been found here.
Bovillae appears as the scene of the quarrel between
Milo
Milo may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Milo'' (magazine), a strength sports magazine
*'' Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze'', a 2011 children's novel by Alan Silberberg
* ''Milo'' (video game), a first-person adventure-puzzle computer ga ...
and
Clodius
Clodius is an alternate form of the Roman '' nomen'' Claudius, a patrician ''gens'' that was traditionally regarded as Sabine in origin. The alternation of ''o'' and ''au'' is characteristic of the Sabine dialect. The feminine form is Clodia.
R ...
, in which the latter, whose villa lay above the town on the left of the Via Appia, was killed. The site is not naturally strong, and remains of early fortifications cannot be traced. It may be that Bovillae took the place of
Alba Longa as a local centre after the destruction of the latter by Rome, which would explain the deliberate choice of a strategically weak position.
Remains of the circus built there 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 ...
in 14 AD in honor of Augustus can still be seen at (use satellite image sites e.g. Wikimapia), and of an octagonal mausoleum, on the edge of the Via Appia. There were once also a theatre and a ''schola actorum'' ("actor's school"), identified by an inscription found in the neighbourhood, and, probably, a temples dedicated to
Veiovis, a divinity associated to the gens Iulia.
Remains of a side-road leading off from the nearby Appian Way were unearthed during excavation work to build a McDonalds restaurant in 2014.
During the excavation a total of four male skeletons were also discovered. The restaurant itself now houses a view of a 150-foot stretch of 2,000-year-old cobbled street beneath a glass walkway. It's also possible to go into the excavated area from a separate entrance.
Notes
References
*Smith, William;
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography',
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, (1854)
;Attribution
*
External links
Remains of the circus
Roman towns and cities in Italy
Buildings and structures in Lazio
{{AncientRome-stub