Carsoli (
Marsicano Marsicano is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alberto Marsicano (1952–2013), Brazilian musician, translator, writer, philosopher and professor
* Michael Marsicano (born 1956), American entrepreneur, President and CEO of Found ...
: ') is a town and ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...
'' in the
province of L'Aquila
The Province of L'Aquila ( it, Provincia dell'Aquila) is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated province of the Abruzzo region of Central Italy. It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part of ...
,
Abruzzo (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 ...
). The ancient Roman city lies southwest of the modern town.
History
The ancient city, known as ''Carsioli'' (or ''Carseoli''), was founded in the country of the
Aequi
300px, Location of the Aequi (Equi) in central Italy, 5th century BC.
The Aequi ( grc, Αἴκουοι and Αἴκοι) were an Italic tribe on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the east of Latium in central Italy who appear in the early hist ...
between 302 and 298 BC, just after the establishment of
Alba Fucens
Alba Fucens was an ancient Italic town occupying a lofty location (1,000 m) at the foot of the Monte Velino, c. 6.5 km north of Avezzano, Abruzzo, central Italy. Its remains are today in the ''comune'' of Massa d'Albe.
History
It was ...
, no doubt as a stronghold to guard the road to the latter. It is mentioned in 211 BC as one of the 12 of 30 Latin colonies that protested their inability to furnish more men or money for the war against
Hannibal. It is known that, in 168 BC, it was used as a place of confinement for political prisoners. It was sacked in the
Social War, but probably became a ''municipium'' after it. The 1st century agricultural writer
Columella
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire.
His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...
possessed estates there.
[
]
The modern town of Carsoli first appears in a diploma of 866 AD, but the old site does not seem to have been abandoned until the 13th century.
Main sights
The line of the city walls (originally in
tuff
Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...
, and reconstructed in
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
), built of rectangular blocks, can still be seen. There are remains of several ancient buildings, including the podium or base, of a temple, and also the ancient branch road from the
Via Valeria
The Via Valeria was an ancient Roman road of Italy, the continuation north-eastwards of the Via Tiburtina from Tibur. It probably owed its origin to Marcus Valerius Messalla, censor in 154 BC.
The route
It ran first up the Anio valley past ...
. The 43rd milestone of the Via Valeria still lies at or near its original site; it was set up by
Nerva in 97 AD.
Some to the northwest of Carsoli are the remains of an ancient
aqueduct consisting of a buttressed wall of concrete crossing a valley.
Climate
See also
*
Castello di Carsoli
Castello di Carsoli (Italian for ''Castle of Carsoli'') is a medieval castle in Carsoli, Province of L'Aquila (Abruzzo), central Italy.
History
The medieval village of Carsoli was built as a cluster of houses around the church of Santa Maria ...
References
*
External links
Official website
T. Ashby and G. J. Pfeiffer in Supplementary Papers of the American School in Rome, Vol. I, pp. 108‑40, transcribed at LacusCurtius
LacusCurtius is a website specializing in ancient Rome, currently hosted on a server at the University of Chicago. It went online on August 26, 1997; in July 2021 it had "3707 webpages, 765 photos, 772 drawings & engravings, 120 plans, 139 maps." T ...
.
{{Authority control
Marsica