Labici or Labicum or Lavicum ( or ) 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 whic ...

, in what is now central

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, lying in the territory of the modern Monte Compatri, about 20 km SE from

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, on the northern slopes of the

Alban Hills The Alban Hills () are the caldera remains of a quiescent volcanic complex in Italy, located southeast of Rome and about north of Anzio. The high Monte Cavo forms a highly visible peak in the centre of the caldera, but the highest point is ...

. Exact location of the original city is however disputed. It occurs among the thirty cities of the

Latin League The Latin League ( – 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 city of Rome, o ...

, and it is said to have joined the

Aequi 300px, Location of the Aequi (Equi) in central Italy, 5th century BC. The Aequi were an Italic tribe on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the east of Latium in central Italy who appear in the early history of ancient Rome. After a long stru ...

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 419 BC and to have been stormed by the Romans in 418 BC. After this it does not appear in history, and in the time of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

and

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

was almost entirely deserted if not destroyed. Traces of its ancient walls have been noticed. Its place was taken by the ''respublica Lavicanorum Quintanensium'', the post-station established in the lower ground on the

Via Labicana The Via Labicana was an ancient road of Italy, leading east-southeast from Rome. The course after the first six miles from Rome is not taken by any modern road, but it can be clearly traced from remains of pavement and buildings. It seems possibl ...

, a little SW of the modern village of Colonna, the site of which is attested by various inscriptions and by the course of the road itself.

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

had a villa near here."And yet in September he went to his estate near Labicum and wrote his testament." -- Weinstock, Stefan. Divus Julius. London: Oxford/Clarendon Press. 1971. Page 198.

References

Sources

* Roman sites in Lazio Former populated places in Italy Catholic titular sees in Europe {{Europe-RC-titularsee-stub