Monte Rinaldo is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' (municipality) in the

Province of Fermo The province of Fermo () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Marche region of Italy. It was established in 2004 and became operational in 2009. Its administrative centre and provincial capital is the city of Fermo (population of 37,995 inhab ...

in the

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

region of

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 ...

, located about north of

Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; ; ) is a (municipality) and capital of the province of Ascoli Piceno, in the Italy, Italian region of Marche. Geography The town lies at the confluence of the Tronto, River Tronto and the small Castellano (river), River Castell ...

and west of Fermo.

History

In the first millennium BC the Piceni colonised the area. Following various alliances with the Romans and the

Third Samnite War The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanians, Lucania ...

in the 3rd century BC the territory of Picenum gradually passed under the control of Rome. Latin settlers arrived nearby after the establishment of the '' colonia'' of Firmum in 264 BC. The monumental Hellenistic-Roman sanctuary of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

located today in the La Cuma area 0.5 km south of the present town was built in the 1st half of the 2nd century BC. The sanctuary was in region lacking in towns and was the only public monument of the Aso Valley. It was thus the focus of attraction of Roman colonists living nearby who used it also for the administration of justice and other civil or commercial purposes. After several building phases it was abandoned in the first half of the 1st century BC and replaced by a farm. The Roman settlement was located near the Indaco river. In the Lombard age, its position encouraged expansion of agriculture and commerce.

The ancient sanctuary

The 1st phase of the sanctuary from the 1st half of the 2nd century BC consisted of a temple of Jupiter on a podium in the centre of a square ''piazza''. The temple had 4 frontal columns ( tetrastyle). The visible part of the roof was decorated with painted architectural terracottas while the pediment had a group of terracotta statues narrating a story dominated by Jupiter. The piazza was fronted by a portico with two colonnades, the outer one of the Doric order facing into the piazza and an inner central Ionic one dividing the portico into two aisles. The back wall also acted as terracing for the slope behind. Soon after the middle of the 2nd century BC, the sanctuary was redeveloped, possibly following a partial collapse after an earthquake, in the style of Hellenistic sanctuaries elsewhere in the Mediterranean. The eastern portico was added with a series of shops, indicating that the sanctuary was commercial as well as religious. The temple was rebuilt on a podium which used architectural decorations of the previous building as a form of ritual. Many inscriptions of ''Iovei Sacrum'' (sacred Jupiter) scratched on black glazed cups and seals identified the deity of the temple, together with architectural elements decorated with lightning, a typical symbol of Jupiter.E. Giorgi, F. Pizzimenti, S. Kay, The sanctuary of Jupiter at Monte Rinaldo: a sacred landscape in the heart of Picenum, Picenum and the Ager Gallicus at the Dawn of the Roman Conquest Landscape Archaeology and Material Culture, Edited by Federica Boschi, Enrico Giorgi, Frank Vermeulen, ISBN 978-1-78969-699-8 Archaeopress 2020 At the end of the 2nd c. BC a second '' sacellum'' (small temple), dedicated to

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

, was built in the northern corner of the piazza. In the first century BC two rooms were added to the sides of the main portico each including three Ionic columns.

Excavations

The sanctuary was discovered in 1957 and rebuilt in the 1960s. Since 2016 excavations have been led by the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

and the

British School at Rome The British School at Rome (BSR) is a British interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture established in Rome. Historical and archaeological study are at the core of its activities. History The British Sc ...

References

{{Province of Fermo Cities and towns in the Marche Roman sites of the Marche Picenum