 Plan of Antium | |
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| Location | Anzio andNettuno,Rome, Italy |
|---|---|
| Region | Lazio |
| Coordinates | 41°26′52.61″N12°37′44.59″E / 41.4479472°N 12.6290528°E /41.4479472; 12.6290528 |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | 11th century BC - beginning 1st millennium BC |
| Abandoned | Middle Ages |
| Cultures | Latial culture,Volsci,Ancient Rome |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Ownership | Public |
| Public access | Yes |
Antium was anancient coastal town in Latium, south of Rome. Anoppidum was founded by people ofLatial culture (11th century BC or the beginning of the 1st millennium BC),[1] then it was the main stronghold of theVolsci people until it was conquered by theRomans.
In some versions of Rome'sfoundation myth, Antium was founded byAnteias, son ofOdysseus.
The territory of Roman Antium almost entirely corresponded to modernAnzio andNettuno.[2][3][4]
The Latin-volscian[1] town stood in the Capo d'Anzio (modern Anzio), on a higher ground and somewhat away from the shore, though it extended down to it. This was defended by a deep ditch, which can still be traced, and by walls, a portion of which, on the eastern side, constructed of rectangular blocks oftufa, was brought to light in 1897.[5] The fortification of the town would included the acropolis, to which it would be adjacent to the east, isolated but connected.[2] The Latin colony of 467 BC, of which it will be said later, would be installed alongside the fortified Latin-volscian oppidum, also to the east.[3]
A coeval port town, Caenon, was the port under the control of Antium (which did not have a natural harbour of its own):[6] according to alternative theories, the port of Caenon would be located in the Capo d'Anzio,[2] or the port town very north of it,[7] or the town on a hill near Nettuno to the east, and the port over the mouth of the nearby river Loricina.[3]
The settlement of Roman Antium was certainly present in the area of the Capo d'Anzio (in particular, a presumed extensive town since the mid-republican age,[8] the imperial colony and the great harbour ofNero), but a parallel agricultural settlement, with the same name, was likely to be in the same position as modern Nettuno since the colony of 338 BC; so from 60 AD thecolonia Antium of Nero in the Capo d'Anzio would coexisted with a supposed, more ancient,civitas Antium in Nettuno, which in the 4th century AD would have been the only real town:[3][9] a thesis that has found some perplexities[10] or an opposition.[4]
As said in the beginning, for a long time Antium was the capital of the Antiates Volsci, on the Thyrrenian coast.[11]
In 493 BC - the same year that, according to a theory, the Volsci likely settled in the town[1] - the Roman consulPostumus Cominius Auruncus fought anddefeated two armies from Antium and as a result captured the Volscian towns ofLongula,Pollusca andCorioli (to the north of Antium).[12]
According toPlutarch[13] the Roman leaderCoriolanus, who fought at Corioli, took refuge at Antium to the nobleAttius Tullius Aufidius, when the Roman had been accused ofdisloyalty to Rome and the Volsci. Aufidius obtained consent that, by Volscian hand, Coriolanus was first tried, thenassassinated before the end of the trial.
In 469 BC the town Caenon wasdestroyed by the Roman consulTitus Numicius Priscus.[14]
In 468 BC Antium was captured by the Roman consulTitus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus following awar started by the Volsci, and the mentionedLatin colony was planted there the next year. Three Roman ex-consuls were appointed as commissioners to allocate the lands (triumviri coloniae deducendae) amongst Roman colonists. They were Titus Quinctius, the consul of the previous year who had captured Antium from the Volsci;Aulus Verginius Tricostus Caeliomontanus, the consul of 469 BC; andPublius Furius Medullinus Fusus, the consul of 472 BC.[15]
In 464 BC the Antiates were suspected of allying with theAequi against Rome. The chief men of Antium were summoned to Rome but they did not give adequate explanations. Antium was asked to contribute emergency troops for the Romanwar against the Aequi, however the force of 1,000 troops from Antium arrived too late to help.[16]
In 338 BC the consul Gaius Menius Publius suddenly attacked and defeated the troops ofAricia,Lanuvium andVelitres as they were joining the Antiates next to the river Astura.[17] Antium was finally defeated and its warships seized, a part taken to the arsenals in Rome, while the others burned. The town was banned from navigation, and Gaius Menius had therostra of the burned ships mounted in theRoman Forum as ornaments of the speaker's platform thenceforth called theRostra.[18][19]
In 338 BC Antium became acolonia with Roman citizenship of the Antiates,[18] and in 317 BC it became amunicipium.[20] The Roman colony hadduumvirs,[21] andquaestors were also present as magistrates.[2]
During the civil war againstGaius Marius, Antium -breadbasket of Rome[22] - was allied withSulla: in 87 BC it suffered a surprise attack and was devastated by the Marian troops, with many citizen deaths.[23][3]
With the expansion ofRoman Republic Antium was just far enough away to be insulated from the riots and tumults of Rome. The Romans built magnificent seaside villas there and their remains are conspicuous all along the shore, both to the east and to the northwest of the town.[5]Gaius Maecenas also had a villa. Many ancient masterpieces of sculpture have been found there: theFanciulla d'Anzio, theBorghese Gladiator (in theLouvre) and theApollo Belvedere (in theVatican) were all discovered in the ruins of villas at Antium. When Cicero returned from exile, it was at Antium that he reassembled the battered remains of his libraries, where the scrolls would be secure.
Of the villas, the most famous was the imperial villa, known as Domus Neroniana (Villa of Nero),[5] which was used by each emperor in turn, up to theSeverans and which extended some 800 metres (2,600 ft) along the seafront of the Capo d'Anzio. Augustus received a delegation from Rome there to acclaim himPater patriae ("Father of his Country"). The Julian and Claudian emperors frequently visited it; both EmperorCaligula andNero were born in Antium. Nero razed the villa on the site to rebuild it on a more massive scale and according to an imperial style. Including a theatre were built in Antium.[5] In 60 AD[24] Nero also founded a colony of veterans and built a new harbour, the projecting moles of which still exist.[5]
Of the famous temple ofFortune (Horace,Od. i. 35) no remains are known,[5] but its location is assumed in the Capo d'Anzio, area of the Domus Neroniana.[3][10]
There are records of the participation of a few bishops of Antium in synods held in Rome: Gaudentius in 465, Felix in 487, Vindemius in 499 and 501. Barbarian incursions in the 6th century put an end to its existence as a residentialbishopric. Accordingly, Antium is today listed by theCatholic Church as atitular see.[25]
Attacked by theVandals ofGaiseric (5th century), theGoths ofVitiges (6th century), and then by theSaracens,[26] in theMiddle Ages Antium was deserted in favour of Nettuno, which maintained the legacy of the ancient town.[5]
Nettuno is usually attributed only a medieval origin,[4] but in themodern era it was considered a natural heir, a continuation of Antium;[27][3] a view taken up by a contemporary orientation.[3]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Antium".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 147.
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