Fidenae (Ancient Greek:Φιδῆναι) was an ancient town ofLatium, situated about 8 km north ofRome on theVia Salaria. Its inhabitants were known asFidenates. As the Tiber was the border betweenEtruria andLatium, the left-bank settlement of Fidenae represented an extension of Etruscan presence into Latium. The site of thearx of the ancient town was probably on the hill on which lies the contemporaryVilla Spada, though no traces of early buildings or defences are to be seen; pre-Roman tombs are in the cliffs to the north. The later village lay at the foot of the hill on the eastern edge of the high-road, and itscuria, with a dedicatory inscription toMarcus Aurelius by theSenatus Fidenatium, was excavated in 1889. Remains of other buildings may also be seen.[1]
Originally a settlement ofEtruscans,[2] it was at the frontier of Roman territory and occasionally changed hands between Rome andVeii.
In the 8th century BC during the reign ofRome's first king,Romulus, the Fidenates and the Veientes weredefeated in a war with Rome, according to legend.[3] It may be that a colony was established there after the defeat asLivy afterwards describes Fidenae as a Roman colony.[4]
Fidenae and Veii weredefeated by Rome in the mid 7th century BC during the reign of Rome's third kingTullus Hostilius, and again by Rome's fifth kingTarquinius Priscus in the early 6th century BC.
In the earlyRoman Republic, Fidenae made a decision that was to cost them much of their land in favor of the newClaudia gens, formed fromSabine defectors.Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, last king of Rome, having been expelled from it, at first looked for intervention from theEtruscans.Lars Porsenna ofClusium, dissatisfied with Superbus' conduct and ethics, made peace with the new republic.
The Tarquins then subvertedLatium.Sextus Tarquinius, whose rape ofLucretia had triggered the overthrow of the monarchy (if he was not assassinated atGabii), convinced the Sabines to go to war against Rome, arguing that previous treaties had been annulled by the expulsion of the kings. The Tarquins were now interested in Latin intervention. After some minor conflicts in which Rome was victorious, the Sabines took a vote and resolved on an invasion of the city of Rome (with perhaps the previous example in memory). The Tarquins brought in Fidenae andCameria, formerly Roman allies.
Thetotal defeat of the Sabines in 505/504 BC was followed by the siege of Fidenae. The city was taken only a few days later: the Romans assembled their prisoners and executing the senior officers before them (whipped by the rods and beheaded by the axe of thefasces, a standard punishment for treason), let the rest go with a stern warning. A garrison was placed in Fidenae, and its members were given much of its land.[5] The Claudii are not mentioned in connection with the battle, but they had been given land north of theAnio river, some of which was at Fidenae. They could only collect on that offer if Fidenae was defeated, the implication being that they were being invited to participate in the campaign; they may even have been the garrison.
Fidenae appears to have fallen permanently under Roman domination after itscapture in 435 BC by the Romans, and is spoken of by classical authors as a place almost deserted in their time. It seems, however, to have had some importance as a post station.
In 27 AD, an apparently cheaply built woodenamphitheater constructed by an entrepreneur namedAtilius collapsed in Fidenae, resulting in what was said to be the worststadium disaster in history, with at least 20,000 killed and many more injured out of the total audience of 50,000.[6][7]
The emperorTiberius had banned gladiatorial games, and when the prohibition was lifted, the public had flocked to the earliest events, so a large crowd was present when the stadium collapsed. At the time of the incident, Tiberius was inCapri, where he had a secure getaway, but he rushed to Fidenae to assist the victims of this incident.[8]
TheRoman Senate responded to the tragedy by banning people with a fortune of less than 400,000sesterces from hosting gladiator shows, and also requiring that all amphitheaters built in the future be erected on a sound foundation, inspected and certified for soundness. The government also "banished" Atilius.[9]
A digital reconstruction found the reported casualties to be consistent with a wooden structure similar in size to the still-standing stone structure ofthe amphitheater in Verona.[10]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Fidenae".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 320.| International | |
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