Alba Fucens
Encyclopedia
Monte Velino
Monte Velino is a mountain in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, central Italy, part of the Abruzzo Apennines. Located nearby the boundary with Lazio, between the Fucino plain and the Aterno, Salto and Velino rivers' valleys, it is the highest peak in the sub-chain known as Velino-Sirente, and...
, c. 6.5 km north of Avezzano
Avezzano
Avezzano is a town and comune in the Abruzzo region, province of L'Aquila. It is the main commercial, industrial and agricultural centre of the Marsica area, with high-tech industries such as a Micron Technology semi-conductor plant, and a large Telespazio satellite farm.-History:There are two...
, Abruzzo
Abruzzo
Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...
, central Italy. Its remains are today in the comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
of Massa d'Albe
Massa d'Albe
Massa d'Albe is a comune and town in the Province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is part of the Marsica.The town was founded in the 14th century by the inhabitants of the ancient Alba Fucens, whose remains are in the area. The current comune was formed after 1915 by the...
.
It was originally a town of the Aequi
Aequi
thumb|300px|Location of the Aequi in central Italy.The Aequi were an ancient people of northeast Latium and the central Appennines of Italy who appear in the early history of ancient Rome. After a long struggle for independence from Rome they were defeated and substantial Roman colonies were...
, though on the frontier of the Marsi
Marsi
Marsi is the Latin exonym for a people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus, drained for agricultural land in the late 19th century. The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. During the Roman Republic the people of the region spoke a...
, but was occupied by a Roman colony (304 BC) owing to its strategic importance. It lay on a hill just to the north of the Via Valeria
Via Valeria
The Via Valeria was an ancient Roman road of Italy, the continuation north-eastwards of the Via Tiburtina. It probably owed its origin to Marcus Valerius Messalla, censor in 154 BC...
, which was probably prolonged beyond Tibur at this very period. In the Second Punic War
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...
Alba at first remained faithful, but afterwards refused to send contingents and was punished.
After this it became a regular place of detention for important state prisoners, such as Syphax of Numidia, Perseus of Macedonia, Bituitus
Bituitus
Bituitus was a king of the Arverni, a Gallic tribe living in what is now the Auvergne region of France. The Arverni were a powerful opponent of the Roman Republic during the 3rd and 2nd centuries under the leadership of Luernios, the father of Bituitus...
, king of the Arverni
Arverni
The Arverni were a Gallic tribe living in what is now the Auvergne region of France during the last centuries BC. One of the most powerful tribes in ancient Gaul, they opposed the Romans on several occasions...
. It was attacked by the allies in the Social War, but remained faithful to Rome; and its strong position rendered it a place of some importance in the civil wars. Its prosperity, in the imperial period, can only be inferred from the number of inscriptions found there.
It is chiefly remarkable for its finely preserved fortifications. The external walls, which have a circuit of about 3 km, are constructed of polygonal masonry
Polygonal masonry
Polygonal masonry is a technique of stone construction of the ancient Mediterranean world. True polygonal masonry may be defined as a technique wherein the visible surfaces of the stones are dressed with straight sides or joints, giving the block the appearance of a polygon.This technique is found...
; the blocks are carefully jointed, and the faces smoothed. With our present knowledge of such constructions their date cannot certainly be determined. They are not preserved to any very considerable height; but the arrangement of the gates is clearly traceable; as a rule they come at the end of a long, straight stretch of wall, and are placed so as to leave the right side of any attacking force exposed. On the north there is, for a length of about 150 m, a triple line of defences of later date (possibly added by the Roman colonists), inasmuch as both the city wall proper, and the double wall thrown out in front of it are partly constructed of concrete, and faced with finer polygonal masonry
Polygonal masonry
Polygonal masonry is a technique of stone construction of the ancient Mediterranean world. True polygonal masonry may be defined as a technique wherein the visible surfaces of the stones are dressed with straight sides or joints, giving the block the appearance of a polygon.This technique is found...
(in which horizontal joints seem to be purposely avoided).
A mile to the north of the city a huge mound with a ditch on each side of it (but at a considerable distance from it) may be traced; for a couple of miles. Within the walls there are hardly any buildings of a later date. Excavations have only been made casually, though remains of buildings and of roads can be traced, and also an extensive system of underground passages perhaps connected with the defences of the place. The hill at the western extremity was occupied by a temple of the Tuscan order, into which was built the church of S. Pietro; this contains ancient columns, and some remarkably fine specimens of Cosmatesque work. It is the only monastic church in the Abruzzi in which the nave is separated from the aisles by ancient columns.
The collegiate church of S. Nicola, in the village, contains a remarkable staurotheca of the 11th (?) century, and a wooden triptych
Triptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
in imitation of the Byzantine
Byzantine art
Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 5th century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453....
style with enamels, of the 13th century.
Excavations
In the 20th century the Belgian academy at Rome carried out excavations at the site, under the direction of Joseph MertensJoseph Mertens
Joseph Mertens was an accomplished 20th century Belgian archaeologist, known for his excavations of Alba Fucens and Herdonia.-Sources:...
. This project led to a series of publications of the site and its remains.