Corfinium
Encyclopedia
Corfinium was a city in Ancient
Italy
, on the eastern side of the Apennines
, due east of Rome. It is now near the modern Corfinio
, in the province of L'Aquila
(Abruzzo
region).
, situated in the valley of the Aternus, near the point where that river suddenly makes a sharp angle, and turns from a southeasterly to a northeasterly course, which it pursues from thence to the Adriatic Sea
. It was distant 7 miles from Sulmo (modern Sulmona
), and 30 from Alba Fucens
by the Via Valeria
. There can be no doubt that Corfinium was from an early period the capital city of the Paeligni, and one of the chief towns in this part of Italy; but no mention of its name is found in history until the outbreak of the Social War, in 90 BCE, when it was selected by the confederates to be their common capital, and the seat of their government. It was probably to the importance of its situation in a military point of view that it was mainly indebted for this distinction; but the allied nations seem to have destined it to be the permanent capital of Italy, and the rival of Rome, as they changed its name to Italica, and adorned it with a new and spacious forum and senate house, and other public buildings of a style corresponding to its intended greatness. But before the end of the second year of the war they were compelled to abandon their new capital, and transfer the seat of government to Aesernia (modern Isernia
). The fate of Corfinium after this is not mentioned, but it probably fell into the hands of the Romans
without resistance, and in consequence did not suffer; for we find it at the outbreak of the Civil War
between Julius Caesar
and Pompey
, 49 BCE, still retaining its position as a city of importance and a strong fortress. On this account it was occupied by L. Domitius
with 30 cohorts, and was the only place which offered any effectual resistance to the arms of Caesar during his advance through Italy. Nor was it reduced by force, but the disaffection which rapidly spread among his officers compelled Domitius to surrender after a siege of only seven days. Along with the garrison, several important Republican personages were also captured; Caesar released these after obtaining their oaths of loyalty, oaths many promptly broke.
From this time we hear but little of Corfinium; but inscriptions attest that it continued to be a flourishing municipal town under the Roman Empire
, and its prosperity is proved by the fact that its inhabitants were able to construct two aqueducts for supplying it with water, both of which are in great part hewn in the solid rock, and one of them is carried through a tunnel nearly 5 km in length.
A part of the territory of Corfinium had been portioned out to new settlers as early as the time of the Gracchi
: it received a fresh body of colonists under Augustus
, but never assumed the title of a colony, all inscriptions giving it that of a municipium only. It still appears in the Itineraries as a place of importance, and even seems to have been in the fourth century regarded as the capital of the province of Valeria
, and the residence of its Praeses or governor. The period of its destruction is unknown, but it seems to have been still in existence as late as the tenth century. After that time we find a city named Valva
, which appears to have succeeded to the site of Corfinium, but has now also disappeared, though the adjoining valley is still called La Pianata di Valva.
The ruins of the ancient city, which are very inconsiderable, and consist of little more than shapeless fragments of buildings, are scattered round an ancient church at San Pelino, which was at one time the cathedral of Valva. But the numerous inscriptions discovered on the spot leave no doubt that this is the true site of Corfinium. The bridge over the Aternus, 5 km from the latter city, is mentioned both by Caesar and Strabo, and must always have been a military point of the highest importance. Hence Domitius committed a capital error in neglecting to occupy it in sufficient force when Caesar was advancing upon Corfinium. This bridge must evidently be the same, close to which the modern town of Popoli has grown up; leading to the erroneous supposition by some authors that Popoli, rather than San Pelino, occupies the site of Corfinium.
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, on the eastern side of the Apennines
Apennine mountains
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains or Greek oros but just as often used alone as a noun. The ancient Greeks and Romans typically but not always used "mountain" in the singular to mean one or a range; thus, "the Apennine mountain" refers to the entire chain and is translated "the Apennine...
, due east of Rome. It is now near the modern Corfinio
Corfinio
Corfinio is a comune and town in the Province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy....
, in the province of L'Aquila
Province of L'Aquila
thumb|left|200px|Map of the province.The Province of L'Aquila is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated province of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part of the region...
(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...
region).
History
Corfinium was the chief city of the PaeligniPaeligni
The Paeligni or Peligni were an Italic people who lived in the Valle Peligna, in what is now Abruzzo, central Italy.-History:The Paeligni are first mentioned as a member of a confederacy which included the Marsi, Marrucini and Vestini, with which the Romans came into conflict in the Second Samnite...
, situated in the valley of the Aternus, near the point where that river suddenly makes a sharp angle, and turns from a southeasterly to a northeasterly course, which it pursues from thence to the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
. It was distant 7 miles from Sulmo (modern Sulmona
Sulmona
thumb|150px|Celestine V's hermitage and the remains of the Shrine of Hercules Curinus.thumb|150px|Palazzo SS. Annunziata and Museo Civicothumb|150px|Church of SS...
), and 30 from Alba Fucens
Alba Fucens
Alba Fucens was an ancient Italic town occupying a lofty situation at the foot of the Monte Velino, c. 6.5 km north of Avezzano, Abruzzo, central Italy. Its remains are today in the comune of Massa d'Albe....
by 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...
. There can be no doubt that Corfinium was from an early period the capital city of the Paeligni, and one of the chief towns in this part of Italy; but no mention of its name is found in history until the outbreak of the Social War, in 90 BCE, when it was selected by the confederates to be their common capital, and the seat of their government. It was probably to the importance of its situation in a military point of view that it was mainly indebted for this distinction; but the allied nations seem to have destined it to be the permanent capital of Italy, and the rival of Rome, as they changed its name to Italica, and adorned it with a new and spacious forum and senate house, and other public buildings of a style corresponding to its intended greatness. But before the end of the second year of the war they were compelled to abandon their new capital, and transfer the seat of government to Aesernia (modern Isernia
Isernia
Isernia Isernia Isernia (Latin: Aesernia or, in Pliny and later writers, Eserninus, or in the Antonine Itinerary, Serni is a town and comune in the central Italian region of Molise, and the capital of Isernia province.- Geography :...
). The fate of Corfinium after this is not mentioned, but it probably fell into the hands of the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
without resistance, and in consequence did not suffer; for we find it at the outbreak of the Civil War
Caesar's civil war
The Great Roman Civil War , also known as Caesar's Civil War, was one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic before the establishment of the Roman Empire...
between Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
and Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
, 49 BCE, still retaining its position as a city of importance and a strong fortress. On this account it was occupied by L. Domitius
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 54 BC)
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, consul 54 BC, was an enemy of Julius Caesar and a strong supporter of the aristocratic party in the late Roman Republic.He is first mentioned in 70 BC by Cicero as a witness against Verres...
with 30 cohorts, and was the only place which offered any effectual resistance to the arms of Caesar during his advance through Italy. Nor was it reduced by force, but the disaffection which rapidly spread among his officers compelled Domitius to surrender after a siege of only seven days. Along with the garrison, several important Republican personages were also captured; Caesar released these after obtaining their oaths of loyalty, oaths many promptly broke.
From this time we hear but little of Corfinium; but inscriptions attest that it continued to be a flourishing municipal town under the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, and its prosperity is proved by the fact that its inhabitants were able to construct two aqueducts for supplying it with water, both of which are in great part hewn in the solid rock, and one of them is carried through a tunnel nearly 5 km in length.
A part of the territory of Corfinium had been portioned out to new settlers as early as the time of the Gracchi
Gracchi
The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, were Roman Plebian nobiles who both served as tribunes in 2nd century BC. They attempted to pass land reform legislation that would redistribute the major patrician landholdings among the plebeians. For this legislation and their membership in the...
: it received a fresh body of colonists under Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, but never assumed the title of a colony, all inscriptions giving it that of a municipium only. It still appears in the Itineraries as a place of importance, and even seems to have been in the fourth century regarded as the capital of the province of Valeria
Pannonia Valeria
The Pannonia Valeria or simply Valeria was one of the provinces of the Roman Empire. It was formed in the year 296, during the reign of emperor Diocletian. The capital of the province was Sopianae . Pannonia Valeria included parts of present-day Hungary and Croatia.-External links:*...
, and the residence of its Praeses or governor. The period of its destruction is unknown, but it seems to have been still in existence as late as the tenth century. After that time we find a city named Valva
Valva (city)
Valva is an ancient Italian city that was built on the site of more ancient Corfinium. The site is now occupied by Corfinio a comune and town in the Province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Valva was the site of an episcopal see, which has since been transferred to Sulmona....
, which appears to have succeeded to the site of Corfinium, but has now also disappeared, though the adjoining valley is still called La Pianata di Valva.
The ruins of the ancient city, which are very inconsiderable, and consist of little more than shapeless fragments of buildings, are scattered round an ancient church at San Pelino, which was at one time the cathedral of Valva. But the numerous inscriptions discovered on the spot leave no doubt that this is the true site of Corfinium. The bridge over the Aternus, 5 km from the latter city, is mentioned both by Caesar and Strabo, and must always have been a military point of the highest importance. Hence Domitius committed a capital error in neglecting to occupy it in sufficient force when Caesar was advancing upon Corfinium. This bridge must evidently be the same, close to which the modern town of Popoli has grown up; leading to the erroneous supposition by some authors that Popoli, rather than San Pelino, occupies the site of Corfinium.