Latium adiectum
Encyclopedia
Latium adiectum or Latium Novum is an ancient Roman geographical term used at least as early as the 1st century BC, when mention of it occurs in Pliny
in conjunction with Latium antiquum, the original territory of the Latini
tribe. Says Pliny of the latter:
Then he speaks of a later extension to the river Garigliano, to include the Volsci
, Osci
and Ausones
. The "last town" in the Adiectum Latium, or "Extension of Latium", was Sinuessa
.
Pliny's remarks concerning Latium are part of his description of Italy
:
After waxing yet more eloquent concerning Italy - he was in fact north Italian himself, rather than Roman - he then gives:
Latium and Campania together comprise Region I, of which Latium is divided into Latium Vetus or Antiquus and Latium Adiectum or Novum.
, Frusino, Fabrateria
, Fregellae
, Sora
, Arpinum, Atina
, Aquinum, Casinum
, and Interamna; Anxur (Terracina
) was the only seaport that properly belonged to the Volscians, the coast from there to the mouth of the Liris being included in the territory of the Aurunci
, or Ausones as they were termed by Greek
writers, who possessed the maritime towns of Fundi
, Formiae, Caieta
, and Minturnae, together with Suessa in the interior, which had replaced their more ancient capital of Aurunca. Sinuessa, on the seacoast between the Liris (Garigliano) and the Vulturnus
, at the foot of the Monte Massico, was the last town in Latium according to the official use of the term and was sometimes assigned to Campania
, while Suessa was more assigned to Latium. On the other hand, as Nissen points out (Italische Landeskunde, ii. 554), the Pons Campanus, by which the Via Appia crossed the Savo
some 9 m. SE of Sinuessa, indicates by its name the position of the old Campanian frontier. In the interior the boundary fell between Casinum and Teanum Sidicinum, at about the 100th milestone
of the Via Latina, a fact which led later to the jurisdiction of the Roman
courts being extended on every side to the 100th mile from the city, and to this being the limit beyond which banishment from Rome was considered to begin.
Though the Apennines
comprised within the boundaries of Latium do not rise to a height approaching that of the loftiest summits of the central range, they attain to a considerable altitude, and form steep and rugged mountain masses from 4,000 to 5,000 ft. high. They are traversed by three principal valleys: (1) that of the Anio, now called Teverone, which descends from above Subiaco
to Tivoli
, where it enters the plain of the Campagna
; (2) that of the Trerus (Sacco
), which has its source below Palestrina (Praeneste), and flows through a comparatively broad valley that separates the main mass of the Apennines from the Volscian mountains or Monti Lepini
, until it joins the Liris below Ceprano
; (3) that of the Uris (Garigliano), which enters the confines of New Latium about 20 m. from its source, flows past the town of Sora
, and has a very tortuous course from thenre to the sea at Minturnae; its lower valley is for the most part of considerable width, and forms a fertile tract of considerable extent, bordered on both sides by hills covered with vines, olives and fruit trees, and thickly studded with towns and villages.
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
in conjunction with Latium antiquum, the original territory of the Latini
Latins (Italic tribe)
The Latins were a people of ancient Italy who included the inhabitants of the early City of Rome. From ca. 1000 BC, the Latins inhabited the small part of the peninsula known to the Romans as Old Latium , that is, the region between the river Tiber and the promontory of Monte Circeo The Latins (or...
tribe. Says Pliny of the latter:
"Its inhabitants have often changed: at various times it has been occupied by various peoples - the Aborigines, the Pelasgi, the Arcades, the Siculi, the AurunciAurunciThe Aurunci were an Italic population which lived in southern Italy from around the 1st millennium BC. Of Indo-European origin, their language belonged to the Oscan group...
, the RutuliRutuliThe Rutuli or Rutulians were members of a legendary Italic tribe...
...."
Then he speaks of a later extension to the river Garigliano, to include the Volsci
Volsci
The Volsci were an ancient Italic people, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. They then inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the south, the Hernici on the east, and stretching roughly from...
, Osci
Osci
The Osci , were an Italic people of Campania and Latium adiectum during Roman times. They spoke the Oscan language, also spoken by the Samnites of Southern Italy. Although the language of the Samnites was called Oscan, the Samnites were never called Osci, or the Osci Samnites...
and Ausones
Ausones
The Ausones were an ancient Italic tribe settled in the southern part of Italy. Often confused with the Aurunci, they share with them only a probably common origin.-History:...
. The "last town" in the Adiectum Latium, or "Extension of Latium", was Sinuessa
Sinuessa
Sinuessa was a city of Latium, in the more extended sense of the name, situated on the Tyrrhenian Sea, about 10 km north of the mouth of the Volturno River . It was on the line of the Via Appia, and was the last place where that great highroad touched on the sea-coast...
.
Pliny's remarks concerning Latium are part of his description of 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...
:
"...a land which is at once the nurseling and the mother of all other lands, chosen by providence of the gods to make heaven itself more glorious, to unite scattered empires, to make manners gentle, to draw together in converse by community of language the jarring and uncouth tongues of so many nations, to give mankind civilization, and in a word to become throughout the world the single fatherland of all the races."
After waxing yet more eloquent concerning Italy - he was in fact north Italian himself, rather than Roman - he then gives:
"an account of a circuit of Italy, and of its cities. Herein it is necessary to premise that we intend to follow the authority of his late Majesty Augustus, and to adopt the division that he made of the whole of Italy into eleven regions ...."
Latium and Campania together comprise Region I, of which Latium is divided into Latium Vetus or Antiquus and Latium Adiectum or Novum.
Geography of New Latium
It included the Hernican cities of Anagnia, Ferentinum, Alatrium, and Verulae, a group of mountain strongholds on the north side of the valley of the Trerus (Sacco); together with the Volscian cities on the south of the same valley, and in that of the Liris, the whole of which, with the exception of its extreme upper end, was included in the Volscian territory. Here were situated SigniaSegni
Segni is an Italian town and comune located in Lazio. The city is situated on a hilltop in the Lepini Mountains, and overlooks the valley of the Sacco River.-Early history:...
, Frusino, Fabrateria
Fabrateria
Fabrateria can refer to two ancient cities in Italy:*Fabrateria Nova , today San Giovanni Incarico*Fabrateria Vetus , today Ceccano...
, Fregellae
Fregellae
Fregellae was an ancient town of Latium adiectum, situated on the Via Latina between Aquinum and Frusino , near the left branch of the Liris....
, Sora
Sora, Italy
Sora is a city and comune of Lazio, Italy, in the province of Frosinone. It is built in a plain on the banks of the Liri. This part of the valley is the seat of some important manufactures, especially of paper-mills....
, Arpinum, Atina
Atina
-Places:Greece*Atina, Greece, a Turkish name for the City of Athens, AtticaItaly*Atina, Lazio, a comune in the Province of Frosinone*Atina, Basilicata, an ancient town near modern Elena, BasilicataTurkey...
, Aquinum, Casinum
Casinum
Casinum was an ancient town of Italy, probably of Volscian origin. Varro states that the name was Sabine, and meant forum vetus, and also that the town itself was Samnite, but he is probably wrong. When it came under Roman supremacy is not known, but it probably received the citizenship in 188 BC...
, and Interamna; Anxur (Terracina
Terracina
Terracina is a town and comune of the province of Latina - , Italy, 76 km SE of Rome by rail .-Ancient times:...
) was the only seaport that properly belonged to the Volscians, the coast from there to the mouth of the Liris being included in the territory of the Aurunci
Aurunci
The Aurunci were an Italic population which lived in southern Italy from around the 1st millennium BC. Of Indo-European origin, their language belonged to the Oscan group...
, or Ausones as they were termed by Greek
Greek literature
Greek literature refers to writings composed in areas of Greek influence, typically though not necessarily in one of the Greek dialects, throughout the whole period in which the Greek-speaking people have existed.-Ancient Greek literature :...
writers, who possessed the maritime towns of Fundi
Fundi
Fundi can refer to:* The plural form of fundus in anatomy, referring to the bottom or the lowest part of a hollow organ; that part which is the farthest from the opening* Fundi in politics; fundamentalist greens, notably in Germany...
, Formiae, Caieta
Caieta
In Roman mythology, Caieta was the wet-nurse of Aeneas. The Roman poet Vergil locates her grave on bay at Gaeta, to which she also gives her name . The poet Ovid, working a generation later, provides an epitaph:...
, and Minturnae, together with Suessa in the interior, which had replaced their more ancient capital of Aurunca. Sinuessa, on the seacoast between the Liris (Garigliano) and the Vulturnus
Volturno
The Volturno is a river in south-central Italy.-Geography:It rises in the Abruzzese central Apennines of Samnium near Rocchetta a Volturno and flows southeast as far as its junction with the Calore River near Caiazzo and runs south as far as Venafro, and then turns southwest, past Capua, to...
, at the foot of the Monte Massico, was the last town in Latium according to the official use of the term and was sometimes assigned to Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
, while Suessa was more assigned to Latium. On the other hand, as Nissen points out (Italische Landeskunde, ii. 554), the Pons Campanus, by which the Via Appia crossed the Savo
Savo
Savo may refer to:* Savo Island near Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands* Battle of Savo Island, 9 August 1942* Savonian dialects of the Finnish language* Savonia or , a historical province of Finland* Savo - a main-belt asteroid...
some 9 m. SE of Sinuessa, indicates by its name the position of the old Campanian frontier. In the interior the boundary fell between Casinum and Teanum Sidicinum, at about the 100th milestone
Milestone
A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...
of the Via Latina, a fact which led later to the jurisdiction of the Roman
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
courts being extended on every side to the 100th mile from the city, and to this being the limit beyond which banishment from Rome was considered to begin.
Though 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...
comprised within the boundaries of Latium do not rise to a height approaching that of the loftiest summits of the central range, they attain to a considerable altitude, and form steep and rugged mountain masses from 4,000 to 5,000 ft. high. They are traversed by three principal valleys: (1) that of the Anio, now called Teverone, which descends from above Subiaco
Subiaco, Italy
Subiaco is a town and comune in the Province of Rome, in Lazio, Italy, from Tivoli alongside the river Aniene. It is mainly renowned as a tourist and religious resort for its sacred grotto , in the St. Benedict's Abbey, and the other Abbey of St. Scholastica...
to Tivoli
Tivoli, Italy
Tivoli , the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km east-north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills...
, where it enters the plain of the Campagna
Campagna
Campagna is a small town and comune of the province of Salerno, in the Campania region of Southern Italy.-History:The town, located in a mountainous district, gradually lost importance in the 20th century...
; (2) that of the Trerus (Sacco
Sacco
Sacco is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy.-Overview:Sacco is known as La Città della Buona Fortuna , because many of its inhabitants have gone on to accomplish many great things...
), which has its source below Palestrina (Praeneste), and flows through a comparatively broad valley that separates the main mass of the Apennines from the Volscian mountains or Monti Lepini
Monti Lepini
The Monti Lepini are a mountain range which belongs to the Anti-Apennines of the Lazio region of central Italy, between the two provinces of Latina and Rome....
, until it joins the Liris below Ceprano
Ceprano
Ceprano is a town and comune in the province of Frosinone, in Ciociaria traditional area, part of the Lazio region of central Italy.It is located south of Rome, and c. 127 km north of Naples.-History:...
; (3) that of the Uris (Garigliano), which enters the confines of New Latium about 20 m. from its source, flows past the town of Sora
Sora, Italy
Sora is a city and comune of Lazio, Italy, in the province of Frosinone. It is built in a plain on the banks of the Liri. This part of the valley is the seat of some important manufactures, especially of paper-mills....
, and has a very tortuous course from thenre to the sea at Minturnae; its lower valley is for the most part of considerable width, and forms a fertile tract of considerable extent, bordered on both sides by hills covered with vines, olives and fruit trees, and thickly studded with towns and villages.