Lanuvium, modern Lanuvio, is an ancient city of Latium vetus, some southeast of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, a little southwest of the

Via Appia The Appian Way (Latin and Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is indicated by its common name, ...

. Situated on an isolated hill projecting south from the main mass of the

Alban Hills The Alban Hills ( it, Colli Albani) are the caldera remains of a quiescent volcanic complex in Italy, located southeast of Rome and about north of Anzio. The high Monte Cavo forms a highly visible peak the centre of the caldera, but the hi ...

, Lanuvium commanded an extensive view over the low country between it and the sea.

History

According to legend, Lanuvium was founded by

Diomedes Diomedes (Jones, Daniel; Roach, Peter, James Hartman and Jane Setter, eds. ''Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary''. 17th edition. Cambridge UP, 2006.) or Diomede (; grc-gre, Διομήδης, Diomēdēs, "god-like cunning" or "advised by ...

, or by one Lanoios, an exile from

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

. The first documented traces of the settlement date from the 9th century BC and by the 6th century BC it was part of the Latin League. The city warred against

at the battles of Aricia (504 BC) and

Lake Regillus Regillus was an ancient lake of Latium, Italy, famous in the legendary history of Rome as the lake in the neighborhood of which occurred (in 496 B.C.) the Battle of Lake Regillus between the Romans and the Latins which finally decided the hege ...

(496 BC), as well as in 383 and 341 BC, mostly with negative outcomes. Rome conquered Lanuvium in 338 BC; at first, its inhabitants did not enjoy the right of

Roman citizenship Citizenship in ancient Rome (Latin: ''civitas'') was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in Ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, t ...

, but acquired it later. In imperial times the city's chief magistrate and municipal council kept the titles of ''

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in time ...

'' and ''

senatus The Senate was the governing and advisory assembly of the aristocracy in the ancient Roman Republic. It was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a Roman magistrate served his t ...

'' respectively. In the 11th c. the city became known as Civita Lavinia, a result of the confusion between it and ancient

Lavinium Lavinium was a port city of Latium, to the south of Rome, midway between the Tiber river at Ostia and Antium. The coastline then, as now, was a long strip of beach. Lavinium was on a hill at the southernmost edge of the ''Silva Laurentina'', ...

Cult of Juno

Lanuvium was especially noted for its rich and much venerated temple of Juno Sospes (Livy 8.14; Cic. ''Nat. D.'' 1.83; ''Fin.'' 2.63), from which Octavian borrowed money in 31 BC, and the possessions of which extended as far as the coast of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

. It possessed many other temples repaired by Antoninus Pius, who was born close by (S. H. A. ''Ant. Pius'' 1), as was

Commodus Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...

Prominent citizens

One prominent native of Lanuvium was Lucius Licinius Murena (consul of 62 BC), whom

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

defended in late 63 BC. Others include the actor Roscius (Cic. ''Div.'' 36), the political agitator

Titus Annius Milo Titus Annius Milo (died 48 BC) was a Roman political agitator. The son of Gaius Papius Celsus, he was adopted by his maternal grandfather, Titus Annius Luscus. In 52 BC, he was prosecuted for the murder of Publius Clodius Pulcher and exiled from ...

, who was convicted for the murder of Clodius (Cic. ''Mil.'' 27) and

Publius Sulpicius Quirinius Publius Sulpicius Quirinius (c. 51 BC – AD 21), also translated as Cyrenius, was a Roman aristocrat. After the banishment of the ethnarch Herod Archelaus from the tetrarchy of Judea in AD 6, Quirinius was appointed legate governor of Syria, t ...

, consul of 12 BC and later legate of Syria.

Monuments

Remains of the ancient theatre and of the

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

exist in the modern town, and above it is an area surrounded by a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cul ...

, in '' opus reticulatum'', upon the north side of which is a rectangular building in '' opus quadratum'', probably connected with the temple of Juno where archaic decorative

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terra ...

s artifacts have been found. The

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

of the primitive city was probably on the highest point above the temple to the north. The neighborhood, which is now covered with

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyard ...

s, contains the remains of many Roman villas, one of which is traditionally attributed to the Emperor Antoninus Pius.R. Neudecker, Die Skulpturenausstattung römischer Villen in Italien (Mainz 1988) 164 ff. Cat. no. 22

References

* {{coord, 41.674696, N, 12.697580, E, region:IT_type:city, display=title Roman sites in Lazio Former populated places in Italy Juno (mythology)