Aeclanum (also spelled Aeculanum, , ) was an ancient town of

Samnium Samnium () is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the The language of t ...

Southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

, about 25 km east-southeast of Beneventum, on 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, recor ...

. It lies in

Passo di Mirabella Mirabella Eclano is an Italian town and ''comune'' of the province of Avellino, in the Southern Italian Campania region. its population was of 7,904. History The ancient Rome, Roman site of Aeclanum once stood nearby. It is now an archaeologic ...

, near the modern

Mirabella Eclano Mirabella Eclano is an Italian town and ''comune'' of the province of Avellino, in the Southern Italian Campania region. its population was of 7,904. History The Roman site of Aeclanum once stood nearby. It is now an archaeological park and li ...

. It is now an

archaeological park An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and ...

Location

Aeclanum was on a promontory naturally defended, to some extent, by a steep slope on the south side down to the river Calore, while the north side lay open towards the crest of the ridge where the

ran. This led through Lacus Ampsanctus to Aquilonia and

Venusia Venosa ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, in the Vulture area. It is bounded by the comuni of Barile, Ginestra, Lavello, Maschito, Montemilone, Palazzo San Gervas ...

. Two other routes to

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

, the and , diverged nearby, leading through

Aequum Tuticum Aequum Tuticum was a Roman vicus in southern Italy, about 35 km east-northeast of Beneventum. The site lies beside Saint Eleuterio hamlet, overlooking at an elevation of 575 m, about 15 km north of the modern Ariano Irpino, within ...

Luceria Luceria is an ancient city in the northern Apennines, located in the comune of Canossa in the Province of Reggio Emilia, on the right bank of the river Enza. Toponym The name might derive from ''lucus'', which means "sacred grove". It is not ...

and through

Trivicum Trivicum is the ancient Hirpini and Samnium town nowadays called Trevico. Horace's visit The Roman poet Horace mentions Trivicum in his well-known account of a journey in 37 BC along the Appian Way from Rome to Brindisi: : : : : :Horace, ''Sati ...

to Herdoniae respectively. The road from Aeclanum to

Abellinum Avellino () is a city and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

(modern

Atripalda Atripalda is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino, Campania, southern Italy. History The town is the home of the ruins of ''Abellinum'', the Ancient Roman Avellino. A large than life-size Roman marble statue of a veiled priestess fr ...

, near

Avellino Avellino () is a city and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

) may also follow an ancient line. Today there are ruins of the city walls, of an aqueduct, baths and a

macellum A ''macellum'' (: ''macella''; , ''makellon'') is an ancient Roman indoor market building that sold mostly provisions (especially meat and fish). The building normally sat alongside the forum and basilica, providing a place in which a market cou ...

; nearly 400 inscriptions have also been discovered. Excavation has revealed a long history of pre-Roman settlement."AECLANUM (Eclano) Italy" in ''The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites''
/ref>

History

Aeclanum was a town of the

Hirpini The Hirpini (Latin: ') were an ancient Samnite tribe of Southern Italy. While generally regarded as having been Samnites, sometimes they are treated as a distinct and independent nation. They inhabited the southern portion of Samnium, in the more ...

, although it was never mentioned during the

Samnite wars The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe. ...

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...

captured it in 89 BC by setting on fire the wooden breastwork by which it was defended, and sacked it. It quickly recovered, new fortifications were erected, and it became a ''

municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (: ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ('duty holders'), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privileges ...

''.

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

, who repaired the Via Appia from Beneventum to this point, made it a (colony). With the Lombard invasion of Italy, in the 6th century AD, it was annexed to the

Duchy of Benevento A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between "sovereign ...

, but was captured and destroyed by Eastern Roman forces under

Constans II Constans II (; 7 November 630 – 15 July 668), also called "the Bearded" (), was the Byzantine emperor from 641 to 668. Constans was the last attested emperor to serve as Roman consul, consul, in 642, although the office continued to exist unti ...

in 663 and never recovered, being reduced to a small hamlet known as Quintodecimo, a name that referred to its distance of 15 Roman miles from Benevento.

Bishopric

Aeclanum became a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

, whose best known

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

was

Julian of Eclanum Julian of Eclanum (; ; ) was bishop of Eclanum, near today's Benevento (Italy). He was a distinguished leader of the Pelagians of the 5th century. Life Julian was born in Apulia. His father was an Italian bishop named Memor or Memorius and his ...

, who was consecrated by

Pope Innocent I Pope Innocent I () was the bishop of Rome from 401 to his death on 12 March 417. From the beginning of his papacy, he was seen as the general arbitrator of ecclesiastical disputes in both the East and the West. He confirmed the prerogatives of ...

in about 417. He refused to sign the condemnation of

Pelagianism Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the fall did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius (), an ascetic and philosopher from the British Isles, ta ...

issued by Pope Innocent's successor,

Pope Zosimus Pope Zosimus was the bishop of Rome from 18 March 417 to his death on 26 December 418. He was born in Mesoraca, Calabria. Zosimus took a decided part in the protracted dispute in Gaul as to the jurisdiction of the See of Arles over that of Vienne ...

, and carried on a war of writings against

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

. It has been thought that the diocese was united to that of Frequentium as early as the 5th century, but there is mention of Quintodecimo as a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

see of Benevento in 969 and 1058. From 1059 it was definitively united with Frequentium. No longer a residential bishopric, Aeclanum is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 884

Gallery

File:Aeclanum (Ancient Roman Street).jpg, The central

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

File:Aeclanum (Ruins-01).jpg, Remains of the houses (1) File:Aeclanum (Ruins-02).jpg, Remains of the houses (2) File:Aeclanum (Thermae-02).jpg, Side view of the ''thermae''

References

External links

Aeclanum (Cultural Property of Campania website)

{{Authority control Roman sites of Campania Samnite cities Former populated places in Italy Province of Avellino Human remains (archaeological) Archaeological sites in Campania Roman towns and cities in Italy Archaeological parks Buildings and structures in Campania Tourist attractions in Campania Tourism in Italy Osci Ruins in Italy Destroyed populated places Coloniae (Roman)