Bovillae was an ancient

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

town in

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, central

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, currently part of Frattocchie ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'' in the municipality of Marino.

Overview

Bovillae was a station 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 ...

(which in 293 BC was already paved up to this point), located c. south-east of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. It was a colony of

Alba Longa Alba Longa (occasionally written Albalonga in Italian sources) was an ancient Latins (Italic tribe), Latin city in Central Italy in the vicinity of Lake Albano in the Alban Hills. The ancient Romans believed it to be the founder and head of the ...

, and appears as one of the thirty cities of the Latin league. After the destruction of Alba Longa in 658 BC the '' sacra'' were, it was held, transferred to Bovillae, including the cult of Vesta (in inscriptions ''virgines Vestales Albanae'' are mentioned, and the inhabitants of Bovillae are always spoken of as ''Albani Longani Bovillenses'') and that of the gens Iulia. The existence of this hereditary worship led to an increase in its importance when the Julian house rose to the highest power in the state. The horsemen met

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

's dead body at Bovillae on its way to Rome, and in 16 AD the shrine of the family worship was dedicated anew and yearly games in the circus instituted, probably under the charge of the '' sodales Augustales'', whose official calendar has been found here. Bovillae appears as the scene of the quarrel between Milo and Clodius, in which the latter, whose villa lay above the town on the left of the Via Appia, was killed. The site is not naturally strong, and remains of early fortifications cannot be traced. It may be that Bovillae took the place of

as a local centre after the destruction of the latter by Rome, which would explain the deliberate choice of a strategically weak position. Remains of the circus built there by

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

in 14 AD in honor of Augustus can still be seen at (use satellite image sites e.g., Wikimapia), and of an octagonal mausoleum, on the edge of the Via Appia. There were once also a theatre and a ''schola actorum'' ("actor's school"), identified by an inscription found in the neighbourhood, and, probably, a temple dedicated to Veiovis, a divinity associated to the gens Iulia. Remains of a side-road leading off from the nearby Appian Way were unearthed during excavation work to build a McDonald's restaurant in 2014. During the excavation, a total of four male skeletons were also discovered. The restaurant itself now houses a view of a 150-foot stretch of 2,000-year-old cobbled street beneath a glass walkway. It's also possible to go into the excavated area from a separate entrance.

Notes

References

*Smith, William;
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
',

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, (1854) ;Attribution *

External links

Remains of the circus
Roman towns and cities in Italy Buildings and structures in Lazio {{AncientRome-stub