Fescennia or Fescennium was an ancient city of Etruscan/ Faliscan origin, which is probably to be placed immediately to the north of the modern

Corchiano Corchiano is a town and ''comune ''in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, central Italy. It was an ancient settlement of the Faliscans and, in the Renaissance and later, a fief of the Farnese family. The local produce is hazelnuts and wine. Annual ...

, north west of

Civita Castellana Civita Castellana is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, north of Rome. Mount Soracte lies about to the south-east. History Civita Castellana was settled during the Iron Age by the Italic Falisci, who called it " Falerii". Afte ...

, in 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 ...

. The Via Amerina traverses it. At the Riserva S. Silvestro, walls exist. At Corchiano itself, however, similar walls may be traced, and the site is a strong and characteristic triangle between two deep ravines, with the third (west) side cut off by a ditch. Here, too, remains of two bridges may be seen, and several rich tombs have been excavated. The term '' Fescennine Verses'' refers to a certain kind of drinking song popular at festivals in ancient Rome and elsewhere. According to Festus, these songs were introduced from Fescennia, but others have thought that there is no reason to assume that any particular town was especially devoted to the use of such songs. Fescennia's warriors are also mentioned in Book VII of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

as following Messapus, the 'Steed Tamer' in the war waged by

Turnus Turnus () was the legendary King of the Rutuli in Roman history, and the chief antagonist of the hero Aeneas in Virgil's ''Aeneid''. According to the ''Aeneid'', Turnus is the son of Daunus and the nymph Venilia and is brother of the nymph ...

against

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy ...

References

; Sources * ; Attribution * This work in turn cites: ** A. Buglione, “Conte di Monale,” in ''Römische Mitteilungen'' (1887), p. 21 seq. Etruscan sites Former populated places in Italy Falisci Archaeological sites in Italy {{Etruria-stub