Fregellae was an ancient town of

Latium adiectum ''Latium adiectum'' or ''Latium adjectum'' (Latin for "Attached" or "Extended Latium") or ''Latium Novum'' ("New Latium") was a region of Roman Italy between Monte Circeo and the river Garigliano, south of and immediately adjacent to Old Latium ...

, situated on the

Via Latina The Via Latina (Latin for "Latin Road") was a Roman road of Italy, running southeast from Rome for about 200 kilometers. Route It led from the Porta Latina in the Aurelian walls of Rome to the pass of Mount Algidus; it was important in the ea ...

between Aquinum (modern Aquino) and Frusino (now Frosinone), 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 ...

, near the left branch of the Liris.

History

Fregellae was said to have been founded in early times by the

Opici The Opici were an ancient italic people of the Latino-Faliscan group who lived in the region of Campania. They settled in the area in the late Bronze Age but their territory was later conquered during the Iron Age by the Osci, another Italic people ...

Oscan Oscan is an extinct Indo-European language of southern Italy. The language is in the Osco-Umbrian or Sabellic branch of the Italic languages. Oscan is therefore a close relative of Umbrian and South Picene. Oscan was spoken by a number of t ...

s, near the modern Arce, and later to have belonged the

Volsci The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the ...

. It was apparently destroyed by the

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic peoples, Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan language, Oscan-speaking Osci, people, who originated as an offsh ...

a little before 330 BC; in that year the people of Fabrateria Vetus (modern Ceccano) sought the help 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, ...

against them and in 328 BC a Latin colony was established there. The place was taken in 320 BC by the Samnites, but re-established by the Romans in 313 BC. It was largely faithful to Rome: by burning the bridges over the Liris, it blocked

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

's advance on Rome in 212 BC at the cost of his general devastation of the area.

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

. '' History of Rome'', Vol. 3
Book XXVI, §IX & XXIII
Accessed 24 Jan 2013. (A messenger from the city caused panic throughout

until word arrived that a Roman army was ''en route'' from

Capua Capua ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, located on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etruscan ''Capeva''. The ...

.) Fregellae's agent headed the deputation of the 18 non-revolting colonies

Roman Senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

in 209 BC, after 12 other colonies had revolted during the war. Fregellae appears to have been a very important and flourishing place owing to its command of the crossing of the Liris and to its position in a fertile territory. After the rejection of

Flaccus Flaccus was a ''cognomen'' of the ancient Roman plebs, plebeian family Fulvii, Fulvius, considered one of the most illustrious ''gens, gentes'' of the city. Cicero and Pliny the Elder state that the family was originally from Tusculum, and that me ...

's proposals for the extension of

Roman citizenship Citizenship in ancient Rome () 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, traditions, and cu ...

in 125 BC, a

revolt Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

broke out against Rome. A local traitor named Numitorius opened the gates to the Roman army under the

praetor ''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to disch ...

Lucius Opimius Lucius Opimius was a Roman politician who held the consulship in 121 BC, in which capacity and year he ordered the execution of 3,000 supporters of popular leader Gaius Gracchus without trial, using as pretext the state of emergency declared aft ...

. The severity of its razing was later credited by the Romans with having prevented a general uprising among the Italian allies.Duncan, Wm. ''Cicero''.
Oration XI. Against L.C. Piso.
J. & J. Harper, 1833. Accessed 24 Jan 2013. The following year, Fregellae's place was taken by the colony of Fabrateria Nova, to the southeast on the opposite bank of the Liris. Under the empire, Fregellae is recorded as a small village and a post station at modern

Ceprano Ceprano (Central-Northern Latian dialect: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, in the Valle Latina, part of the Lazio region of Central Italy. It is south of Rome and about north of Naples. In 1994, the Ceprano Man, a 450,000 year o ...

called Fregellanum is mentioned in the itineraries.

Archaeology

The site is clearly visible in the territory of Arce, in the frazione Isoletta di Arce, not far from the border with the municipality of

and San Giovanni Incarico. Remains excavated starting from 1978 include items from the Republican age and a large temple of Aesculapius. Some of the items are in the museum of Ceprano.

References

* F. Coarelli. ed. ''Fregellae'' (1981). * F. Coarelli and M. Caputo ''Il santuario di Esculapio''. *

External links

Museo Archeologico di Fregellae (Ceprano)A 3D navigable reconstruction of the town, by Inglobe Technologies
a video tour of the reconstruction is also availabl
on YouTube
{{coord, 41, 32, 12, N, 13, 32, 20, E, type:landmark_region:IT_source:dewiki, display=title Roman sites in Lazio Former populated places in Italy Archaeological sites in Lazio

History

Archaeology

See also

References

External links