San Benedetto dei Marsi (, ; ) is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

''and

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the

province of L'Aquila The province of L'Aquila () is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated Provinces of Italy, province of the Abruzzo region of Italy. It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part of the region. It ...

in the

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

region of 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 ...

. It is on the eastern shore of the dried

Lake Fucino The Fucine Lake ( or ) was a large endorheic karst lake between above sea level and surrounded by the Monte Sirente-Monte Velino mountain ranges to the north-northeast, Mount Salviano to the west, Vallelonga to the south, and the Valle del Giove ...

, from the remains of another ancient site,

Alba Fucens Alba Fucens was an ancient Italic people, Italic town located at elevation at the base of Monte Velino, approximately north of Avezzano, Abruzzo, central Italy. Its ruins can be found in the ''comune'' of Massa d'Albe. The city is largely vis ...

. Near the town is the stream Giovenco, identified as the ancient stream known as ''Pitonius''.

History

The ancient ''Marruvium ''was the chief city of the Italic tribe of the

Marsi The Marsi were an Italic people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus (which was drained in the time of Claudius). The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. They originally spoke a l ...

; ''Marruvii ''or ''Marrubii '' is another form of the name of the Marsi, and was used by

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 ...

as an ethnic appellation. In accordance with this,

Silius Italicus Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus (, c. 26 – c. 101 AD) was a Roman senator, orator and epic poet of the Silver Age of Latin literature. His only surviving work is the 17-book '' Punica'', an epic poem about the Second Punic War and the ...

also describes Marruvium as deriving its name from a certain Marrus, who is evidently only an eponymous hero of the Marsi. There is no account of Marruvium, however, previous to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

conquest of the Marsic territory; but under the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

it was a flourishing municipal town; it is noticed as such both by

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

and Pliny, and in inscriptions we find it called "splendidissima civitas Marsorum Marruvium". It was also called Civitas Marsorum, and, in the Middle Ages, Civitas Marsicana. It is noticed in the

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin Language, Latin for 'The Peutinger Map'), also known as Peutinger's Tabula, Peutinger tablesJames Strong (theologian) , James Strong and John McClintock (theologian) , John McClintock (1880)"Eleutheropolis" In: ''The Cyclopedia of Bibli ...

, which places it 13 Roman miles from Alba; but it was not situated on the

Via Valeria The Via Valeria was an ancient Roman roads, Roman road of Italy, the continuation north-eastwards of the Via Tiburtina from Tivoli, Lazio, Tibur. It probably owed its origin to Marcus Valerius Messalla, Roman censor, censor in 154 BC. A second V ...

, and must have communicated with that high-road by a branch from Cerfennia. The town was an episcopal see in the Middle Ages, being destroyed in 1340 during the Angevine wars for the conquest of the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

. In 1580 the see was moved to the neighboring town of

Pescina Pescina () is a township and ''comune'' in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, central Italy. It is a part of the mountain community Valle del Giovenco. History 1915 Avezzano earthquake The earthquake of 13 January 1915 affected the Marsi ...

Main sights

Considerable ruins of the ancient city still remain, including portions of its walls and the remains of an

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

, and numerous inscriptions, as well as statues, have been discovered on the site. These ruins are situated close to the margin of the lake, about below Pescina.Holsten. ad Cluver. p. 151; Romanelli, vol. iii. p. 180-186; Kramer, ''Fuciner See'', p. 55; Hoare's ''Class. Tour'', vol. i. pp. 357–361. The inscriptions are collected by Mommsen, ''I. R. N.'' pp. 290–294.

People

Andrea Zitolo Andrea Zitolo OMRI (Pescina, born 1980) is an Italian French scientist (with habilitation - full professor status) and academic specialized in physical chemistry and material science. Life and career Zitolo, who was born in the Province of L'A ...

History

Main sights

People

Climate

References

Sources

External links