Sinuessa Waelbroecki
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Sinuessa () was a city of
Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whic ...
, in the more extended sense of the name, situated on the
Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy. Geography The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...
, about 10 km north of the mouth of the
Volturno River The Volturno (ancient Latin name Volturnus, from ''volvere'', to roll) is a river in south-central Italy. Geography It rises in the Abruzzese central Apennines of Samnium near Castel San Vincenzo (province of Isernia, Molise) and flows southea ...
(the ancient ''Vulturnus''). It was on the line of 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 ...
, and was the last place where that great highroad touched on the sea-coast. The ruins of the city are located in the modern-day ''
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 ...
'' of
Sessa Aurunca Sessa Aurunca is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy. It is located on the south west slope of the extinct volcano of Roccamonfina, by rail west north west of Caserta and east of Formia. It is situated on t ...
. The city ruins are located, as the crow flies, 12.24 km SSW from the modern city of Sessa Aurunca and 41.43 km from the Province of Caserta. It is 26.71 km from the regional capital (Naples/Napoli)
Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...
,
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 ...
.


History

It is certain that Sinuessa was not a pre-Roman city; indeed there is no trace of the existence of an Italic town on the spot before the foundation of the
Roman colony A Roman (: ) was originally a settlement of Roman citizens, establishing a Roman outpost in federated or conquered territory, for the purpose of securing it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It ...
. Some authors mention an obscure tradition that there had previously been a Greek city on the spot called "Sinope"; but little value can be attached to this statement. It is certain that if a pre-Roman settlement ever existed, it had wholly disappeared by the time of Roman colonization. Sinuessa sat on a site that was part of the territory of the
Ausones "Ausones" (; ), the original name and the extant Greek form for the Latin "Aurunci", was a name applied by Greek writers to describe various Italic peoples inhabiting the southern and central regions of Italy. The term was used, specifically, ...
. The cities belonging to the Ausonian league were
Ausona The County of Osona, also Ausona (, ; ), was one of the Catalan counties of the ''Marca Hispanica'' in the Early and High Middle Ages. It was based around the capital city of Vic (''Vicus'') and the corresponding diocese, whose territory was ro ...
,
Vescia Vescia was an ancient city of the Ausones (a subgroup of the Aurunci), in what is now central-southern Italy, which was part of the so-called Auruncan Pentapolis and was destroyed by the Romans in 340 BC. Description Vescia was a fortified cente ...
,
Minturnae Minturno is a city and ''comune'' in southern Lazio, Italy, situated on the north west bank of the Garigliano (known in antiquity as the Liris). It has a station on the Rome-Naples main railway line. History The nearby sanctuary of Marica (my ...
, and Suessa. However, there are various controversies about the extent of the territory and composition of the league. During the
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 ...
war, the cities of the league, like 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 ...
and Campani, supported the Latins against Rome and their Samnite allies. The war, fought between 340 BC and 338 BC, ended with a Roman victory. The cities of the league again fought against
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, ...
during the Second Samnite War which began in 326 BC and ended in 314 BC with another victory for the Romans. The cities of the league were completely destroyed, but were later founded as the colonies of
Sessa Aurunca Sessa Aurunca is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy. It is located on the south west slope of the extinct volcano of Roccamonfina, by rail west north west of Caserta and east of Formia. It is situated on ...
and
Minturnae Minturno is a city and ''comune'' in southern Lazio, Italy, situated on the north west bank of the Garigliano (known in antiquity as the Liris). It has a station on the Rome-Naples main railway line. History The nearby sanctuary of Marica (my ...
, cities that retained the name and similar location of those of the
Aurunci The Aurunci were an Italic tribe that lived in southern Italy from around the 1st millennium BC. They were eventually defeated by Rome and subsumed into the Roman Republic during the second half of the 4th century BC. Identity Aurunci is the n ...
. Sinuessa seems to have rapidly risen into a place of importance; but its territory was severely ravaged in 217 BCE by
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 ...
, whose cavalry carried their devastations up to the very gates of the town. It subsequently endeavored, in common with Minturnae and other ''coloniae maritimae'', to establish its exemption from furnishing military levies; but this was overruled, while there was an enemy with an army in Italy. At a later period (191 BCE) Sinuessa again attempted, but with equal ill success, to procure a similar exemption from the naval service. Its position on the
Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: Via Appia) is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is in ...
doubtless contributed greatly to the prosperity of Sinuessa; for the same reason it is frequently incidentally mentioned by
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
, and we learn that
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
halted there for a night on his way from
Brundisium Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic positio ...
to
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, ...
, in 49 BCE. It is noticed also by
Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...
on his journey to Brundusium, as the place where he met with his friends Varius and
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 ...
. The fertility of its territory, and especially of the neighbouring ridge of the Mons Massicus, so celebrated for its wines, must also have tended to promote the prosperity of Sinuessa, but we hear little of it 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 received a body of military colonists, apparently under the Triumvirate, but did not retain the rank of a colonia and is termed by Pliny as well as the ''
Liber Coloniarum In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Liber ( , ; "the free one"), also known as Liber Pater ("the free Father"), was a god of viticulture and wine, male fertility and freedom. He was a patron deity of Rome's plebeians and was part of t ...
'' only an ''
oppidum An ''oppidum'' (: ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age Europe, Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celts, Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread acros ...
'', or ordinary municipal town. It was the furthest town in Latium, as that geographical term was understood in the days of Strabo and Pliny, or ''Latium adjectum'', as the latter author terms it; and its territory extended to the river
Savo Savo may refer to: Languages * Savo dialect, forms of the Finnish language spoken in Savo, Finland * Savo language, an endangered language spoken on Savo People * Savo (given name), a masculine given name from southern Europe (includes a list of ...
, which formed the limit between Latium and
Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...
. At an earlier period indeed
Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...
reckoned it a town of Campania, and
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...
follows the same classification, as he makes the
Liris The William Herschel Telescope (WHT) is a optical and near-infrared reflecting telescope located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. The telescope, which is named after William Hersc ...
the southern limit of Latium; but the division adopted by Strabo and Pliny is probably the most correct. The Itineraries all notice Sinuessa as a still existing town on the Appian Way, and place it nine miles from Minturnae, which is, however, considerably short of the true distance. In his ''
Meditations ''Meditations'' () is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161–180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Composition Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the ''Meditations'' i ...
'', written around AD 180, the emperor
Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...
notes that his friend
Junius Rusticus Quintus Junius Rusticus (c. 100 – c. 170 AD), was a Roman teacher and politician. He was probably a grandson of Arulenus Rusticus, who was a prominent member of the Stoic Opposition. He was a Stoic philosopher and was one of the teachers ...
sent a letter to Marcus's mother from Sinuessa. The city was the (purported) location of the
Pseudo-Council of Sinuessa The pseudo-Council of Sinuessa was a purported gathering of bishops in 303 at Sinuessa, Italy, the purpose being a trial of Marcellinus on charges of apostasy. It is generally accepted that the gathering never took place and that the purported coun ...
in AD 303. The period of its actual destruction is unknown.


Ruins

The ruins of Sinuessa are still visible on the seacoast of Mons Massicus .(Baia Azzurra) - (Levagnole) is part of the municipality of
Sessa Aurunca Sessa Aurunca is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy. It is located on the south west slope of the extinct volcano of Roccamonfina, by rail west north west of Caserta and east of Formia. It is situated on ...
, in the province of
Caserta Caserta ( ; ) is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. An important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city, Caserta is located 36 kilometres north of Naples on the edge of the Campanian p ...
, in the
Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...
region.It was so that in the V A.D. century, Sinuessa disappeared from the sources, too. The abandonment of the countries, the transformation in forests and fenlands of the fertile lands, the barbaric raids of the Vandals and the Saracens finished the deterioration of the zone that already started to suffer some consequences of the bradyseism that subsequently will submerge the ancient Sinuessanus habitat. All that forced the inhabitants to move to the surrounding rises of the one that had been the flourishing Roman colony. The inhabitants settled in the surroundings of Petrino Mount and founded a little urban agglomeration all around Montis dragonis rock of which the Longobards were owners from 840 to 1058 as it was a very strategic and impregnable place. Then the fortress became property of the Normans under Ricard II and from his wife name , Rocca, daughter of Dragone, the denomination of Montis Dragonis rock originated, even if the legend ascribes it to a dragon that roamed around the zone terrorizing the inhabitants. After the Normans, there were the Swabians; it's in this period that began the urban agglomeration and convents and monasteries spread out especially upon mountains. After the Swabians, there were the Aragoneses and the territory passed from the Marzanos to Carafas and finally to Grillos. Of this period, we have got the ducal tower added to the Baronial Palace that the Grillos enlarged to emulate the royal Palace of Caserta, without finishing the work. After the short period of French rulers, the territory became property of the Bourbons with Ferdinand IV until 1861, when the kingdom of Italy was proclaimed. The village of Baia Azzurra - Levagnole is 12.56 kilometers from the same town of Sessa Aurunca to which it belongs).The most important are those of an aqueduct, and of an edifice which appears to have been a triumphal arch; but the whole plain is covered with fragments of ancient buildings.


Baths

At a short distance from Sinuessa were the baths or thermal springs called Aquae Sinuessanae which appear to have enjoyed a great reputation among the Romans. Pliny tells us they were esteemed a remedy for barrenness in women and for insanity in men. They are already mentioned by Livy as early as the
Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of Punic Wars, three wars fought between Ancient Carthage, Carthage and Roman Republic, Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For ...
; and though their fame was eclipsed at a later period by those of
Baiae Baiae (; ) was an ancient Roman town situated on the northwest shore of the Gulf of Naples and now in the ''comune'' of Bacoli. It was a fashionable resort for centuries in antiquity, particularly towards the end of the Roman Republic, when i ...
and other fashionable watering-places, they still continued in use under the Empire, and were resorted to among others by the emperor
Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...
. It was there, also, that the infamous
Tigellinus Ofonius Tigellinus'' Oxford Classical Dictionary'',Ofonius Tigellinus ( – 69) was a prefect of the Roman imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, from 62 until 68, during the reign of emperor Nero. Tigellinus gained ...
was compelled to put an end to his own life. The mild and warm climate of Sinuessa is extolled by some writers as contributing to the effect of the waters (Tacitus ''Annals'' xii. 66); hence it is called ''Sinuessa tepens'' by
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 ...
, and ''mollis Sinuessa'' by
Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman and Celtiberian poet born in Bilbilis, Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of '' Epigrams'', pu ...
.
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 ...
viii. 528; Martial vi. 42.
The site of the waters is still called ''I Bagni'', and the remains of Roman buildings still exist there.


In popular culture

In the Starz series '' Spartacus: War of the Damned'',
Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...
and his rebel army invade and take Sinuessa during the second episode, "Wolves at the Gate", and hold it in subsequent episodes.


Notes


References

*
online version
{{Coord, 41.1414, N, 13.8528, E, source:wikidata, display=title Coloniae (Roman) History of Campania Former populated places in Italy Geography of Campania Roman sites of Campania Archaeological sites in Campania