Trebula Mutusca (also spelled Trebula Mutuesca or simply Mutuscae) was an ancient city of the

Sabines The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines di ...

. It is located at Monteleone Sabino, a village about 3 km to the east of the Via Salaria. Pliny mentions both Sabine cities named Trebula: ''Trebulani qui cognominantur Mutuscaei, et qui Suffenates''. As this seems to have been much the more important of the two Trebula (the other being Trebula Suffenas), it is probably that meant by Strabo, who mentions Trebula without any distinctive adjunct but in conjunction with Eretum. The ''

Liber Coloniarumn In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion and Roman mythology, 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 de ...

'' also mentions a "Tribule", municipium which is probably the same place.

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 an ...

also alludes to Trebula as situated among cold and damp mountain valleys, but it is not certain to which he refers.

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

speaks of Mutusca as abounding in olives (''oliviferaeque Mutuscae''), which is still the case with the neighbourhood of Monteleone Sabino, and a village near it consequently bears the name of Oliveto. Several inscriptions have also been found here, some of which bear the name of its people, ''Plebs Trebulana'', ''Trebulani Mutuscani'', and ''Trebulani Mut.''. The archaeological museum at Monteleone Sabino contains many exhibits partcularly from the temple.

History

In the 4th century BC there was a sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Feronia located in the centre of the natural depression now called Pantano, which was probably frequented by the populations who lived in huts on the nearby hilltops. The region was conquered by the Romans in 290 BC under Manius Curius Dentatus. A real village emerged in the 3rd century, born by its strategic position along the Via Salaria. The romanisation of Sabina encouraged synecism (grouping of small towns into one) so that in Augustan era the town developed with its organisation, public offices and its centre, with the Forum, the baths and other public buildings after becoming a ''

municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ("duty holders"), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privi ...

''. In the first half of the 2nd c. AD important and impressive buildings were erected with the support of the powerful senatorial family of the area, the '' Brutti Praesentes'', notably the amphitheatre, baths and forum built on a terrace. The history of the temple can be divided into several stages: foundation 265 - 240 BC; restoration of the portico end of the 2nd century BC; construction of a hearth end of the 1st century BC; reuse with the construction of probable workshops end of the 1st/2nd century AD; abandonment 5th century AD.

The Site

There are considerable ruins here including those of a amphitheatre, thermae (baths) and portions of the ancient road. Excavations from 2000 uncovered the porch of the temple of Feronia originally made from wood, that was replaced later by another wall composed travertine and bricks. In 2022 at nearby Castellano, an imposing rectangular cistern 100 m long, almost 5 m wide and high, fed by 10 wells and with a capacity of about 80,000 litres was discovered. It is a ''castellum aquae'', with 3 chambers from which lead pipes led the water towards the Forum and the town, with a reverse siphon system. It was built in the first century BC before the reorganisation works of the area which took place under Trajan.Dal municipio romano di Trebula Mutuesca spunta una cisterna a due navate https://www.corrieredirieti.it/monteleone-sabino/dal-municipio-romano-di-trebula-mutuesca-spunta-una-cisterna-a-due-navate/

References

Sources

External links

Archaeological museum of Monteleone Sabino
{{Authority control Sabine cities Former populated places in Italy Roman towns and cities in Italy Archaeological sites in Lazio Roman sites in Lazio