Venafrum was an ancient town of

Molise Molise ( , ; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise together with Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effective until 1970, makes Molise the newest region in Ital ...

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 ...

, close to the boundaries of both

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 ...

and

Samnium Samnium () is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the The language of t ...

. Its site is occupied by the modern

Venafro Venafro (Latin: ''Venafrum''; Greek: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Isernia, region of Molise, Italy. It has a population of 11,079, having expanded quickly in the post-war period. Geography Situated at the foot of Mount Santa Croce, elevat ...

, a village on the railway from

Isernia Isernia () is a town and ''comune'' in the southern Italian region of Molise, and the capital of the province of Isernia. Geography Situated on a rocky crest rising from between the Carpino and the Sordo rivers, the plan of Isernia still refl ...

to Vairano, 25 km southwest of the former, 201 m above sea-level.

Overview

Venafrum was established as a ''civitas sine suffragio'' in 201 BC. Ancient authors tell us but little about it, except that it was one of those towns governed by a

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

sent yearly from Rome, and that in the Social War it was taken by the allies by treachery.

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

founded a colony there and provided for the construction of an aqueduct (cf. the long decree relating to it in ''Corp. Inscr. Lat.'' x. No. 4842). It seems to have been a place of some importance. Its

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

was the best in Italy, and Cato mentions its brickworks and iron manufactures. The original line of the Via Latina probably ran through Venafrum, making a detour, which the later road seems to have avoided. Rufrae was probably dependent on it. Roads also ran from Venafrum to

and to Telesia by way of Allifae.

References

External links

* {{EB1911 article with no significant updates Roman towns and cities in Italy Former populated places in Italy Archaeological sites in Molise Venafro es:Venafrum