Alba Fucens

Coordinates: 42 ° 4 ′ 48 ″  N , 13 ° 24 ′ 40 ″  E

Alba Fucens​

Italy

Excavations of Alba Fucens, on the hilltop the ruins of the medieval Orsini castle

Remains of the amphitheater of Alba Fucens

Alba Fucens was an ancient city, which was 105 km northeast of Rome above the Fucin Lake . It was located 1016 m above sea level, at the foot of Monte Velino , 6.4 km north of Avezzano . It is located in the small village of Albe, a district of Massa d'Albe in the province of L'Aquila .

The Latin name derives from the location of the place, from which one could admire the sunrise ( Alba ) over Lake Fucin before it was drained in 1876.

history

Alba Fucens was originally a city of the Aequer . It was in a strategically important position on the border with the Martians territory . As early as 458 BC When Cincinnatus was a Roman dictator , the city was besieged by the Romans, but could not be captured. 303 BC It was subjugated by the Romans under Junius Bubulcus and converted into a Roman colony. It was located on a hill on the Via Tiburtina Valeria , which was probably extended here from Tibur at that time . During the Second Punic War , Alba was allied with Rome, but, like other colonies, refused to provide contingents and was punished for it.

As a result, Alba became a place in the state prisoners like Syphax , King of Numidia , Perseus , King of Macedonia and Bituitus king of the Arverni were brought. In the Social War it was attacked by the rebels, but remained on the side of Rome. In the imperial era, the city experienced a heyday, as can be deduced from numerous inscriptions found. The city probably had about 30,000 inhabitants. The city was still used as a winter camp for Byzantine soldiers in 537 AD. Alba Fucens was destroyed by the Saracens in the 9th and 10th centuries .

Excavations

In 1949, Alba Fucens was rediscovered by the Belgian archaeologist Fernand De Visscher and the city center was excavated. The best preserved is the almost three kilometer long city wall made of polygonal masonry with three city gates. The forum has only been excavated in the southeast half, but it turns out to be larger than that of Ostia Antica or Pompeii . A basilica was then built under Sulla . This is followed by the thermal baths and finally a large Hercules sanctuary. The statue of Hercules Epitrapezius was brought to the Archaeological Museum in Chieti with other excavation finds . To the west is the theater from the 1st century BC. And a little uphill the amphitheater from the time of Emperor Tiberius .

The medieval alb

After the destruction of Alba Fucens, the medieval village of Albe was built above. The ancient temple of Apollo was converted into the early Christian church of San Pietro, which came into the possession of Montecassino in the 7th century . After being damaged in an earthquake in 1915 , the church was restored from 1957. In place of the ancient acropolis, the Orsini built a castle.

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  San Pietro Church

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  Choir screen in San Pietro

literature

• Christian Hülsen : Alba Fucens . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, column 1300 f.
• Jozef Mertens:  Alba Fucens, (Albe) Italy . In: Richard Stillwell et al. a. (Ed.): The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1976, ISBN 0-691-03542-3 .
• Ekkehart Rotter, Roger Willemsen : Abruzzo, Molise: Romanesque abbeys, defiant forts and baroque churches between the high mountains and the Adriatic coast. DuMont Verlag, Ostfildern 2002, ISBN 3-7701-6612-4

Web links

Commons : Alba Fucens  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Page about Alba Fucens (Italian)