Norba

This article covers the ancient city in Italy. For the ancient city of Norba Caesarina in Spain, see Cáceres .

Norba was an ancient city in Italy , southeast of Rome on the southern slope of the Lepine Mountains, near today's Norma .

Main entrance with Cyclops stones

history

The city is said to have been founded as early as 492 BC. BC, but maybe not until the 4th century BC. BC, founded as the Latin Colonia of the Romans in the area of ​​the Volscians . In 329 BC BC Norba was sacked by the Volskern from Privernum , led by Vitruvius Vacca from Fundi , who rebelled against Roman rule. The Romans were ultimately able to get the upper hand in this uprising, and Vacca was killed.

New excavations in Norba, view in spring 2012

View of the ancient Norba - the wall wreath is clearly visible

In the Roman civil war between Sulla and the supporters of Gaius Marius , however, she sided with the losers. If you follow the Roman historian Appian , the inhabitants were 81/82 BC. Besieged by Sulla's troops under Marcus Aemilius Lepidus . When he was able to penetrate the city through betrayal, the inhabitants are said to have set Norba on fire. Many committed suicide. The firestorm is said to have raged so badly that Sulla's troops had nothing left to plunder. The city was never rebuilt.

archeology

Excavation plan

Norba lay high above the Pontine coastal plain above the steep slope of the Lepine Mountains. Its ruins are accessible directly on the western outskirts of Norma and are considered to be one of the best preserved pre-Roman city complexes. For a long time the city complex lay largely buried and was barely recognizable. Large areas of the ancient streets of Norba have been exposed since 2011, resulting in impressive views. Some of the gates and the foundations of important structures can also be viewed. The excavation campaign is set to continue for a few more years.

The 2.2 km long mighty city wall with three city gates from the 4th century BC is particularly worth seeing. The main gate with the semicircular gate made of huge stones joined together without mortar is particularly impressive. These stones are probably the reason for the legend that the city was founded by the Cyclops ( Cyclops Wall ) or by Hercules . The temples of Juno and Diana as well as two other temples are also documented. A museum with finds from Norba has been set up in the former town hall of Norma.

literature

• Gerhard Radke: Norba 1. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 4, Stuttgart 1972, Col. 156.
• Lawrence Richardson Jr .:  Norba (Norma) 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 .
• Giovanni Uggeri: Norba [1]. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 8, Metzler, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-476-01478-9 , column 1000.

Web links

• Site of the municipality of Norma (Italian)
• Museo civico of the municipality of Norma (Italian)
• Quilici, L., S. Quilici Gigli: Places: 422987 (Norba) . Pleiades. Retrieved on June 17, 2020 8:48 am.
• Description of the excavations (German)
• Ferdinand Gregorovius, years of wandering in Italy : visiting the ruins of Norba

Remarks

1. ↑ Titus Livius 2, 34, 6. Dionysius of Halicarnassus 7, 13, 5 ( English translation ).
2. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 1, 94 ( English translation ).

Coordinates: 41 ° 35 '  N , 12 ° 58'  E