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Interamna Lirenas has turned out to be far more than a “backwater town” of the Roman Empire. According to a published study in Roman Urbanism in Italy, this central Italian town thrived well beyond previous belief, using its impressive urban features and forward-thinking design to stave off the effects of the empire’s collapse well into the 3rd century AD…….Continue reading….
By Tim Newcomb
Source: Popular Mechanics
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Interamna Lirenas was founded in 312 BC as a colonia of Latins in the ager casinas, on the route of the Via Latina. It was situated at the confluence of the Liri and Rio Spalla Bassa rivers, whence the name “Interamna” (meaning “between the rivers”). Interamna Lirenas served as a military base during the Samnite Wars, leading to its destruction by the Samnites in 294 BC.
It was again ravaged by Hannibal in 212 BC; since it later sided with Carthage, after the Carthaginian defeat at Zama in 202 BC it was forced by Rome to pay heavy tribute. It became a municipium in about 88 BC following the Social Wars when its population became Roman citizens.
In 46 BC Julius Caesar became patronus of the city as its strategic location between a river and a major road made it a busy node in the regional network, valuable to Caesar during the civil wars and one of only four towns known to share this privilege. The town received further settled veterans ca. 40 BC.
The town was thought to have been a relative backwater based on the relative lack of imported pottery, but recent archaeology has raised its importance,with evidence showing that it resisted the generally accepted decline of Italy in this period until the later part of the 3rd century AD, and around 300 years later than previously assumed.
Excavated remains include a rare roofed theatre faced with exotic marbles from the central and eastern Mediterranean. A port on the river Liri with warehouses fostered trade between the major centres to the north of Aquinum and Casinum, and Minturnae and the Tyrrhenian coast to the southeast.
There were three thermal bath complexes, the largest near the forum with a large swimming enclosed within a portico from 3rd–4th centuries.The archaeological site has been sampled by use of geophysical techniques (including magnetometry).
An inscribed ancient sundial donated by Marcus Novius Tubula after his election to the exalted position of Plebeian Tribune in Rome was discovered in the ruins of the theatre in 2017. In December 2023, archaeology experts led by Cambridge University announced the discovery of remains, including those of a roofed theatre, market, and river port.
Colonies were not founded on a large scale until the inception of the Principate. Augustus, who needed to settle over a hundred thousand of his veterans after the end of his civil wars, began a massive colony creation program throughout his empire. However, not all colonies were new cities. Many were created from already-occupied settlements and the process of colonization just expanded them.
Some of these colonies would later grow into large cities (modern day Cologne was first founded as a Roman colony). During this time, provincial cities can gain the rank of colony, gaining certain rights and privileges. After the era of the Severan emperors the new “colonies” were only cities that were granted a status (often of tax exemption), and in most cases during the Late Imperial times there was no more settlement of retired legionaries.
Roman colonies sometimes served as a potential reserve of veterans which could be called upon during times of emergency. However, these colonies more importantly served to produce future Roman citizens and therefore recruits to the Roman army. Roman colonies played a major role in the spread of the Latin language within the central and southern Italian peninsula during the early empire.
The colonies showed surrounding native populations an example of Roman life. Since the veterans settled there were usually single until discharge and married local women, colonies tended to become culturally integrated in their surroundings within a few generations.
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Roman ‘backwater’ bucked Empire’s decline, archaeologists reveal”.
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Roman colonial landscapes: Interamna Lirenas and its territory through antiquity”.
Campania tardoantica (284-604 d.C.).
Roman Theater Unearthed at Interamna Lirenas” Sep 25, 2013 by Enrico de Lazaro
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labels:Interamna Lirenas,Roman, Colonial,experts,archeology,excavation,rural, settlement,Slavery,RomanEmpire,history
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