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TERRACINA (Lat. Tarracina, Volsc. Anxur)
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See also:TERRACINA (See also:Lat. Tarracina, Volsc. Anxur) , a See also:town and episcopal see of the See also:province of See also:Rome, See also:Italy, 76 m. S.E. of Rome by See also:rail (56 by the Via See also:Appia), 40 ft. above See also:sea-level. Pop. (1901) 7597 (town), 10,995 (See also:commune). Its position, at the point where the Volscian Hills reach the See also:coast, leaving no space for passage between them and the sea, commanding the Pomptine Marshes (urbs prong in paludes, as See also:Livy calls it) and possessing a small See also:harbour, was one of See also:great strategic importance; and it thus appears very See also:early in See also:Roman See also:history. It appears in 509 B. C. as under Roman supremacy, but is not included in the See also:list of the Latin See also:league of 499 B.C. In 406 it was stormed by the See also:Romans, lost in 402, recovered in 400, unsuccessfully attacked by the Volscians in 397, and finally secured by the See also:establishment of a See also:colony of Roman citizens in 329 B.C. As such it frequently appears in history. The construction of • the Via Appia in 312 B.C. added to its importance: the road at first crossed the See also: An See also:attempt was made in 184 B.C. to get See also:round it by an See also:embankment thrown out into the sea: but it was probably not until early in the imperial See also:period that a cutting in the rocks at the See also:foot of the promontory (Pisco Montano) finally solved the problem. The See also:depth of the cutting is indicated by marks on the See also:vertical See also:wall at intervals of ro Roman ft.—figures enclosed in large See also:swallow-tail tablets—the lowest See also:mark, 3 or 4 ft. above the See also:present road, is CXX. Not far off are See also:mineral springs by the coast (Neptuniae See also:aquae), known to the Romans and still in use—except one containing See also:arsenic which was blocked up both by the ancients and again in 1839 as a precaution. The two roads met some few See also:miles E. of Tarracina, and the Via Appia then traversed the pass of Lautulae, between the mountains and the See also:Lake of See also:Fondi, where the See also:Samnites defeated the Romans with loss in 315 B.C. This pass, the frontier between the Papal States and the See also:kingdom of See also:Naples, was also fortified in See also:modern days. It was probably in consequence of the cutting just mentioned that some of the more important buildings of the imperial period were erected in the See also:low ground by the See also:shore, and near the small harbour. The construction of the coast road, the Via See also:Severiana, from See also:Ostia to Tarracina, added to the importance of the See also:place; and the beauty of the promontory with its luxuriant See also:flora and attractive view had made it frequented by the Romans as early as 200 B.C. See also:Galba and See also:Domitian possessed See also:country houses here. It appears in the history of the See also:Gothic See also:wars, and See also:Theodoric is said to have had a See also:palace here. It was sacked in 409 and 595. In 872 See also: See also:Aemilius A. F.," in letters once filled in with See also:bronze, is well preserved. It issupported by massive arched substructures, which extend under the surrounding houses. The See also:cathedral of SS. Pietro e Cesareo, fronting upon it, is ensconced in a See also:temple of Rome and See also:Augustus, See also:part of the See also:side wall of which, with engaged columns, is still visible. The See also:vestibule, in the Cosmatesque See also:style, is supported by ten ancient columns resting upon recumbent lions, with a See also:mosaic See also:frieze upon them. The See also:brick campanile has small columns with little pointed See also:arches. The interior has a See also:fine Cosmatesque See also:pulpit supported by ancient columns resting on lions, a See also:Paschal See also:candlestick of 1245, and a See also:good pavement of the same period with beasts and dragons. The See also:sacristy contains a carved wooden nuptial See also:chest of the loth or r rth See also:century. There are also remains of the town wall in the " polygonal " style, and above the town are several massive platforms for supporting buildings, in a more archaistic See also:form of this style; these may well belong to the Roman period, and the latter even to the See also:empire. The See also:summit of the promontory (748 ft.) is reached by the old See also:line of the Via Appia, which is flanked by tombs and by remains of an ancient defensive wall with circular towers (currently attributed to Theodoric, but probably a good See also:deal earlier in date). The summit is occupied by a massive See also:terrace, supported by arcades of fine See also:opus incertum (traditionally, but wrongly, called the palace of Theodoric) on all sides except the E., and commanding a magnificent view seaward over the coast and over the Pomptine Marshes. On the terrace, as was ascertained in 1894, stood a Corinthian temple of the early imperial period, 110 by 65 ft.; the See also:cella was decorated internally with engaged See also:half-columns, and contained the See also:pedestal for the statue of the deity, according to some authorities See also:Venus, but more probably See also:Jupiter Anxur worshipped as a See also:child—a theory confirmed by the See also:discovery of many curious leaden toys, like those made for dolls' houses at the present See also:day, in the favissae on the E. of the temple. Of the See also:lower town by the harbour, which had buildings of some importance of the imperial period (See also:amphitheatre, See also:baths, &c.), little is now visible, and its site is mainly occupied by a new See also:quarter built by See also:Pope See also:Pius VI., who restored the Via Appia through the Pomptine Marshes. See also:Close by it in the S.W. is a See also:group of huts inhabited in See also:winter by labourers from the Abruzzi, as is the See also:case in many other parts of the Campagna. Of the ancient harbour constructed by See also:Antoninus Pius (M. R. de la Blanchere in Melanges de l'ecole francaise de Rome, i. 322; 1881) insignificant remains exist, and it is largely silted up. Close to it is the small modern See also:port. Near the amphitheatre was found in 1838 the famous statue of See also:Sophocles now in the Lateran museum. The commune of Terracina includes a considerable See also:extension of territory towards the N.W. with much undergrowth (macchia) valuable for See also:charcoal burning, and a considerable extent of pasture and arable See also:land. The ancient See also:aqueduct, bringing See also:water some 35 M. from the slopes of the Volscian Hills, has been repaired and is in use. Three miles to the N.W., at the foot of the See also:Monte Leano, was the See also:shrine of the nymph Feronia, where the See also:canal following the Via Appia through the marshes ended. Along these 3• M. of the Via Appia are numerous ancient tombs, and the fertile valley to the N.E. was thickly populated in Roman days. See M. R. de la Blanchese, Terracine (See also:Paris, 1884). (T. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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