Suasa
Coordinates: 43°37′29″N 12°59′12″E / 43.6247°N 12.9867°E
- For the butterfly genus, see Suasa (butterfly).
Suasa was an ancient Roman town in what is now the comune of Castelleone di Suasa, Marche, Italy. It is located in the Pian Volpello locality, in the valley of the Cesano River.
History
Suasa was founded by the Romans in the early 3rd century BC, after the Battle of Sentinum (295 BC), in a territory inhabited by the Senones. The town was crossed by a secondary trait of the Via Flaminia and by the Via Salaria Gallica, which connected it to Forum Sempronii (Fossombrone) and Ostra. In 232 BC, it became a prefecture and, in the 1st century BC, a municipium.
Suasa started to decline from the 3rd century; in 409, it was run by Alarich's Goths during his march against Rome (see Sack of Rome). It was abandoned in the 6th century after the Gothic War, the population moving to nearby settlements.
The remains have been axcavated by the University of Bologna since 1987. The edifices found include:
- an amphitheater
- a theater
- the Coiedii domus
- a late-Republican era domus
- the cardo maximum
- a necropolis
See also
References
- Lepore, Giuseppe (ed.). Santa Maria in Portuno nella valle del Cesano. Ante Quem. ISBN 88-7849-016-4.
- Polverari, Alberto (ed.) (1984). Castelleone di Suasa, 1 - Vicende storiche. Tecnostampa.