Amiternum
| Amiternum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | L'Aquila, Province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Periods | Roman Republic - Byzantine Empire |
| Cultures | Ancient Rome |
| Site notes | |
| Website | Area Archeologica Amiternum (Italian) |
Amiternum, a traditional settlement of the Sabines, is an ancient Sabine prefecture in the Abruzzo region of modern Italy at 9 km from L'Aquila. Amiternum was the birthplace of the historian Sallust (86 BC).
History
It was stormed by the Romans in 293 BC. It lay at the point of junction of four roads: the Via Caecilia, the Via Claudia Nova and two branches of the Via Salaria.[1]
There are considerable remains of an amphitheatre and a theatre, all of which belong to the imperial period, while on the hill of the surrounding village of San Vittorino there are some Christian catacombs.[1]
The modern name of the locality, San Vittorino, recalls the martyr Victorinus, of the time of the persecution by Nerva, who is looked on as bishop of Amiternum. Other bishops of Amiternum include Quodvultdeus, who encouraged the religious veneration of Victorinus by constructing his tomb, Castorius, who is mentioned by Pope Gregory I, Saint Cetteus, martyred by the Lombards in 597, and Leontius, a brother of Pope Stephen II. The last known bishop is Ludovicus, who took part in a synod held in Rome in 1069. Later, the territory of the diocese was united to that of Rieti. In the mid-13th century the population was transferred to the newly founded town of L'Aquila, which was erected as a diocese by Pope Alexander IV on 20 February 1257, incorporating in it the territory that had once been that of the diocese of Amiternum.[2][3][4]
No longer a residential bishopric, Amiternum is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chisholm 1911.
- ↑ Giuseppe Cappelletti, Le chiese d'Italia dalla loro origine sino ai nostri giorni, Volume XXI, Venezia, 1870, pp. 417–418
- ↑ Francesco Lanzoni, Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604), vol. I, Faenza 1927, pp. 359–363
- ↑ Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 851
- ↑ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 831
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Amiternum". Encyclopædia Britannica 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.- Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopaedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Amiternum (San Vittorino), Latium, Italy"
Coordinates: 42°24′02.00″N 13°18′21.60″E / 42.4005556°N 13.3060000°E