Book: A Study Of The Topography And Municipal History Of Praeneste

R >> Ralph Van Deman Magoffin >> A Study Of The Topography And Municipal History Of Praeneste



SERIES XXVI NOS. 9-10

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY STUDIES IN HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCE

Under the Direction of the Departments of History, Political Economy,
and Political Science

STUDY OF THE TOPOGRAPHY AND MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF PRAENESTE

BY RALPH VAN DEMAN MAGOFFIN, A.B. Fellow in Latin.


September, October, 1908

COPYRIGHT 1908




CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. THE TOPOGRAPHY OF PRAENESTE
EXTENT OF THE DOMAIN OF PRAENESTE
THE CITY, ITS WALLS AND GATES
THE PORTA TRIUMPHALIS
THE GATES
THE WATER SUPPLY OF PRAENESTE
THE TEMPLE OF FORTUNA PRIMIGENIA
THE EPIGRAPHICAL TOPOGRAPHY OF PRAENESTE
THE FORA
THE SACRA VIA

CHAPTER II. THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PRAENESTE
WAS PRAENESTE A MUNICIPIUM?
PRAENESTE AS A COLONY
THE DISTRIBUTION OF OFFICES
THE REGULATIONS ABOUT OFFICIALS
THE QUINQUENNALES

AN ALPHABETICAL LIST OF THE MUNICIPAL OFFICERS OF PRAENESTE

A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE MUNICIPAL OFFICERS OF PRAENESTE
1. BEFORE PRAENESTE WAS A COLONY
2. AFTER PRAENESTE WAS A COLONY




PREFACE.

This study is the first of a series of studies already in progress, in
which the author hopes to make some contributions to the history of the
towns of the early Latin League, from the topographical and epigraphical
points of view.

The author takes this opportunity to thank Dr. Kirby Flower Smith, Head
of the Department of Latin, at whose suggestion this study was begun,
and under whose supervision and with whose hearty assistance its
revision was completed.

He owes his warmest thanks also to Dr. Harry Langford Wilson, Professor
of Roman Archaeology and Epigraphy, with whom he made many trips to
Praeneste, and whose help and suggestions were most valuable.

Especially does he wish to testify to the inspiration to thoroughness
which came from the teaching and the example of his dearly revered
teacher, Professor Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Head of the Greek
Department, and he acknowledges also with pleasure the benefit from the
scholarly methods of Dr. David M. Robinson, and the manifold
suggestiveness of the teaching of Dr. Maurice Bloomfield.

The cordial assistance of the author's aunt, Dr. Esther B. Van Deman,
Carnegie Fellow in the American School at Rome, both during his stay in
Rome and Praeneste and since his return to America, has been invaluable,
and the privilege afforded him by Professor Dr. Christian Huelsen, of the
German Archaeological Institute, of consulting the as yet unpublished
indices of the sixth volume of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, is
acknowledged with deep gratitude.

The author is deeply grateful for the facilities afforded him in the
prosecution of his investigations while he was a resident in Palestrina,
and he takes great pleasure in thanking for their courtesies, Cav.
Capitano Felice Cicerchia, President of the Archaeological Society at
Palestrina, his brother, Cav. Emilio Cicerchia, Government Inspector of
Antiquities, Professor Pompeo Bernardini, Mayor of the City, and Cav.
Francesco Coltellacci, Municipal Secretary.

Finally, he desires to express his cordial appreciation of the kind
advice and generous assistance given by Professor John Martin Vincent in
connection with the publication of this monograph.




A STUDY OF THE TOPOGRAPHY AND MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF PRAENESTE.




CHAPTER I.


THE TOPOGRAPHY OF PRAENESTE.

Nearly a half mile out from the rugged Sabine mountains, standing clear
from them, and directly in front of the sinuous little valley which the
northernmost headstream of the Trerus made for itself, rises a
conspicuous and commanding mountain, two thousand three hundred and
eighteen feet above the level of the sea, and something more than half
that height above the plain below. This limestone mountain, the modern
Monte Glicestro, presents on the north a precipitous and unapproachable
side to the Sabines, but turns a fairer face to the southern and western
plain. From its conical summit the mountain stretches steeply down
toward the southwest, dividing almost at once into two rounded slopes,
one of which, the Colle di S. Martino, faces nearly west, the other in a
direction a little west of south. On this latter slope is situated the
modern Palestrina, which is built on the site of the ancient Praeneste.

From the summit of the mountain, where the arx or citadel was, it
becomes clear at once why Praeneste occupied a proud and commanding
position among the towns of Latium. The city, clambering up the slope on
its terraces, occupied a notably strong position[1], and the citadel was
wholly impregnable to assault. Below and south of the city stretched
fertile land easy of access to the Praenestines, and sufficiently
distant from other strong Latin towns to be safe for regular
cultivation. Further, there is to be added to the fortunate situation
of Praeneste with regard to her own territory and that of her contiguous
dependencies, her position at a spot which almost forced upon her a wide
territorial influence, for Monte Glicestro faces exactly the wide and
deep depression between the Volscian mountains and the Alban Hills, and
is at the same time at the head of the Trerus-Liris valley. Thus
Praeneste at once commanded not only one of the passes back into the
highland country of the Aequians, but also the inland routes between
Upper and Lower Italy, the roads which made relations possible between
the Hernicans, Volscians, Samnites, and Latins. From Praeneste the
movements of Volscians and Latins, even beyond the Alban Hills and on
down in the Pontine district, could be seen, and any hostile
demonstrations could be prepared against or forestalled. In short,
Praeneste held the key to Rome from the south.

Monte Glicestro is of limestone pushed up through the tertiary crust by
volcanic forces, but the long ridges which run off to the northwest are
of lava, while the shorter and wider ones extending toward the southwest
are of tufa. These ridges are from three to seven miles in length. It is
shown either by remains of roads and foundations or (in three cases) by
the actual presence of modern towns that in antiquity the tip of almost
every one of these ridges was occupied by a city. The whole of the tufa
and lava plain that stretches out from Praeneste toward the Roman
Campagna is flat to the eye, and the towns on the tips of the ridges
seem so low that their strong military position is overlooked. The tops
of these ridges, however, are everywhere more than an hundred feet above
the valley and, in addition, their sides are very steep. Thus the towns
were practically impregnable except by an attack along the top of the
ridge, and as all these ridges run back to the base of the mountain on
which Praeneste was situated, both these ridges and their towns
necessarily were always closely connected with Praeneste and dependent
upon her.

There is a simple expedient by which a conception of the topography of
the country about Praeneste can be obtained. Place the left hand, palm
down, flat on a table spreading the fingers slightly, then the palm of
the right hand on the back of the left with the fingers pointing at
right angles to those of the left hand. Imagine that the mountain, on
which Praeneste lay, rises in the middle of the back of the upper hand,
sinks off to the knuckles of both hands, and extends itself in the
alternate ridges and valleys which the fingers and the spaces between
them represent.


EXTENT OF THE DOMAIN OF PRAENESTE.

Just as the modern roads and streets in both country and city of ancient
territory are taken as the first and best proof of the presence of
ancient boundary lines and thoroughfares, just so the territorial
jurisdiction of a city in modern Italy, where tradition has been so
constant and so strong, is the best proof for the extent of ancient
domain.[2] Before trying, therefore, to settle the limits of the domain
of Praeneste from the provenience of ancient inscriptions, and by
deductions from ancient literary sources, and present topographical and
archaeological arguments, it will be well worth while to trace rapidly
the diocesan boundaries which the Roman church gave to Praeneste.

The Christian faith had one of its longest and hardest fights at
Praeneste to overcome the old Roman cult of Fortuna Primigenia.
Christianity triumphed completely, and Praeneste was so important a
place, that it was made one of the six suburban bishoprics,[3] and from
that time on there is more or less mention in the Papal records of the
diocese of Praeneste, or Penestrino as it began to be called.

In the fifth century A.D. there is mention of a gift to a church by
Sixtus III, Pope from 432 to 440, of a certain possession in Praenestine
territory called Marmorata,[4] which seems best located near the town of
Genazzano.

About the year 970 the territory of Praeneste was increased in extent by
Pope John XIII, who ceded to his sister Stefania a territory that
extended back into the mountains to Aqua alta near Subiaco, and as far
as the Rivo lato near Genazzano, and to the west and north from the head
of the Anio river to the Via Labicana.[5]

A few years later, in 998, because of some troubles, the domain of
Praeneste was very much diminished. This is of the greatest importance
here, because the territory of the diocese in 998 corresponds almost
exactly not only to the natural boundaries, but also, as will be shown
later, to the ancient boundaries of her domain. The extent of this
restricted territory was about five by six miles, and took in Zagarolo,
Valmontone, Cave, Rocca di Cave, Capranica, Poli, and Gallicano.[6]
These towns form a circle around Praeneste and mark very nearly the
ancient boundary. The towns of Valmontone, Cave, and Poli, however,
although in a great degree dependent upon Praeneste, were, I think, just
outside her proper territorial domain.

In 1043, when Emilia, a descendant of the Stefania mentioned above,
married Stefano di Colonna, Count of Tusculum, Praeneste's territory
seems to have been enlarged again to its former extent, because in 1080
at Emilia's death, Pope Gregory VII excommunicated the Colonna because
they insisted upon retaining the Praenestine territory which had been
given as a fief to Stefania, and which upon Emilia's death should have
reverted to the Church.[7]

We get a glance again at the probable size of the Praenestine diocese
in 1190, from the fact that the fortieth bishop of Praeneste was
Giovanni Anagnino de' Conti di Segni (1190-1196),[8] and this seems to
imply a further extension of the diocese to the southeast down the
Trerus (Sacco) valley.

Again, in 1300 after the papal destruction of Palestrina, the government
of the city was turned over to Cardinal Ranieri, who was to hold the
city and its castle (mons), the mountain and its territory. At this time
the diocese comprised the land as far as Artena (Monte Fortino) and and
Rocca Priora, one of the towns in the Alban Hills, and to Castrum Novum
Tiburtinum, which may well be Corcolle.[9]

The natural limits of the ancient city proper can hardly be mistaken.
The city included not only the arx and that portion of the southern
slope of the mountain which was walled in, but also a level piece of
fertile ground below the city, across the present Via degli Arconi. This
piece of flat land has an area about six hundred yards square, the
natural boundaries of which are: on the west, the deep bed of the
watercourse spanned by the Ponte dei Sardoni; on the east, the cut over
which is built the Ponte dell' Ospedalato, and on the south, the
depression running parallel to the Via degli Arconi, and containing the
modern road from S. Rocco to Cave.

From the natural limits of the town itself we now pass to what would
seem to have been the extent of territory dependent upon her. The
strongest argument of this discussion is based upon the natural
configuration of the land. To the west, the domain of Praeneste
certainly followed those long fertile ridges accessible only from
Praeneste. First, and most important, it extended along the very wide
ridge known as Le Tende and Le Colonnelle which stretches down toward
Gallicano. Some distance above that town it splits, one half, under the
name of Colle S. Rocco, running out to the point on which Gallicano is
situated, and the other, as the Colle Caipoli, reaching farther out into
the Campagna. Along and across this ridge ran several ancient roads.[10]
With the combination of fertile ground well situated, in a position
farthest away from all hostile attack, and a location not only in plain
sight from the citadel of Praeneste, but also between Praeneste and her
closest friend and ally, Tibur, it is certain that in this ridge we have
one of the most favored and valuable of Praeneste's possessions, and
quite as certain that Gallicano, probably the ancient Pedum,[11] was one
of the towns which were dependent allies of Praeneste. It was along this
ridge too that probably the earlier, and certainly the more intimate
communication between Praeneste and Tibur passed, for of the three
possible routes, this was both the nearest and safest.[12]

[Illustration: PLATE I. Praeneste, on mountain in background; Gallicano,
on top of ridge, in foreground.]

The second ridge, called Colle di Pastore as far as the Gallicano cut,
and Colle Collafri beyond it, along which for four miles runs the Via
Praenestina, undoubtedly belonged to the domain of Praeneste.[13] But it
was not so important a piece of property as the ridges on either side,
for it is much narrower, and it had no town at its end. There was
probably always a road out this ridge, as is shown by the presence of
the later Via Praenestina, but that there was no town at the end of the
ridge is well proved by the fact that Ashby finds no remains there which
give evidence of one. Then, too, we have plain enough proof of general
unfitness for a town. In the first place the ridge runs oil into the
junction of two roadless valleys, there is not much fertile land back of
where the town site would have been, but above all, however, it is
certain that the Via Praenestina was an officially made Roman road, and
did not occupy anything more than a previous track of little
consequence. This is shown by the absence of tombs of the early
necropolis style along this road.

The next ridge must always have been one of the most important, for from
above Cavamonte as far as Passerano, at the bottom of the ridge on the
side toward Rome, connecting with the highway which was the later Via
Latina, ran the main road through Zagarolo, Passerano, Corcolle, on to
Tibur and the north.[14] As this was the other of the two great roads
which ran to the north without getting out on the Roman Campagna, it is
certain that Praeneste considered it in her territory, and probably kept
the travel well in hand. With dependent towns at Zagarolo and Passerano,
which are several miles distant from each other, there must have been at
least one more town between them, to guard the road against attack from
Tusculum or Gabii. The fact that the Via Praenestina later cut the Colle
del Pero-Colle Seloa just below a point where an ancient road ascends
the ridge to a place well adapted for a town, and where there are some
remains,[15] seems to prove the supposition, and to locate another of
the dependent cities of Praeneste.

That the next ridge, the one on which Zagarolo is situated, was also
part of Praeneste's territory, aside from the fact that it has always
been part of the diocese of Praeneste, is clearly shown by the
topography of the district. The only easy access to Zagarolo is from
Palestrina, and although the town itself cannot be seen from the
mountain of Praeneste, nevertheless the approach to it along the ridge
is clearly visible.

The country south and in front of Praeneste spreads out more like a
solid plain for a mile or so before splitting off into the ridges which
are so characteristic of the neighborhood. East of the ridge on which
Zagarolo stands, and running nearly at right angles to it, is a piece of
territory along which runs the present road (the Omata di Palestrina) to
the Palestrina railroad station, and which as far as the cross valley at
Colle dell'Aquila, is incontestably Praenestine domain.

But the territory which most certainly belonged to Praeneste, and which
was at once the most valuable and the oldest of her possessions is the
wide ridge now known as the Vigne di Loreto, along which runs the road
to Marcigliano.[16] Not only does this ridge lie most closely bound to
Praeneste by nature, but it leads directly toward Velitrae, her most
advantageous ally. Tibur was perhaps always Praeneste's closest and most
loyal ally, but the alliance with her had not the same opportunity for
mutual advantage as one with Velitrae, because each of these towns
commanded the territory the other wished to know most about, and both
together could draw across the upper Trerus valley a tight line which
was of the utmost importance from a strategic point of view. These two
facts would in themselves be a satisfactory proof that this ridge was
Praeneste's first expansion and most important acquisition, but there
is proof other than topographical and argumentative.

At the head of this ridge in la Colombella, along the road leading to
Marcigliano from the little church of S. Rocco, have been found three
strata of tombs. The line of graves in the lowest stratum, the date of
which is not later than the fifth or sixth century B.C., points exactly
along the ancient road, now the Via della Marcigliana or di Loreto.[17]

The natural limit of Praenestine domain to the south has now been
reached, and that it is actually the natural limit is shown by the
accompanying illustration.

Through the Valle di Pepe or Fosso dell' Ospedalato (see Plate II),
which is wide as well as deep, runs the uppermost feeder of the Trerus
river. One sees at a glance that the whole slope of the mountain from
arx to base is continued by a natural depression which would make an
ideal boundary for Praenestine territory. Nor is the topographical proof
all. No inscriptions of consequence, and no architectural remains of the
pre-imperial period have been found across this valley. The road along
the top of the ridge beyond it is an ancient one, and ran to Valmontone
as it does today, and was undoubtedly often used between Praeneste and
the towns on the Volscians. The ridge, however, was exposed to sudden
attack from too many directions to be of practical value to Praeneste.
Valmontone, which lay out beyond the end of this ridge, commanded it,
and Valmontone was not a dependency of Praeneste, as is shown by an
inscription which mentions the adlectio of a citizen there into the
senate (decuriones) of Praeneste.[18]

There are still two other places which as we have seen were included at
different times in the papal diocese of Praeneste,[19] namely, Capranica
and Cave.[20] Inscriptional evidence is not forthcoming in either place
sufficient to warrant any certainty in the matter of correspondence of
local names to those in Praeneste. Of the two, Capranica had much more
need of dependence on Praeneste than Cave. It was down through the
little valley back of Praeneste, at the head of which Capranica lay,
that her later aqueducts came. The outlet from Capranica back over the
mountains was very difficult, and the only tillable soil within reach of
that town lay to the north of Praeneste on the ridge running toward
Gallicano, and on a smaller ridge which curved around toward Tibur and
lay still closer to the mountains. In short, Capranica, which never
attained importance enough to be of any consequence, appears to have
been always dependent upon Praeneste.

But as for Cave, that is another question. Her friends were to the east,
and there was easy access into the mountains to Sublaqueum (Subiaco) and
beyond, through the splendid passes via either of the modern towns,
Genazzano or Olevano.

[Illustration: PLATE II. Praeneste, Monte Glicestro with citadel, as
seen from Valle di Pepe.]

It is quite evident that Cave was never a large town, and it seems most
probable that she realized that an amicable understanding with Praeneste
was discreet. This is rendered almost certain by the proof of a
continuance of business relations between the two places. The greater
number of the big tombs of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. are of a
peperino from Cave,[21] and a good deal of the tufa used in wall
construction in Praeneste is from the quarries near Cave, as Fernique
saw.[22]

Rocca di Cave, on a hill top behind Cave, is too insignificant a
location to have been the cause of the lower town, which at the best
does not itself occupy a very advantageous position in any way, except
that it is in the line of a trade route from lower Italy. It might be
maintained with some reason that Cave was a settlement of dissatisfied
merchants from Praeneste, who had gone out and established themselves on
the main road for the purpose of anticipating the trade, but there is
much against such an argument.

It has been shown that there were peaceable relations between Praeneste
and Cave in the fifth and sixth centuries B.C., but that the two towns
were on terms of equality is impossible, and that Cave was a dependency
of Praeneste, and in her domain, is most unlikely both topographically
and epigraphically. And more than this, just as an ancient feud can be
proved between Praeneste and Rome from the slurs on Praeneste which one
finds in literature from Plautus down,[23] if no other proofs were to be
had,[24] just so there is a very ancient grudge between Praeneste and
Cave, which has been perpetuated and is very noticeable even at the
present day.[25]

The topography of Praeneste as to the site of the city proper, and as to
its territorial domain is then, about as follows.

In very early times, probably as early as the ninth or tenth century
B.C., Praeneste was a town on the southern slope of Monte Glicestro,[26]
with an arx on the summit. As the town grew, it spread first to the
level ground directly below, and out along the ridge west of the Valle
di Pepe toward Marcigliano, because it was territory not only fertile
and easily defended, being directly under the very eyes of the citizens,
but also because it stretched out toward Velitrae, an old and trusted
ally.[27]

Her next expansion was in the direction of Tibur, along the trade route
which followed the Sabine side of the Liris-Trerus valley, and this
expansion gave her a most fertile piece of territory. To insure this
against incursions from the pass which led back into the mountains, it
seems certain that Praeneste secured or perhaps colonized Capranica.

The last Praenestine expansion in territory had a motive beyond the
acquisition of land, for it was also important from a strategical point
of view. It will be remembered that the second great trade route which
came into the Roman plain ran past Zagarolo, Passerano, and
Corcolle.[28] This road runs along a valley just below ridges which
radiate from the mountain on which Praeneste is situated, and thus
bordered the land which was by nature territory dependent upon
Praeneste.[29] So this final extension of her domain was to command this
important road. With the carrying out of this project all the ridges
mentioned above came gradually into the possession of Praneste, as
natural, expedient, and unquestioned domain, and on the ends of those
ridges which were defensible, dependent towns grew up. There was also a
town at Cavamonte above the Maremmana road, probably a village out on
the Colle dell'Oro, and undoubtedly one at Marcigliano, or in that
vicinity.

We have already seen that across a valley and a stream of some
consequence there is a ridge not at all connected with the mountain on
which Praeneste was situated, but belonging rather to Valmontone, which
was better suited for neutral ground or to act as a buffer to the
southeast. We turn to mention this ridge again as territory
topographically outside Praeneste's domain, in order to say more
forcibly that one must cross still another valley and stream before
reaching the territory of Cave, and so Cave, although dependent upon
Praeneste, by reason of its size and interests, was not a dependent city
of Praeneste, nor was it a part of her domain.[30]

In short, to describe Praeneste, that famous town of Latium, and her
domain in a true if homely way, she was an ancient and proud city whose
territory was a commanding mountain and a number of ridges running out
from it, which spread out like a fan all the way from the Fosso
dell'Ospedalato (the depression shown in plate II) to the Sabine
mountains on the north.


THE CITY, ITS WALLS AND GATES.

The general supposition has been that the earliest inhabitants of
Praeneste lived only in the citadel on top of the hill. This theory is
supported by the fact that there is room enough, and, as will be shown
below, there was in early times plenty of water there; nevertheless it
is certain that this was not the whole of the site of the early city.

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