Pallanum
PALLA´NUM a town of the Frentani, the name of which is known only from the Tabula, which places it on the road from Anxanum (Lanciano) to Histoniumn; but the distances are corrupt and confused. According to Romanelli, extensive ruins still remain of an ancient city on a site still called Monte Pallano, about 3 miles SW. of Atessa. It is difficult, however, to reconcile this position with the course of the route given in the Tabula. (Tab. Pent.; Romanelli, vol. 3. p. 43; Zannoni, Carta del Reyno di Napoli, fol. 4.)
[E.H.B]An oppidum of the Frentani or the N Lucani, on the right bank of the Sangro river near Atessa, ca. 900 m above sea level at the summit of Mt. Pallano. Remains of an imposing fortress have been found with megalithic walls pierced by three posterulae very close to the area of easiest access. The site was sparsely inhabited in the Roman period, when it was recorded in the land itineraries, as well as in the Middle Ages. According to a recent theory, the town was the center of the Lucanians, who sought an alliance with Rome in 330 B.C. and were subjugated by Scipio Barbatus in 298 B.C. On the slopes of the mountain, near Tornareccio, a 6th c. B.C. limestone statue of a warrior came to light in 1971.
BIBLIOGRAPHYG. Colonna, “Pallanum,” ArchCl 7 (1955) 164ff; EAA 5 (1963) 896 (G. Colonna); A. La Regina, Dialoghi di Archeologia, II (1968) 178ff.
G. COLONNA