Tarracina
- a town in Latium, formerly called Anxur, now Terracina, Mel. 2, 4 fin.; Plin. 3, 5, 9, § 59; Cic. Att. 7, 5, 3; id. de Or. 2, 59, 240; id. Fam. 7, 23, 3 al.—Also called Tarrăcīnae, ārum, Liv. 4, 59.
- —Hence, Tarrăcĭnensis (Terr-), e, adj., of or belonging to Tarracina, Tarracinian: Ceparius, Sall. C. 46, 3.—As subst.: Tarră-cĭnenses, ĭum, m., the inhabitants of Tarracina, the Tarracinians, Tac. H. 4, 3.
TARRACI´NA (Ταρράκινα, Strab.; Ταρράκηνα, Steph. B.: Eth. Ταρρρακινίτης, Tarracinensis: Terracina), a city of Latium in the more extended sense of that name, but originally a Volscian city, situated on the Tyrrhenian sea, about 10 miles from Circeii, and at the extremity of the Pomptine Marshes. It was also known by the name of ANXUR and we learn from Pliny and Livy that this was its Volscian name, while Tarracina was that by which it was known to the Latins and Romans. (Plin. Nat. 3.5. s. 9; Ennius ap. Fest. s. v. Anxur;Liv. 4.59.) The name of Anxur is frequently used at a much later period by the Roman poets (Hor. Sat. i. 5. 26; Lucan (Luc. 3.84; Martial (Mart. 5.1. 6, &c.), obviously because Tarracina could not be introduced in verse; but Cicero, Livy, and all other prose writers, where they are speaking of the Roman town, universally call it Tarracina. The Greek derivation of the latter name suggested by Strabo (5. p. 233), who says it was originally called Τραχινή, from its rugged situation, is probably a mere etymological fancy. The first mention of it in history occurs in the treaty between Rome and Carthage concluded in B.C. 509, in which the people of Tarracina are mentioned in common with those of Circeii, Antium, &c., among the subjects or dependencies of Rome. (Plb. 3.22.) It seems certain therefore that Tarracina, as well as Circeii, was included in the Roman dominions before the fall of the monarchy. But it is clear that it must have again fallen under the dominion of the Volscians, probably not long after this period. It was certainly in the possession of that people, when its name next appears in history, in B.C. 406. On that occasion it was attacked by N. Fabius Ambustus, and taken by a sudden assault, while the attention of the Volscian armies was drawn off in another direction. (Liv. 4.57; Diod. 14.16.) Livy speaks of it as having at this time enjoyed a long period of power and prosperity, and still possessing great wealth, which was plundered by the Roman armies. A few years afterwards (B.C. 402) it again fell into the hands of the Volscians, through the negligence of the Roman garrison (Liv. 5.8). In B.C. 400, it was again besieged by the Roman arms under Valerius Potitus, and though his first assaults were repulsed, and he was compelled to have recourse to a blockade, it soon after fell into his hands. (Ib. 12, 13.) An attempt of the Volscians to recover it in 397 proved unsuccessful (Ib. 16), and from this time the city continued subject to Rome. Nearly 70 years later, after the conquest of Privernum, it was thought advisable to secure Tarracina with a Roman colony, which was established there in B.C. 329. (Liv. 8.21; Vellei. 1.14.)
The condition of Tarracina as a Roman colony is not quite clear, for Velleius notices it as if it had been one of the Coloniae Latinae,w hile Livy certainly does not consider it as such, for he omits its name among the thirty Latin colonies in the time of the Second Punic War, while he on two occasions mentions it in connection with the other maritime colonies, Antium, Minturnae, &c. In common with these, the citizens of Tarracina in vain contended for exemption from military service during the Second Punic War, and at a later period claimed exemption from naval service also. (Liv. 27.38, 36.3.) There can, therefore, be no doubt that Tarracina was a colonia maritima civium,a nd it seems to have early become one of the most important of the maritime towns subject to Rome. Its position on the Appian Way, which here first touched on the sea (Strab. 5. p. 233; Hor. Sat. 1.5. 26), doubtless contributed to its prosperity; and an artificial port seems to have in some degree supplied the want of a natural harbour. (Liv. 27.4.) In a military point of view also its position was important, as commanding the passage of the Appian Way, and the narrow defile of Lautulae, which was situated a short distance from the city on the side of Fundi. (Liv. 22.15.) [LAUTULAE]
Under the Roman Republic Tarracina seems to have continued to be a considerable and flourishing town. Cicero repeatedly notices it as one of the customary halting-places on the Appian Way, and for the same reason it is mentioned by Horace on his journey to Brundusium. (Cic. de Orat. 2.59, ad Fam. 7.23, ad Att. 7.5; Hor. Sat. 1.5. 26; Appian, App. BC 3.12; Val. Max..) At the outbreak of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, Tarracina was occupied by the latter with three cohorts under the praetor Rutilius Lupus, but they abandoned their post, when Pompey withdrew to Brundusium. (Caes. B.C. 1.24; Cic. ad Att. 8.1. 1, B.) Again, during the civil war between Vespasian and Vitellius, Tarracina was evidently regarded as a place of importance in a military point of view, and was occupied by the partisans of Vespasian, but was wrested from them by L. Vitellius just before the death of his brother. (Tac. Hist. 3.57, 76, 77.) It was at Tarracina also that the funeral convoy of Germanicus was met by his cousin Drusus and the chief personages of Rome. (Id. Ann. 3.2.) The neighbourhood seems to have been a favourite site for villas under the Roman Empire: among others the Emperor Domitian had a villa there (Martial. 5.1. 6); and it was at another villa near the town, on the road to Fundi, that the emperor Galba was born. (Suet. Galb. 4.) In addition to the other natural advantages of the situation, there existed mineral springs in the neighbourhood, which seem to have been much frequented. (Martial (Mart. 5.1. 6, 10.51. 8.) The important position of Tarracina doubtless prevented its falling into decay as long as the Western Empire subsisted. Its name is found in the Itineraries as a civitas( Itin. Ant. p. 187; Itin. Hier. p. 611), and even after the fall of the Roman dominion it appears as a fortress of importance during the Gothic wars. (Procop. B. G. 2.2, 4, &c.)
The position of Tarracina at the extremity of the Pomptine Marshes, just where a projecting ridge of the Volscian mountains runs down to the sea, and separates the marshy tract on the W. from a similar but much smaller tract on the E., which extends from thence towards Fundi, must in all ages have rendered it a place of importance. The ancient city stood on the hill above the marshes. Horace distinctly describes it as standing on lofty rocks, which were conspicuous afar, from their white colour:-- Impositum saxis late candentibus Anxur
(Hor. Sat. 1.5. 26); and the same circumstance is alluded to by other Latin poets. (Lucan (Luc. 3.84; Sil. Ital..) Livy also describes the original Volscian town as loco alto situm( 5.12), though it extended also down the slope of the hill towards the marshes ( urbs prona in paludes,4 .59). At a later period it not only spread itself down the hill, but occupied a considerable level at the foot of it (as the modern city still does), in the neighbourhood of the port. This last must always have been in great part artificial, but the existence of a regular port at Tarracina is noticed by Livy as early as B.C. 210. (Liv. 27.4.) It was subsequently enlarged and reconstructed under the Roman Empire, probably by Trajan, and again restored by Antoninus Pius. (Capit. Ant. P. 8.) Its remains are still distinctly visible, and the whole circuit of the ancient basin, surrounded by a massive mole, may be clearly traced, though the greater part or it is now filled with sand. Considerable portions of the ancient walls also still remain, constructed partly in the polygonal style, partly in the more recent style known to the Romans as opus incertum.S everal ancient tombs and ruins of various buildings of Roman date are still extant in the modern city and along the line of the Via Appia. The modern cathedral stands on the site of an ancient temple, of which only the substructions and two columns remain. This is generally called, though on very uncertain authority, a temple of Apollo. The most celebrated of the temples at Tarracina was, however, that of Jupiter, which is noticed by Livy (Liv. 28.11, 40.45), and the especial worship of this deity in the Volscian city under the title of Jupiter Anxurus is alluded to by Virgil (Aen. 7.799). He was represented (as we are told by Servius) as a beautiful youth, and the figure of the deity corresponding to this description is found on a Roman coin of the Vibian family. (Eckhel, vol. 5. p. 340.) It is probable that this temple was situated in the highest part of the city, very probably in the ancient citadel, which occupied the summit of a hill above the town, where remains of its walls and substructions are still extant.
Tarracina was distant by the Via Appia 62 miles from Rome, and 18 from the Forum Appii. (Itin. Ant. p. 107; Itin. Hier. p. 611; Westphal, Röm. Kamp. p. 68.) Three miles from the city, at the side of the Via Appia, as well as of the canal which was frequently used by travellers, was the fountain of Feronia, celebrated by Horace, together with the sacred grove attached to it. [FERONIA]
[E.H.B]Now Terracina, more anciently called Anxur, an ancient town of Latium, situated fifty-eight miles southeast of Rome, on the Via Appia and upon the coast, with a strongly fortified citadel upon a high hill, on which stood the Temple of Iupiter Anxurus. Remains of the ancient citadel are still visible.
A city on a high hill along the sea on the border of Latium and Campania, half way between Rome and Naples. Strabo derives the name from trachys (rough)—well suiting its cliff. Prehistoric remains testify to its desirable location. After occupation by the Ausoni, it was taken over by the Etruscans, then by the Volsci, who called it Anxur and made it a fortress against the Romans. There is no evidence to support an ancient theory that it was colonized by Sparta in the days of Lykourgos.
Rome overpowered Anxur in 406 B.C. and in 309 sent 300 colonists to establish Colonia Anxuras, later assimilated to the Tribus Ufentina. The Samnites failed to capture the citadel in their battle against Rome in 315. A few years later, the Via Appia was built, climbing to Tarracina on its way S. Horace took that route in 38 B.C. and admirably describes the site: impositum saxis late candentibus Anxur. Galba was born here in 3 B.C. The town was greatly built up in the days of Sulla and later by Trajan, who brought the Via Appia down to sea level by cutting through the cliff below the citadel along the coast. He and Antoninus Pius expanded the lower town and drained the nearby Pomptine Marshes. Much later, Theodonic repaired the Appia here.
The most notable monument of Tarracina is the Temple of Jupiter Anxur, situated on the edge of the high cliff (ca. 198 m) overlooking the sea. It dates from the days of Sulla in the early 1st c. B.C. The orientation is N-S in the Italic manner, set at an angle on the great courtyard which was made by cutting into the hill at the back and building up a supporting base on the S and W sides resting on 12 massive arches in opus incertum, still visible from afar. The cella is almost square (13 x 14 m); its outer walls carried 6 engaged Corinthian half-columns; a deep porch with 6 columns along the front and 4 down the sides was reached by a flight of steps at the center. The base of the Jupiter statue survives at the back of the cella.
Behind, on a higher level, was a U-shaped ambulatory. Just E of the temple was an oracular site: a hollowed-out rock surrounded by a wall. A small square structure (the “Little Temple”) at the S corner of the temple courtyard was probably for civic use. In a votive pit near the Oracle were found many small representations of Jupiter, usually as an infant, most of them of lead.
West of the Jupiter Temple, on the rest of the hilltop, lay the original town, surrounded by fortification walls of various dates, of which massive towers and a gate exist.
Much of this acropolis development dates to the age of Sulla. The Via Appia served as decumanus, the main longitudinal street. A stone arch, four-sided, stood at the entrance from Campania. The basilica was nearby. The forum area (modern Piazza Municipio) still has its ancient pavement, which was laid at the expense of Aulus Aemilius. A massive substructure of arches supports the edge of the forum facing the sea. The medieval Romanesque cathedral stands on the site of a Roman temple (perhaps of Rome and Augustus) and incorporates some of its columns.
Another temple, probably the Capitolium since it has a triple nave, survives rather extensively. In opus reticulatum, it probably dates to ca. 40 B.C., replacing a much earlier one. Raised on a podium, it had four columns across the front, with projecting antae behind the corner ones and a door leading into each of the three naves. The general plan is square (16.57 m on each side) with pillars 2.33 m high. The naves are each 9.25 m long and half as wide. Under each of them was a covered treasury of opus reticulatum. A ramp of 11 steps led up the front through the central intercolumniation. To the W was another temple, possibly of Minerva. Its massive podium survives (25 m long, 7 high). There is some evidence of a theater N of the Capitolium near the Porta Nova.
The lower town, between the sea and the relocated Via Appia below the cliff, is mostly of 2d and 3d c. construction, though the amphitheater (its arena 90 x 68 m) is somewhat earlier—built mostly in opus reticulatum. A large baths structure, of the mid 2d c., stands near the sea. Other baths, more elaborate and of earlier and later construction periods, are at the SE edge of the lower town.
The harbor, going back to Volscian times but thereafter silted up, was much improved and enlarged by Trajan and reworked by Antoninus Pius. The mole was an arc from W to E, with extensive dock areas on each side and a curving breakwater at the entrance, on which probably stood a lighthouse.
Three aqueducts have been traced. Numerous villas have been located in the vicinity, a proof of the site's attractiveness. A small Museum holds local finds.
About 5 km from the city, at the foot of Mt. Leano, was a Sanctuary of Feronia—a goddess of agriculture and patroness of freed slaves—which Horace mentions visiting. It comprised a sacred grove, a fountain, and a small temple. A fine stretch of the old Via Appia used to be visible between the sanctuary and Tarracina.
BIBLIOGRAPHYStrab. 5.3.6; Dion. of Hal. Ant.Rom. 2.49; Tac. Hist. 3.57-61; Plin. HN 3.5.9; Cic. Att. 7.5.3; Fam. 7.23.3; Hon. Sat. 1.5.24-26; Verg. Aen. 7.799-800; Pomp. Mela 2.4.
M. de la Blanchère, Terracine: Essai d'Histoire Locale (1884); L. Borsari, “Terracina: Tempio di Giove Anxure,” NSc (1894) 96-111; R. Fish, Tarracina-Anxur und Kaiser Galba (1889); G. Lugli, I Santuari Celebri del Lazio Antico (1932) 111-14; id., La Tecnica Edilizia Romana (1957) 144-48; S. Aurigemma, Circeo, Terracina, Fondi (2d ed., 1966) PI; EAA 7 (1966) 729-32 (B. Conticello) P.
R. V. SCHODER