Place:Terracina, Latina, Lazio, Italy

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Terracina is an Italian city and comune of the province of Latina, located on the coast southeast of Rome on the Via Appia ( by rail). The site has been continuously occupied since antiquity.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Ancient times

Terracina appears in ancient sources with two names: the Latin Tarracina and the Volscian Anxur. The latter is the name of Jupiter himself as a youth ( or ), and was the tutelary god of the city, venerated on the (current Monte S. Angelo), where a temple dedicated to him still exists (see below). The name has been instead pointed out variously as pre-Indo-European origin (Ταρρακινή in ancient Greek), or as Etruscan ( or , the name of the Tarquinii family): in this view, it would precede the Volscian conquest.

Terracina occupied a position of notable strategic importance: it is located at the point where the Volscian Hills (an extension of the Lepini Mountains) reach the coast, leaving no space for passage between them and the sea, on a site commanding the Pontine Marshes ("a city surrounded by marshes", as Livy called it) and also possessing a small harbour. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, During the 600s BC, it joined the Etruscan League of twelve cities. In 509 BC Terracina was already under Roman supremacy as reported in the 1st treaty between Rome and Carthage. It was soon re-occupied by the Volsci and was not included in the list of the Latin league of 499 BC. In 406 it was recaptured by the Romans then lost in 402 and recovered in 400, unsuccessfully attacked by the Volsci in 397, and finally secured by the establishment of a colony of Roman citizens in 329 BC as .^[1]

The Roman City

As a the town frequently appears in history. The construction of the Via Appia in 312 BC added to its importance: the road at first crossed the hill at the back of the promontory by a steep ascent and descent. An attempt was made in 184 BC to get round it by an embankment thrown out into the sea: but it was probably not until early in Trajan's time (98-117 AD) that a cut in the rocks at the foot of the promontory finally solved the problem. The depth of the cut is indicated by marks on the vertical wall at intervals of 10 Roman feet; the lowest mark, about 1 m above the present road, is CXX, corresponding to .^[1]

It was probably in consequence of this road cut that some of the more important buildings of the imperial period were erected on the low ground near the small harbour. The construction of the coast road, the Via Severiana, from Ostia to Terracina, added to the importance of the place. The Via Appia and the Via Severiana met some few miles east of Terracina, and the Via Appia then traversed the pass of Lautulae, between the mountains and the Lake of Fondi, where the Samnites defeated the Romans with losses in 315 BC. The natural environment and scenery of the promontory, with its luxuriant flora and views, had caused it to be frequented by the Romans as early as 200 BC.^[1]

Terracina became an important centre for the development of the fertile valley lying to the west, and started to grow new settlements at the foot of the hill which turned into a sanctuary area with some patrician mansions.

New public edifices were erected starting from the time of Sulla including a new theatre and forum, while the sanctuary was renovated. Marcus Favonius, the imitator of Cato the Younger, was born in Terracina, as was the emperor Galba (in 3 BC); both Galba and Domitian possessed villas in the area.

The port was built under Trajan and Antoninus Pius in the 2nd century AD. The last Roman construction was that of a new line of walls during the 5th century AD.

The nearby mineral springs by the coast, known to the Romans as and later renamed , are still in use, except one containing arsenic which was blocked up both by the ancients and again in 1839 as a precaution.^[1]

Middle Ages

Terracina is mentioned in the history of the Gothic War, and Theodoric is said to have had a palace here. It was sacked in 409 and 595.^[1] After the Lombards had conquered part of Italy in the late 6th century, Terracina remained an important military stronghold of the Eastern Roman Empire, and later became part of the Duchy of Naples. It was one of the northernmost outposts of Byzantine authority in the south. A monument bearing the name of Duke George of Naples stood there at the turn of the 20th century.

In 872, Pope John VIII brought it under the domination of the Holy See. However, after the crisis of papal authority in the following century, Terracina came to be ruled by local or Roman families (like that of Crescenzi, who built a massive castle, or the Frangipani, who occupied it from 1153 to 1202). In 1088 it was the seat of the first conclave held outside Rome. In the 11th and 12th centuries Terracina had a notable spurt of growth, and two new suburbs were built next to the two walled gates of Porta Maggio ("Cipollata"), Porta Albina, Porta St. Gregory and Porta Romana. A free commune was also instituted. In 1217 Pope Honorius III united its diocese to those of Sezze and Priverno.

The 1357 Costituzioni Egiziane ("Egyptian Constitutions") marked the beginning of a stronger papal authority, which however did not impede the growth of the king of Naples's influence, nor did it stop the city's internal struggles.

Modern era

The 16th century saw the communal freedoms steadily eroded, due both to the general decline of Terracina (aggravated by malaria in the increasingly marshy surrounding land) and the devastating attacks by pirates coming from North Africa. A malaria plague in 1520 contributed to this process. However, in this period the first Renaissance mansions began to be built by noble families like the Savio, Garzoni, Gottifredi, de' Romanis and others.

In the 17th century the popes began a program of repopulation of Terracina through the resettlement of families from the country nearby lured by tax exemptions. In this period the churches of St. John (formerly St. Lawrence) and Madonna delle Grazie were both rebuilt. In the two following centuries Terracina assumed its current appearance. Pope Pius VI started a program of draining the marshes and added a new quarter next to the channel-port.

During the Napoleonic occupation Terracina was at first annexed to the Circeo département, but revolted in 1798: the riot was suppressed by French and Polish troops, led by general Étienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the position of Terracina at the border between the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples was officially set by the Concordat signed by Pope Pius VII and Ferdinand I of Two Sicilies in 1818.

In 1839 and 1843 Gregory XVI visited the city, in which he instituted works for a new port.

In 1934 the city was removed from the province of Rome and added to that of Latina.

After the end of World War II, in which it suffered heavy damage, Terracina developed greatly, with a large new quarter developing towards the Via Appia and alongside the coast north to Monte S. Angelo. This is Borgo Marino, the "Marine Quarter".

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