Lavinium was a port city of Latium , 6 km (3.7 mi) to the south of Rome , midway between the Tiber river at Ostia and Antium . The coastline then, as now, was a long strip of beach. Lavinium was on a hill at the southernmost edge of the Silva Laurentina , a dense laurel forest, and the northernmost edge of the Pontine Marshes , a vast malarial tract of wetlands. The basis for the port, the only one between Ostia and Antium, was evidently the mouth of the Numicus river.
39-417: The location of Lavinium has never been lost to historians nor does there appear to have been any significant break in its habitation. Today's settlement remains a walled village of medieval design, Pratica di Mare, in the comune of Pomezia . The latter is a city constructed in 1939 and settled according to a plan of Benito Mussolini , whose engineers completed the millennia-long task of draining and filling
78-470: A Polizia Comunale ( lit. ' Communal Police ' ), which is responsible for public order duties. The comune also deal with the definition and compliance with the piano regolatore generale ( lit. ' general regulator plan ' ), a document that regulates the building activity within the communal area. All communal structures or schools, sports and cultural structures such as communal libraries, theaters, etc. are managed by
117-813: A comune as rione ( Italian: [riˈoːne] ; pl. : rioni ) or contrade . The term originated from the administrative divisions of Rome, and is derived from the Latin word regio ( pl. : regiones ), meaning "region". All currently extant rioni are located in Municipio I of Rome. The term has been adopted as a synonym of quartiere in the Italian comuni . Terzieri , quartieri , sestieri , rioni , and their analogues are usually no longer administrative divisions of these towns, but historical and traditional communities, seen especially in towns' annual Palio . A terziere ( pl. : terzieri )
156-562: A mountain villa. Today the base is both a secure airport for the protection of distinguished visitors to the Rome region and a home for air shows of advanced aircraft. The Fosso di Pratica was re-routed around the end of a runway; however, today's small brook is in no way compatible with the concept of a port. The sea may well have formerly extended up to the base of the hill, as sites further north, such as Ostia, appear to have retreated one or two miles inland. Ancient Roman seaside villas are no longer on
195-526: A separate ruler, through the arbitration of Venice, which were known as sestieri . The island of Crete , a Venetian colony (the Kingdom of Candia ) from the Fourth Crusade , was also divided into six parts, named after the sestieri of Venice herself, while the capital Candia retained the status of a comune of Venice. The island of Burano north of Venice is also subdivided into sestieri . A variation of
234-599: A synonymous of neighbourhood, and an Italian town can be now subdivided into a larger number of quartieri . The Swiss town of Lugano (in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino) is also subdivided into quarters. The English word quarter to mean an urban neighbourhood (e.g. the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana) is derived from the cognate old French word quartier . A sestiere ( pl. : sestieri )
273-578: Is Predoi , the southernmost one Lampedusa e Linosa , the westernmost Bardonecchia and the easternmost Otranto . The comune with the longest name is San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore , while the comuni with the shortest name are Lu , Ro , Ne , Re and Vo' . The population density of the comuni varies widely by province and region . The province of Barletta-Andria-Trani , for example, has 381,091 inhabitants in 10 comuni , or over 39,000 inhabitants per comune ; whereas
312-518: Is a list of the largest comuni in Italy, in descending order of surface area, according to ISTAT data referring to 9 October 2011. The provincial capitals are highlighted in bold. The following is a list of the smallest comuni in Italy, in ascending order of surface area, according to ISTAT data referring to 9 October 2011. The following is a list of the first comuni by altitude, in descending order. The indicated altitude coincides with
351-454: Is a subdivision of certain Italian towns and cities. The word is from sesto ( lit. ' sixth ' ), so it is thus used only for towns divided into six districts. The best-known example is the sestieri of Venice , but Ascoli Piceno , Genoa , Milan and Rapallo , for example, were also divided into sestieri . The medieval Lordship of Negroponte , on the island of Euboea , was also at times divided into six districts, each with
390-592: Is a subdivision of several towns in Italy . The word derives from terzo ( lit. ' third ' ) and is thus used only for towns divided into three neighborhoods. Terzieri are most commonly found in Umbria , for example in Trevi , Spello , Narni and Città della Pieve ; towns divided into terzieri in other regions include Lucca in Tuscany , and Ancona and Macerata in
429-409: Is an administrative division of Italy , roughly equivalent to a township or municipality . It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ( regioni ) and provinces ( province ). The comune can also have the title of città ( lit. ' city ' ). Formed praeter legem according to the principles consolidated in medieval municipalities ,
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#1732844329651468-413: Is chaired by the mayor, who appoints others members, called assessori , one of whom serves as deputy mayor ( vicesindaco ). The offices of the comune are housed in a building usually called the municipio , or palazzo comunale ( lit. ' town hall ' ). As of January 2021, there were 7,904 comuni in Italy; they vary considerably in size and population. For example,
507-700: Is granted to comuni that have been awarded it by decree of the King of Italy (until 1946) or of the provisional head of state (from 1946 to 1948) or, subsequently, of the President of the Republic (after 1948), on the proposal of the Ministry of the Interior , to which the comune concerned sends an application for a concession, by virtue of their historical, artistic, civic or demographic importance. The comuni endowed with
546-643: The comune is provided for by article 114 of the Constitution of Italy . It can be divided into frazioni , which in turn may have limited power due to special elective assemblies. In the autonomous region of the Aosta Valley , a comune is officially called a commune in French. The comune provides essential public services: registry of births and deaths, registry of deeds , and maintenance of local roads and public works. Many comuni have
585-578: The comune of Rome , in Lazio , has an area of 1,287.36 km (497.05 sq mi) and a population of 2,758,454 inhabitants, and is both the largest and the most populated. Atrani in the province of Salerno ( Campania ) was the smallest comune by area, with only 0.1206 km (0.0466 sq mi), and Morterone ( Lombardy ) is the smallest by population. Many present-day comuni trace their roots along timescales spanning centuries and at times millennia. The northernmost comune
624-434: The comuni . Comuni must have their own communal statute and have a climatic and seismic classification of their territory for the purposes of hazard mitigation and civil protection . Comuni also deal with the waste management . It is headed by a mayor ( sindaco or sindaca ) assisted by a legislative body, the consiglio comunale ( lit. ' communal council ' ), and an executive body,
663-411: The frazioni , but the comune still retains the name of the capoluogo . In some cases, a comune might not have the same name of capoluogo . In these cases, it is a comune sparso ( lit. ' dispersed comune ' ) and the frazione which hosts the town hall ( municipio ) is a sede municipale (compare county seat ). Some towns refer to neighborhoods within
702-403: The giunta comunale ( lit. ' communal committee ' ). The mayor and members of the consiglio comunale are elected together by resident citizens: the coalition of the elected mayor (who needs a relative majority or an absolute majority in the first or second round of voting, depending on the population) gains three fifths of the consiglio 's seats. The giunta comunale
741-480: The Marches . The medieval Lordship of Negroponte , on the island of Euboea , was also divided into three distinct rulerships, which were known as terzieri . A quartiere ( Italian: [kwarˈtjɛːre] ; pl. : quartieri ) is a territorial subdivision, properly used, for towns divided into four neighborhoods ( quarto ; lit. ' fourth ' ) by the two main roads. It has been later used as
780-622: The province of Isernia has 81,415 inhabitants in 52 comuni , or 1,640 inhabitants per comune – roughly 24 times more communal units per inhabitant. The coats of arms of the comuni are assigned by decree of the Prime Minister of Italy by the Office of State Ceremonial and Honors, Honors and Heraldry Service (division of the Presidency of the Council born from the transformation of
819-597: The Naples Museum), which must have once been fixed to some votive object , and dedicated to the god Declunus (or the goddess Decluna ). The Volsci were among the most dangerous enemies of ancient Rome , and frequently allied with the Aequi , whereas their neighbors, the Hernici , were allied with Rome after 486 BC. According to the semi-legendary history of early Rome, its seventh and last king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus ,
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#1732844329651858-490: The Royal Consulta Araldica , eliminated pursuant to the provisions final of the Constitution of Italy ). Administrative subdivisions within comuni vary according to their population size. Comuni with at least 250,000 residents are divided into circoscrizioni (roughly equivalent to French arrondissements or London boroughs ) to which the comune delegates administrative functions like
897-482: The ambassadors of the Laurentes came to Rome, but were beaten by Tatius' relatives. The Laurentes complained, but Tatius accorded more weight to the influence of his relatives than to the injury done the Laurentes. When Tatius afterwards visited Lavinium to celebrate an anniversary sacrifice, he was slain in a tumult. Romulus declined to go to war and instead renewed the treaty between Rome and Lavinium. In 509 BC, after
936-416: The beach. Pratica di Mare is observably smaller than ancient Lavinium, whose remains crop out in the surrounding fields. Recent archaeological excavations performed to the south date Lavinium to well before the legendary foundation of Rome. It was already fortified in the 7th century BC and flourishing in the 6th. Lavinium was assimilated by Republican Rome. It was connected to Rome in the north and Ardea to
975-550: The bronze inscribed plaque records that the Dioscuri were being venerated at one of numerous altars. According to Roman mythology, which links Lavinium more securely to Rome, the city was named by Aeneas in honor of Lavinia , daughter of Latinus , king of the Latins , and his wife, Amata . Aeneas reached Italy and there fought a war against Turnus , the leader of the local Rutuli people. Aeneas founded not Rome but rather Lavinium,
1014-514: The capital of the province of Reggio Emilia , in the Emilia-Romagna region, and Reggio di Calabria , the capital of the homonymous metropolitan city , in the Calabria region. Many other towns or villages are likewise partial homonyms (e.g. Anzola dell'Emilia and Anzola d'Ossola , or Bagnara Calabra and Bagnara di Romagna ). The title of città ( lit. ' city ' ) in Italy
1053-678: The growing republic by 304 BC. Rome's first emperor Augustus was of Volscian descent. Strabo says that the Volsci formed a sovereign state near the site of Rome. It was placed in the Pomentine plain, between the Latins and the Pontine marshes , which took their name from the plain. The Volsci were divided in Antiates Volsci (capital Antium) on the Tyrrhenian coast, and Ecetran Volsci ( Ecetra ) in
1092-510: The height above sea level of the town hall. List of the first comuni by population in descending order, according to ISTAT data updated to 28 February 2022. The regional capitals are in bold. The data is updated as of 1 January 2021. The data is updated as of 1 January 2021. Volsci The Volsci ( UK : / ˈ v ɒ l s k iː / , US : / ˈ v ɔː l -, ˈ v ɒ l s aɪ , - s iː / , Latin: [ˈwɔɫskiː] ) were an Italic tribe, well known in
1131-469: The hinterland. The Volsci spoke Volscian , a Sabellic Italic language , which was closely related to Oscan and Umbrian , and more distantly to Latin . In the Volscian territory lay the little town of Velitrae (modern Velletri ), home of the ancestors of Caesar Augustus . From this town comes an inscription dating probably from early in the 3rd century BC; it is cut upon a small bronze plate (now in
1170-524: The history of the first century of the Roman Republic . At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium , bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the south, the Hernici on the east, and stretching roughly from Norba and Cora in the north to Antium in the south. Rivals of Rome for several hundred years, their territories were taken over by and assimilated into
1209-590: The main centre of the Latin league, from which the people of Rome sprang. Aeneas thus links the royal house of Troy with the early Roman royal house. The foundation of Lavinium and the Rutulian war are both mentioned prominently in Virgil 's Aeneid . In ancient times Lavinium had a close association with the nearby Laurentum . According to Livy , in the eighth century BC, when Romulus and Titus Tatius jointly ruled Rome,
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1248-531: The marsh, now the Pontine fields. A brief strip of field separates the large and flourishing city from the village. One Roman gate allows entry into the narrow streets of the village past the Castello Borghese, originally a fortification, purchased along with the village in 1617 by Marcantonio Borghese . The castle and the village were periodically renovated. All that remains of the river that once partly surrounded
1287-753: The overthrow of the Roman monarchy, one of Rome's first two consuls Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus was coerced into leaving Rome because of his relation to the kings. He voluntarily went into exile in Lavinium. In around 488 BC, Lavinium was captured by an invading army of the Volsci , led by Gaius Marcius Coriolanus and Attius Tullus Aufidius . 41°39′42″N 12°28′42″E / 41.661625°N 12.478427°E / 41.661625; 12.478427 Comune A comune ( Italian: [koˈmuːne] ; pl. : comuni , Italian: [koˈmuːni] )
1326-443: The running of schools, social services and waste collection; the delegated functions vary from comune to comune . These bodies are headed by an elected president and a local council. Smaller comuni usually comprise: Sometimes a frazione might be more populated than the capoluogo ; and rarely, owing to unusual circumstances (like depopulation), the town hall and its administrative functions can be moved to one of
1365-471: The south by the Via Laurentina . Under the empire it was combined with the mysterious Laurentum , where many wealthy Romans maintained a winter villa, to become Laurolavinium . The nature of the union remains ambiguous. A number of kilns have been identified within the perimeter of the city walls. Outside the city was a sanctuary dedicated to Sol Indiges and a vast sanctuary with numerous altars, where
1404-429: The title of città usually carry the golden crown above their coat of arms, except with different provisions in the decree approving the coat of arms or in the presence). "The crown of the city ([...]) is formed by a golden circle opened by eight city gates (five visible) with two cordoned walls on the margins, supporting eight towers (five visible) joined by curtain walls, all in gold and black walled." The following
1443-608: The village is a small stream, the Fosso di Pratica. Pratica di Mare is about 6 km (3.7 mi) from the Tyrrhenian Sea near the top of a slope descending to an alluvial shelf on which the Pratica di Mare Air Force Base has been placed. It has the historical distinction of being the airfield from which Otto Skorzeny flew Mussolini to safety in Germany after his rescue from imprisonment in
1482-427: The word is occasionally found: the comune of Leonessa , for example, is divided into sesti or sixths. There are not many perfect homonymous comuni . There are only six cases in 12 comuni : This is mostly due to the fact the name of the province or region was appended to the name of the comune in order to avoid the confusion. Two provincial capitals share the name Reggio : Reggio nell'Emilia ,
1521-551: Was the first to go to war against the Volsci, commencing two centuries of conflict between the two states. Gaius Marcius Coriolanus , the legendary Roman warrior, earned his cognomen after capturing the Volscian town of Corioli in 493 BC. The reputed rise and fall of this Roman hero is chronicled in Plutarch 's Parallel Lives , which served as the basis for the Shakespeare play, Coriolanus . However, if Livy 's account of
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