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29-515: The site of the abandoned Roman municipium of Trea is situated in the middle valley of the River Potenza , some 30 km from the Adriatic shore. The town was located on a dominant plateau, 1 km north-west of present-day Treia, and just 3 km east of Monte Pitino, in an agrarian area around the church and convent of SS. Crocifisso. The only remaining visible ruins are two small sections of

58-400: A municipium , or any civitas , of Ancient Rome reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls. But such fora functioned secondarily for multiple purposes, including as social meeting places for discussion. Many fora were constructed at remote locations along a road by the magistrate responsible for

87-609: A model of new construction. By the time of the late Republic, expansions refurbishing the forums of the city had inspired Pompey Magnus to create the Theatre of Pompey in 55 BC. His theatre included a massive forum behind the theatre arcades known as the Portico of Pompey ( Porticus Pompeii ). The structure was the forebear of Julius Caesar's forum and others to follow. Other major fora are found in Italy. However, they are not to be confused with

116-417: A person lived, at home or abroad, or what his status or class, he was a citizen of the locality in which he was born. The distinguishing characteristic of the municipium was self-governance . Like any ancient city-state, the municipium was created by an official act of synoecism , or founding. This act removed the sovereignty and independence from the signatory local communities, replacing them with

145-476: A sure sign of full rights. The second order of municipia comprised important tribal centres which had come under Roman control. Residents of these did not become full Roman citizens (although their magistrates could become so after retirement). They were given the duties of full citizens in terms of liability to taxes and military service , but not all of the rights: most significantly, they had no right to vote. Executive power in municipium

174-413: Is bordered by porticoes , tabernae and a series of public buildings. Centrally on the eastern side stood a rectangular building identified as the main podium temple. On and near the short west side of the forum stood a basilica , and possibly a curia . The planned forum was probably constructed in late Republican and early Imperial times. The remnants of another temple, discovered under the bell tower of

203-463: The municipes in exchange for the privileges and protections of citizenship. Every citizen was a municeps . The distinction of municipia was not made in the Roman Kingdom ; instead, the immediate neighbours of the city were invited or compelled to transfer their populations to the urban structure of Rome, where they took up residence in neighbourhoods and became Romans per se . Under

232-507: The Potenza Valley Survey Project , a project of Ghent University directed by Frank Vermeulen, attempts to map all buried structures of the ancient town. The survey methodology involves a series of aerial photography operations, large-scale geophysical prospections and intensive artefact surveys and studies. Due to all this new information it is now possible to map most parts of the town’s infrastructure in detail. Roman Trea

261-523: The Roman Republic the practical considerations of incorporating communities into the city-state of Rome forced the Romans to devise the concept of municipium , a distinct state under the jurisdiction of Rome. It was necessary to distinguish various types of municipia and other settlements, such as the colony . In the early Roman Empire these distinctions began to disappear; for example, when Pliny

290-579: The piazza of the modern town, which may have originated from a number of different types of ancient civic centers, or more likely was its own type. While similar in use and function to fora, most were created in the Middle Ages and are often not a part of the original city footprint. Fora were a regular part of every Roman province in the Republic and the Empire , with archaeological examples at: In new Roman towns

319-476: The 7th century AD, can be assumed. It is imaginable that during the Early Middle Ages the remaining habitation was restructured in connection with a modest early Christian sanctuary for the plebs, here to be located at the site of SS. Crocifisso. Although this sanctuary is only found in documents from the mid-12th century onwards, many early medieval spolia used in the later church of SS. Crocifisso indicate

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348-504: The Elder served in the Roman army, the distinctions were only nominal. In the final stage of development, all citizens of all cities and towns throughout the empire were equally citizens of Rome. The municipium then simply meant municipality, the lowest level of local government . The munera and the citizenship and its rights and protections were specific to the community. No matter where

377-462: The city of Rome. The partial synoecism took the form of a charter granting incorporation into the city of Rome and defining the rights and responsibilities of the citizens. The first municipium was Tusculum . The citizens of municipia of the first order held full Roman citizenship and their rights ( civitas optimo iure ) included the right to vote , which was the ultimate right in Rome, and

406-549: The convent of SS. Crocifisso. Treia is said to have been founded by the Sabine people in 380 BCE. Although the precise origin of the site remains unknown, its location on an elevated plateau near the Picene hilltop site of Monte Pitino could indicate that it was already a pre-Roman center. It became a Roman municipium shortly after 49 BC and it is possible that its circuit wall was erected around that time. The Roman town flourished between

435-429: The former city walls, partly incorporated in a now abandoned farm house. Since the 16th century many isolated finds as well as epigraphic monuments concerning Trea have been discovered in the general area. The first major excavations by Fortunato Benigni in the late 18th century determined the town’s approximate location and revealed parts of its walls, a basilica and a sanctuary with possible thermal building, located under

464-406: The forum was usually located at, or just off, the intersection of the main north–south and east–west streets (the cardo and decumanus ). All fora would have a Temple of Jupiter at the north end, and would also contain other temples, as well as the basilica ; a public weights and measures table, so customers at the market could ensure they were not being sold short measures; and would often have

493-524: The function of a conciliabulum . Every municipality ( municipium ) had a forum. Fora were the first of any civitas synoecized whether Latin, Italic, Etruscan, Greek, Celtic, or other. The first forums were sited between independent villages in the period, known only through archaeology. After the rise of the Roman Republic , the most noted forum of the Roman world—the Roman Forum in Rome itself—served as

522-409: The hilly plateau. The total enclosed area is only about 11  ha but possibly extramural habitation areas existed, particularly on the eastern and western sides. The street grid, individuating insulae of different size, is organized parallel with and perpendicular to a central decumanus maximus . Centrally the main road is interrupted by the monumental forum complex. The open rectangular square,

551-479: The jurisdiction of a common government. This government was then called the res publica ('public affair'), or in the Greek world the koinon ('common affair'). The term municipium began to be used with reference to the city-states of Italy brought into the city-state of Rome but not incorporated into the city. The city of Romulus synoecised the nearby settlements of Latium , transferring their populations to

580-490: The presence of a much earlier phase. Around AD 1000 the population probably moved towards the more easily defensible hill-site of Montecchio (later called Treia) and the original town site remained practically deserted. The town sided with the Pope in the temporal struggles of central Italy, and was besieged several times, and in particular in 1239 by Enzio , son and vicar of Frederick II and again in 1263 by Conrad of Antioch , who

609-614: The reigns of Augustus and Antoninus Pius , as indicated by the large collection of funerary monuments, statuary and epigraphic evidence. Large Egyptian religious statues of the Roman period have been found and are kept in the town's museum: they are unique in the Marche. The later phases of Trea are less well documented and the last epigraphic evidence dates from the 4th century AD. However, according to some archaeological finds from early excavations and surveys, later habitation in Trea, at least until

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638-400: The road, in which case the forum was the only settlement at the site and had its own name, such as Forum Popili or Forum Livi . In addition to its standard function as a marketplace, a forum was a gathering place of great social significance, and often the scene of diverse activities, including political discussions and debates, rendezvous, meetings, et cetera. In that case, it supplemented

667-468: The sanctuary of SS. Crocifisso and partly excavated by the University of Macerata in the 1980s, can be considered as an Egyptian sanctuary for Isis and Serapis . The discovery of a marble head of Serapis and a number of smaller Egyptian statuettes, as well as the second century AD inscription that mentions the temple of the “Domina” (the goddess Isis ), can lead to the interpretation that this foreign cult

696-569: The seven hills, where they resided in typically distinct neighbourhoods. And yet, Sabines continued to live in the Sabine Hills and Alba Longa continued even though synoecised. The exact sequence of events is not known, whether the populace was given a choice or the synoecised sites were reoccupied. As it is unlikely that all the Sabines were invited to Rome, where facilities to feed and house them did not yet exist, it seems clear that population transfer

725-504: Was captured at the nearby battle of Vallesacco, and held for several months in town in a small prison (now in use as a caffé). Montecchio eventually became part of the Papal States , and in 1790 Pope Pius VI rewarded it for its faithfulness by raising it to the official rank of "city", at the same time renaming it by its Roman name of Treia. Treia's most famous native was the archaeologist and art critic Luigi Lanzi . From 2000 onwards

754-456: Was held by four annually elected officials , composed of two duumvirs and two aediles . Advisory powers were held by the decurions , appointed members of the local equivalent to the Senate . In later years, these became hereditary. Forum (Roman) A forum ( Latin : forum , "public place outdoors", pl. : fora ; English pl. : either fora or forums ) was a public square in

783-407: Was only offered to some. The rest continued on as independent localities under the ultimate governance of Rome. Under the Roman Republic the impracticality of transferring numerous large city-states to Rome was manifest. The answer to the problem was the municipium . The town would be partially synoecised. The local government would remain but to its munera would be added munera due to

812-464: Was practiced here. (Text originally based on Bill Thayer's webpage, by permission.) Municipium In ancient Rome , the Latin term municipium ( pl. : municipia ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the municipium was a social contract among municipes ('duty holders'), or citizens of the town. The duties ( munera ) were a communal obligation assumed by

841-515: Was situated along an important byroad of the via Flaminia , which connected Rome directly to the harbour city Ancona , via most of the Potenza Valley. Around this road a street-side settlement developed gradually into a real town during the Late Republic . The town wall delimiting the main urban area has an irregular oval shape, which agrees well with the general topographic configuration of

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