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Archaeological site · Carinola (CE)

Forum Popilii

  • Visit: about 1 h 30 min
Pictured: Carinola · Hlodowig · CC BY-SA 3.0 · resized and cropped

Site of the ancient Roman town of Forum Popilii, in the ager Falernus, where the Civitarotta area of Carinola lies today.

In the territory of Carinola, where the Civitarotta area lies today, stood ancient Forum Popilii, a town founded by the Romans in the heart of the ager Falernus, the land of the famous Falernian wine. Its founding date is uncertain, but many scholars place it at the end of the 4th century BC, during the Samnite Wars; the name may recall the consul Marcus Popilius. In the imperial era the town received new colonists under Augustus and Vespasian.The inscriptions found tell us of a lively town: they mention the restoration of four town gates and of baths, which also suggests an aqueduct. There was a temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis and an area sacred to the Magna Mater, while an inscription from Pompeii mentions gladiatorial games involving inhabitants of Forum Popilii. We recommend visiting the area with the curiosity of someone seeking the traces of a past still waiting to be rediscovered.

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On the map

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