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28-527: 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

56-534: A city or castrum , the decumanus maximus crossed the perpendicular cardo maximus , the primary north–south road. The forum was normally located close to this intersection of the decumanus maximus and the cardo maximus . Decumanus or decimanus was the Latin word for 'tenth'. This name is said to come from the fact that the via decumana or decimana (the "tenth") separated the Tenth Cohort from

84-544: A particular city was the decumanus maximus , or most often simply "the decumanus ". In the rectangular street grid of the typical Roman city plan , the decumanus was crossed by the perpendicular cardo , a north–south street. In a military camp, the decumanus connected the Porta Praetoria (closest to the enemy) to the Porta Decumana (away from the enemy). In the center – called groma – of

112-417: 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

140-476: 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

168-402: Is 1,500 metres long, connecting the eastern and western gates. In Beirut 's central business district , Rue Weygand , which runs east–west, still follows the ancient Roman decumanus . In Florence, the decumanus is preserved as the streets Via Strozzi, Via Speziali, and Via del Corso in the city's old centre. Although these streets have different names, they form a continuous line with

196-413: 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

224-470: 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

252-519: 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

280-534: 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

308-484: 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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336-512: 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

364-653: The Emperor Diocletian , exhibits the characteristic Roman orthogonal street system with the decumanus maximus connecting the west Iron Gate to the east Silver Gate. In Roman Gadara , present-day Umm Qais , in Jordan , the decumanus runs east–west for approximately one kilometre with its ancient flagstones extant. Another fine example is the Straight Street or Via Recta in Damascus , which

392-671: The Ninth in the legionary encampment, in the same way as the via quintana separated the Fifth Cohort from the Sixth. In the ancient Roman city of Barcino (present day Barcelona , Spain), the decumanus maximus started at the late-Roman gate (which still stands) in front of the current Plaça Nova square. Within the city of Split , in present-day Croatia , is the UNESCO Roman monument, Diocletian's Palace . This city, built by

420-466: 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

448-557: 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

476-429: 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

504-409: 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,

532-483: 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

560-494: 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

588-622: 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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616-474: 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

644-580: 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

672-510: 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

700-475: 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. Decumanus maximus In Roman urban planning , a decumanus was an east–west-oriented road in a Roman city or castrum (military camp). The main decumanus of

728-407: 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

756-417: 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

784-529: 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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