Antium

About

Antium was an ancient coastal town in Latium, south of Rome. An oppidum was founded by people of Latial culture (11th century BC or the beginning of the 1st millennium BC), which then became the main stronghold of the Volsci until it was conquered by the Romans. The territory of Roman Antium corresponded almost entirely to modern Anzio and Nettuno. In some versions of Rome's foundation myth, Antium was founded by Anteias, a son of Odysseus by Circe.

Location: The Latin-Volscian town stood in the Capo d'Anzio (modern Anzio), on a higher ground and somewhat away from the shore, though it extended down to it. This was defended by a deep ditch, which can still be traced, and by walls, a portion of which, on the eastern side, constructed of rectangular blocks of tufa, was brought to light in 1897. The fortification of the town would included the acropolis, to which it would be adjacent to the east, isolated but connected. The Latin colony of 467 BC, of which it will be said later, would be installed alongside the fortified Latin-Volscian oppidum, also to the east. A coeval port town, Caenon, was the port under the control of Antium (which did not have a natural harbour of its own...