Alba Fucens

Hey guys,


So today (actually today Tuesday), I went to Alba Fucens a Roman colony in central Italy in the Apennines (located about 68 Roman miles from Rome). The town was placed strategically to control trade from north-south and west-east travel. Furthermore it was placed to buffer between two Etruscan cities and the Samnite territory. The city began to flourish at the end of the Samnite Wars. During the Punic wars, Alba Fucens provided Rome with a steady supply of soldiers to be field against the Carthaginians. At one point, Alba Fucens was punished economically because it could not have furnished enough troops. Regardless, Alba Fucens was a large colony to supply manpower to the Roman army for such a long time. Alba Fucens was arranged in the following manner (running north to south): The Forum, a portico and the basilica outside the Forum, the Macellum, and a public bathing complex. To the west and east of these structures there were villas, taburnae (shops), and etc. Here are some fotos and explanations (again a selection out of tons of fotos). After Alba Fucens we stopped by the Porta Maggiore in Rome. See it all below!

 

Dan pointing to some mountians

A Medieval Church on a hill overlooking Alba Fucens. The church was built over a Temple of Apollo.

 

 

 

 

Alba Fucens center from the hill.

The Amphitheater in Alba Fucens dedicated to Sutornus Macro a prefect of the Roman Praetorian who installed Caligula. He was then asked to commit suicide by Caligula.

Seated in the seats of the amphitheater

Ah Amazonesses fighting a gladiatorial show for me.

The main road into downtown Alba Fucens.

The basilica in Alba Fucens. The Basilica was a public building space used for the range of commercial enterprise to political assemblies. In fact the Basilica here has a raised platform for such occurrences of political assemblies.

Parastyle garden inside a wealthy villa in the center of Alba Fucens. The middle was an open aired garden with the columns and a roof along  the sides. The cubicula (bedrooms) opened up into this lavish garden. This villa is located to the southeast of the center

 The Macellum was a small public commercial area for fresh produce. It is located just south of the basilica.

A foto looking up to Basilica from the Macellum.

  The suspensurae stones that heated the floors of the Roman bath. This public bath complex is located south of the Macellum.

He is a pooping.

A tomb of a freedman who became rich and built this strange tomb. The tomb suggests that he started out as a baker.

Porta Maggiore. It was first built by Claudius in the style of unworked stone. It was rebuilt and refurbished by Vespasian and then Titus.