Terracina is an Italian city and comune of the province of Latina, located on the coast southeast of Rome on the Via Appia ( by rail). The site has been continuously occupied since antiquity.

History

Ancient times

Terracina appears in ancient sources with two names: the Latin Tarracina and the Volscian Anxur. The latter is the name of Jupiter himself as a youth ( or ), and was the tutelary god of the city, venerated on the (current Monte S. Angelo), where a temple dedicated to him still exists (see below). The name has been instead pointed out variously as pre-Indo-European origin (Ταρρακινή in ancient Greek), or as Etruscan ( or , the name of the Tarquinii family): in this view, it would precede the Volscian conquest.

thumb|left|150px|Platform of sanctuary and temple of "Jupiter Anxur"

Terracina occupied a position of notable strategic importance: it is located at the point where the Volscian Hills (an extension of the Lepini Mountains) reach the coast, leaving no space for passage between them and the sea, on a site commanding the Pontine Marshes (, "a city surrounded by marshes", as Livy called it) and also possessing a small harbour. During the 600s BC, it joined the Etruscan League of twelve cities. In 509 BC Terracina was already under Roman supremacy as reported in the 1st treaty between Rome and Carthage. It was soon re-occupied by the Volsci and was not included in the list of the Latin League of 499 BC. In 406 it was recaptured by the Romans then lost in 402 and recovered in 400, unsuccessfully attacked by the Volsci in 397, and finally secured by the establishment of a colony of Roman citizens in 329 BC as . possessed villas in the area.

The port was built under Trajan and Antoninus Pius in the 2nd century AD. The last Roman construction was that of a new line of walls during the 5th century AD.

The nearby mineral springs by the coast, known to the Romans as and later renamed , are still in use, except one containing arsenic which was blocked up both by the ancients and again in 1839 as a precaution. It counts the hamlets (frazioni) of Borgo Hermada, Frasso (shared with Sonnino), La Fiora and San Vito.

==Main sights==<!-- This section is linked from List of cathedrals -->

The modern town occupies the site of the old one. The present piazza is the ancient Roman forum, and the Roman pavement of slabs of travertine with the inscription <small>A. AEMILIUS A. F.</small> in letters once filled in with bronze, is well preserved. The paving is supported by massive arched substructures, which extend under the surrounding houses.

At the external of the temple is the "oracle", a kind of quadrilateral base with a hole from which, standing in a cave, the priests communicated the answers to the questions of the faithful. To the left of this great construction is the Small Temple, probably a civil edifice to be dated somewhat earlier than the former one.

The remains of another temple, the Capitolium, , with cells , lie on the street starting from Palazzo Venditti. Built in the mid-1st century BCE, it was dedicated to the Capitoline Triad of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva.

Of the lower town by the harbour, which had buildings of some importance of the imperial period (amphitheatre, baths, etc.), little is now visible, and its site is mainly occupied by a new quarter built by Pope Pius VI. Of the ancient harbour constructed by Antoninus Pius insignificant remains exist, and it is largely silted up. Close to it is the small modern port. In 1838, a marble bust of Sophocles was found near the amphitheatre. It is now in the Lateran Museum, Rome.

thumb|alt=The boulder and the damaged line to the rail road|The boulder and damaged line

Terracina can be reached by car from Rome by the old Via Appia, or by the more modern Via Pontina. The Via Flacca connects the city to Sperlonga and Gaeta to the south coast. A fast road link leads to the Frosinone exit of the A1 Milan-Rome-Naples motorway.

Ferries connect Terracina to Ponza

Twin towns – sister cities

thumb|right|250px|Piazza Terracina, [[Exeter, UK, named after Terracina]]

Terracina is twinned with:

  • Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany
  • Cabourg, France
  • Chur, Switzerland
  • Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom
  • Jūrmala, Latvia
  • Mayrhofen, Austria
  • Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg
  • Pécs, Hungary

Notable people

  • Marcus Favonius (c. 90 BC–42 BC), Roman politician
  • Galba (3 BC- 69), Roman emperor

References

  • Terracina's international website
  • Ferdinand Gregorovius' Walks - Terracina
  • Information about Terracina