LAVINIUM IN THE IMPERIAL PERIOD

The entrance of the borgo of Pratica di Mare.

An excellent study of Lavinium in the Imperial period was written by Alison Cooley (2000). In the area we are travelling through, there were two groups of Laurentes: the Laurentes Lavinates and the Laurentes vico Augustano. The former are associated with Lavinium, the remains of which are near Pratica di Mare. It was a city of exceptional importance in the early history of Rome. It was founded by Aeneas, and named after his wife Lavinia, daughter of king Latinus. After hostilities between Rome and Lavinium a treaty was agreed upon in 338 BC, which was renewed every year. It is therefore striking that, archaeologically, no activity of any importance seems to have taken place in the city in the first two centuries BC: the excavated remains can be dated from the seventh to the third century BC, and then from the period of Augustus onwards. A revival seems to have taken place in the Augustan period (cf. the Aeneid of Vergilius), but also during the reign of Claudius, known for his antiquarian interests. An inscription found in Pompeii, dated to the end of the reign of Claudius, is consciously archaizing, and mentions the Laurentes Lavinates and the origins of Rome:

SP(urius) TVRRANIVS L(uci) F(ilius) SP(uri) N(epos) L(uci) PRON(epos) FAB(ia) PROCVLVS GELLIANVS PRAEF(ectus) FABR(um) II PRAIF(ectus) CVRATORVM AL((v))EI TIBERIS PRAIF(ectus) PRO PR(aetore) I(ure) D(icundo) IN VRBE LA((v))INIO PATER PATRATVS POPVLI LAVRENTIS FOEDERIS EX LIBRIS SIBVLLINIS PERCVTIENDI CVM P(opulo) R(omano) SACRORVM PRINCIPIORVM P(opuli) R(omani) QVIRIT(ium) NOMINIS QVE LATINI QVAI APVD LAVRENTIS COLVNTVR FLAM(en) DIALIS FLAM(en) MARTIAL(is) SALIVS PRAISVL AVGVR PONT(ifex) PRAIF(ectus) COHORT(is) GAITVL(orum) TR(ibunus) MIL(itum) LEG(ionis) X LOC(us) D(atus) D(ecreto) D(ecurionum)	Spurius Turranius, son of Lucius, grandson of Spurius, great-grandson of Lucius, of the Fabian tribe, Proculus Gellianus, prefect of the army's craftsmen twice; prefect of the curators of the channel of the Tiber, prefect with the powers of a praetor in charge of jurisdiction in the city of Lavinium, father of the deputation of the Laurentine people, in accordance with the Sibylline books in charge of concluding the treaty with the Roman people, which relates to the rites concerned with the origins of the Roman people of Quirites and of the people of the Latin name, which are observed among the Laurentines, priest of Jupiter, priest of Mars, salius and praisul, augur and pontiff, prefect of the Gaetulian cohort, military tribune of the tenth legion. Space granted by decree of the decurions.
Inscribed base of Spurius Turranius Proculus Gellianus. Translation: Alison Cooley. H. 0.32, w. 0.40, d. 0.33. Photo: EDR148440.

The Laurentes Lavinates were an artificially created group of equites ("knights"), who may not have lived in the area at all. They were in charge of ancient religious rites, linking Rome and Lavinium. Dionysius of Halicarnassus mentions, in relation to Aeneas, a "hut, which the Lavinates regard as sacred, keeping it inaccessible to others" (1,57,1). There was, however, also a regular population in the city. Inscriptions mention the senatus populusque Laurens (CIL XIV, 2070) and the decuriones (members of the city council) (CIL XIV, 335 and 2069). In the fourth century we hear of the ordo cibesque (CIL XIV, 2080). We know that in Lavinium honorific statues were set up of members of the Imperial family from the first to the fourth century AD, and in the forum busts were discovered of Augustus, Tiberius and Claudius. Statue bases were also discovered of Lavinia, Aeneas' wife, and their son Silvius Aeneas.

An intriguing inscription was discovered in the 17th century. It is now much damaged, but the text can be restored with the help of old descriptions. The shape of the letters suggests that it belongs to the first third of the fourth century AD. It was discovered a bit to the south of the locality called La Santola, which we already discussed in relation to the villa of Plinius (the place of discovery is shown on Lauro 1998, fig. 2 nr. 43). At this place was an intersection of roads, and it is significant that the base has the same text on two adjacent sides.

	To the deified emperor Pius. The Laurentine senate and people on account of the everlasting memory of his kindnesses recreated its honour with a bronze roof and with marble columns. Under the supervision of Lucius Alpinius Clemens, curator of the res publica, distinguished senator.
	The inscription of Lucius Alpinius Clemens. Translation: Alison Cooley. Photo: EDR106825.

Alison Cooley suggests the following sequence of events. There was a rural shrine at the intersection at location La Santola. We do not know when it was erected or what it looked like, but it was somehow related to the history of the Laurentes. Antoninus Pius extended certain priviliges for the Laurentes, which prompted the senatus populusque Laurens to set up an inscribed statue base for this Emperor (CIL XIV, 2070; found in Pratica di Mare). The same Emperor was honoured once again by Lucius Alpinius Clemens, by restoring the rural shrine. He did this in a period when the Laurentes also showed their gratitude to the Imperial government in a different way: the ordo Laurentum Lavinatium set up a statue base for Constantine, thanking him for the restoration of civic order, the amelioration of the settlement, for protecting the food supply, and for defeating the "tyrant" Maxentius (Dennison 1910; inscription from Pratica di Mare). Constantine and Licinius also helped the Laurentes by ordering the restoration of baths Laurentibus suis, "for their Laurentines" (AE 1984, 151; from Pratica di Mare). It is an hypothesis, but the importance of the settlement in the Imperial period is clear. As to late antiquity: at the end of the fourth century the Codex Theodosianus mentions caelestia privilegia of the Laurentes (CTh 8.5.46), while Symmachus calls the settlement a religiosa civitas (Epistulae 1.71).

Here our journey ends, with a nice movie about the history of Lavinium, provided by the Comune di Pomezia.