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History
Terracina appears in ancient sources with two names: the Latin Tarracina and the Volscian Anxur (Plin. NH 3.59: "lingua Volscorum Anxur dictum"). The latter is the name of Jupiter himself as a youth (Iuppiter Anxur or Anxurus), and was the tutelary god of the city, venerated on the Mons Neptunius (current Monte S. Angelo), where a temple dedicated to him still exists (see below). The name Tarracina has been instead pointed out variously as pre-Indo-European origin, or as Etruscan (Tarchna or Tarchuna, the name of the Tarquinii family): in this view, it would precede the Volscian conquest.
Terracina occupied a position of notable strategic importance: it is located in fact 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, in a site commanding the Pontine Marshes (urbs prona in paludes, "a city flat in the marshes", as Livy called it) and possessing a small harbour. In 509 BCE Terracina was already under Roman supremacy, but was not included in the list of the Latin league of 499 BCE. In 406 it was stormed by the Romans, then lost in 402, recovered in 400, unsuccessfully attacked by the Volsci in 397, and finally secured by the establishment of a colony of Roman citizens in 329 BCE.
As a colonia maritima it frequently appears in history. The construction of the Via Appia in 312 BCE added to its importance: the road at first crossed the hill at the back of the promontory by a steep ascent and descent. An attempt was made in 184 BCE to get round it by an embankment thrown out into the sea: but it was probably not until early in Trajan's time that a cut in the rocks at the foot of the promontory (Pisco Montano) finally solved the problem. The depth of the cut is indicated by marks on the vertical wall at intervals of 10 Roman feet; the lowest mark, about 1 m above the present road, is CXX, corresponding to 36 meters.
Not far off are mineral springs by the coast, known to the Romans as Neptuniae aquae and later renamed Acqua Magnesia, are still in use, except one containing arsenic which was blocked up both by the ancients and again in 1839 as a precaution. The two roads met some few miles east of Terracina, and the Via Appia then traversed the pass of Lautulae, between the mountains and the Lake of Fondi, where the Samnites defeated the Romans with losses in 315 BCE. This pass, formerly the frontier between the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples, was also fortified in Early Modern days.
It was probably in consequence of the road cut just mentioned that some of the more important buildings of the imperial period were erected in the low ground by the shore, and near the small harbour. The construction of the coast road, the Via Severiana, from Ostia to Terracina, added to the importance of the place; and the beauty of the promontory with its luxuriant flora and attractive view had caused it to be frequented by the Romans as early as 200 BCE. Terracina became an important centre for the development of the fertile valley lying to the west, and started to grow new settlements at the foot of the first one, which turned into a sanctuary area with some patrician mansions. Marcus Favonius, the imitator of Cato the Younger, was born in Terracina, as was the emperor Galba (in 3 BC); both Galba and Domitian possessed villas in the area of the city. Various new public edifices were erected starting from the time of Sulla: these included a new theatre and forum, while the sanctuary was renovated, as well as the port (under Trajan and Antoninus Pius, 2nd century CE). The last Roman construction was that of a new line of walls during the 5th century CE.
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