Arpino

About Arpino

Arpino (Campania: Arpinë) is a town (comune) in the province of Frosinone, in the Latin Valley, in the Lazio region in central Italy, about 100 km south-east of Rome. Its Roman name was Arpinum. In Roman times, the city produced two consuls of the Roman Republic: Gaius Mario and Marco Tullio Cicerone.

History

The ancient city of Arpinum dates back to at least the seventh century BC. Connected with the Pelasgians, the Volsci and the Samnites, it was captured by the Romans and in 305 BC. received the sinusoidal civitas. The city obtained Roman suffrage in 188 BC. and the status of municipium in 90 BC

The city produced both Caio Mario and Marco Tullio Cicerone, who were new men (people of new families who were elected to the Roman Senate, usually referring to those who had reached the Consul's office). Cicero, in speeches before the courts of Rome, would later praise the contribution of his hometown to the Republic when he was attacked as a "foreigner", since Arpinum had twice brought men to save the Republic: Marius against the cimbral invaders of 101 BC. and Cicero himself against the second Catilinar conspiracy. Cicero in letters to his friend Atticus often referred to the peace and quiet of his beloved Arpinum. There is an oral tradition that persists until today that Marco Vipsanio Agrippa was also a native of Arpinum. Historians however have not been able to confirm his birthplace.

Next to the ancient city of Arpinum there are the fortified remains of a much earlier Samnite city. [Citation needed] The high defensive walls are polygonal type historically associated with these people. There is an example of such an arch that can still be seen today. The dates generally range from the early Roman period to around 400 BC. The recent suggestions that these walls were created by some higher beings, given their large blocks, are considered completely false and scurrilous. The stone is sometimes called pudding stone, but in this case it seems of a more sedimentary dark gray type. Arpinum, Atina and Cominium were known Samnite strongholds. [Citation needed] The nearby Valle di Comino is considered a strong Samnite and subsections of the tribes' lands of origin and the language generally spoken until the Roman assimilations was part of Oscan of the "Co" group of Indo-European languages. [citation needed]

In the early Middle Ages, the Roman duchy and the duchy of Benevento fought over for its strategic position. After the 11th century it was ruled by the Normans, the Hohenstaufen and the Papal States. It was destroyed twice; in 1229 by Federico II and in 1242 by Corrado IV. [citation needed]

The castrated sopranist Gioacchino Conti, known as Il Gizziello or heb ceilliau, was born in Arpino in 1714. [citation needed]

Main attractions

Attractions include polygonal masonry circuit walls. These walls include an example of an arch of olives.

Below Arpino, in the Liri valley, a little north of the Isola del Liri, there is the church of S. Domenico, which marks the site of the villa where Cicero was born and often resided. Nearby there is an ancient bridge, a road that crossed the Liris towards Cereatae (modern Casamari).

Source: Wikipedia
Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arpino