Terracina – Ancient City Where Mythology And History Meet

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Most tourists admire Terracina as a seaside resort. Unfortunately, they do not even imagine the ancient town's historical past and archaeological heritage left by the long-gone generations.

Terracina - platform of sanctuary and temple of "Jupiter Anxur". Image credit: Gugli 73 - CC BY-SA 3.0

In ancient times, Terracina was the city called 'Tarracina,' a name that suggests it dates from when the Etruscans ruled the area.

Terracina, a historical town in the Lazio (Latium) region, south-central Italy, is situated between Rome and Naples, on the Gulf of Gaeta (an inlet of the Tyrrhenian Sea) at the foot of the Ausoni Mountains.

During the 600s BC, it joined the Etruscan League of Twelve Cities. A cosmopolitan Roman city with successfully developed trade, Terracina was also particularly attractive because of its strategic location on the water at the foot of the mountains.

There was a time when Terracina was even more important as the Via Appia (one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic and a main route for military supplies for the Roman conquest of southern Italy in 312 BC). Later, Terracina has been ruled by powerful Roman families.

Terracina (province of Latina, Lazio, Italy). Temple of Jupiter Anxur, external corridor of the terrace on which the temple stood. Image credit: MM - Public Domain

Before the unification of Italy, the city was subject to Vatican City.

Long before the birth of Christ, the town was in long-lasting conflict between the Romans and the Volsci, the former Italian tribe that identified Jupiter with Anxur. It was this tribe that named the city of 'Terracina - Anxur.' Fights between the Volsci and the Romans lasted several centuries to gain control over Terracina.

On the mountain overlooking the city is a magical and mysterious temple of Jupiter Anxur (Anxurus) who was worshipped with the goddess Feronia, who in the people's ancient beliefs was the goddess Juno.

Anxur was regarded as a very young  Jupiter, the god of the sky and thunder, the king of the gods, and the chief deity of Roman state religion throughout the Republican and Imperial eras. On coins, the name of the young Jupiter appears as "Axur" (or "Anxur).

In antiquity, the temples (sanctuaries) were associated with worship and religion and played a vital role in the society. These places were also centers for education and community gatherings. The sanctuary of Jupiter Anxurus in Terracina was such a place.

Unique ancient pieces of architecture of Terracina are the remains of the Capitolium, a temple dedicated to the Capitoline Triad of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva.

This cultural complex of Terracina dates to the first century BC, and it was initially decorated with four beautiful Doric-Tuscan columns with three cells in tuff and limestone, located above the so-called 'bothroi' (Italian: favissae), serving as pits for votive offerings to the three gods (Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva).
Bothroi are mainly known from sites from the early Bronze Age and the Iron Age in Greece.

However, they were also found among the remains of the Greek colonies of southern Italy and Etruria. Interestingly, some of them are still standing today in Terracina.

Credit: Adobe Stock - Anton Balazh

Many cities of the ancient world were deeply intertwined with religion, and the gods were tied closely to these cities. Terracina was also among such cities until Christianity became the dominant religion of the Empire.

However, the god Jupiter's old name, 'Anxur' or 'Axur,' has not been forgotten: it is immortalized on ancient coins.

The Temple of Jupiter Anxur (Tempio di Giove Anxur) on Monte Sant'Angelo is among the town's most important symbols. However, there are other ancient sanctuaries in Latium, restored monumentally in the late Republic of Ancient Rome, between the end of the IIth and the Ist century BC.

Terracina's old town has many traces from the past, including the cathedral with some floors, columns, walls, old gates, towers, and the Roman staircase that successfully survived in their skillful elegance until today.
In ancient Roman times, the city developed much as it focused on maritime traffic.
Wealthy families mainly inhabited Terracina. The city's port grew in importance; unfortunately, this flourishing and well-developed town began to suffer looting and destruction following centuries after the Roman period.

It regained importance in the Middle Ages as a border town between the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples.

Written by – A. Sutherland AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer

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